Gas at $3.00 this summer?

[KMCLawn]

With the rumor of gas possibly hitting $3.00 a gallon, is anyone changing the way they figure bidding on seasonal contract this year?

[Scaper-S2k]

I think they have been calling for $3 gas for about 3-4 years now. If they keep it up, one of these years they will be correct!

The cost of most things continue to go up, mowing/landscaping should be no different. The main problem this industry has is new guys not figuring in all costs, so they feel they can price very low. Lower than the others. Then go out of biz in 2 years, but leave the others to get the prices back up to normal.

My recommendation is to bid high enough so that a flucuation in fuel isn't going to make or break the bank.

[Phil Nilsson]

The main problem this industry has is new guys not figuring in all costs, so they feel they can price very low. Lower than the others. Then go out of biz in 2 years, but leave the others to get the prices back up to normal

Low price is often the ONLY thing a newstart has to offer ... it's not expertise and it's not experience ... or job knowledge ...

Low price is not the main problem in this industry ... it's too much competition ... THAT is what leads to low price. Even the most experienced ... biggest ... been in biz for years ... companies price low because they MUST if they want to have work. It's not rocket science ... anybody can do it ... and will ... and much of the work is done "under the table" ... with "illegal, untaxed workers" ... that in itself has a tendency to (reduce costs ... ) while at the same time increase profits ... ... it's easy to make money when you have no costs ...

WalMart is the low price leader in retail ... yet they are the most successful ... why? ... NO COMPETITION at those levels of pricing.

Don't mess with your price too much because of the chance of $3.00 gas ...

[KMCLawn]

I started last year figuring into the bid a higher rate of fuel cost at $2.30 a gallon plus my normal business costs. It seems to work as of now and should cover any flux in gas pricing. I don't always get the low bid but I hope my customers are hiring me for my skills and knowlege. I thank you for your help and think I will leave my pricing alone for now or until gas goes above $2.30 a gallon.

[cruelsummer]

I say we drill in the barren wastelands of Alaska, even if we dont pump there, that would freak the arabs out, just the thought of our country NOT depending on these unstable countries would really shake things up, take their oil money away and they would all be like Ethiopia, very well behaved! They would be begging us to take their oil at half of what it is now, just so they could eat,

[rednktxn]

I Think We Should Be Taking Control Of Our Oil Fields In The Middle East.

[work it]

Last year I changed my contracts and added in a gas clause....or should that be CLAWS? It simply states that their prices will change to reflect the changing prices. It can be a little bit of a PITA keeping up with the billing, but my customers find it fair. I've had a couple people ask, "What happens if the prices go back down?" Simple, my prices reflect what the gas prices do during that week.

[bmclouse]

The gas Prices here went up .10 today. It is now 1.90 last year at this time it was 1.75. Deisel went up to 2.15 last year at this time it was around 1.68.

With the Price per barrel going up I could see Gas at 2.25 to 2.50 and deisel at about 2.35 by mid sumer. And thats in East TN. Big Cities could almost go to th 3.00 mark.

[Blake]

I paid $2.29 for reg nolead this morning. Last year gas was $1.75/gal & you burn 10 gallons in 8 hours that's only $0.69 more per hour. I realize that someone with 10 25hp mowers this will add up in a month. But on a per yard basis it's not very much. I still think you should be paid more if you pay more. Most customers understand, the ones that don't you probably can't keep happy anyway.

[work it]

I paid $2.29 for reg nolead this morning. Last year gas was $1.75/gal & you burn 10 gallons in 8 hours that's only $0.69 more per hour. I realize that someone with 10 25hp mowers this will add up in a month. But on a per yard basis it's not very much. I still think you should be paid more if you pay more. Most customers understand, the ones that don't you probably can't keep happy anyway.

I'm not too worried about how much the mowers are burning as opposed to the truck. With it only getting 9 mpg it's eating away at profits. Even now I'm constantly running all over the city putting in bids this time of the season. And once everything is going full scale I'll really feel the burn.

[KMCLawn]

Your right the truck is the biggest user of fuel. My area is mostly agricultural and alot of my accounts are out of town. I schedule them according to where I will be at that day. I have a bigger city to the west where most of my commercial accounts are and lake area to the east of me. Both are around 35 miles distance from my home. I have a few cemetaries in between. I usually worry more about the costs driving to the jobs than the extra costs at the jobsites.

[merlin]

Well buckle your seatbelts cause here we go. I was at my local station this am and the gas company rep was there. I am good friends with the store manager so I was able to question him a little about this situation.

Here was the result of the conversation. Gas WILL BE AT $2.60 per gallon for 87 octane by Memorial Day. There is gonna be a big rise soon. Just this week it has gone up $.14 cent in one day. He said after it goes to that price do not look for it to drop below $2.00 ever again.

[work it]

Just hope everyone is bracing for the worst. Time to update those lawn and landscape maintenance contracts and add the gas clause. Hard to believe that my minimum is going to jump from $33/wk to $40/wk when it hits $2.75/gal. What's even harder to believe is that the profit margin is still going to be about the same. Time to break out the calculators....ouch!

[jt5019]

I just raised my accounts last summer do to the insane gas prices.I dont think it would go over well if i raised them again.This year im considering just bidding any new accounts higher that way its already covered from the beginning and if the gas prices drop i dont have to explain why i didnt lower my prices back.

[Allan]

Just hope everyone is bracing for the worst. Time to update those lawn and landscape maintenance contracts and add the gas clause. Hard to believe that my minimum is going to jump from $33/wk to $40/wk when it hits $2.75/gal. What's even harder to believe is that the profit margin is still going to be about the same. Time to break out the calculators....ouch!

You mean that the gas prices are costing you an EXTRA $7 per property? Wow.

BTW, most of my prices are decreasing this year. Not by much but it is still a decrease. The profit is going up though in spite of higher gas prices.