Costs for petrol and diesel are becoming more and more subject to immense variabilities and thus they constitute an incalculable cost factor – and this has caused unavoidable consequences on the transport sector. At Schenker Deutschland AG fuel costs continue to constitute about 12 percent of the total haulage costs for general cargo/network transports. The percentage for part and complete loads is significantly higher.
For the first time Schenker Deutschland AG therefore implemented a variable method for the quotation of a separate fuel surcharge – the floating model.
DB Schenker bases its calculations for this diesel component on the “index of the Federal Statistics Office for Diesel Prices passed on to Major Consumers.” In the so-called "floating model“ the diesel supplement rises or falls by 0.5 percent points if the index rises or falls by 4 per cent.
The floating model at Schenker Deutschland AG
| |
Index |
Variance to basis
|
Diesel
Surcharge |
Valid from:* |
| BASIS: |
|
|
|
|
4. quater 2005
(Oct - Dec) |
105.0 |
0.0 |
4.0% |
- |
| |
|
|
|
|
1. quater 2008
(Jan - Mar)
|
118.4 |
+12.8% |
5.5% |
05/01/2008 |
|
2. quater 2008
(Apr - Jun)
|
134.6 |
+28.2% |
7.5% |
08/01/2008 |
|
3. quater 2008
(Jul - Sep)
|
130.9 |
+24.7% |
7.0% |
11/01/2008 |
|
4. quater 2008
(Oct - Dec)
|
107.1 |
+2.0% |
4.0% |
02/01/2009 |
|
January 2009
|
96.7 |
-7.9% |
3.0%** |
03/01/2009 |
| February 2009 |
93.4 |
-11.0% |
3.0% |
04/01/2009 |
|
March 2009
|
90.5 |
-13.8% |
2.5% |
05/01/2009 |
|
April 2009
|
94,7 |
- 9.8% |
3.0% |
06/01/2009 |
|
May 2009
|
95.0 |
- 9.5% |
3.0% |
07/01/2009 |
|
June 2009
|
100.8 |
- 4.0% |
3.5% |
08/01/2009 |
|
July 2009
|
95.5 |
-9.1% |
3.0% |
09/01/2009 |
|
August 2009
|
100.5 |
-4.3% |
3.5% |
10/01/2009 |
|
September 2009
|
98.0 |
-6.7% |
3.5% |
11/01/2009 |
|
October 2009
|
101.9 |
-3.0% |
4.0% |
12/01/2009 |
| November 2009 |
101.0 |
-3.8% |
4.0% |
01/01/2010 |
| December 2009 |
100.0 |
-4.8% |
3.5% |
02/01/2010 |
| January 2010 |
103.8 |
-1.1% |
4.0% |
03/01/2010 |
| February 2010 |
103.8 |
-1.1% |
4.0% |
04/01/2010 |
| March 2010 |
108.3 |
+3.1% |
4.0% |
05/01/2010 |
| April 2010 |
112,8 |
+7,4% |
4,5% |
06/01/2010 |
| May 2010 |
113,4 |
+8,0% |
5,0% |
07/01/2010 |
| June 2010 |
112,7 |
+7,3% |
4,5% |
08/01/2010 |
| July 2010 |
|
|
|
09/01/2010 |
*Attention: The Federal Statistical Office adapts the assessment basis of the price indexes every five years. At January 2009 the assessment basis year was changed from 2000 to 2005. The general calculation of the DB SCHENKER Diesel Floating Model was not affected hereby. The model is based upon the current index of the Federal Statistical Office respectivly - now with basis year 2005. For reasons of transparency and integrity of information we provide an overview and the development of the index and diesel surcharge with basis year 2000 on the second page.
**The index of the Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt) was not available at the time of evaluation. Therefore, Schenker Deutschland AG had to estimate the diesel surcharge on the basis of current market observations. Schenker Deutschland AG decided to round the surcharge down to 3.0% which was in favor of its customers (according to the latest publication of the Federal Statistical Office a surcharge of 3.5% would have been appropriate).
In concrete terms this means:
A fall of the price index sees DB Schenker customers profiting automatically. In contrast, the diesel component increases when energy costs significantly rise. The diesel component is adjusted to the actual price situation every quarter. Applying the "floating model" has the great advantage of keeping the administrative effort down to a minimum.
Improvements in efficiency achieve a lot – but alone are not enoughAn economic enterprise has no influence on the energy price. However, it can introduce measures to reduce consumption. In this regard Schenker Deutschland AG has been making a concerted effort for many years now:
- Increased deployment of large-volume units
- Driver training focusing on “economic driving”
- Controlling transports via central hubs (avoidance of unladen journeys, better truck capacity utilisation, optimisation of routing procedures)
The individual measures employed by various branch offices have also helped to reduce energy costs. For example, the Saarbrücken branch (Anterist + Schneider) recently acquired 23 trucks fitted with the innovative Blue Tec5 diesel technology and thus have been able to save between 1,500 and 2,000 litres of fuel for every 150,000 kilometres driven.
This and many additional efficiency-increasing measures have reduced energy consumption. Even so, they cannot completely compensate for the rise in diesel prices.