We’ve all seen fuel prices fluctuating in the past few years. As a fleet owner or manager, one pattern you may have noticed is that fuel prices tend to rise in the summer. You may wonder if this is a coincidence, your imagination, or an actual phenomenon with reasons behind it.
It’s true that gas prices go up in the summer, and there are a few reasons why. Let’s explore why you may be paying more at the pump during the upcoming hot summer months and what you can do to keep your fleet out of the red.
Three Reasons for Rising Fuel Prices
Let’s discuss the three primary reasons you may see higher gas prices this summer.
No. 1: Supply and Demand. During the summer, many people fill up their cars for long trips, boats for rides out on the water, and all kinds of equipment for summer activities. This causes a spike in demand for gas. As always, with the principle of supply and demand, the price of gas will go up when more people need more of it.
No. 2: Refineries Shutting Down. Every spring, oil refineries shut down for planned maintenance. This allows contractors to perform critical maintenance on the refinery’s equipment and check its operations. This process is called a “turnaround” and occurs twice a year.
No. 3: Summer Fuel Grades. This may surprise most drivers, but the fuel we purchase in summer has a different formulation than the fuel we purchase during the rest of the year. Summer fuel contains oxygenates, additives that allow evaporation to occur more easily. This fuel burns cleaner with fewer pollutants. This is, in fact, the most significant reason for an increase in costs of fuel prices.
How to Reduce Fleet Fuel Costs
We have published several blog articles on reducing fleet fuel costs, including:
- How to Reduce Fuel Consumption in Trucks
- Top 8 Ways to Reduce Fuel Costs
- How to Reduce Fleet Fuel Costs
Check out those articles for the most detailed information on how to save money on fuel costs. In this article, we will provide a brief overview of the points.
Azuga offers three technology solutions you can use daily to manage your business’s fuel usage: telematics, route planning software, and maintenance alerts.
- Telematics helps you track fuel-wasting habits like speeding and idling. If you enact a strict policy on both behaviors, you can enforce it with telematics technology. Receive real-time alerts when your drivers are breaking policy, and get detailed reports that showing patterns of these bad habits.
- Route planning software gets your drivers from point A to point B in the most efficient manner possible. Efficient, in this case, means wasting the least amount of fuel and the least amount of time. It uses algorithms, machine learning, historical data, and telematics to create routes for you automatically.
- Maintenance alerts are necessary to keep your vehicles in top running shape and prevent mechanical or other maintenance issues that waste fuel. Did you know that something so simple as underinflated tires can be a significant fuel waster? Azuga’s scheduled maintenance alerts help you perform the best preventative maintenance so you are always on top of your maintenance schedules.
If you’re considering implementing new policies this summer to save money on fuel, Azuga can help. Our technology solutions are designed to make your fleet more efficient and save your business money. Schedule a demo with one of our experts to see how we can help you accomplish your goals.
