Companies, Consumer and Cost of Fuel

Which companies are most affected by fuel? Who really bears the increase in fuel costs? How much do they pass on? What companies are most prone to cost increases due to shear volumes of usage?

How about companies like UPS and Fed Ex Air, talk about market power and vehicles. Fed Ex and Ups are approaching 35,000 vehicles each. How much fuel is that? It is so much they can afford to look at alternative sources and fund R and D projects to reduce their costs in fuel. UPS recently decided to put in Hydrogen stations at every terminal for their double and triple truck units.

Fred Smith, Chairman of the Fed Ex Companies said that if a company could deliver a vehicle that would use 50% less fuel and 90% less emissions he would order 19,000 of them. He lied they are now ordering 35,000. The company grew a little between the offer and the accomplishment. The free market is finding ways to deal with the issues in the flow of fuel. It does not take long on a busy corner in a busy city to see that one in three vehicles is a business or a government vehicle. A school bus, cable installer pick-up, limousine, post office LLV (new jeep), dog groomer, meter reader, taxi, car wash guy, telephone company van, garbage truck, shuttle bus, pizza delivery car, package delivery van, rent-a-car, police car, armored car or a hot dog car towing a cart. This is before we even discuss the fact that in many households there are as many registered vehicles as members of their family, including the family dog or cats.

America's love of the automobile comes with issues of fuel and this is why the supply and the flow of the fuel should be among some of our top priorities. Recently in Arizona an old pipeline owned by Kinder Morgan sprung a leak and left the city of Phoenix in a problem situation. No fuel for cars. The problem went from serious to critical in less than three days. We saw first hand that service businesses stopped, people could not get to work, school, doctors office, etc. It certainly got the attention of every man, woman and child within in that period. The problem lasted a week. Trains, trucks loaded with fuel tried to keep up the supply, but they started from behind the curve and could not possibly keep up. Many gasoline stations had already run out of fuel and people were running out of gas, while looking for a gas station still open. The sides of the freeways were full of parked cars, yes you guessed it with scribbled signs written on note book paper, pieces of car board and backs of hand bills set between the windshields and wiper blades; "out of gas." Still think the flow of fuel is funny?

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs