I predicted it before the end of the summer. Looks like I was off a few months. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89886033&ft=1&f=1001 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/18/BUU81082F1.DTL
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/23/gas.prices/ I'd rather have been very wrong. How long till $5 a gallon? PS: I'll take the star delivered via the Pussycat Dolls.
the scary number is $4.25-$4.50 for diesel which currently transports pretty much everything we touch at least once. I was in a business where fuel was the biggest expense. The prices paid to transport things isn't going up in accordance with the fuel prices. This is very bad, a lot of small guys are operating on credit and they will never catch up. When their bubble bursts it will be very bad for everyone.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp Some interesting graphs. The thing that peaks my curiosity is, why does diesel increase at a greater rate than gas when the reason everyone blames for the increase (cost of oil) is a smaller chunk like 12% less.
Not well. We will run out of funds for fuel sometime this fall if not sooner. Staff is doing everything the can to conserve, but the cost increases are far outpacing any conservation efforts and citizens aren't willing to reduce services. They don't want to pay more for them, but they don't want them reduced.
My RC fuel went from $25/gal to $30/gal, but I can usually get 3 weeks out of a gallon! Rick - have you suggested parking the managers and supervisors trucks and getting the city a fleet of scooters? Would busing employees to job sites save any money? People using the cities dollar to drive to lunch adds up quite a bit!
We have considered a lot of things. Unfortunately, the purchase of any alternative transportation requires capital which is in very short supply due to increased operating costs. We are consolidating trips, planning routes better and limiting travel distance allowed for lunch in city vehicles. Unfortunately, my staff works the entire county and some calls have to be dealt with now not later.
I know what you mean! I worked for the railroad where EVERYTHING was an emergency. I don't know how Albany does it, I would be pulling my hair out with the frivolous actions I see every day. Do you guys have a central store or do you purchase stuff with CC in the city/county?
We have been trying to standardize equipment as much as possible so I can keep a running inventory on the trucks. We aren't there yet. I considered a central store, but with fuel costs, it makes more sense to have mini-stashes strategically located.
I wonder how the diesel prices are going to effect local taxes and such with respect to school bus usage in the future.. All the school buses in Fulton county alone have to cost a mint to run...I would venture to say that some already strained local gov. will be hurting to keep buses running..
Do you guys have a vehicle shut-off policy or do your employees run the trucks so they have AC while waiting? That was one of my biggest pet peeves with the railroad. Pull up and shut the truck off. They would leave diesel trucks idling while they worked. Do you guys use PTO driven equipment you can run with portable gas units instead?
I'd venture to believe most of them are already at their fuel budget for the year or within 1-2 mo of running out their money. How much more can they tax people who are already spending on credit?
I would hazard a guess that your county is taking similar action to Richmond Co. I don't work for the schools, but I know they are paring back everywhere they can to make up for the shortfall. Problem is everything else is increasing in cost as well. Food for the lunchroom is a particular concern. Field trips have been eliminated. I wouldn't be surprised to see them look at travel to athletic events. Our transit sytem is a huge consumer of diesel. They have increased ridership a bit, but nowhere near enough to cover cost increases.
They are under instruction to turn them off. The only exception for my groups are the bucket trucks. You have to run the truck to operate the bucket.
So why don't they park the buses? Seriously, this is what kills me about government. Was the bus system created to give people a free ride or was it put in to move people without transportation in a planned manner v. taxi service. I did some figuring, and unless you have a car that is paid for and you are only running liability insurance, you can't afford to work for anything less than $8/hr You actually lose money going to work, especially if you only work part time. If I had a teenager they would be on the bus for school and not working anywhere except at my house, I would have a pristine lawn and clean cars every day. Lee county has nearly 100 ford trucks parked in the student parking lots. However since I don't have kids and don't think we will have kids I sure as hell don't want to spend anymore of my money paying for someone else's rug rats.
Isn't the biggest employer in the city the government? Why not do a study to find what would get those people on city transit wouldn't that be a win win? Or do most of your employees come from the county to work in the city?
