by Phil Baratz There is a scene that is attributed to Law School professors dating back to the 1930’s, telling students to “look to your left and then look to your right. By the end of this year, one of the two will no longer be in Law School”. In other words, if…
By Jeff Simpson Fuel dealers have been facing some unprecedented conditions this summer which have a real potential to strain cash availability during the 2022-23 heating season should they persist. The primary factors impacting the industry of late include: Historically high commodity costs Basis blowout Rising tank & equipment costs Supply chain issues (difficulty building…
In recent weeks, fuel dealers had been lamenting the impact on earnings from an unusually placid winter stretch, with hopes buoyed in some respect by very favorable commodity prices. But seemingly overnight, the COVID-19 scourge which was critically impacting other parts of the world suddenly became very real. Now a pandemic, the virus impact has…
As uncertainty surrounding the myriad of potential impacts as the result of COVID-19 keeps growing, politicians, regulators, medical professionals, clerical leaders, and economists face the ever-daunting task of answering some of the unanswerable questions: How many will be infected? Can we truly segment those who are at greater risk? Will the expected mortality rate fall?…
Have you ever gotten in your car and decided to just drive to a destination without a plan on how to get there? What streets would you take? Would you need to stop for gas? Would you need your GPS? These are just a few of the many items that you would need to consider…
It doesn’t matter what industry your business is in; your customer data holds the keys to unlocking powerful information. It is the direct guide to your customers and your operation. This is especially true in the fuel industry. Most of the time you find yourself guessing about what you think your customers need or what…
There are two areas of your business that will determine your success or failure for the remainder of this season: Financials and Operations. Your financials act as the “symptoms,” giving you the first signs that something is wrong. Once you can determine where the problem may be, you can review your operations to help guide…
As you all know, weather can dictate how profitable your company will be during the season. Some of you may already be familiar with weather hedging programs and may even have implemented them into your company’s strategy. While we still see many companies with misconceptions about weather hedging, the main source of this misunderstanding stems…
Weather hedging may seem unnecessary – until it isn’t. One month you have record low temperatures followed by another month with record high temperatures. The point is, weather is too unpredictable and can negatively affect the success of your company. While we may not be able to predict the weather, there are certainly ways to…
“Old habits die hard.” For better or worse, this well-worn phrase applies to many who operate in the fuel
