By now, very few segments of society have not been affected by the ever-growing presence of the Internet. Today’s fleet management industry certainly has, and as a result, tomorrow’s fuel management companies will have to continue to keep pace with new technology. Their customers want to be able to access more information than ever, and quickly. In the past, this would seem to be a daunting task for fuel management companies. But with the rapid growth of technology, anything seems possible. How will these companies create solutions?

The Promise of Technology

According to Michael E. Dubyak, president and CEO of Wright Express, "Customers drive e-commerce by demanding 24-hour service and support." The key to staying ahead of the rising prices is having accurate, up-to-date information for analysis.

"The challenge is to offer sophisticated, yet user-friendly tools that provide a broader depth of analysis options," said Barbara Hvasta, vice president of marketing, product development, and relationship management for Voyager. "Fleet managers need to be able to drive costs down to the individual asset level, in addition to being able to perform analysis and segmentations quickly. The companies that can provide these analysis tools without requiring users to perform complicated queries will be the winners."

Easier Access to Fuel Data

Dubyak says, "Technology-enabled products and services will drive business success." Fleet managers must seek innovative methods to prevent rising prices from becoming a source of problems, and to do that they will need the most accurate and extensive data possible. With the Internet, information can be accessed quickly. Such information as geographical variances in fuel and maintenance costs, which vehicles work most economically, and tracking driver performance is crucial to planning solutions.

Fuel Pumps as Internet Kiosks

In addition, technology could provide other possible innovations to improve fleet performance. The industry sees opportunities to expand its reach even to the gas pump itself, with pumps becoming Internet-connected kiosks providing customers with weather forecasts, traffic updates and more. This kind of access filters down to the operating level, giving drivers information they can use to save time, fuel, and most importantly for the fleet manager, money.

Hvasta suggests that more advanced technology could aid fleet managers in other ways than simply analyzing fuel costs. "Our customers have an increasing desire to analyze and review trends within their own fleets," she said. Tracking fueling data can give fleet managers valuable information such as how vehicle or driver performance varies in different areas of their organization, or which vehicles best perform their duties.

As technology continues to improve, the ways it can benefit business continue to multiply. Fleet managers can look forward to advancements in fuel management that will give them the tools to run their fleets as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Unstable Fuel Prices

In 1998, gasoline prices averaged $1.07 per gallon. As 1999 drew to a close, those prices neared $1.20 per gallon. Crude oil is at its most expensive price in years, and oil industry analysts are predicting those prices will continue rising. Keeping these rising costs within a reasonable budget will present a formidable challenge to fleet managers.

Fuel costs are the most variable of the expenses the fleet manager must contend with. In the continuing battle to keep costs down, fuel is perhaps the most logical target. "Currently, costs of operating a fleet are manageable, with one exception: fuel," said Lynn Rabun, president of Profuel in Atlanta. She sees fleet managers taking a more proactive approach to budgeting for fuel, saying, "Fleet managers who traditionally budgeted for fuel based on historical averages will be looking at innovative ways to control fuel costs." Fixed retail fuel price programs will become more attractive, as they will prevent fleets from remaining at the mercy of unpredictable factors such as OPEC decisions and oil refinery operation problems.

Why Have Fuel Prices Increased?

In spring 1999, member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that they would commence restricting the production of oil in order to increase the price per barrel.

"However, everyone was expecting individual member nations to begin cheating by producing oil in excess of their quota, as they have done in the past," said Greg Stanford, business consultant for PHH Vehicle Management Services. "When that didn’t happen, and when oil suppliers began stockpiling oil out of concern about possible Y2K disruptions, oil prices started to go up in July 1999."

Compounding this situation were two refinery explosions in California, which significantly reduced the production of California grade gasoline.

"This shortage spilled over into the Rocky Mountain states," said Stanford. "The independent oil producers there saw that they could get a better price by trucking their supplies to the West Coast. That, in turn, produced a supply-and-demand problem in the Rocky Mountain area, causing prices to increase there."