(Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 29--LONG BEACH -- It's the start of the summer driving season and, thanks to average gasoline prices spiking above $3 a gallon, many Americans are cutting back their vacation plans this year.

That includes the number of trips they might normally take in the car.

Worries about gas prices and the economic hit they are making on lifestyle aren't just limited to vacations, however.

Businesses, both their leaders and workers, are feeling the gas pinch.

A May survey by the National Business Travel Association looked at the impact of higher airfares caused by airlines trying to deal with rocketing jet fuel costs, and how gasoline is changing the way some corporations handle their travel budgets for ground transportation to business meetings, trade events and generally conduct daily trade.

More than two-thirds of company travel managers say the fuel prices are impacting their plans, with some companies seriously wondering if they can keep their 2006 travel budgets in line or meet existing business obligations.

The fuel costs have added an average $50 to $100 onto the cost of a domestic business trip, according to half of the businesses surveyed. Another 25 percent had impacts of $50 or less per trip, with 23 percent having significant costs of $100 or more added on.

Some companies are asking their workers to look at alternatives, like Web meetings or conference calls instead of taking trips for a face-to-face.

Others are being tougher about their workers when they use rental cars, and the type of vehicle they contract for. Employees are being encouraged to use public transportation or taxis, and rely less on chauffeured transportation and expensive rental cars.

At the southern Los Angeles County office of State Farm Insurance, in Culver City, executives are beginning to replace the office's fleet of 1,000 vehicles with hybrid and four-cylinder cars as part of a pilot program started in 2005 in response to gas prices.

The fleet, used by claims adjusters and inspectors, is getting about a dozen new Toyota Prius hybrids a year, said Eddie Martinez, a State Farm public affairs specialist.

At the city of Long Beach, which has a fleet of 1,650 vehicles for its workers, there are plans to buy an additional 20 hybrid cars to add to the existing 15 hybrids, said Jim Kuhl, acting fleet services bureau manager.

The fleet already is composed of Ford Taurus, Prius and Honda Civics for inspectors, supervisors and other similar employees, or, for police work, Crown Victorias. Plans are to buy smaller, more efficient vehicles for the non-emergency workers.

Fire trucks, trash Dumpsters, street sweepers, dump trucks, and pickup trucks make up the rest of the fleet, and there are plans to add a dozen vehicles to those numbers that use liquefied natural gas.

There are 52 LNG-powered heavy duty vehicles in the fleet now, Kuhl said. And 144 use compressed natural gas.

Other city cost-cutting measures include reducing by 107 the number of city employees with take-home city vehicles, saving on gasoline burned for trips going to and from private residences.

And the city has consolidated some work functions, reducing the fleet by 227 cars, and is educating workers on driving practices that can increase fuel efficiency.

The city buys its fuel in bulk, with contracts with two suppliers. But the pacts give the city's the option to "play the market," giving it the ability to buy gasoline at week-old prices if gas jumps significantly.

Last week, the city was able to buy unleaded fuel for its fleet at prices 37 cents a gallon cheaper, and diesel about 20 cents a gallon cheaper using the options, Kuhl said.

The city can also buy fuel off the spot market, Kuhl said. It also has the ability to store a 30-day supply, but with prices so high and fluctuations week to week, the city has decided against keeping the full-month limit.

"We're going to see gas prices stay up there for a while," Kuhl said.

For private companies, the most common action being taken to help employees deal with high gas prices is increasing the mileage reimbursement rate when workers use their personal vehicle for company business, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

But only one in five companies polled in a recent survey said they were even doing that. Most businesses have no plans to help workers, the survey found.

An April survey found 72 percent of human resource professionals questioned said their companies had no plans to assist employees.

The mileage reimbursement rate companies are setting is usually 44.5 cents a mile, the optional standard mileage rate set by the Internal Revenue Service for calculating the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business.

About 7 percent of surveyed companies are offering discounts to their employees to use public transportation, organizing employee car pools or allowing workers to telecommute their jobs from home.

Only one in 20 human resources professionals said their companies might consider programs like giving away pre-paid gas cards as a performance award, using more teleconferencing instead of business travel, giving cost-of-living raises to help cope with higher fuel prices or altering work schedules to four 10-hour days to cut commuting costs.

There were no responses to a question that asked whether companies might consider offering money incentives to workers to buy hybrid cars.

John A. Challenger, with the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. in Chicago, said the higher gas prices actually could boost the practice of allowing workers to perform their jobs at home, also known as telecommuting.

Only 20 percent of the American work force now telecommutes.

"Companies will be forced to help ease the financial burden of higher gas prices or risk losing their workers to companies located closer to their homes or companies that offer primarily telecommuting," Challenger said.

And Challenger is disheartened by the surveys that show employers are slow to take steps to help their workers.

A 2005 survey by Connecticut-based Business & Legal Reports showed only 1 percent of the companies allowed telecommuting, and only 6 percent encouraged workers to carpool or use public transportation.

And like the business travel survey, more than 86 percent said that their companies did nothing to help their workers.

"With the labor market getting tighter as a result of stronger job creation, employers may change their tune this summer," Challenger said. "Many workers are already looking for good reasons to leave their current employers. Companies that want to attract and retain the best workers can definitely make a positive impression by helping them cope with higher prices at the pump."

Mario Zamora, a driver with Yellow Cab, already has seen some cabbies leave the trade because of the high gas costs. Taxi drivers log more than 150 miles a day onto their vehicles, and gas has added $70 to $100 a week more onto the price they pay, cutting into their income, Zamora said.

"This is the worst I've seen. Everybody is complaining," Zamora said as he waited for fares at Long Beach Airport.

"We're making less money," he said. "And it looks like people don't want to travel anymore either. Business is slow."

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