In the US President Obama has recently announced the next crucial phase in the fuel efficiency standards, which have been agreed with leading car makers to increase fuel efficiency and reduce the greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted from all new vehicles sold in the US.

The new standards support the Administration’s plans to not only reduce the US’s dependence on oil, but also to protect the environment and save consumers money.

Carmakers have agreed new fuel efficiency standards proposed by the Obama administration in an effort to end the dominance of US gas guzzlers.

Here in Europe we are miles ahead of our American counterparts when it comes to fuel efficiency:

For an example, in April 2009, Directive 2009/30/EC was adopted which revises the Fuel Quality Directive [Directive 98/70/EC]. It amends a number of elements of the petrol and diesel specifications as well as introducing in Article 7a a requirement on fuel suppliers to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of energy supplied for road transport (Low Carbon Fuel Standard). In addition the Directive establishes sustainability criteria that must be met by biofuels if they are to count towards the greenhouse gas intensity reduction obligation.

We at BWOC try to help the cause by being a responsible supplier of fuel into the UK, we understand the impact of CO₂ on the environment and as a result of this we are working towards a sustainable and responsible business model that develops our long term business strategy with the ability to provide a comprehensive socially and environmentally supportive fuel supply solution to the UK marketplace.

As a result of this we strive to steer business strategies and projects within our own group of companies that lead to positive environmental change.

Here at BWOC we offer a range of fuel card services which are designed to offer you the convenience of cashless refuelling, enhanced security features and management reporting in a variety of formats.

As a responsible bulk fuel supplier, we are continuously working towards reducing our CO₂ carbon footprint through improved efficiencies, new technologies and improved products.

BWOC’s sheer determination to provide our customers with reliable fuel supply, extremely competitive prices and exceptional customer service is why we would be the best bulk fuel supplier for you.

BWOC are an independent wholesaler of fuel, supplying in excess of 600 million litres of petroleum products annually into the UK marketplace. We take a genuine interest in both local and global fuel suppliers and fuel efficiency standard issues.

For more information on Bulk Fuel or Fuel Card Services visit our website: BWOC

Author: Emma Keast

Blogs Focus: Fuel Card Services BWOC CO₂ Carbon Footprint Bulk Fuel Supplier

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Tags: bulk fuel supplier, BWOC, co2 carbon footprint, Fuel card services

In the sunny month of July the fight for cheaper fuel continued, in their latest pressure-building stunt FairFuelUK campaigners took a trip to 10 Downing Street to hand deliver a letter to the Prime Minister himself. The letter outlines the increasing struggle endured by companies and how foreign competitors are poaching their business with the aid of less taxed fuel, signed by Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow.

The MPs all helped to push a car to Downing Street from Whitehall at 9am on the 12^th July 2011 to show their support for the millions of UK motorists and businesses struggling with high petrol and diesel prices. The letter will set out the urgent need for the Government to pressure Oil companies to pass on reductions in the cost of Oil and for the Government to abandon its plan to increase fuel duty in January 2012. This January increase could add up to 4 p per litre.

FTA Chief Executive Theo de Pencier (one of the gentlemen to hand over the letter) had commented. “Fuel is the biggest single cost for transport operators, and unless the government acts to relieve the pressure faced by hauliers and other businesses we could be in danger of seeing more redundancies and more insolvencies in this beleaguered sector.”

Robert Halfon, who was also at Downing Street to hand over the letter, stressed that high fuel taxes weren’t working and restricted freighters. He said: “Not only are our road freight industries being crushed, but foreign road freight operators continue to expand their operations in the UK at the expense of domestic hauliers as their rates of duty are up to 24 pence per litre less than their British counterparts.”

Motoring strategist for the RAC commented that “peoples’ ability to live their lives and do the most basic of tasks, such as visit family and take their children to after school activities, is being threatened and it looks like it’s only going to get worse,”

How can we help? BWOC offer a range of fuel card services which are designed to offer you the convenience of cashless refuelling, enhanced security features and management reporting in a variety of formats.

For more information on how to save money through buying Bulk Fuel and Bunkering Services you can visit the BWOC website.

Author Emma Keast

Blog Focus           Bulk Fuel BWOC fuel card services Bunkering Services

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Tags: Bulk Fuel, bunkering services, BWOC, Fuel card services

As many of you will know there has recently been a dip in petrol prices across the UK, falling by nearly 1p per litre. The current drop in the price of crude oil means that the forecourts are now paying 3p less a litre for the fuel they sell.

We all want to get the best out of our purchases, to look after ourselves and to make sure that we achieve the fullest out of life. Part of living to many people is having the ability to travel, whether it is by a car, train or an aeroplane, so when something restricts us from being able to go wherever we want this can be very frustrating.

People around the UK have found recently that the cost of fuel and its current rise is restricting us from travelling, or maybe even at worst being able to drive at all.

Petrol –What’s your monthly spend?

On average in the UK, a litre of petrol costs 135.71p with diesel costing 139.89p a litre. Compared to pump prices a year ago this represents 19.22p and 20.91p price increases. With these prices it’s adding roughly £40 on top of the monthly petrol spend of a two car household.

Many businesses have been affected by this and the fleet industry especially has been hit hard with the cost of filling for example, an 80 litre tank vehicle with diesel, the price has increased by £16.73 from 2010. With a low petrol price of 134.9p a litre, the cheapest fuel in the UK (August) is located in Yorkshire and Humberside. Northern Ireland now averages at the most expensive location when it comes to fuel prices which may vary from 136.7p a litre.

For many of our fleet drivers, the consumption of fuel and cost is also an issue. Here at BWOC we try to offer a range of fuel cards which are designed to give you the convenience of cashless refuelling, enhanced security features and management reporting in a variety of formats. We are also leading providers of bulk fuel into the Keyfuels and UK Fuel bunker systems.

If you would like to find out any more information on BWOC and our fuel card services, or how we could help you, please visit BWOC today.

Author: Emma Keast

Blog Focus: BWOC Bulk Fuel Fuel Cards Keyfuels

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For many of us drivers in the UK, the cost of fuel and its continuous rise is slowly becoming of great concern. It is a worry that the rise in fuel may result in no one being able to drive as freely as they wish. This is also potentially a problem for fleets and fleet drivers as they have numerous vehicles in use each day.

There are many ways in which we all could potentially help cut the cost of fuel, some of which are to ensure we all carry good driving habits. Another way is to ensure you are careful about the little things such as always keeping your vehicles tyres properly inflated, avoiding driving aggressively and by reducing the air conditioning use in your vehicle. However, we believe the simplest way to help manage the cost of fuel is to invest in a Fuel Card.

Fuel cards are becoming more and more popular within fleet companies as they allow fleet managers to monitor the fuel usage of a vehicle. They can be personalised to each staff member and allow managers to see how much fuel is being used and how often.

How does a fuel card work?

Fuel cards work like a credit card except they are not linked to any bank account and invoices are produced with the relevant details of which your manager would require.

One of the greatest benefits of using fuel card services are undoubtedly the savings and fuel discounts that can be achieved. Many fuel cards offer a fixed price for fuel which provides a weekly nationwide price for fuel which is often below the national average pump price.

We at BWOC understand how important it is to be as fuel efficient as possible and for this reason we offer a range of fuel card benefits which have been created to offer you the convenience of cashless refuelling, enhanced security features and management reporting in a variety of formats.

BWOC provide two different types of fuel cards varying from our Diesel Direct Fuel Card to our Fastfuel Card.

For more advice on Fuel Card Services or Bulk Fuelling please visit BWOC.

Author: Emma Keast

Blog Focus: Fuel Card Diesel Direct Fuel Card Fastfuel Card BWOC.

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Tags: BWOC, Diesel, Diesel Direct Fuel Card, FastFuel Card, fuel card

For parents around Britain, September usually means one thing… back to school time. This may be greatly awaited for some parents as they are able to drop the children off to school and go hit the gym, however it’s not so peachy for commuters sitting in the ‘back to school’ traffic.

September is also an ‘official sign’ that it’s the end of summer... One thing that does return however is the dreaded school queues and a very busy time of year for our British roads causing great amounts of congestion.

The 9am rush is normally one of the main things that fear most road users around the start of the school term. Figures from results have shown that school runs have been blamed for causing more than triple the number of traffic incidents from 384 on an average Monday morning in August to 1330 in September.

Do you find yourself queuing on the way to work in the morning? Results also show that the volume of queuing traffic during the morning rush hour has multiplied over four times. In 2010 results have shown that during our ‘back to school’ rush, on a Monday morning at 8.41am 1460 miles of traffic was created across the UK, congestion had hit its peak.

Unfortunately it’s very clear that there will be more drivers on the road during Monday morning’s rush hour as it’s our commuting time whether it is to commute to work by car or train, or dropping the children off to school.

In September last year we produced 1785 miles of queuing traffic in one morning, three times what the average Tuesday morning in August sees.

Here at BWOC we are heavily involved with the Co2 Reduction Pledge ‘Forest Carbon’ and as a responsible supplier of fuel into the UK, we understand the impact of CO₂ on the environment.

For more information on the Co2 Reduction Pledge,  or if you would like to find out how you can save money on fuel (which can be wasted as a result of traffic jams) please visit BWOC today to find out about our Fuel Card services or Bulk Fuel Supply.

Author: Emma Keast

Blog Focus: Co2 Reduction Pledge BWOC Fuel Card services Bulk Fuel Supply BWOC

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Are cheap and cheerful patchwork road repairs good enough? Some would agree this is acceptable to get the job done, however is it worth them being repaired temporarily to make people stop complaining?

Wouldn’t it be more efficient to spend time and money making sure they are unlikely to appear again? Over the last few years our severe weather conditions have been eating away at our roads and unless we invest in snow tires, I personally don’t feel this is something that cheap and cheerful repairs is going to fix easily.

The government has been warned by the national breakdown service against this, that the attitude and approach to cheap and cheerful patchwork repairs is simply inadequate.

It is said that local authorities pay out millions of pounds each year in compensation claims to recover poor road conditions and potholes, majority of which have been cause by our previous years of bad weather conditions in the UK. If more resources were made readily available for the upkeep of highway maintenance then this situation and cost could surely be prevented?

An interesting result from a recent report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance showed that if we combine England and Wale’s road repair costs together, would total to £10.65 billion pounds and it has been said that this process would take up to a total of 11 years.

For many of our drivers here at BWOC the upkeep of highway maintenance is vital as they are constantly on the go, it is important that we encourage the government to make the roads as safe as possible to ensure your fleet and our fleets are guaranteed a safe journey. The majority of our drivers travel long distances in any one time to distribute Bulk Fuel to customers.

For more information on BWOC Bulk Fuel or Fuel Card Services please visit BWOC today.

Author: Emma Keast

Blog Focus: BWOC Bulk Fuel Fuel Card Services

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Reports have shown that over the last 20 years half of the UK’s Forecourts have gradually been disappearing…

Since 1991 almost 11,000 petrol stations have closed leaving just 9,000 pumps left across the UK.  What’s the reasoning for this? Fuel Efficient modern cars have been to blame as they no longer require frequent filling up.

Did you know that our British roads now hold up to 31 Million cars?

The number of cars on our British roads has increased by double to over 31 million… And as a result of this there are now even fewer pumps around to fill them; this causes the issue of ‘Fuel Deserts’.

Petrol stations in Slough, Berkshire bear a record breaking 10,200 cars per filling station. This would prove to be very inconvenient for a driver as they are trying to fill up, it’s not only frustrating by making a lot of people wait but potentially interrupting their everyday routine.

We find that as more petrol stations close, our options as to which fuel/price we would prefer is then limited. This could mean that if the pumps are continuously being shut down then we will no longer have the privilege to decide where to go and will literally have to go for whatever is on offer.

This is why having a fuel card would be so beneficial. You would no longer have to worry about selecting a petrol station based on the cost of your fuel as BWOC offer a range of fuel card services which set the price at the beginning of each week, for the whole week, and with over 1,600 premium sites accepting fuel Cards including motorway services you have nationwide coverage and access to the largest HGV/LCV network in the UK.

The fuel Cards are also designed to offer you the convenience of cashless refuelling, enhanced security features and management reporting in a variety of formats.

Eliminating petty cash means no more time consuming and unnecessary admin plus with our itemised VAT compatible invoice there’s no need to chase receipts either and claiming your VAT back couldn’t be easier.

For more information on our fuel cards or Bulk fuel services please contact BWOC.

Author: Emma Keast

Blog Focus: Fuel Card Services Fuel Cards BWOC Bulk fuel

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For parents around Britain, September usually means one thing… back to school time. This may be greatly awaited for some parents as they are able to drop the children off to school and go hit the gym, however it’s not so peachy for commuters sitting in the ‘back to school’ traffic.

September is also an ‘official sign’ that it’s the end of summer… One thing that does return however is the dreaded school queues and a very busy time of year for our British roads causing great amounts of congestion.

The 9am rush is normally one of the main things that fear most road users around the start of the school term. Figures from results have shown that school runs have been blamed for causing more than triple the number of traffic incidents from 384 on an average Monday morning in August to 1330 in September.

Do you find yourself queuing on the way to work in the morning? Results also show that the volume of queuing traffic during the morning rush hour has multiplied over four times. In 2010 results have shown that during our ‘back to school’ rush, on a Monday morning at 8.41am 1460 miles of traffic was created across the UK, congestion had hit its peak.

Unfortunately it’s very clear that there will be more drivers on the road during Monday morning’s rush hour as it’s our commuting time whether it is to commute to work by car or train, or dropping the children off to school.

In September last year we produced 1785 miles of queuing traffic in one morning, three times what the average Tuesday morning in August sees.

Here at BWOC we are heavily involved with the Co2 Reduction Pledge ‘Forest Carbon’ and as a responsible supplier of fuel into the UK, we understand the impact of CO₂ on the environment.

For more information on the Co2 Reduction Pledge,  or if you would like to find out how you can save money on fuel (which can be wasted as a result of traffic jams) please visit BWOC today to find out about our Fuel Card services or Bulk Fuel Supply.

Author: Emma Keast

Blog Focus: Co2 Reduction Pledge BWOC Fuel Card services Bulk Fuel Supply BWOC

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Apple has received hundreds of complaints about the signal strength of the Wi-Fi versions of the iPad sold over last weekend. Investigations about what is causing the problem are ongoing and it is hoped a software update will provide the solution. It is however possible it may be a hardware issue. It seems the Wi-Fi Arial is located on the back of the iPad behind the Apple logo. This is not an ideal position and could be the cause of not picking up a strong signal.

As I said in my very first blog on this product do as I say and not as I do and wait until this product is fully tested by the first wave of purchasers and the problems have all been ironed out.

I still intend to be in the first wave when the iPad is made available in The UK however I have always intended to buy the 3G version when it is launched and not the Wi-Fi version. I have a perfectly good laptop that works on Wi-Fi so I don’t see the benefit of buying the Wi-Fi version of the iPad. The benefit of this device for me, and I believe many business users, will be its connectivity anywhere anytime just like using your mobile phone, so it’s got to be the 3G version.

Currently we are waiting for Apple to announce its price structure and release date in The UK. In addition we still await announcements on the tie up with mobile phone providers who will service the 3G version of the iPad. This may come as a shock once the monthly price for running the 3G service on your iPad is announced. Let’s hope Apple has given more than one supplier the right to provide the 3G service and then we will at least get some competition in the market.

If you would like to be one of the first to hear how 2UK rate the ipad and its many apps before we get round to releasing our blogs contact and register for a direct email report on this subject.

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It’s with us at last or at least it is in the USA. Over the Easter weekend Apple sold just over 300,000 iPads in The US. It has to be born in mind that most of the purchasers many of whom stood in line for hours and in a few cases days are converted Apple fans. It is therefore not surprising that the press reporting has mostly been positive about this product. Once the average punter buys an ipad following the hype only then will any real problems emerge as to its functionality and usefulness?

The only major point I have picked up so far is its inability to use Flash player. This will restrict video and some graphics when downloading websites. It remains to be seen as to how much this omission spoils the enjoyment or usefulness of the iPad.  Apple are reported as saying they left Flash player out due to its large draw on battery power. As the iPad stands without Flash player you should get 10 hours of user time on one recharge.

I am still convinced this will be a very useful work tool. I can just imagine being in meetings and being able to surf a website instantaneously or put on a presentation within seconds of switching on the iPad. I know these functions are all possible on a laptop with Wi-Fi but it is the instant response from the iPad that will make it a more attractive tool. Another advantage in my opinion will be the large number of cheap but useful apps that are already available for the iPhone and many more in development for the iPad.

As I promised in my last blog on this subject as soon as 2UK can lay its hands on an iPad in the UK we will do so, and report back how it stacks up against the hype and our expectations. In addition we will be reviewing many of the apps for this device and will give our views on what we think of them and how you could use them in your business.

If you would like to be one of the first to hear how 2UK rate the iPad and its many apps, before we get round to releasing our blogs contact and register for a direct email report on this subject.

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