March 2011

• March 15th, 2011
• Aurielle Destiche

Looks like wasting time sitting in traffic is going to be a thing of the past, thanks a recent update to Google Maps Navigation for Android. Now, if you’re driving and there is traffic up ahead, the Google Maps Navigation app will automatically route you around the congested roads. Appropriately, the new feature is called “Route Around.”

Route Around gives drivers the most efficient route, automatically taking real-time traffic into consideration. According to Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of consumer services, “People drive more than 35 million miles a day while being assisted by Google Maps Navigation. The Route Around feature currently saves users two years of drive time every day, or about 12 million miles per year.

Prior to the update, the app had the ability to display traffic information, but you had to manually input an alternate route. Route Around replaces the old method of navigating a driver to a route that was technically the quickest, but didn’t take traffic conditions into consideration.

• March 15th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

Recently Price Lock and Automotive Fleet partnered to conduct a survey to gain insight on businesses’ views on fuel pricing, its impact on their fuel budgets and any steps they may have taken to proactively manage volatile gas prices. The survey said the two biggest issues for fleets are fuel efficiency and lack of control over gas costs.

What’s interesting about these results is that gas prices have risen almost $.40 since the polling ended. (The survey was conducted form January 20, 2011 to February 18, 2011.) If companies were feeling the pain at the gas pump a month ago, when gas prices were much less, then they really must be concerned now.

The results of the survey showed that 99% of respondents are concerned with fuel prices in 2011. 65% of survey respondents said that they were forced to absorb higher fuel costs, but only 16% are able to pass the increased costs onto the customer.

• March 14th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

Gas prices on Friday March 11,2011 are at $3.542 for a gallon of regular unleaded, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, up 76 cents a gallon from a year ago. Global oil prices have risen about 36 percent over the past year. People are getting more anxious because there is no relief in sight.

Violence in Libya has cut that nation’s oil production by 1 million barrels a day from its usual 1.7 million barrels. Rumors that the violence is spreading into Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer at 10 million barrels a day, is another big worry.

President Obama addressing frantic appeals from lawmakers to do something in response to rising gas prices, said Friday he is “prepared” to tap into the country’s ample oil reserve if necessary. Obama also said he encourages domestic drilling in a responsible way.

• March 11th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

March 7, 2011, San Diego – Obama addressed the nation this morning about rising gas prices. Here is a summary of what he said…

‘In an economy that relies on oil, everybody is effected by the recent rises in gas prices – farmers, truck drivers, restaurants, doctors, lawyers. Businesses feel it in their bottom line and consumers feel the pinch at the pump. For Americans already facing tough times, it’s a new burden.

Today as global demand is increasing, and turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East escalates, gas prices are rising again due to tightened supply.

But rising gas prices are not a new phenomenon. Three years age before the recession hit, a combination of factors including rising demand from China, gas rose to $4 a gallon. Then worldwide recession and a decrease in demand pushed prices back down.

• March 11th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

Many small businesses say that as much as skyrocketing gas prices are cutting the bottom line, they’re doing everything they can not to raise prices — yet. Instead, businesses are realizing they can no longer overlook opportunities to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Cost savings initiatives include routing optimization, using more fuel efficient cars and trucks, considering other fuel alternatives, investing in fleet tracking technology and, in at least one case, using hedges to offset rising costs.

• March 10th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) just released its updated short term outlook for gas prices.

EIA expects the retail price of regular-grade motor gasoline to average $3.56 per gallon in 2011, 77 cents per gallon higher than the 2010 average and about 40 cents above the projected price in the previous Outlook. EIA projects gasoline prices to average about $3.70 per gallon during the peak driving season (April through September) with considerable regional and local variation.

This is an 18 cent increase from today’s current gas prices, which are already astronomically high. Yesterday (March 8, 2011) the national average for a gallon of regular was $3.52, according to AAA, Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.

EIA also predicts that the projected monthly average regular gasoline price will peak at $3.75 per gallon in June. Other analysts are saying gas prices will raise another $.50 by this years’ peak driving season.

• March 9th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

I filled my gas tank up this morning in San Diego. It was $4.21 for a gallon of regular unleaded. Premium gas was well over the $4.50 mark.And it’s only March! Yikes! Gasoline prices typically fall in the winter and rise in the spring as refiners switch to more expensive summer blends of gasoline. Since 2000, prices in May have been 52 cents per gallon on average higher than in February, according to the Energy Information Administration. Right now, California averages the most expensive fuel at $3.90 per gallon.

High gas prices can be a tough burden on small businesses. The recent surge is now putting pressure on already-price-conscious consumers and small businesses that rely on fuel to keep their businesses up and running. The situation is forcing tough choices on small-business owners who are reluctant to charge more for fear of losing cost-conscious customers.

There is a psychological effect of increased gas prices, as it creates more uncertainty and anxiety for small businesses. No one knows how high it will go. This is definitely on everyone’s mind. For example, Blank Label, a Boston-based start-up that sells customizable men’s shirts, told Inc Magazine that he has already seen quarterly 10-15 price increases from DHL, their shipping partner, in addition to higher input costs from the rise in price of raw materials. Like many retailers, Blank Label is seeing the rise in the price of gasoline affect their bottom-line. “There’s definitely quite a bit of margin pressure,” says Fan Bi, the company’s founder.

• March 7th, 2011
• Jackson Parker

Gas prices are incredibly high and climbing. World oil prices are trading near some of their highest levels in almost three years as violent combat continues in Libya, one of Africa’s biggest crude oil producers. Many people wonder just how high prices will go, as fears arise that the fighting may thread throughout the Middle East.