I said the same @ $2.99 and $1.99, somehow things keep on truckin
I don't understand . Within about 5 miles on the same road it it goes from $3.699 to $3.909 and 3 of the stations are Mobil :beatsme. I mean:Banghead
On road fuel Today is the highest I've seen so far in Ohio and it was at $3.86, Maybe time to think about getting rid of the Ford with Power Stroke and going back to a gas motor.
I've seen anywhere for $3.79-$3.99 here. I will cringe when I see a 4 in front of those #'s.
yes they do your price just keeps going up to stay at the same amount you have been making. but you really don't make much more.
Good point- If you raise your prices just to cover the increases in diesel fuel then your total gross profit goes down. If you have a product that sells for $10 and your costs are $8 then you are making a gross profit of 20%. If your costs go up $1 to $9 total cost and you are now charging $11 (just passing the price increase of your materials) then your gross profit is 18%. The customer has an increased price in your product and you are losing profit. The price of fuel will go above $4 per gallon. What we have to do as contractors is somehow pass this increase on to our customers without losing work. This is the difficult part because you have jack-legs out there bidding jobs at cost or below. You can shake your head and say "There is no way I can do it for that", all the while the other guys get the work and your equipment is parked. You can take some comfort in knowing they will not be your competion long but the reality is you lost the job and how many more jack-legs are out there? Can we survive the "thinning out" of the jack-leg contractors?
You are right. We have to survive long enough to weed out the guys that don't know what their true costs are. There is a a big difference between no business and bad business. I would rather have no business than bad business Bad business means you are working for nothing or at a loss. There can be a fine line between the two. I will not surprise me when it hits $4/gallon and it will be soon. No unnecessary driving around! :usa
Amen brother, I never did want to pay to work and that's what some guys are doing here and they don't even know it. Rather let my equipment rust.
On road here $3.89 and just ordered off road before it goes up and it was $3.50
I filled up my truck last week @ $3.49 a gallon, this morning at $ 3.69 Off road is still $3.19 at one station until their new shipment comes in, everyone else is $3.35-3.40 one good side is our work is still going strong. Had to raise the hourly rates, but so far people understand and still want the work done.
Up here it is as much as regular gasoline which puts it about $5.00 a gallon which really sucks.
$3.99 here in Chicago....Unfortunately my next superduty might be a gasser.
i made the move form the 6.0 liter to a gas job, even though i didnt want to im kinda glad i did and so is my wallet!
$4.04 here as of yesterday and they said its going higher!
When do you quit $4.00 diesel 2yrs ago did you ever think you would see $4.00 diesel !! People got no $$ to spend for you to raise prices!! The monthly fuel will make you cry!! Where does it end????
Filled the truck yesterday morning at $3.89 gal, went by the station at lunch and it was $4.09. Unfortunately, I would not be suprised to see $5.00gal diesel by this summer!
Diesel Pick Ups There certainly is going to be disruptions in the Diesel Pick Up market place before long. Ford is supposed to come out with a small diesel for the F-150 . Wonder where that will end up now. Less demand for diesels obviously. When Diesel was the cheaper fuel , it attracted many buyers ,because of economy. Now that the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel is mandatory and costs more, $0.20 per gallon and more , than gas. Who can afford, or want, to run a diesel when a gas rig will do the same for less cost ? I like my Powerstroke, but now with these outrageous climbing fuel costs , got to look closer at other options.
It wasn't our slide into recession that forced the price per barrel of oil hike......that was conveniently pushed into place by the oil producing nations. Am I getting paranoid or is this kicking a man when he's down?
Not paranoid, it's economic terrorism. OPEC finally figured out they have us by the short hairs and in that way have control on our economy
Just like they did in the '70's.
I guess they were asleep at the wheel in the 90s with oil at $10 a barrel? Many experienced industry personnel lost their jobs and now we have a shortage of people to maintain the industry. Even unlimited funding wouldn't create 10, 20, or 30 year experienced workers overnight. It's no coincidence that we now have trouble keeping up with demand when the people that could have helped that didn't stay with the industry. Of course the declining dollar has actually caused more of the price increase than much else. My only advice is to position yourself as best you can to avoid buying their product if you don't like the prices. Just like you are not obligated to work below your own profit level for your services, they are not obligated to do the same with theirs. For me that means I won't be running equipment right now, but I have a 15 minute commute and only spend around $50-60 a month on fuel. Even less if I pick up a small cc bike in the summer.
I was in Cumberland RI this morning and saw $4.099. Bought Biodiesel for $3.799. It was still $190 to fill up 2 pickups.
I am in no way wanting to start any kind of flame war....but here goes. :soapbox IMHO, rising fuel prices is the best thing thats happened to the trucking and construction industry in a long time. Here's why I say this... When trucking deregulated a while back, every Tom, Richard and Julio went out and bought a rig. People started cutting each others throats to get loads. Rates stayed or dropped while operating costs continued to climb. Now that everyone and your brother has went out and got them a Debby Dotson CDL, the industry has been flooded with wannabes who know nothing about trucking. By the way they drive and operate, they show little or no respect to fellow truckers or the public. Outlaw newbies in a worn out COE with a brand new Radio Shack 40 channel CB radio and a real truckers job of pulling containers out of the harbor. The prestige and respect that we once had in the trucking industry has gone down the toilet. At one time, it was a really good way to make a living. Today, those who jumped in on the band wagon have worn out POS that is far from being safe. Few were smart enough to update, invest and save. They were too preoccupied with cutting rates just to get the load. Today, you need to be smart and efficient in order to survive. You need to have the balls to raise rates and add fuel sur-charges. You need to run efficiently in order to get every pennies worth out of your fuel. And if you don't show a profit, you need to be able to park it and let the cut throats wear their equipment out. When they cant run because they cant afford their repair bills, then you step in. If you cant raise your rates, let the freight or dirt sit! The same applies on the construction industry. People are still moving dirt for a 1980's price. They need to go. These high fuel prices are just whats needed to weed out the weaklings. If you want to be in any kind of business, you had better be a good business man....and stop working for nothing. And finally, perhaps these climbing fuel prices will be the kick in the nuts we need to become more dependant on out own recourses. There's lots of oil here. Off the coast, up North We just need shut the Greenies up and go get it. Those who oppose drilling, mining or refining, I don't see them walking, riding their bikes or saddled up on a horse. I see them as hypocrites. We also need to build more refineries... Both of the above will create countless new jobs. We need to stop feeding the world.... We need to stop giving money away. We need to take care of our own first. We need to stop fighting everyones battles. And to those who have a problem with it... We need to Nuke them... Its quick, cost effective and like Fat Man and Little Boy, you get results.
:iagree Well said ROP. I've noticed the weaker trucking businesses are slowly fading away. There's still plenty of work here, you just have to play your cards right and make some money.
Energy Costs Well certainly, high energy costs are going to bring about changes. Like the introduction of economical Alternative energy sources. Wind, solar, low head hydro,geothermal. It's already bringing about voluntary rationing, (being able to afford it ) , as opposed to WW2 Gov't. rationing. Maybe it will slow the growth of aviation, where the flying of people endlessly and mindlessly, back and forth for nothing(tourism) . Jets dump lot of fuel everytime they land. Wasted forever. Same with the Cruise ship industry. Just boating around the oceans. Tourism again. Do people really need to go, when we have virtual world internet ! Maybe high prices will make them reconsider. I think energy conservation, needs to play a greater part in our society. What about using Methane,Propane,Butane like WW2 era. Yes, I sure hope things(energy sources) change, so we are not stuck on high priced fossil fuel. Slaves to the OPEC countries.
I live within 5 miles of two refineries that together process 260,000 barrels a day, and the gas station across the highway from them is the most expensive place around :beatsme
ROP You said what I have been thinking for quite a while. If I don't get my price I stay home! I looked at a job in RI. I was going to be a subcontractor to the GC. As I was getting setup to drill under the road the GC comes to me and says " now that you are here I am going to have to beat you up on your prices!" I said find another HDD contractor and put my drill on the trailer! That was last fall and the job went in the dumper. GC is getting his butt kicked all over town. :shf
Addition to post I finished up a bid on a Fast food Drive-in a week or so ago and sent it to the GC, which was out of Texas. I bid the concrete work, wood framing and misc excavation. The site work and storm drainage was already contracted - as the PM told me at a "real cheap" price. I fax all of my bids to the corporate office and I don't hear anything from them for a day or so. I decide to go on down to the site and talk to the PM who seems like a reasonable guy, just hands tied by corporate. So I ask him about the framing and how our numbers worked and he told me "you are way high". "OK - how high is way high" I ask? He then proceeds to tell me that they only have $3.50 per SF in the budget for framing labor and equipment ! (I was at $10/sf) You can't get a 1 level garden home on a slab framed for that low of a price! At that point I wished him luck and got back in my truck and left, since we were so far apart there was no sense in wasting either of our time. This particular framing job was 1800SF and would require a boom truck and a lull to complete - plus a tower that was 18' tall - all for $3.50 per SF.:beatsme Fast forward to last Friday. PM on the same job calls me up in a panic and says "can you get me a price on setting the storm drain and a rock hammer by the hour". Well, well, well - it looks like your "real cheap" site work contractor can't pull it off.:cool2 Now not only do they have a another change order but lost 2 weeks in the schedule dealing with the "real cheap" site contractor. BTW - PM said they had a 45 day schedule.:duh:falldownlaugh:crazy
Do you think it's worth your time to even bid on the drainage work? I think if it were me I'd just walk away, or at least check on the GC as far as paying their bills goes. The whole thing sounds a bit scary.
I agree with the scary part, that is why I wished him luck and walked away the first time. The storm drain only includes labor and equipment, the GC is supplying the pipe and pre-cast boxes. The storm line consists of approx. 200LF 18" and 24", 1 headwall and 3 precast boxes. I actually passed this one on to another contractor who is looking for work. I explained my previous dealings with the this GC and if they want it understanding the risks, then that is there decision.
Oh! I see the diesel here in Sweden are only at half the price you guys have now! It sells for around 2$ here .... To bad you only get a liter for that though! For the metric challenged people, 2$/liter means about 8$/gallon