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The Extra Mile Online
Committed to helping others
Hippolito Saenz has spent more than a decade helping others in any way he can.
Over the past 10 years, Saenz - a member of the Jetco team for more than two years and a truck driver for more than 18 - has spent his weekends away from work picking up and delivering food to the Houston area’s most needy communities.
From the Third Ward to the Port of Houston and Southeast Houston, Saenz and host of other volunteers have worked with the Christian Alliance and the Houston Food Book to feed those who are having trouble making ends meet for their families.
“When I was young it was a struggle for me and my family,” Saenz remembered. “We weren’t raised as a family with much money. I know what a lot of families are having to go through. And especially now with the economic crisis we’re in, it’s even more beneficial for these families because times are hard right now.”
Since going to work for Jetco in 2007, Saenz - who is known by nickname Hippo - and other drivers - have worked eight hour days every other weekend filling up a Jetco box van with food, delivering it into the communities and then doing it again and again.
“We do it all over Houston where it’s needed the most,” Saenz said. “After Hurricanes Katrina and Ike we knew the food and supplies would be needed in New Orleans and Galveston so that’s where we went.”
Saenz’s good deeds would be remarkable on their own. But the fact that he has 11 children living under his own roof makes them even more incredible.
“I’ve always believed that no matter what your situation is, you’re supposed to help other people,” he said. “I’d like to do a whole lot more but you can only do so much.”
Saenz’s daughter Nilza has helped him in his efforts too. Now 12, she’s been involved in bringing food and supplies to those less fortunate since she was 5, Saenz said. Hippo’s work has earned him a proclamation from Houston Mayor Lee Brown’s office in 2004, and his daughter’s efforts were recognized with a Kohl’s Kids Care award and a write up in the Pasadena Citizen newspaper.
Steve Zold, Jetco’s vice president, said Saenz exemplifies the best and the brightest of the Jetco team because he’s selfless in his approach to helping others.
“That perfectly typifies the Jetco spirit,” Zold said. “Hippo’s commitment to helping others makes us all proud to be a part of this family.”
Jetco in the Houston Business Journal
Jetco's operations were featured in a recent issue of the Houston Business Journal, the weekly business publication that serves Southeast Texas. Read the article here.
Diesel Demand
While the cost of gasoline fluctuated in 2008 along with the price of oil, so too does the fuel that is the backbone that drives the American economy.
But diesel - the fuel that powers all of the trucks that transport the nation’s good and services - is no longer the cheaper alternative that it was less than a decade ago. Government regulations requiring low-sulfur grades of diesel, higher taxes and significantly increased demand for diesel worldwide have combined to push the price of a gallon of the fuel much higher than the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded that you pump into your cars and trucks.
“Historically, gasoline was always priced much higher than diesel,” says Steve Boyd, who has more than 39 years of experience studying the diesel and gasoline commodities markets and now serves as senior managing director at Sun Coast Resources in Houston.
“But over the past few years, productivity throughout the United States has blossomed and the demand for diesel fuel - which is used by the trucking industry to support that growth - has increased steadily.”
In addition to growth in the U.S., the burgeoning economies in China and India are pushing demand for diesel even higher. Add to that federal regulations that went into effect last year that required refiners to create an ultra low-sulfur grade of diesel fuel and a higher-per-gallon tax on the grade when compared to regular unleaded gasoline and the higher costs start to compute.
“Worldwide demand for diesel has tripled in recent years,” Boyd says. “In every country, the consumption of petroleum is in lockstep with the growth in a country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product).”
Boyd says that while the price for a gallon of diesel has fallen in recent months, it skyrocketed to record levels earlier this year. He said that such market volatility is likely to continue for years to come. The solution, Boyd says, lies in our ability to develop alternative methods of producing diesel, such as coal gasification whereby coal is converted into diesel fuel.
“We have that technology available today but it is very expensive to do it and it’s not a clean process,” Boyd says. “That will change over the years and that’s how we’ll meet the rising demand for diesel in the years to come.”
Have a question or need information?
Call us at 713.676.1111 or e-mail rates@jetcodelivery.com