(25 Feb 2014, 8:12 am)Dan wrote Of course this does not mean every bus belonging to the Go-Ahead parent company can refuel for as little as 49p per litre.
There are instances whereby 'outstationed' vehicles refuel away from Go North East premises - I believe that the vehicles based at Peterlee for example refuel on council-owned premises, with a deal set up there.
That figure will, if I am correct, exclude additional resources required for refuelling on modern-day vehicles at the very least. Recently manufactured vehicles such as the Mercedes Citaro and the Volvo B8RLE all require a substance called "AdBlue" (Google it if you're not familiar with it).This will come at an additional cost - how significant this additional cost is, I do not know.
Of course it doesn't.
But it does show how effective planning and purchasing strategies can impact on costs for vehicles.
What you said about the adblue (I know all about it) also adds to what I was saying.
It doesn't add that much to the daily costs - but does mean that each vehicle type, has different running costs.
The outstationed vehicles will have additional costs, but these are obviously outweighed by lower wages and shorter runs to/from the depot.
What would be an unprofitable or at least close to margins service if based at Deptford, can become profitable due to it being stationed at Peterlee