By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Livingston County’s Car Pool Department is getting a big break on gasoline prices by buying in bulk.

The Board of Commissioners met Tuesday evening and voted to approve an agreement with Petroleum Traders Corporation of Fort Wayne, Indiana to provide gasoline delivery services at a cost of $0.0253 per gallon.

The Livingston County Transportation Complex has a 12,000-gallon underground storage tank on-site that previously dispended diesel fuel but was recently converted to gasoline. Due to higher operating and maintenance costs compared to propane and gasoline engines, LETS is phasing out diesel buses. There are five remaining that will be decommissioned by 2024.

Purchasing the gasoline in bulk will provide significant cost savings compared to retail – so significant that some were surprised and earlier questioned the bid.

Commissioner Martin Smith thanked Transportation Director Greg Kellogg for responding to his questions, noting many had similar questions that the deal was a little too good to be true, but he gave very solid answers and appreciated his efforts.

Kellogg said it’s a great savings and he hopes they can maintain that, but he has no way of knowing if the differential will hold up between retail and this. Kellogg said his guess is that if and when gas prices fall, then retail prices fall and that gap will narrow but he thinks it’s a great indicator of the value and savings they can potentially get from the agreement – adding they’ll see what usage is like.

All County departments will have the option to fuel vehicles at the Transportation Complex upon request.

Kellogg noted EMS is interested in fueling at their location and he offered it to the Sheriff’s Office and will do so to every department but it may not always be convenient for them to do so, especially public safety, but “if the savings are that good then maybe they’ll lure them to their building”.

A competitive bid process was performed with three received. Petroleum Traders Corporation was the low bidder. The term of the agreement is five years with no renewals.