Ask the Fuel Expert

Unless you’ve been living on an island with Gilligan and the Skipper you’ve probably heard about the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. An explosion of the oil rig Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010 killed eleven workers and is currently spewing about more than 18,000 barrels of oil per day into gulf waters. The full extent of the damage won’t be known for a long time and the repercussions will be enormous. But what can businesses like ours learn from this?

Okay, maybe you don’t have an oil rig drilling in your yard, but if you store fuel in a tank or fuel trucks and equipment on your site, aren’t you introducing hazards to your workers, the environment and your bottom line? Every time your people stop at the tanks you are subject to the damages. Sure, this isn’t life and death and you’re unlikely to pollute hundreds of miles of shoreline, but the risks are still high.

Damages from a spill can include lost productivity, toxic seepage, higher insurance rates and clean ups that run in the tens of thousands of dollars. But you can protect your company from spills by reviewing which of the three common methods of fuelling you use and deciding on the best option for your business.

what’s the best way to get fuel?

The first is commercial card-locks, a relatively safe method as long as the drivers pay attention. When there’s a small spill at card-locks, the station typically absorbs the cost. However, if it’s a large spill it’s on your tab and the clean-up is to the station’s standards. Even if there is no spill, card-locks present the unavoidable and unhealthy exposure of your employees to diesel fuel on their hands, clothes and equipment.

Another common method of refuelling is fuel storage tanks. Essentially operating your own card-lock, onsite tanks and dispensing can reduce the typically 45 minute spent travelling to and fuelling at card-locks; however, most tank owners are chiefly concerned with keeping the tank from running dry, not minimizing exposure to risk. If your equipment, tank or pumps are old and if you don’t follow a stringent best practices policy, leaks, spills and accidents will happen.

You may not get Green Peace on your doorstep, but when a spill occurs, government agencies are involved you are subject to costly clean up, heavy fines and endless visits by government inspectors. And who wants that?

direct to equipment fuelling: wheel-to-wheel

The third solution is professional wheel-to-wheel fuel delivery and professional fuel handling. When you use onsite fuel delivery, refuelling time is eliminated and productivity rises by 40 to 45 minutes per unit, per day. You also minimize risk to people, environment and community.

One company specializes in professional logistics and automated collection of fuel transaction data. 4Refuel specializes in fuel management and guarantees safety by ensuring each of its operators is certified as a refuelling professional. In fact, 4Refuel manages fuel for all industries and equipment from trucks and trains to ships and cranes. And every employee is trained in the safety procedure and environmental protocol specific to each industry.

fuel is a hazardous and expensive material

Fuel management is a growing area of resource management and business planning. Reducing risk from spills is as important a part of managing fuel investments as maximizing productivity and minimizing cost and waste. 4Refuel manages these aspects by using an automated data collection system to storing each transaction online where clients can view dockets, review costs and manage budgets. This complete concept is called Total Fuel Management (TFM) and is the system of choice among many Fortune 500® companies.

In fact, 4Refuel’s customizable TFM system, works with wheel-to-wheel fuelling, tank and bulk service and can also be layered onto company fuel tanks or fuel trucks. And, for all you bottom-liners out there, TFM saves you money too. Your insurance costs will be lower since you no longer carry the liability of fuel storage tanks on your property. Plus your workers aren’t wasting time fiddling around with refuelling, which takes them away from what they get paid for...working for you.

delegate the task and skip the headache

No one needs any extra risk or headache in their lives. When it comes to fuel – and more specifically fuel spills – it’s always best to hand the responsibility to the professionals. Choose the right supplier to manage the risks and you’ll have more time to put into your business.

Jack Lee
Chairman
4Refuel Group of Companies