Running with JCT, Part Deux

Okay so I talked to the store director at the Maverick in Holbrook... He just happened to be walking towards the diesel pumps..

Anyways the fuel that we get there is winterized just like the pumps for the regular vehicles it's all the same tank so you're getting anti-gel pumped in so you should be noticing a decrease in fuel mileage because of that I know I am.

He also said that they are going to be putting up a new 50 foot sign just like the one in Winslow and once they get the communication issues solved between the pumps and the sign and everything else they're going to start charging the $0.08 heavy use tax as well just like Winslow does.

Currently they're just eating that $0.08. he said though that his fuel price will probably still be lower than Winslow after that.

Current price is $2.67 $2.65 if you have a rewards card..

 

Well alrighty then......Apparently the green/amber reefer status light isn't 100% sealed anymore. It started raining here in Tennessee and the water must of have shorted something because the alarm (amber) light wouldn't turn off. Reefer was still running normally though. It stopped raining and it dried out I guess because now the light is working normally (green light) again.

 

Over three dollars a gallon average this week. Keep going up!

 

So if the average price at the pump goes up, lets say 30 cents over what it was a month ago how does that affect the fuel surcharge you recieve? Is there an automatic increase based on a given formula?

 

Automatic increase. There's a table showing what it would be at what average. I THINK it comes out to one cent for every 6? 7?

So in your scenario it would increase by maybe $0.05 a mile?

My goal of course is to stay under the average and run as efficiently as possible .. So far so good

 

So do you guys do better when fuel is higher?

 

Ayup. Even more so if you keep in the lower fuel areas.

 

So I guess my root question is, does the fuel surcharge keep in pace with fuel increases? In other words, if all things are equal as far as running efficient and other cost if the price of fuel hit $4 will your net take home pay be about the same?

 

I know it sounds crazy but take-home pay actually goes up.

I've done the math on my settlement estimator if fuel pricing went up to $5 gallon and I was able to purchase at the same percent below average that I'm doing now I think my take home net pay goes up nearly $200 a week. Something like that.

 

Basically the fuel surcharge should be moving pretty close to in lockstep with the cost per mile of running.

If the average cost of fuel moves up enough to cause a $0.01 per mile increase in my fuel costs the surcharge should be moving up $0.01 with it to keep things flat.

The trick is to run as efficient as possible and to purchase as low as possible so when the fuel price goes up your costs only go up say half a cent but the fuel surcharge goes up $0.01 and you're making money.

Conversely if you continue purchasing at or above average while running inefficiently you're either going to make the same amount or less.

A gallon of diesel at $3 in an 8 mile per gallon truck is 37.5 cents a mile. So that would be a fuel cost of 8.5 cents a mile at current surcharge.

A 6 mile per gallon truck it would be $0.50 a mile. a fuel cost of $0.21 a mile at current surcharge.

I just purchased at $2.65 and my current tank averages 8.5. it's costing me $0.31 a mile to run - surcharge it's only cost me $0.02 a mile in fuel.

Of course my fuel cost to surcharge is going to spread because there's no way I'm going to maintain 8.5 the entire trip but you never know the Sun Shines on a dog's ### once in awhile...