Method To Assist in the Management of Fuel

• NCJ Number: 77847
• Author(s): R A Raub
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This paper describes a mathematical process by which law enforcement personnel can determine the amount of gasoline available for use in police vehicles.

Abstract

The fuel-allocation formula uses the amount of fuel available, based on a budget, and allocates it among districts dependent upon an established basis of previous usage. Each month, the amount previously used is subtracted from the total and the remainder is reallocated. Because the subsequent allocation must be dependent upon price and the number of vehicles, the base should be average gallons used per vehicle over a 2-year period. This base is found by dividing the number of gallons used by each district by the average number of vehicles in that district and then dividing the result by two for the 'base usage' per year. Once the budget is established, the amount of gasoline available for the year is computed by dividing the amount of money allocated by an estimated price per gallon. At the beginning of the year, the base cost for each district and the percent that cost is of the total cost is calculated (cost equals base usage times vehicles times price per gallon). The allotted gasoline for the year for any district is equal to the proportion of the base cost to total cost times gasoline available. The amounts per month and per month per vehicle are found by dividing the allotted gasoline by 12 and then by the number of vehicles. The final step is then a multiplication of the cost per month per vehicle by the statewide average miles per gallon. The result gives the budgeted mileage per month. At the end of the first month, information from each district will be available on the total cost of fuel, gallons used, and miles driven. From these data, the price and miles per gallon and the number of gallons used can be determined. The allocation for each of the remaining months is similar to that done prior to the start of the fiscal year. The method allows for variations in local usage and gasoline prices. Sample calculations are appended.