Serving The Deliverable Fuels Industry

BY STEVE ABBATE

Over the years many people in the industry have shared funny stories with me that often made an impact on the way I have thought about business . I would like to share one of those stories with you . I know I will be dating myself as this story goes back to when drivers and technicians used two-way radios and when anyone over the age of 12 knew what a booby prize was . Ask someone under 35 today what a booby prize is and see what response you get . If you don ’ t know , ask an older person .

Before texting , or the use of electronic dispatching , or before Nextel touch and talk radios , or even before cell phones , there were two-way radios . The proper language on two-way radios was to use the “ 10 code .” Some common examples are 10-4 = Message received , 10-6 = Busy , please stand by , and what ’ s your 20 , which is 10-20 = My location is _____. Just watch a Smokey and the Bandit movie for a refresher course .

Getting back to the story — there was a home heating oil customer who called their fuel company to let them know they had no heat . They said they thought they were out of fuel . The CSR informed them that they were on automatic delivery and they had received a delivery in September and since it was the middle of October it was unlikely they were out of oil . The customer had a service agreement in place so the company dispatched a service technician . When the technician arrived , they found the above ground 275-gallon tank was empty . He put ten gallons of fuel in the tank , primed and started the burner and called for a driver to fill the tank .

Two weeks later , the customer called in with no heat . Another service technician was sent out and found that the tank was empty . Service dispatch was concerned that there may have been an oil spill as the oil line from the tank to the burner was underground . The service technician tested the line and did not find a leak but he ran a temporary line just to be sure and to make certain the customer would have heat . The homeowner was informed and they were very grateful for the thoroughness and diligence of their supplier . Their heat was back on and it was a good thing as it was now November and it was getting cold .

Two weeks later the customer called and said they had no heat . They said they checked the new gauge that was installed on the tank and it showed that the tank was empty .

This raised alarms for the fuel company and all sorts of theories were discussed such as someone stealing the fuel . The action that they took was to send a service supervisor . When he pulled up in the street in front of the house , he said I am 10-20 at the customer ’ s location and they are out of oil , please send a truck . The dispatcher asked if he had looked at the tank and the burner and if he had diagnosed the problem . He said that he had not gotten out of his van but he was fairly certain they were out of oil . The dispatcher asked him how he knew they were empty and he said it was simple , there is no roof on the house .

I ’ m sure there are many lessons to be learned and hopefully you can use this story to help train your employees as to what questions to ask a customer and how to be observant at a customer ’ s home . If you have any questions just 10-25 me but don ’ t 10-26 me . I wish you all a 10-99 . ( You can Google it at https :// www . commusa . com / walkie-talkie-10-codes ). l FON

Steven Abbate is managing director , principal , at Cetane Associates , which provides financial advisory services to owners of propane and heating oil distribution businesses .

SEND IT TO FUEL OIL NEWS ! Are you a deliverable fuels dealer who has hired or promoted one of your employees ? Maybe you have expanded your business through an acquisition . Or you ’ ve opened a satellite office in a new location . Or built a bulk plant … If any of the above apply to your business , or you have some other news that you would like to see covered in Fuel Oil News , please send the information , along with your name , email address and phone number , to the editor , Stephen Bennett , at SBennett @ fueloilnews . com .

www . fueloilnews . com | FUEL OIL NEWS | FEBRUARY 2023 27