The cost of doing business continuously increases as gasoline prices soar. Many service companies (e.g. plumbing, air conditioning and chimney contractors) have realized this as gasoline expenses have reached the ceiling. In an effort to offset this cost many companies are cutting budgets in other key areas like marketing and advertising. Many companies are realizing as they cut budgets for advertising they are seeing a decrease in profits which requires further budget cuts. This can have a snowball effect; however, there are adjustments that can be made to relieve the strain on the gasoline budget.

One adjustment that would make a significant difference is a process for more efficient routing. Companies that service large areas (e.g. large cities) discover that some areas are serviced more frequently than others; some areas require repairs (e.g. older areas) while some require accessories (e.g. new areas). Through computers and the internet there are a number of software packages which have scheduling and dispatching functionality. Companies can utilize routing and scheduling functionality to decrease the driving distance each work order requires.

A good practice for companies servicing large areas is to schedule calls based on location (e.g. a technician may not be in someone’s area for three days, so ask if they can wait). Obviously not all of the service calls will fit into the routes so it is also a good practice to have a roaming vehicle. This vehicle will pick up the calls which could not be put in an efficient schedule.

Another adjustment is to examine the vehicle’s engine, determining if the engine is too large. This is a long term approach; however, as these vehicles are retired and new vehicles are purchased it may be worthwhile to downsize the engine. For example, if a company has vehicles which do not require heavy loads but have V8s then maybe these should be exchanged for V6s; six pistons will require less gasoline than eight.

The last adjustment is to have regular inspections of the vehicles. These should not be done by a third party and should check items like the air filter and tire air pressure. Checks for items like this once a week can save gasoline and maintenance costs.

There are obviously more ways to decrease the gasoline expenses of a company. A number of factors need to be taken into consideration while deciding if a process or practice should be adopted. Some adjustments are obvious while other take time and creativity.