By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Six cents in two days may not sound like much, but when Barton County’s Works Department is securing a contract for up to 50,000 gallons of diesel fuel to be used over the next 12 months, the savings add up. Tuesday morning, County Works Director Chris Schartz provided an updated bid to the Barton County Commission for approval.
“Every year, the road and bridge department and the noxious weed department, we go out for bulk fueling because it is cheaper for the departments to run bulk fueling because we can get it considerably cheaper than we can get it for pump price,” Schartz said.
On June 22, Schartz approached American Plains Co-op and Zip’s Services for quotes with the turbulent fuel prices worldwide. Zip’s was unable to complete the bidding process due to equipment requirements from the county. On June 22, American Plains quoted the county $3.35 per gallon of clear diesel, and $3.14 for dyed diesel. Two days later, the price dropped to $3.29 for clear diesel and $3.08 for dyed. The county typically secures the price from July 1 through June 30 of the following year, or 50,000 gallons, whichever is used first. The six-cent decrease could save the county $3,000.
“It just depends on the quadrant we’re in,” said Schartz. “Last year, we were in the southwest, which is close to town, so the 50,000 gallons got us right at a year. With us being a little farther in the southeast, and then part of next year we’ll be in the northeast, which is our farthest haul, it will probably go a little shorter that year.”
Schartz said the goal is to get the contract as close to a year as possible. Variables like weather, which can mean snow removal and brine application to roads, can shorten the contract to 10-11 months as the 50,000 gallons of fuel is consumed.