10.13.2008 — Americans can't stop talking about high gas prices. With costs hitting $4 per gallon for regular unleaded, who can blame us?

Certainly not John McCain or Barack Obama. The two major Presidential candidates are doing more gas tank talking than anybody.

Meanwhile, drivers of $75-per-tank SUVs across the country are listening, waiting for a practical solution -- or, at least, a price break.

Most custom electronics installation companies, however, can't wait. Instead, they are taking action to mitigate the increased strain that unprecedented gas prices have put on their budgets.

CE pros have been hit hard. According to a CE Pro survey of 66 integration companies

• 82 percent say they have tweaked some aspect of their business in reaction to gas prices
• Nearly a third have instituted fuel surcharges for trips to clients' homes or properties
• Nearly 20 percent have replaced all or some of their vehicles with more fuel-efficient alternatives

This is staggering, given that integrators traditionally rely on large vehicles with ample space for transporting TVs and such. Now some are driving tiny Scions.

The impact on the custom electronics installation industry stands to reason since it is mostly comprised of small- to medium-sized companies.

According to the CE Pro "Readership Survey," companies have a median of 7.6 employees and median annual revenues of $1.2 million. Most have vehicle fleets, with 83 percent having at least one vehicle and 18 percent claiming at least six vehicles.

For an industry of small companies that prides itself on providing clients with custom in-home service, the cost of consistently filling up several tanks can be backbreaking.

"Gas has irrefutably been a drag on our margins," says Sean Storin of Carol Stream, Ill.-based Tech.Connectors LLC, an integrator with 15 vehicles.

Over the last 18 months, Storin says his company has seen its gas price line item climb from 2.1 percent of revenue per month to 4.5 percent.

"That type of inflation on any line item is generally a red flag, but when it is a staple consumable and not a COGS [capable of generating additional revenue], that is a major impediment to profit."

Broken down another way, John Harty of Edwards, Colo.-based InVision Communications says his company spends $250 per vehicle on gas per month. He figures that each vehicle travels about 800 miles per month.

At 13 miles per gallon, which is about average for a full-size truck or cargo van, and $4 per gallon, he arrives at the $250 overhead figure.

Most CE pros find figures like that bothersome, even dangerous to their bottom line. Many have taken steps to chip away at the rising overhead.

The following are some of the common methods integrators are using to fight back against high prices at the pump.

Surcharge It

Whether they call it a "gas surcharge" or not, 27 percent of surveyed integrators say they are adding an extra charge on clients' bills to mitigate increased fuel costs.

That 27 percent doesn't include the 11 percent that say they simply upped their hourly rate. In those cases, the charge isn't extra, or at least the client won't recognize it that way.

Many surveyed integrators call their surcharges "trip fees" or "trip charges." Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Creative Sound and Integration, for instance, added a $45 trip charge to its service policy in addition to its $90 per hour one-hour minimum rate, according to Ed Moreau.

For many integrators, the trip fees kick in only when the project is beyond a certain radius from the office. Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based InControl LLC charges a $25 trip fee on locations more than 20 miles from its office, according to Melody Bakeeff.

"So far this has only applied to work, but if, necessary, we would make our site survey simply $25 instead of free."

Other integrators charge a trip fee for every project, regardless of their proximity, but use an escalating scale.