TORONTO, Ont. — How are fuel prices set? Why are they so volatile? And what can you do about it?

Over the past several years, carriers have used fuel surcharges to reduce their exposure to fuel price volatility. However, as fuel prices rise to historic levels and volatility becomes more extreme, fuel surcharges alone may no longer be the most effective solution.

The “Let’s Talk About Volatile Fuel Prices” educational seminars sponsored by Transportation Media Research and Markel bring together industry leaders who will share their insights about this pressing issue.

The seminars are scheduled for cities across Canada. They will be in Calgary May 24 and Edmonton on May 25. Additional dates are available for Markel policy holders.

“For carriers to remain profitable they must have a viable way to recoup their fuel costs and for shippers to remain competitive they must have an effective way to deal with cost volatility. It’s time for an intelligent discussion on all the options for dealing with fuel price volatility,” says Transportation Media editorial editorial director Lou Smyrlis, who will be moderating the seminars.

The four-hour seminars will include a thorough examinination of the nature of volatile fuel pricing and an assessment of the options available for managing the volatility.

In addition to industry experts such as Michael J. Ervin, a well-known petroleum industry analyst and James Burr, vice president of FCStone Trading LLC, a broad-based commodity risk management and trading company, the seminars will also include research on fuel surcharges recently conducted by Transportation Media Research.

For more information, call 1-888-MARKEL-1 or e-mail letstalk@markel.ca. You can also visit www.markel.ca/letstalk