ROLLING MEADOWS, IL - Oil prices remain high, and like everyone else in North America, construction equipment owners and operators are feeling the pinch at the pump. According to a new Pulse Survey by Komatsu America Corp., more than three-quarters (76.9%) of construction equipment owners surveyed said that fuel efficiency has become a greater priority at their firms during the past 12 months. As a result, many respondents now employ a variety of fuel conservation methods including:

• 53% have reduced idle time
• 43.9% are considering purchasing more fuel efficient machines
• 42.4% are running machines in "fuel efficient" mode
• 24.2% are utilizing their fleet management systems to better track fuel consumption
• 19.7% are using biodiesel
• 9.1% are integrating automatic shut-down technology

Higher fuel costs mean fuel expenses have become a larger portion of construction firms' operating budgets in the past year. According to the Pulse Survey, 43.9% of the respondents said that between 30-50% of their operational budgets would be allocated to fuel costs this year, compared to just 13.6% of respondents who indicated that fuel costs were such a large portion of their operating budget in 2007. Additionally, 12.1% of survey respondents said fuel expenses would be more than half of their operating budget this year, compared to 9.1% for 2007.

Komatsu America Corp's em>Pulse Survey are designed to "take the pulse" of construction professionals on topics of significant interest to the construction industry. The em>Pulse Survey are conducted approximately 4-6 times a year. This online survey about fuel efficiency was conducted from June 4 to July 11, 2008.