Rising Fuel Costs Impact Bottom Line

With diesel up close to 50% from last year ($2.88 to over $4.00) and declining gross margins due to economic challenges and aggressive competition, how can you minimize the impact on your bottom line?

If you recall, after Katrina, many distributors implemented strategies to better manage their fuel expenses. Unfortunately, most became complacent shortly thereafter when prices “declined”, but since then, prices continue to soar. And thinking that they’ll return to the “good old days” is unrealistic.

Yesterday’s article on www.cnn.com entitled “Diesel: The truck stops here”, highlighted the problem.

In talking to distributors over the past couple of weeks, many have asked us “What are others doing or thinking about doing?” To help answer the question, we’ve developed a quick fuel survey. As soon as we have enough responses to identify a trend, we’ll share the results. You may recall that we conducted a similar survey in late 2005, and we’ll try to compare the surveys.

Let us know what you’re thinking and forward the survey to your friends. The broader the input, the better for all.