SilverLink - Winter 2008 - (Page 23)

risk ManageMent Transportation Industry Don’t Be Fuelish by Pete Hanley, CIC, CRM The only thing more frustrating and confusing than seeing fuel prices rise at the pump is seeing them fluctuate wildly. Up 20¢ two weeks ago, down 15¢ last week, up 30¢ this week. Where will it end? Realistically, with oil reserves at risk and refineries facing uncertainty in the global market, the chances of fuel prices lowering permanently are quite low, if not totally nonexistent. Anxiety about fuel supplies is worsening for everyone, from homeowners who depend on fuel oil in the winter, to car owners and owners of trucking fleets. Most people own personal vehicles that average 14-17 mpg. Some hybrids, of course, far surpass that, and some largeclass vehicles may average less than 10 mpg. Most private vehicles are driven an average of 18,000-20,000 miles per year. At today’s pump prices, we’re putting a good part of our paychecks into our gas tanks (between $3,500 and $5,000 on average). Increasingly, people are trying to find ways to lower their fuel consumption, even resorting to parking their vehicles and walking or using public transportation, but the maximum savings realized might be only in the hundreds of dollars. Now imagine what truck fleet owners are facing. Each truck in a company’s fleet may run 125,000 miles per year, with an average of 4-5 mpg. If you do the math, you will find that each truck could use $75,000 worth of fuel in a single year. Multiply that by the total number of trucks in the fleet, and it’s easy to see how fuel conservation efforts by fleet drivers could mean substantial savings to the owner’s bottom line. Little things help Below are some conservation tips from a 31-year veteran engineer in the petroleum industry. Drivers could see substantial savings in their fuel bills by doing the following: • Fill up your vehicle in the morning when the temperature is cool. Service stations bury their storage tanks; the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer, gasoline expands. So if you’re filling up in the afternoon or evening, the gallon amount that you think you’re putting in 23 silverlink — Winter 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SilverLink - Winter 2008

SilverLink - Winter 2008 Contents Risk Management: Where in the World is Human Resource Consulting? Workers’ Compensation Rate Declines Insurance Certificates Haute Retirement It All Began with a Cup of Coffee Playing Fair in the Housing Market Captives 101 Proceed with Caution Fore! (Or is it Pull? or Giddyup?) Don’t Be Fuelish Employee Benefits: Medical Trend Countdown to Compliance Private Client Services: Buy & Sell Agreements Flood Insurance Pushing Wealth to the Next Generation Client Spotlight: Travel and Transport Internal Happenings: SilverStone Group Giving Back Since 1945

SilverLink - Winter 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.