Fuel

Its not any immediate help, but I use a COMDATA card for my mom and pop, or local fuel stop's when their price is lower than the corporate stops. You would have to apply for it, and it has a $15 monthly card charge. It operates like a credit card, and i have it so it automatically draws from you bank account every week. They do have credit limits, but allows you one week of fuel ups if the credit limit they give you is high enough. The other option ilike is a ES Advantage fuel card. It has to be pre funded and the fee's (when ach usually 1% of the amount you load, and a $1) can't hardly be beat when you figure in the discount you can get when fueling up. The discount always varies, sometimes $.30, some times $.90. It works at Loves, T/A, Petro, and some other. Very user friendly and easy to pre load with funds directly from your account with either a ACH, or charge from your debit card. When running over the road, i have had it save me well over $1,000 in a month because of discounts. They have a referal program, and is easy to get set up.

A line of credit at the bank would keep you from disclosing your "woes" on the WORLD WIDE WEB.

If the guy can't buy fuel now, probably the only possible immediate option is an operating loan, which i highly don't recomend in the trucking business unless you have a strong and healthy weekly cash flow. If you could comprehended the first part of my reply, one could possibly figure with the statement, "Not of any immediate help" that i was not suggesting immediate help..... So further down the road, if he gets back on his feet with funds for fuel, these are some options to save money on fuel. I like to keep $2,000 on my "pre-loaded" card, and every time i fill up, i reload what i just spent for the fill up. This ensure's i always have funds for fuel. Does that help Brad?

Raise your rates. Just because everyone else hauls for cheap, doesn't mean they aren't going broke doing it.

Another case of no business plan or a poor one dealing with fuel purchase should not come as a surprise but should have been planned on before you ever hauled your first load, trucking is easy to get into because every dealer has to sell you something to stay in business so then unprepared or unqaulfied people get into trucking which is profitable if done correctly, use your credit card if you have one and continue to struggle, with the election coming up I would take a long hard look what will happen if we continue down the same path we are on, will there be more work or less and will you be able to make it ? regroup prepare for the worst and if the world gets better then try again but use the lessen learned from this go around or ruin your credit loose what you got and work a 9 to 5 job blaming the world because you were stubborn or develop a business plan that works change your billing terms and work on succeding instead of wimpering you need help.