Despite fuel prices taking a dip in December and remaining down through the first full week of January, few expect this to be the new normal. But as of yet, STN readers said fuel prices that continue to be more than $1 cheaper nationwide than this time last year are not prompting them to enter long-term contracts and lock in the lower prices.
More than 68 percent of fleet managers who responded to last month’s maintenance survey said they remain uninterested in fuel hedging. Meanwhile, slightly more than half of the respondents said lower fuel prices are strengthening their position to continue on with diesel or gasoline fleets, as that makes the most sense for their current operations.
Thirty percent said lower fuel prices aren’t changing their resolve to transition to alternative fuels that are cheaper in the long run to operate and cleaner to burn. But less than 11 percent said their operations currently use alternative fuels. Eighteen percent said they didn’t know one way or another if low fuel prices would affect their decision moving forward.
In response to a question on the importance of transmission to overall bus fuel economy, 68 percent responded “very important” compared to 30 percent who said “somewhat important.” Less than 2 percent said transmission is “not important” to achieving better fuel economy.
The STN survey, conducted from Dec. 8 through the end of 2014, was emailed to 3,935 readers who list their job titles as fleet manager, director of maintenance or lead technician, and 210 completed it.
More results from the maintenance survey will be published in the February magazine edition.
