The Wonders of Wet Hosing

The gas crisis may seem to be over at the moment, with prices per gallon down to under $2 in many parts of the country, but it's hard to believe that anyone really believes that it won't climb back sooner or later. Which is all just a way of suggesting that down the road, if you find yourself desperate to save on the amount of gas you have to buy to keep your business running, you, too, may want to discover the world of wet hosing.

Or not. It isn't for everyone. Wet hosing is the definition for what happens when you hire a company to fill your fleet of trucks, your construction equipment or any other vehicle you might have that routinely needs gas. (It's also a term used in the shipping industry, when you take a land-based truck full of gasoline and you fill up a vessel.)

Paying somebody to put gas in one of your vehicles may seem crazy, but if you consider that you're probably paying your employees to fill up the vehicle, wet hosing may start to make a little sense. The argument -- pushed by companies that do wet hosing, of course -- is that if you have a crew of delivery drivers, for instance, they might spend 30 minutes a day traveling to a gas station, waiting in line and pumping fuel. Since you're paying your drivers' wages, this is a hidden charge to your gas costs.

And because wet hosing is usually done at night, when the vehicle is parked, drivers can come to their vehicles in the morning, wasting no time and ready to go. That said, wet hosing companies will fill up vehicles around the clock, if their customers want them to. And in some cases, for instance, if your trucks run on diesel, biodiesel or an alternative fuel like ultra-low sulfur diesel that may be environmentally friendly not always available at every gas station, a company that offers wet hosing might be a godsend.

But since it can typically add three to 12 cents per gallon to your overall fuel costs to hire a company for wet hosing, it really only makes sense if you'll be offsetting those costs due to having a lot of vehicles and numerous man hours you'll be saving. Otherwise, and it has to be said, wet hosing may just leave you feeling all wet.