Have you looked over the invoices from your management company and wondered if they are paying too much for fuel? Is $7.00 a gallon really the best price they could get at that airport? Could the company have had the FBO waive some of its fees due to the cost of fuel being paid, or bought a few gallons more to reach the next tier to get a larger discount on the price per gallon, or was it better to just pay the fees?
During the development of our Jet Auditing™ program we asked ourselves many of the same questions and we decided to develop a solution to better serve our customers. The resolution we came up with is the proprietary FuelTraq™ software program. FuelTraq™ is designed to cross compare fuel pricing from different vendors. FuelTraq™ is designed with the ability to review historical fuel pricing so we will be able to review customer fuel invoices months after the initial invoice date. For example, we can pull up pricing for a designated airport on October 31 and compare the price paid, say $7.00 a gallon, to the known prices on the field from each of the competitors as well.
The software can also evaluate fuel options to establish what airport would be the best for tankering fuel. With fuel being the largest expense item for our Jet Auditing™ clients, we developed this software to minimize the cost of fuel. In our experience we have identified situations where the aircraft was “topped off” where fuel was $1.00 more than the next airport…in some cases this may be justifiable but not always. The reasons are varied and may be due to price breaks for purchasing certain amounts of fuel, or the purchase of a set amount of gallons may waive the landing fees, ramp fees and service fees, which off-set the price difference between the FBO’s. Another reason may be that the aircraft may need to make a quick turnaround to pick up the next customer. Our FuelTraq™ software helps us find these instances and ensure that our client’s fuel bills are optimized.
There are many reasons why the management company was billed at a higher price option. One reason would be that they are not affiliated with the card program that has the lowest price at that particular FBO. For example, the management company may have a Brand A card but not a Brand B card. Another reason may be that the pilots accidentally utilized an incorrect card for the specific location. Trip notes may indicate that the best price was obtainable with the Brand C card, but if the pilot mistakenly pays with the Brand D card then the owner pays more than needed.
The bottom line is that Jet Advisors® has developed their FuelTraq™ program specifically to evaluate the fuel prices being paid by the aircraft owner. Our tankering algorithm will help ensure a fuel optimization strategy that will save the Jet Auditing™ clients money.