My guess is that most of you have a fuel management program. It is either real or it's in your head, but you believe you have an effective fuel program that is money saving when it comes to buying fleet fuel. While you might really have that type of program, our research shows that most companies don't have a comprehensive program when it comes to their fuel management needs.

One thing that I know we can agree on is the impossibility of trying to predict diesel fuel prices, weather and the unpredictable acts of god. I have talked about diesel fuel prices in the past, and you can bet it will come back up again in this column, but today it is weather and acts of god. I'm not talking about the sweltering weather of summer or snowy, cold winter weather; though you certainly want to make sure you have a good fuel additive program during those cold winter months. I am talking about the weather that you don't see coming: Hurricanes, mud slides, heavy tropical storms, tornados, power grind disruptions, floods, frozen rivers, broken pipelines, you get the picture. These things happen and they happen more often than any of us want them to.

The key for your company to be successful when things like those listed above happen is to have an emergency fuel management backup plan in place. If you operated in Nashville recently, when the river flooded and your trucks were in five feet of water, there wasn't a lot you could do as far as your fleet fuel goes. That was a very “out of the box” situation and sometimes no matter how hard you plan there just isn't anything you can do.

Here is my short list of emergency fuel management tips:

• If you have bulk fuel tanks, work out a contract with one fuel vendor and establish a relationship with them. This is critical when an emergency happens. If you are trying to beat the fuel market each day where the lowest diesel fuel prices win, you will lose when an emergency happens. The fuel vendors will only be as loyal to you as you are to them.
• Keep your bulk fuel tanks as full as possible. This will give you a couple of day's supply.
• Make sure you have a backup generator for your pumps or you won't be pumping diesel fuel out of your bulk fuel tanks if the power goes out.
• Make sure your generators are always topped up with full. The diesel fuel used in a generator should be well treated with a fuel additive and should be run through several cycles per year. Don't let the next emergency be the first time you've used your generator(s) since the last emergency. Diesel fuel can go bad if it sits around too long.
• If you don't have mobile fleet fueling at your location, establish a relationship with a mobile fueling vendor. This can help with your generator fueling, mobile fueling directly into your fleet of trucks, as well as possibly bringing you in a short load of diesel fuel into your bulk tank if you have one.
• You might already have fleet fuel cards because you buy most of your fleet fuel over the road, but if you have bulk tanks or mobile fueling, having fleet fuel cards in a drawer that work can really help you out in a pinch. You are not going to be able to order fleet fuel cards during an emergency and expect to get them anytime soon. It takes time to process them and who is going to deliver them: FedEx, UPS, USPS are all battling the same issues you are during this time of crisis.

As a fuel manager, you need to make sure your fuel management systems are in place before the problem happens. There is also no reason why - during a crisis - you should sign off on all your fleet fueling bills like any diesel fuel price is acceptable. Yes, delivering during a crisis takes more time and effort and there is a price to pay for that, but a fuel analysis after the fact won't do your company much good, so get your emergency fuel management pricing deals in place before the emergency.

Good luck.