{"id":4886,"date":"2020-04-01T16:52:17","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T14:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=4886"},"modified":"2020-04-01T16:52:17","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T14:52:17","slug":"how-covid-19-impacted-fueling-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2020\/04\/01\/how-covid-19-impacted-fueling-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"How COVID-19 Impacted Fueling Trends"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The COVID-19 pandemic has played a part in fuel prices trending lower than previous years and continued social distancing and shelter-in-place mandates are intensifying it further.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u201cTypically gas prices start to trend more expensive at the beginning of spring, especially as motorists get out to enjoy the warmer weather and travel for spring break. That is not the case this year,\u201d said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson. \u201cWith Americans urged to stay at home and practice social distancing to slow the spread of coronavirus, we are seeing less traffic on the roadways which will ultimately drive down demand, increase gasoline supply and push pump prices less expensive for the foreseeable future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The coronavirus pandemic has seen influence even prior to price war on crude oil between Saudi Arabia and Russia<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u201cCOVID-19 had impact on crude oil prices prior to the price wars,\u201d said Casselano. \u201cCrude prices started to drop toward\u00a0the end of January. At that time we were at $58\/barrel. By the time OPEC met in March, crude was already down to $45\/barrel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Most recently, crude oil prices dropped to $20\/barrel \u2013 a low not seen since 2002, according to AAA. The national average of regular unleaded gasolines landed most recently at $1.99, the cheapest average seen in four years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">AAA speculates that due to\u00a0COVID-19 and the ongoing crude oil price war could lower prices to $1.75 per gallon in April.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Casselano offered suggestions in how fleets can safely fuel their vehicle and protect themselves without spreading or catching the virus:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">At the beginning and end of the shift, wash your hands thoroughly at the sink for 20 seconds with soap and water.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Disinfect your hands and wipe down the vehicle prior to and after shifts.\u00a0Wipe down the inside of the vehicle (door, dashboard, seat, door handle, and any exposed surfaces) after anyone gets inside the vehicle. (Use spray disinfectant and spray or disinfectant wipes).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Remember that money and credit cards could hold the virus, wear gloves when handling these items.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Fleets Who Aren\u2019t Fueling Up<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The pandemic has greatly influenced how fleets are running their operations, and for some could mean fewer assets being utilized, or perhaps a halt in operations altogether if your business is considered non-essential.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Because of this Casselano said fleets who have idle assets should take consideration of fuel that is going unused, especially since the duration of the pandemic remains an known.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u201cGasoline can go bad, especially if it is not stored in a sealed container,\u201d she said. \u201cIf gasoline is going to sit in the tank of the vehicle for more than a few months, particularly gasoline that contains ethanol, we would recommend using a treatment that is designed for fuel stabilization. If storing gasoline, it is best to keep the storage tank, whether in the vehicle or in an DOT approved can, full. Gas cans and fuel tanks can produce condensation with temperature changes, placing water droplets into the fuel.\u00a0If you keep the tank or can full, there is less space for air and therefore it will minimize the possibility of condensation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Other best practices for stagnant assets according to AAA include:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Using a Battery Tender or other maintenance-type battery charger to keep the battery at a full state of charge and prevent deterioration.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Add 10 psi of pressure to each tire to help prevent flat spots from forming on the tires.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Prop up windshield wiper arms so the blades are off the windshield and won\u2019t get stuck to the glass.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">And don\u2019t use the parking brake when storing the vehicle, as the brake could become frozen, and the brake pads could rust to the rotors, or brake shoes could distort the drums.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p-16-gray\">by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.automotive-fleet.com\/authors\/3259\/andy-lundin\">Andy Lundin<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.automotive-fleet.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.automotive-fleet.com<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Fleet management is the use of a set of vehicles in order to provide services to a third-party, or to perform a task for our organization, in the most efficient and productive manner with a determined level of service and cost.<\/p>\n<p>Fleet management activities are shown in the following graph 1:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1106 size-full\" title=\"fleet management activities\" src=\"http:\/\/en.advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/grafico-AFMC-en.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/06\/grafico-AFMC-en.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/06\/grafico-AFMC-en-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/06\/grafico-AFMC-en-1024x512.jpg 1024w\" alt=\"fleet management activities\" width=\"1600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Graph 1: fleet management activities<\/p>\n<p>The proposal audit analyses and assesses all fleet management activities shown in the graph 1, and its main goals are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Know the overall status of the fleet management activities<\/li>\n<li>Provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet management\u00a0 activities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With the information obtained, we\u2019ll elaborate a report that holds the overall status of the fleet management as well as the suggestions, recommendations and the measures to take in order to cut costs and optimize the fleet management activities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK TO DOWNLOAD THE PROPOSED FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Fleet-Management-Audit-AFMC.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fleet Management Audit AFMC<\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has played a part in fuel prices trending lower than previous years and continued social distancing and shelter-in-place mandates are intensifying it further. \u201cTypically gas prices start to trend more expensive at the beginning of spring, especially as motorists get out to enjoy the warmer weather and travel for spring break. That&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[302],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4886"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4888,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4886\/revisions\/4888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}