The true cost of a fuel run on a job site
The fuel is the smallest expense. The larger costs are labor, vehicle use, lost time and equipment sitting idle.
Count everything that leaves the site
When a machine runs low mid-morning, a worker stops, drives to a gas station, fills fuel cans, returns and refuels the machine. The fuel is the smallest cost of that trip.
The larger costs are the paid hour, the vehicle and the idle equipment. On a tight schedule, one excavator out of fuel can delay more than one crew.
Fuel cans are the most expensive fuel on the job
Fuel purchased five gallons at a time from a retail station carries the highest price. For off-road equipment, it is usually road-taxed fuel as well, which adds tax the equipment does not require.
Fuel cans are also unmetered, so there is no accurate record of how much fuel the job used.
Fuel before the shift
The most efficient time to fuel a job site is before the crew arrives. Every machine is ready when work begins, and no one has to work around a fuel truck.
Scheduling fuel before the shift removes the mid-morning fuel run entirely.