Fuels Market News Winter 2024

In the Lead Hightowers Petroleum’s Stephen Hightower

The industry is selling fewer gallons— creating both pressure and opportunity T

Electric Vehicles

A look at their overall environmental impact

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Fewer gallons sold will affect some retailers more than others.

In the Lead

Hightowers Petroleum’s Stephen Hightower.

The Growing Transition to Electric Vehicles

All things considered, are they better for the environment?

YOU CAN TURN A PROFIT WHEN YOU TURN THE TABLES.

Make a clean break with E15 and Flex Fuels — and give yourself a financial advantage the majors don’t want you to have. It’s more affordable for customers and more profitable for you with a federal HBIPP grant covering up to 75% of new equipment costs.

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Less With Less, or More With Less?

Ipromise this is not your obligatory post-NACS Show promotional editor’s column. Though, as usual, the show was exceptional in what it provided attendees, from the tradeshow floor to a range of educational sessions. Which brings us to several themes that were present throughout most of the fueling-related educational sessions, which included FMN’s 2023 Fuels Innovators of the Year Awards.

The first theme was simply a reminder that liquid fuels, including fossil fuels, are not going anywhere fast. There is no need to get in a panic today over what to do, though it is a good time to be exploring options, taking advantage of government incentives and trying to get out in front of the curve.

For the first 15 years I spent covering the industry, the conventional wisdom said that there would be ever-increasing gasoline demand butting up against “peak oil” that would simultaneously stunt supply. After the fracking revolution occurred, the peak oil argument took an enormous hit, but not so the pressure on gasoline demand by government regulation, now driven by carbon reduction rather than by other efficiency concerns. Frankly, with a lot of conventional wisdom I’ve adopted a wait-and-see attitude, with the caveat “reality always gets a vote.”

However, (there is always a however), certain realities are likely here to stay regardless of the extent of future events, such as declining gallons in the industry and that EVs are a part of the transportation mix. Even in a scenario where the energy transition is not as brutally aggressive as has been proposed, it’s not unreasonable to note that the push for greater efficiency with internal combustion engines as well as various cultural shifts related to telecommuting from the pandemic period suggest a future where the

marketplace will be one of declining gallons. Surprisingly, the companies commenting on this at the NACS Show, and particularly the retailers, were not overly pessimistic. In fact, the tone was generally positive, with some notable caveats.

The idea expressed in more than one session was that while the industry may lose gallons and subsequently site traffic (which of course translates into in-store sales), that did not mean all retail chains would be losing those gallons. In fact, that environment would present an opportunity for retailers that operated efficiently and effectively in their communities to not only steal business from less capable competitors but to acquire pressured operations.

While larger operations with greater economies of scale might have some advantages in this environment, it was emphasized that smaller operations that knew their markets and were efficient and entrepreneurial could take advantage of technologies that leveled the playing field.

You can find these discussions described in much greater detail in the article “Facing Fewer Gallons.” The sessions themselves are available for purchase in case you missed them, and I will throw out the recommendation (I guess it is that promotional column after all) to attend the NACS Show next year.

A new year, offering tremendous opportunities.

With a full line-up of programming in 2024, NACS has something for everyone. convenience.org/events

Meet the 2024 FMN Editorial Council

Fuels Market News welcomes the 2024 Editorial Council, which will provide insights and ideas to the FMN editorial team to help expand the quality of our publications and consider innovative developments for the brand. The council consists of a blend of marketers/retailers and supplier/vendors. Here are the 2024 members.

RETAILER/MARKETER MEMBERS

Mark Fitz, president Star Oilco

Star Oilco is a Portland, Oregonbased petroleum company that was founded in 1936. It is one of the largest distributors of biodiesel to both retail and commercial customers in the Portland area. Every diesel engine in the company’s fleet runs on biodiesel. Star Oilco also provides cardlock fuel services through Pacific Pride, as well as on-site and bulk delivery of motor and heating fuels. With over 40 years of experience in cardlock systems, Star Oilco has been providing fuel cardlock services since before computer-aided cardlock security was even an option. It later pioneered commercial cardlock security via software options. In Oregon and Washington, heating oil is diesel fuel. In these states, the allowance for pollutants in the fuel is more flexible for heating and boiler fuels. Star Oilco is committed to only delivering the cleanest, most advanced fuel possible: ultra-low sulfur diesel.

Derek Gaskins, chief marketing officer, Yesway Yesway, a chain of convenience stores with locations in Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota and New Mexico, including the Allsup’s Convenience Stores chain, is known for its world-famous burritos. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company is

committed to providing customers with a terrific shopping experience by making their lives easier and the day a bit more pleasant. With its fleet management card program, the customer can control all of the vehicle-related expenses in one convenient and flexible program. The fleet operator decides which purchases to allow and the exceptions reported. The result is a fuel card program that empowers both the fleet operator and the drivers. On the retail side, the Yesway Rewards program rewards its most loyal customers. They can use the Rewards card in stores and at the pump to earn points.

Brian Renaud, director of retail fuel pricing and analytics, Sheetz Altoona, Pennsylvaniabased Sheetz was founded in 1952 and operates 679 locations on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Sheetz’s stated mission is to provide fast, friendly service and quality products in clean and convenient locations.

Inside the store, Sheetz offers made-toorder (MTO) fast food. The menu covers breakfast to a family dinner to a 3 a.m. late-night snack. All menu items are available, all day. Each store also has a fully stocked made-to-go, grab-n-go, ready-to-eat selection boasting things like hot breakfast sandwiches, fresh fruit, cheeses, yogurt and more. Its Shweetz Bakery items are always fully stocked.

The company uses technology that enables customers to order food electronically through a touchscreen or online from anywhere.

The Sheetz app allows the customer to find the closest Sheetz store, purchase Rewardz, buy a gift card, get mobile offers, view nutritional details about its MTO and more. Sheetz promotes its fuel quality and the use of technology to ensure that the quality is maintained throughout the fueling infrastructure. This starts with gasoline produced by major refiners and enhanced with detergent cleaning additives that contain ingredients that help prevent and remove deposits on carburetors, intake valves, fuel injectors and other engine parts. Gasoline is formulated to meet or exceed the most stringent EPA requirements.

The company ensures a controlled environment where underground storage tanks are equipped with advanced fuellevel monitors and overspill safeguards. Other sensitive electronic probes monitor tanks and automatically halt the flow of gas if water or sediment is detected. In addition, the company markets diesel fuel, K-1 kerosene, E85 and E15 throughout its network. It has EV charging at 95 of its locations and recently passed the milestone of two million EV customers.

Scott Minton, director of business development, OnCue Marketing

Stillwater, Oklahomabased OnCue Marketing (operator of OnCue Express) was founded in 1966. Today OnCue has more than 75 locations and over 1,500 employees throughout Oklahoma and Kansas.

The OnCue mission is “to better the lives of those we serve through innovation, exceptional customer experiences,

and invested team members.”

Store offers include foodservice, from savory snacks to full meals. Grill On the Go provides fast and convenient fresh food. OnCue’s roller grill offers cooked brats, hot dogs, sausages and Tornadoes.

The OnCue mobile app allows the customer to redeem offers, rewards and more.

OnCue promotes the quality of its Top Tier Phillips 66 gasoline. Top Tier has three times more detergent additive than the minimum required by the EPA. Top automakers recommend that their vehicles be filled with Top Tier Gasoline, and OnCue’s gasoline exceeds their requirements.

On the ethanol side, OnCue offers ethanol-free (which is popular in the region) as well as ethanol-blended gasolines up to E85. It pays equal attention to its diesel product, with an emphasis on its winter performance. OnCue starts winterizing its diesel early in the season when temperatures are approaching 32°F to offer more protection.

The company operates EV charging at six locations, all Level 3 fast chargers, and has explored a range of approaches to servicing this market. OnCue continues to evaluate new locations for additional EV chargers. All OnCue EV charging stations include CHAdeMO and SAE Combo (CCS) ports.

In addition, OnCue offers compressed natural gas (CNG) at select locations.

VENDOR/SUPPLIER MEMBERS

Regina Balistreri, director of marketing, ADD Systems

Since 1973, ADD Systems has been a leading provider of back office and mobile software for companies in the commercial bulk

fuels, heating oil, propane, HVAC, wholesale petroleum, lubricants distribution and convenience store industries. ADD’s software solutions improve clients’ interactions with their customers and bring efficiency, ease of use and greater profits to their organizations. In addition to its software, ADD offers full-service IT support, including cloud hosting, networking, firewall setup and more, with an overall emphasis on security. ADD’s on-site and remote training is tailored to the specific needs of each individual client. Additionally, ADD clients are welcomed into a strong community of users through its ADD User Group, a self-directed, ADDsupported group of users who assist each other and influence ADD product development. ADD Systems is a family business with family values: be honest, be fair and treat others as you would like to be treated.

Joe O’Brien, vice president of marketing, Source North America Corporation

Source North America Corporation is one of the largest stocking distributors in the U.S., with 14 facilities that combine to comprise more than 300,000 square feet of warehouse space across the country, anchored by a central warehouse in suburban Chicago. Source specializes in the sale of equipment, parts and materials for the construction and maintenance of gas stations, convenience stores and petroleum and chemical handling facilities. Since its founding in 1979, Source has provided its customers with innovative product solutions that include: POS and fuel management; piping and containment systems; storage tanks and equipment; canopy lighting and submersible pumps.

Kaylie Scoles, marketing director, RDM Industrial Electronics Inc.

RDM is a premier U.S. manufacturer of the wired Classic and Performance Series intercoms. RDM also manufactures speakers, call boxes and accessories. RDM additionally manufactures Defender One® pump security products, patented to stop a transaction in progress and deactivate a breached fuel dispenser. Retrofit alarm kits are available for new and existing fuel dispensers. The company is also a leading remanufacturer of petroleum electronic equipment. RDM specializes in circuit boards, intercoms, displays, printers, card readers, motors, keypads and overlays, POS systems, consoles, tank monitors and probes with new replacement products available. RDM has five fully stocked locations in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina and Texas. RDM employs only degreed technicians and engineers and offers free technical support and training.

Ed Kammerer, director of marketing and global product strategy, OPW Retail Fueling

OPW Retail Fueling makes aboveground and belowground fuel-handling products for both conventional, vapor-recovery and clean energy applications in the retail and commercial fuel markets. OPW Retail Fueling is part of OPW, a leading equipment manufacturer in the retail fueling, clean energy, fluid-handling and vehicle wash industries. OPW has manufacturing operations in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific, with sales offices around the world. OPW is part of Dover Corporation.

Bringing Congress to Your Stores

The NACS In Store program was back in full swing in 2023.

One of the most effective ways to educate Members of Congress about the convenience retailing industry is through the NACS In Store program. The program brings together convenience retailers, Members of Congress and local community members by offering lawmakers the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of c-store operations.

Lawmakers not only observe the ins and outs of running a convenience store, but also learn how policy decisions made in D.C. could affect the store, its employees and its customers.

Rep. Brad Finstad’s (MN) visit to Kwik Trip in La Crescent, Minnesota, made it onto the local news. Finstad shared, “I just simply rely on what God gave me in the right proportions. That’s two ears and one mouth. So, I’m here to listen and learn, and as I go back to Washington and hear the policy conversations that are going on, I can reflect on what I’ve seen and heard here today.”

Since the NACS In Store program started in 2015, NACS has coordinated more than 140 In Store events in 34 states across the country.

In 2023, swipe fees and the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) were a big focus for retailers.

During 2023 NACS In Store tours, retailers took the opportunity to share how much they pay in credit card swipe fees annually and how that number continues to jump year after year.

Also discussed during each visit was the need for the private sector to be allowed to compete evenly to spur investment in and the development of the EV charging infrastructure across the country. And, with over 114,000 convenience stores serving as authorized retailers in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, modernizing the SNAP program was also a hot topic of discussion.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX) toured RaceTrac in Grand Prairie, Texas, and discussed legislation she is co-sponsoring, the Hot Foods Act, which would allow SNAP recipients to purchase hot foods with their benefits.

Often, lawmakers reach out to NACS directly and ask to set up a store visit because they heard from one of their colleagues how much fun they had making pizzas or ringing up customers from behind the counter.

Rep. Kat Cammack (FL) joked after touring a RaceTrac in Ocala, Florida, “They’ll probably tell me I shouldn’t quit my day job, but I had a great time.”

Rep. Mark Alford (MO) shared his experience with constituents via social media after his tour of BreakTime in Bolivar, Missouri. “I’m grateful for the work of the In Store program, which is building bridges between lawmakers, convenience stores and local communities across the nation,” Alford said.

The NACS In Store program continues to be one of the most powerful tools in the NACS advocacy toolbox. If you’re interested in learning more about the In Store program or hosting your Member of Congress, reach out to Margaret Hardin, NACS manager of government relations, at mhardin@convenience.org.

Rep. Brad Finstad at a Kwik Trip

Rep. Jasmin Crockett with RaceTrac’s Max McBrayer

Transportation Energy Institute Report Evaluates Low Carbon Strategies for All Aspects of Transportation Sector

The report offers near-term solutions to GHG emissions.

Decarbonizing Combustion Vehicles

The Transportation Energy Institute released the report “Decarbonizing Combustion Vehicles – A Portfolio Approach to GHG Reductions,” which evaluates the viability and emissions reduction potential of a variety of technology and energy options that can benefit the ICEV market, concluding that adopting a portfolio approach that matches low-carbon strategies with different vehicle types and use cases is the most effective path for decarbonizing the transportation sector.

The report presents a portfolio of options available to policymakers and market leaders seeking to achieve meaningful emissions reductions from the transportation sector. The report evaluates:

• The benefits and importance of early GHG reductions considering the atmospheric life of GHGs and the slow pace of fleet turnover

• The life cycle emissions of various ICEV energy options

• The low carbon potential, scalability and feedstock availability of biofuels

• The factors that will affect the market’s transition to each evaluated option

While there is no current solution to reach immediate carbon reductions, there are many near-term opportunities in the goal to reach net-zero. This report is an extensive look at the challenges and practical approaches that can be taken to address emission reduction in all vehicles.

Calendar of Events

FEBRUARY

NACS Leadership Forum

February 13-15 | The Ritz-Carlton

Amelia Island, Florida

MARCH

NACS Convenience Summit Asia

March 05-07 | Signiel Seoul Hotel

Seoul, Korea

NACS Day on the Hill

March 12-13 | Westin Washington DC

Downtown Hotel

Washington, D.C

NACS Human Resources Forum

March 18-20 | Hyatt Regency Jacksonville

Riverfront

Jacksonville, Florida

APRIL

NACS State of the Industry Summit

April 03-05 | Hyatt Regency O’Hare

Chicago

Rosemont, Illinois

Conexxus Annual Conference

April 28-May 02 | Live! By Loews

Arlington Texas

JUNE

NACS Convenience Summit Europe

June 04-06 | Intercontinental Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain

JULY

NACS Financial Leadership Program at Wharton

July 14-19 | The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

NACS Executive Leadership Program at Cornell

July 28-August 01 | Dyson School, Cornell University

Ithaca, New York

For a full listing of events and information visit www.convenience.org/events.

Ensuring Transportation Options for All Drivers

While EVs fill a range of roles, there are applications where EV technology comes up short.

BY JOHN EICHBERGER

Acouple of years ago, I purchased the first generation of the wildly popular plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler 4xe. It has been awesome—20-25 miles of all-electric range followed by hybrid fuel efficiency. Compared with my prior Wrangler, my average efficiency has jumped from about 18 miles per gallon (going downhill with a tailwind, that is) to 30-40 miles per gallon on average when I am leveraging the electric powertrain for trips close to home. In fact, on one tank this summer, my average eclipsed 50 miles per gallon because most of my trips were within 20 miles of home and I recharged every time I parked in my garage.

This proved to me what I already expected—in certain conditions, electric power (even with limited range) can be a huge benefit. Yet, my experience during camping season is very different.

I purchased a travel trailer last year. It’s a very small one because my Wrangler can tow only 3,500 pounds. But I realized very quickly that the benefits of my plug-in hybrid powertrain vanish almost as soon as I connect the trailer to my tow ball.

The 30-50 miles per gallon of local travel became non-existent. In fact, I averaged 8-11 miles per gallon when the trailer was connected. When you consider that the fuel tank in the Wrangler is five gallons smaller than the tank in my previous Jeep due to the expected increased efficiency of the powertrain, my range is abysmal. I must stop about every 150 miles to refuel my tank. Getting to a campground in nearby West Virginia requires at least one stop in each direction, especially considering the incline required to traverse the beautiful mountains of the state. Fortunately, I am able to recharge the Jeep with a Level 1 cable while at my campsites.

When my tank runs dry, I pull over and refuel. It takes maybe 10 minutes depending on the configuration of the station and its proximity to the highway. But I wonder what the impact on my trip would be if I was driving a full battery

electric vehicle. Would I still get 150 miles before I must stop? Would I be able to find a compatible DC-fast charging station that was operable and could recharge my battery in less than 30 minutes? Not to mention, what would those 30 minutes do to the spirit of my trip overall?

According to the RV Industry Association, more than 11.2 million American households owned an RV in 2021, up from 6.9 million in 2001. This may not be an overwhelming share of drivers in the nation, but it’s not insignificant. Just in the past three years, more than a million travel trailers were shipped in the United States. This is the same type of camper I pull. And when we consider the millions of drivers who may not own RVs but who engage in other activities that can compromise vehicle fuel efficiency (i.e., towing trailers with all-terrain vehicles, carrying kayaks and bikes, etc.), the number grows exponentially.

Which leaves me wondering—when might EVs provide sufficient power and range to accommodate the various lifestyle choices of American drivers? Yes, fast recharging infrastructure and vehicle charging capabilities will help alleviate some of this challenge, but will it be enough and how long will these improvements take to penetrate the remote regions in which many of us travel for our recreational purposes? What about those who take their RVs (while towing all-terrain vehicles) to remote locales for the weekend? Will they be able to get there and back with EVs?

With these questions, I don’t mean to suggest that new technologies cannot evolve to satisfy the diverse needs of the motoring public, but rather to encourage us to think about the wide variety of use cases to which we task our vehicles. The Institute does not advocate for or against any solution or policy, but it is incumbent upon our organization—and I believe all stakeholders—to ask questions to

I purchased a travel trailer last year. It’s a very small one because my Wrangler can tow only 3,500 pounds. But I realized very quickly that the benefits of my plugin hybrid powertrain vanish almost as soon as I connect the trailer to my tow ball. ensure that the direction in which the transportation industry is evolving is able to satisfy the various needs of all consumers.

Which raises another critical question—equitable access to affordable transportation for all. This issue is why we are taking time to evaluate what role the Institute might be able to play with regards to equitable access to affordable and reliable transportation. In the past, I have written about the cost of new vehicles exceeding affordability for most consumers, and this is certainly true for those living in underserved communities. These consumers continue to drive older, less efficient and higher emitting vehicles

because transitioning to newer vehicle technologies is not an affordable option for them.

To elevate this topic in the national discourse, the Institute will be publishing a white paper examining the various issues that affect equitable access to affordable transportation. This is already a key priority of the Biden Administration through its Justice40 Initiative. The intent is basically to lower the transportation energy burden on American consumers. We must ensure that this priority extends beyond this program and is a key element of every policy and market development discussion related to the transportation sector.

John Eichberger is the executive director of the Transportation Energy Institute. This is a condensed version of a blog post available at www.transportationenergy.org.

Reshaping Transport With E-Fuels

BY JOE O’BRIEN

As a possible fossil fuel replacement, e-fuels have tremendous potential as both a bridge fuel and long-term decarbonization solution. But until recently, they have been a bit of an outlier in the clean energy race. As new developments reshape the energy landscape, e-fuels have begun to garner increased attention for their unique role in sustainable transportation.

Here’s what you need to know about this promising—albeit complex—source of transportation energy.

Q: WHAT ARE E-FUELS AND WHAT AREN’T THEY?

A: E-fuels (also called eFuels) are synthetically produced alternatives to fossil fuels. Notably, liquid e-fuels are compatible with today’s internal combustion engines (ICEs) and distribution equipment without the need for any modifications.

The “e” in e-fuel is a reference to the electricity needed to produce them. Unfortunately, in this moment in the fueling industry, “e” is also associated with other low-carbon or zero-emission alternatives taking center stage—namely electric vehicles (EVs) and ethanol (E10, E15, E20 and E85).

The repetitive naming, coupled with electricity’s role in both EVs and e-fuels,

can make it a challenge to quickly identify which decarbonization solution is being addressed.

Q: HOW ARE E-FUELS MADE?

A: To create e-fuels, the chemical molecules that make up hydrocarbon fossil fuels are created synthetically.

HIF Global, a company at the forefront of e-fuel development, describes its process this way:

• Use renewable energy to produce green hydrogen via electrolysis.

• Capture CO2 from the atmosphere or from an industrial or biogenic source.

• Combine the green hydrogen with the CO2 through a process called synthesis to create the fossil fuel substitute.

Even though burning e-fuel in ICE engines still produces carbon dioxide pollution because it is chemically equivalent to fossil fuels, e-fuels are considered CO2-neutral over their overall lifecycle because carbon dioxide is captured from the environment and recycled as an ingredient to create the fuel.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PERCEIVED BENEFITS TO E-FUEL ADOPTION?

A: E-fuels have the potential to accelerate decarbonization. Compared to climate change mitigation strategies that rely heavily on EVs, e-fuels don’t require the vehicle fleet to change over—which could take decades to achieve—in order to decarbonize. Additionally, e-fuels provide a pathway to decarbonization for scenarios in which EV adoption rates may stall due to financial barriers.

Furthermore, as “drop-in” fuels that are completely interchangeable with petroleum-derived gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, e-fuels can be mixed with fossil fuels. This capability makes it possible to gradually bring fossil fuel consumption down as low-carbon and

zero-emission solutions ramp up.

E-fuels are also easy to store and transport. And, like fossil fuels, e-fuels have a high energy density, which is necessary for aviation, rail and marine applications.

E-fuels also circumvent at least one EV-related supply chain concern: sourcing and processing the minerals needed to produce EV batteries.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PERCEIVED DRAWBACKS TO E-FUEL ADOPTION?

A: E-fuels are in their infancy and not yet produced at scale. As such, they are expected to be expensive—at least initially. The International Council on Clean Transportation estimated that e-fuels produced at a commercial scale would cost more than $25 per gallon.

Additionally, similar to challenges facing a nationwide conversion to EVs, there are gaps in the infrastructure. Renewable electricity is essential for achieving the low- or no-emission production goals that are necessary to make e-fuels carbon neutral over their lifecycle. As such, renewable electricity would also need to be scaled up.

Finally, e-fuels are said to waste a lot of energy during production. One report suggested that due to the electricity needed to produce e-fuels, a car running on e-fuel would burn through significantly more electricity than an EV would use to go the same distance.

Q: WHAT PROGRESS IS BEING MADE TO EXPAND E-FUELS?

A: Financial backing for e-fuels is starting to take off. BMW has invested $12.5 million in e-fuel startup Prometheus Fuels. Porsche holds a stake in e-fuel producer HIF Global, which is taking steps to become one of the largest e-fuel producers in the world. HIF aims to produce 140,000 barrels per day and transform 5 million vehicles to be carbon neutral by 2030.

In support of that goal, the company is planning to bring new production facilities to Texas and Australia.

Q: WHAT REGULATORY AND POLICY FACTORS COULD IMPACT THE EXPANSION OF E-FUELS?

A: At least two significant developments on the global stage will pose challenges for e-fuels in comparison to EVs:

• EVs have received tremendous government support.

• A trend to ban ICEs began in Europe and has spread to other areas of the world, including California.

The European Union proposed banning ICEs in 2035. Just prior to adoption of the ban, Germany lodged opposition to it. The EU commission then announced that ICE vehicles could still be sold after 2035 if the vehicles are powered by net-zero fuels.

In the United States, California adopted a 2035 ban of ICEs in new vehicles, and states aligned with California’s environmental regulations are expected to follow. China, the largest automotive market, is mandating all new vehicles be powered by “new energy” by 2035.

SHAPING THE FUTURE

Addressing climate change stands as a paramount concern, and e-fuels could be instrumental in the pursuit of this mission. In the short term, they represent a bridge toward zero-emission vehicles. Long term, e-fuels could be a critical component in a portfolio of transportation energy options that help the U.S. improve its overall energy security.

That notwithstanding, if consumers are presented with the choice between buying EVs and retaining ICE vehicles, their preferences are likely to be a deciding factor in the future of transportation energy in the U.S.

E-fuels (also called eFuels) are synthetically produced alternatives to fossil fuels. Notably, liquid e-fuels are compatible with today’s internal combustion engines (ICEs) and distribution equipment without the need for any modifications.

Joe O’Brien is vice president of marketing at Source™ North America Corporation. Contact him at jobrien@ sourcena.com or visit sourcena.com to learn more.

When “Gas and Go” Is “Gas and Gone”

Theft is a growing problem. Be on the lookout for pulsing.

BY ROY STRASBURGER

Everyone wants something for free.

One of my most vivid memories is from when I was eight years old. I walked out of a grocery store with my parents and two pieces of Super Bubble gum. As we walked across the parking lot, I started to unwrap one and my father noticed. He asked me where the gum was from,

and I told him.

The good news is that my family owned the store, so no one was financially hurt. The bad news is that my family owned the store and restitution had to be made. I worked for two hours taking out the trash and sweeping every level surface to pay off my debt, but I learned a valuable lesson—you don’t take anything from a

store without paying for it, even if you are the owner. It often surprised my employees when I insisted on paying for everything when I was on a store visit. As I told them, “Everyone pays for everything.”

At the NACS Show in Atlanta, I attended educational sessions about the increase in organized retail crime (ORC). In 2022, the industry had in-store sales of $302 billion. Shrink was about 1.1%. This means that the industry lost over $3 billion. According to the National Retail Federation, 36% of shrink in 2022 was due to external theft, including ORC. Using these numbers, c-stores lost over $1 billion to ORC and other, non-employee, theft. With 150,000 c-stores in the United

States, that means, on average, every store lost $7,200 to external theft. Can you afford that?

Among other projects, I consult on crime reduction at convenience stores. I was talking with Lori Stillman, vice president of research and education at NACS, about the current situation. Stillman said that theft is becoming a major issue and NACS is taking action to quantify theft losses and prioritize the actions that retailers can take to reduce them. Look for some new NACS programs in early 2024.

A rising theft trend, which was discussed during a NACS Show session, is pulsing, a form of fuel theft. If you don’t pay attention to pulsing, could cost you lots of money.

Pulsing is when the pulsar in a fuel dispenser is manipulated. The pulsar monitors the gallons that are being dispensed and does the calculation of the total gallons sold. The criminal’s trick is to make the pulsar slow down so that it registers fewer gallons than what are dispensed. Fuel retailers have reported losing thousands of dollars worth of fuel when the pulsar is altered and multiple vehicles fill up.

To manipulate the pulsar, the criminal opens the interior of the fuel dispenser, either with a key or by prying open the cabinet. A $40 mechanical device is then placed inside the dispenser and attached to the pulsar. It can take only 30 seconds. ORC gangs leave the devices in the dispenser so that their other vehicles, usually containing large auxiliary tanks, can

fill up as well. In 30 minutes, you can dispense over 300 gallons—over a thousand dollars at cost—and the fuel is then sold on the black market. The retailer takes a double whammy—the cost of the lost gallons and the loss of customers who are buying the illegal fuel.

To find out if you are being affected, look for tampering around the body of the dispenser and check the dispenser. If you see anything suspicious, put fuel in your car and see if it is registering correctly. Also, ensure your fuel inventory balances with your tank gauges. If you are missing fuel, hopefully you have cameras that can identify who stole it. At the NACS Show, I saw how AI-enhanced camera software identified someone tampering with an ATM. It may be possible to use similar technology to identify unusual activity at the fuel pump.

To prevent pulsing from happening, one company that was affected by pulsing installed a custom-made metal cover over the pulsar in each dispenser to prevent tampering. You can also change generic dispenser locks or install a security bracket on the outside of the dispenser.

Always inform the authorities of any suspicious activity. This is a crime. It will help the police know there is a problem in the community so they can alert other retailers. We are stronger together.

In the real world, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Someone always pays.

In 2022, the industry had in-store sales of $302 billion. Shrink was about 1.1%.

This means that the industry lost over $3 billion. According to the National Retail Federation, 36% of shrink in 2022 was due to external theft, including ORC.

Roy Strasburger is the CEO of StrasGlobal. For 35 years StrasGlobal has been the choice of global oil brands, distressed assets managers, real-estate lenders and private investors seeking a complete, turnkey retail management solution.

An Equal Focus on Car Wash

For the Wills Group, the Splash In operation is an equal player with convenience and wholesale fuels.

BY KEITH REID

What role does car wash play in your convenience operation? Perhaps you had to think for a few seconds to formulate a concise answer. For Mike Mulhern, the director of Splash In operations (the car wash division of Wills Group’s Dash In stores and SMO Motor Fuels’ marketing operation) the answer was immediate: “It’s one of the three legs—fuel, convenience and car wash—in what we refer to as a threelegged stool,” he said. “We are very serious about car wash and bullish on

the opportunity.”

Dash In serves customers at 56 locations throughout Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. SMO Motor Fuels is a wholesale petroleum distribution network with more than 220 locations across the mid-Atlantic region.

Splash In ECO Car Wash has 57 locations across the mid-Atlantic. Its “Go Green, Always Clean” initiative is part of Wills Group’s commitment to eco-friendliness, water conservation and affordability. Splash In customers can get a quick and quality wash at

any location, typically featuring the Belanger FreeStyler soft-touch system, an open and inviting design with five foam brushes for a thorough clean, and Rain X complete surface protectant for increased shine, better surface protection and water repellency.

The Splash In concept goes beyond the Dash In footprint. It’s an offering throughout the Wills Group’s broader location network.

“Over the last 25 years, the Wills Group has grown through acquisition,” Mulhern said. “Most of the dealers of these gas stations that we purchased didn’t really use the car wash to its full potential, and we saw that as an opportunity.”

That opportunity was driven, in no small part, by entrants that came into the markets, such as Wawa and Royal Farms, and then by hypermarkets that started adding gasoline, such as Sam’s Club and Costco.

“We developed Splash In as a key value offering to support our operators,” Mulhern said. “We would come in

with a new in-bay automatic, rebrand the location, paint it, clean or replace the windows, add the PVC paneling to the walls, brighten it up with LED lighting and install a new payment terminal. It was probably a $300,00 to $400,000 investment a decade or so ago.”

TUNNEL WASH OPERATIONS

The same approach used with the initial acquisition expansion applied to the Dash In company operations and included rebuilds. As those opportunities began to dry up, the focus shifted to organic growth and with that, the exploration of tunnel washes.

“As we were perfecting this in-bay model, tunnel car washing started becoming a thing,” Mulhern said. “And we decided to investigate it and built one in Clinton, Maryland, in May 2019. It was just a pilot to understand the concept, and it is attached to a Dash In convenience site. Tunnel car washing is strategic for us, and we’re looking to add tunnel car washes where it makes sense from a brand density perspective and a financial perspective.”

He noted the approach is to build tunnel sites where there are several Dash Ins adjacent with high-performing in-bay automatic car washes. “We’ll consider a stand-alone tunnel, but our first pass is to do tunnels with fuel and convenience. And if we can’t fit a tunnel, that’s when we fall back to the in-bay automatic,” Mulhern said. “That’s the intent moving forward.”

Last year, the Wills Group purchased two Blue Hen tunnel car washes, the group’s first exploration of stand-alone car washes. These locations met the criteria of being adjacent to Dash In operations, and the goal is to rebrand them as Splash In.

One issue with tunnel washes, as

is the case throughout the industry in virtually all areas of operations, is labor. That’s a challenge for Splash In, as well, but one it manages with the wash format. By using the express wash model, the tunnel facilitates the exterior cleaning process, but the customer is responsible for the interior and is provided with free vacuums. There is an attendant to help get the vehicle lined up on the conveyor and explain the various wash packages and membership options, but there is none of the detailing staff needed for a full-service wash.

Mulhern noted this is not a disadvantage from a customer perspective. “If you go to a full-service car wash where they clean the interior of your vehicle, those washes cost $60 to $70,” he said. “That’s when a car wash becomes a luxury, and you must be in affluent areas where it can be $2 million an acre. With the express wash, it’s affordable and quick.”

WASH THEATER

The trend with the modern car wash is to excite the senses—lighting, sound, fragrance. The goal is to create excitement and engagement and to turn a relatively mundane process into something exciting for the driver and the family—perhaps even to make a car wash a special-event destination. Splash In appreciates the marketing hook, but in a more reserved manner.

“We try to appeal to the senses,” Mulhern said. “The triple foam, children see it and they think it’s cotton candy—it’s cool-looking. It smells like it’s cleaning the inside of your car, even though it’s not, because of this good fragrance. And the lighting is a mood setter, but we’ve tried to do it tastefully. One cool thing [is] we’ll put a purple

As we were perfecting this in-bay model, tunnel car washing started becoming a thing.”

What I’ve found is that people wash their cars to feel good about themselves. I think it energizes people.

light on the white wax, and it looks like it’s raining purple. … We’ve found that not everyone likes a lot of blinking lights, so you want to be selective. And we don’t want to just be some funky gimmick. We want people to know that this is a place they can trust.”

WASH PROMOTIONS

There are a variety of ways the car wash has been marketed relative to the convenience store over the years. Splash In’s initial approach with the in-bay wash format is a free wash from the Dash In app or 20 cents off per gallon with a wash purchase.

The stand-alone tunnels don’t have that opportunity now, though development work is underway to integrate all Splash In purchases with the app-based loyalty program. This is also poised to integrate with the Splash In membership program, which is currently only offered at the integrated Dash In tunnel locations.

“The plan is to rebrand the Blue Hen locations and immediately merge the databases,” Mulhern said. “That way, our Splash In customers can wash at any of our tunnels. We then start incorporating that within the app. We can develop membership redemptions, and our customers can redeem their tunnel membership at any of our wash sites.”

Mulhern continued, “Our goal is to eventually get all our members onto the Dash-In loyalty app. And once we do that, every time they go from the basic wash to the best wash or add in a

la carte service, they’re growing points. And then those points can be combined to make a fuel discount or a free coffee or whatever they choose.”

Public promotions are fairly conventional.

“We run three seasonal promotions. We’ll do a winter promotion, a ‘pollen’ promotion and then a summer promotion,” Mulhern said.

CAR WASH IN A TIGHT ECONOMY

Where does a car wash fit on the scale of needs and wants? As disposable income gets tight, “wants” tend to face pressure. However, there is the concept of “small luxuries.” The convenience industry benefits from this in general, because a customer might give up a range of big-ticket items but still stop in for that excellent cup of morning coffee as a small reward. With car wash, the customer might put off buying a new car and instead make their old car shine.

“I’ll tell you that, yes, we have experienced some churn due to the economic downturn or just people being concerned,” Mulhern said. “But what I’ve found is that people wash their cars to feel good about themselves. I think it energizes people. And people are moving away from washing at home, so as you see, [even with] challenges like the economy, the customer base is growing—[there are] more townhomes and condos where they don’t have spigots out back to wash their cars. So the car washing business is growing.”

Keith Reid is editor-in-chief of Fuels Market News. He can be reached at kreid@fmnweb.com.

The Art of Wetstock Management

Fuel loss prevention and military strategy have a few things in common.

BY BRIAN REYNOLDS

Born around 544 B.C., Sun Tzu was a Chinese general who wrote “The Art of War,” which is required reading at many military institutions. His tactics have inspired the leaders of most major battles won since the American Revolution. One of the most widely known concepts taught by Sun Tzu is to work smarter, not harder.

Beyond battle-winning strategies, insights from “The Art of War” have been repackaged by football coaches, sales managers and, in this article, fuel operators!

With increasing oil prices and a predicted harsh winter, the temptation to steal diesel fuel is rising because it can be quickly sold as black market heating oil. Minimizing fuel shrink is a tactical opportunity for operators to maximize profits. So let’s apply Sun Tzu’s ancient concepts to fuel loss prevention.

“TO KNOW YOUR ENEMY, YOU MUST BECOME YOUR ENEMY.”

In this case, the enemy is the fuel thief. How is your enemy stealing gas,

and why is the theft so hard to detect? Like any good caper, the juice needs to be worth the squeeze. Most fuel thefts involve 500 to 1,000 gallons or more per event. If fuel dispenses at eight gallons a minute, it would take approximately two hours to steal 1,000 gallons.

One method for procuring 1,000 gallons of fuel undetected is to masquerade as a service technician. A knowledgeable “technician” nonchalantly goes about servicing forecourt equipment. Generally, this crime is performed in broad daylight at a busy gas station. The busier the better, because the automatic tank gauge (ATG) gets confused with normal sales and can’t identify a rapid loss, which would indicate a catastrophic failure, such as a leak or a theft.

With diesel prices approaching $5.00 per gallon nationwide, $5,000 for a daylight robbery is not bad, especially when the victims don’t even realize it happened.

“QUICKNESS IS THE ESSENCE OF WAR.”

So how do you become vigilant without making life difficult or dangerous for customers and employees? One way is to monitor dispenser operations at real-time speeds.

It takes a couple of hours to make a theft worth someone’s time and energy. Sophisticated wetstock technology can record and time-stamp every moment of any activity during the fueling process. With a transport load of fuel approaching $40,000 a load, wetstock theft detection for the forecourt should be as common as a squeegee and a fire extinguisher.

Even if a dispenser is in stand-alone mode or if product is being pumped directly from the tank, a sophisticated wetstock technology will be able to process, detect and alert a dedicated analyst in under five minutes. Today, this is a reality in the high-tech world of wetstock management. The most profitable operators use this technology in their daily operations.

Having wetstock technology coupled with surveillance footage on the forecourt will detect theft and provide a powerful tool for apprehending the culprits.

“HE WHO IS PRUDENT AND LIES IN WAIT FOR AN ENEMY WHO IS NOT WILL BE VICTORIOUS.”

How often do you reconcile a bill of lading (BOL) with the physical delivery so that you know you received what you paid for? It is commonly believed that if gallons are missing upon delivery, the culprit is the temperature during transportation. It’s easy to see why this myth exists—the concepts of net and gross gallons and of the temperature

adjustment to 60 degrees are abstract and hard to understand. It’s easier to blame a loss on something nobody will ever make you prove, such as thermodynamics.

Further, there is not truly an industry standard for acceptable loss. The EPA understands this, too; it allows an acceptable margin of 1% of the delivery of +/- 100 gallons. But if I did have to determine the standard, many operators use 100 gallons as the threshold, with anything over 100 causing concern.

Now, let’s bust the myth. Temperature losses are generally less than 10 gallons! So if 100 gallons were lost, where did the other 90 gallons go? A wetstock fuel loss analysis can provide the answer and can do so using net and gross gallons from the BOL as part of the investigation and mathematical algorithm.

The probable cause for fuel loss could be an error during delivery or could be an issue at the terminal. If the BOL is good enough to generate an invoice, then it should be good enough to use advanced analytics to determine how much of the fuel load made it to the tank. And yes, with wetstock, it can be precisely determined how much was dispensed during delivery.

“GREAT RESULTS CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH SMALL FORCES.”

By using a wetstock management service with trained analysts, an operator can reconcile their daily gallons of throughput or identify the causes of variances. Operators found that, for every 100 million gallons of throughput, a sophisticated wetstock solution is expected to identify 500,000 gallons of lost fuel. That equates to approximately $2.5 million of lost fuel at $5.00 per gallon. The numbers speak for themselves. And as Sun Tzu would teach, that’s working smarter not harder.

Sophisticated Wetstock technology can record and time stamp every moment of any activity during the fueling process.

Brian Reynolds began his career working as a teenager in his familyowned jobbership in Cisco, Texas, and was at the forefront of many industry milestones. He works for Dover Fueling Solutions.

A Fleet Manager’s Guide to Preventative Maintenance

Invest in that ounce of prevention.

BY ASMA STEPHAN

It’s hard to overstate the importance of a preventative maintenance program. Whether you have one semi-truck or thousands, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requires that you “systematically inspect, repair, and maintain all motor vehicles and intermodal equipment subject to its control.”

By regularly and proactively servicing your commercial trucks, you not only satisfy federal regulations, but you can also extend the lifetime of your vehicles, lower the chance of costly emergency repairs and increase uptime for your entire fleet. Read on for tips to plan a maintenance schedule, employ relevant maintenance

checklists and document your preventative maintenance program.

The purpose of replacing parts and fluids on a regular maintenance schedule is to save costs in the long run by preventing more serious and expensive issues from arising. Regular maintenance also decreases the chance of an issue cropping up unexpectedly, ensuring there’s no impact on the truck driver’s ability to operate the vehicle.

While a preventative maintenance program may seem costly and complex to implement, there are several easy ways to get a program up and running within your own fleet. To plan a complex preventative maintenance program for a large fleet of vehicles,

software systems are almost always essential.

FOUR STEPS TO IMPLEMENTING A PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST

Even though it is daunting to plan out and execute a preventative maintenance program for a large fleet of trucks that are rarely in the same place at the same time, there are four simple steps you can take to kick off a program that will allow you to stay compliant and reduce costs.

1. Take stock of your fleet . The first step in planning a preventative maintenance program is to take note of each vehicle in your fleet. Because no two vehicles are alike, their maintenance needs may differ greatly. If you have a mixed fleet of vehicles, the complexity is only multiplied. Each truck’s preventative maintenance plan will be based on factors such as how far they’re driven, what fuel system they use and what weather conditions they typically operate in.

To allow for enforcement of its safety regulations, the FMCSA also asks that all owners maintain accurate maintenance records for each vehicle in their fleet. Each record is expected to contain information such as:

• Owner name

• VIN

• Make, model and year

• Tire size

• Fleet number (if applicable)

• Current and past maintenance schedules for the vehicle

The FMCSA asks that the documentation around maintenance schedules and repairs is kept for at least one year while the vehicle is being used and for a minimum of six months after it is decommissioned. Due to this requirement, having well-documented preventative maintenance plans for each vehicle can actually help you save time and costs by avoiding failed DOT

vehicle inspections.

2. Plan a schedule for each vehicle. Now that you have a record of each vehicle in your fleet, you can start to build a unique maintenance schedule for each one. For semi-trucks, the preventative maintenance that needs to be done will differ greatly based on how the truck is used. Metrics such as engine hours, fuel levels and mileage can often be used as benchmarks to help you predict when a truck will need to be serviced next, making it important to closely track these indicators for every vehicle in your fleet.

Other times, preventative maintenance can be done opportunistically, so it’s a good idea to closely track the routes of your truck drivers and map when they’ll be closest to a service station. This allows you to take advantage of downtime between trips. Making small repairs during downtime will save you from the unfortunate possibility of a necessary repair cropping up at the same time as an essential job.

3. Train drivers on inspections. Your truck drivers are the eyes and ears of your operation and will almost always be responsible for conducting the vehicle checks that are necessary to maintain a preventative maintenance program. To equip your drivers with the knowledge to perform a pre-trip inspection that covers all relevant areas, consider creating a maintenance checklist that covers the following categories:

• Brakes: After your seatbelt, your brakes are one of the most important life-saving systems in any vehicle. However, they also deteriorate rapidly with use, so it’s important for them to undergo a comprehensive inspection before the start of a trip. To help your drivers successfully do this, make sure to have them inspect the lining of the brakes to ensure there are no leaks in the air pressure system.

A semi-truck maintenance checklist will help you make sure nothing gets skipped or forgotten during routine servicing.

Preventative maintenance is both a science and an art, and it does require careful oversight to get it right.

• Tires: One of the most frequently used and replaced parts of any vehicle are the tires, making it especially important to check them often. An overworn tire can become a major hazard to a semi-truck if it’s not properly addressed. Because of this, both air pressure and tread depth should be examined regularly.

• Fluids: Leaking fluids can be problematic and costly for a semi-truck operator. By checking below the undercarriage, a driver can usually determine if leakage has occurred. Drivers should also frequently check the fluid levels for their coolant, antifreeze, fuel and oil. Finally, checking air pressure, oil pressure and temperature will ensure all your fluids are functioning correctly.

• Electrical: The lights on your vehicle keep you safe by helping communicate your presence to other drivers. Before your driver starts operating a vehicle, make sure they check that warning lights, turn signals, brake lights and flashers are working correctly. Drivers can also double-check other components of the electrical system by ensuring all wires are still

tightly connected and interior lights are functional.

4. Document your preventative maintenance. A pre-trip checklist is a great start to documenting your preventative maintenance, but the FMCSA requires each vehicle carry, at minimum, one year of documented and planned service to be compliant. In the past many fleet managers and truck drivers have relied on paper documentation, which ran the risk of the documentation getting lost, destroyed or stolen.

Instead, consider digitally planning your preventative maintenance schedule. Starting with a digital plan is helpful because the entire process becomes more transparent, secure and easy to update, and doing so improves the efficiency of your back office. With a digital plan, you’ll be able to quickly convert plans into proof of service once the maintenance takes place. Storing your records in a software system will also allow drivers to pull up the latest information directly on their mobile devices during an inspection—eliminating the need to search the entire cab for paperwork.

SEMI-TRUCK MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST

A semi-truck maintenance checklist will help you make sure nothing gets skipped or forgotten during routine servicing. The checklist for each vehicle will depend on the information you’ve already collected to meet FMCSA requirements. However, your checklist should also include considerations for adverse conditions that will more rapidly decrease vehicle reliability such as extreme weather and heavy mileage.

SEASONAL MAINTENANCE

The best way to determine if your trucks will need seasonal maintenance is to keep a log of their routes and anticipated weather conditions. Both extreme heat and extreme cold can cause different components and systems of a semitruck to wear out faster than usual. For warmer months and high-temperature locations, you should concentrate your added inspections on the cooling system and the electrical system. Areas to focus on include:

• Air conditioning: Check for leaks and debris build up.

• Coolant: Drain, flush and pressure test the system at least once a year.

• Electrical system: Check the battery for corrosion and ensure that wires are secure.

• Tire pressure: Ensure warm air does not raise the air pressure of tires over safe limits. In colder climates, where trucks are more likely to encounter freezing temperatures, snow and ice, you’ll want to focus extra attention on essential safety parts such as windshield wipers and power steering. You’ll also want to frequently check the fluid levels in your system since many fluids are at risk of freezing overnight when temperature drops significantly. Key areas to monitor

during colder conditions include:

• Windshield: Check for chips and cracking, ensure wiper blades are sharp and defrosters are working properly.

• Braking system: Ensure your ABS is working properly before starting a winter drive.

• Fluids: Service the fuel filter and prevent freezing of fluids such as diesel fuel, exhaust fluid, coolant and engine oil.

• Tire tread: Confirm tires have enough tread depth for winter driving and have chains on hand.

• Exterior: Clean the cab and undercarriage regularly to avoid salt buildup.

MAINTENANCE BY MILE

Another consideration when planning a preventative maintenance program is the distance your vehicles are traveling. Most vehicles will come with manufacturer guidelines around how far a vehicle can generally travel before a specific part becomes too worn to use. Even the most comprehensive plans for a preventative maintenance schedule can be disrupted when a part fails earlier than expected. A good way to remedy the discrepancy between a pre-planned maintenance schedule and a distance-based maintenance schedule is to closely track a vehicle’s average mileage and set alerts to schedule additional maintenance when a truck is approaching a mileage milestone. Ultimately, preventative maintenance is both a science and an art, and it does require careful oversight to get it right. However, the return from investing in preventative maintenance early on will be a vehicle that performs well more consistently and for longer periods than if it only receives retroactive repairs.

Your truck drivers are the eyes and ears of your operation and will almost always be responsible for conducting the vehicle checks that are necessary to maintain a preventative maintenance program.

Asma Stephan is head of content marketing at Samsara. Samsara can help fleet managers schedule preventative maintenance through an all-purpose platform.

Manage Your Fleet Insurance

Strengthen compliance, protect assets and cut costs using telematics and other strategies.

BY JIM DAVIS

Fleet insurance is considered the best and most efficient option for insuring more than one vehicle under the same policy. With fleet insurance, businesses can insure numerous vehicles in a tailored and efficient way while eliminating the need for individual policies. This type of policy is especially convenient for

businesses that operate a fleet because it:

• Reduces the number of policies to keep track of, creating less hassle for administrative staff

• Makes it easier to add or remove vehicles to the fleet insurance policy as the business scales

• Makes it simple to add drivers to

the insurance policy as they are onboarded

• Allows businesses to insure all drivers on all vehicles or assign specific drivers to specific fleet vehicles

According to the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOHS), work-related collisions cost employers $39 billion in the United States in 2019. This is why it is extremely important that every fleet has a comprehensive fleet insurance policy in place.

WHAT DOES FLEET INSURANCE COVER?

According to Global Fleet, approximately 8.1 million automobiles and trucks on the road in the United States are classified as fleet vehicles, with fleet being defined as more than

five vehicles. These vehicles make up approximately 3% of total vehicles owned in the country. With so many fleet vehicles on the road, as well as other types, the risk of collisions increases. Every driver needs to be covered under a policy while they are behind the wheel.

There are two main components to commercial auto insurance coverage:

• Automobile liability —Auto liability covers bodily injuries and property damage to any third party involved in a collision. This means that if one of your drivers is at fault in a collision, auto liability covers the full or partial cost of the other party’s medical bills and property replacement/reconstruction.

• Automobile physical damage

Auto physical damage refers to any damage done to your own vehicle after it is involved in a collision or any other kind of mishap. There is usually a choice between a basic collision package and something more comprehensive that would cover other types of damage.

HOW MUCH DOES FLEET INSURANCE COST?

There is no flat rate for fleet insurance, which makes it hard to nail down an exact price, but there are some factors that can affect your fleet insurance cost:

• Industry —Some industries are known for riskier driving. For example, industries that have strict time factors, such as couriers, taxi services or personal drivers, are known to have higher insurance premiums. This is because their performance is normally measured on their timeliness, which puts pressure on the driver to get to their destination quickly.

• Type of vehicle —Just like regular vehicle insurance, the vehicle that you drive helps determine the price that you pay for your insurance policy. Some of the attributes of your

vehicle that can affect your insurance costs are the annual mileage, the age of the vehicle and the location where it will be driven and parked when not being used.

• Number of vehicles in your fleet —Generally, the more vehicles you have, the lower your insurance costs will be per vehicle. This might make it harder for a smaller fleet to effectively lower the cost of its insurance premiums.

• Prior collision or claim history

When you contact a new insurer, it will ask for your fleet insurance history, including any collisions that have occurred or claims that have been submitted. If the instances are significant, this could have an impact on the cost of your insurance.

• Driver motor vehicle records

Many fleet companies need to ensure that their drivers have an updated motor vehicle record (MVR) every couple of years. An MVR record includes events such as collisions, suspensions, moving violations, criminal charges and more. Insurance premiums can go up if your drivers show a history of risky on-road behaviors.

• Location —If you operate in an urban area with a lot of other drivers, chances are that your fleet insurance costs will be a little bit higher. Driving in rural areas poses less of a risk due to fewer drivers on the road.

• Deductibles —Assuming a higher deductible will help keep the cost of insurance premiums lower.

WHAT IS USAGE-BASED INSURANCE?

Usage-based insurance (UBI), also known as pay-as-you-drive or telematics insurance, is calculated based on the overall habits of your drivers. When using a plug-in device like an electronic logging device (ELD), original equipment manufacturer (OEM) embedded data or a mobile app, data is collected to determine your fleet’s driving

Telematics software helps gather information about the safety of your drivers so you can supply your insurance provider with data indicating you operate a safe fleet and, ultimately, reduce costs.

Ask insurers if they have usage-based insurance policies so you can let your safedriving data determine a lower insurance rate.

tendencies. This includes information about harsh braking, rapid acceleration, speed, distracted driving and sharp turns. Insurers will access this telematics data and use it to price an insurance policy that considers how safe your fleet operates. The safer your drivers are while they are behind the wheel, the more savings you’ll benefit from.

CUTTING THE COST OF FLEET INSURANCE

Despite certain factors contributing to higher insurance rates, there are ways to keep those costs down and ensure that you aren’t overspending when it comes to insurance. Here are just some ways to help lower your fleet insurance:

• Telematics —Using an ELD to gather information from your fleet vehicles can help you save money on your fleet insurance. Telematics software helps gather information about the safety of your drivers so you can supply your insurance provider with data indicating you operate a safe fleet and, ultimately, reduce costs. This method of calculating insurance costs is called usage-based insurance.

• Identify areas for driver improvement —Identifying areas of improvement for your fleet drivers using driver scoring and coaching solutions helps pinpoint which drivers could benefit from advanced training. Having training courses on your drivers’ records helps strengthen your commitment to safe, effective driving in the eyes of your insurer.

• Fleet dash cameras —Equipping your fleet with dash cams helps identify risky behavior as it happens, including tailgating, lane departures and drowsy or distracted driving. Fleet dash cams also provide unequivocal proof in the case that a collision occurs and can help lower the cost of any incurred insurance claims.

• Choosing the right insurer

Choosing an insurer can be a time-consuming process, but it is also a very personal and custom experience that differs from each business to the next.

GET THE BEST FLEET INSURANCE PLAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Benchmarking yourself against other fleets can help give you a good idea of where you stand when it comes to operating safely. This should give you a good idea of what kind of situations you need to be insured for. From there, you can create a checklist of things to look for and questions to ask when you research different fleet insurance options.

Consider insurers with add-ons that might be necessary for your fleet, such as:

• Increased coverage for physical damage

• Higher liability coverage

• Product insurance for the assets being transported

• Roadside assistance coverage

• Uninsured motorist coverage

INSURERS THAT ACTIVELY LOWER PREMIUMS ON NO CLAIMS OR USE USAGE

If you’ve never made an insurance claim before, consider looking into insurers who offer discounts for clean driving records. Additionally, ask insurers if they have usage-based insurance policies so you can let your safe driving data determine a lower insurance rate.

MANAGING A FLEET INSURANCE POLICY

Choosing a fleet insurance policy is only half the battle. Once you’ve decided on a policy, there are a couple of things that you should keep in mind during the duration of your policy.

Payments. Your insurance agent

will be able to set up a fleet insurance payment plan that best suits your needs. Your payment plan will usually depend on how much flexibility you need and the type of insurance you decide on. It can also depend on the length of the policy, but the standard is a one-year contract. Payments are usually made via automatic bank withdrawal, check, money order or credit card. There are three different payment plans that are commonly seen in the insurance industry:

• One payment upfront —This is usually the easiest choice when the insurance policy is clear cut and won’t need many changes throughout the term. Paying for the policy upfront also ensures there will be no monthly service fees, saving you a bit of money every month.

• Three equal payments —Making your payments three times a year offers a bit more flexibility. If you don’t want to take on the stress or fees of a monthly payment but don’t want to pay for a year upfront, this is a great option.

• Monthly payments —When you opt to make your fleet insurance payments monthly, normally the insurer will charge you a service fee or interest on your payments. However, monthly payments are great for businesses that need a bit more flexibility or can’t invest in a year-long policy at the start. If your policy needs to be canceled, you won’t need to wait to be refunded the prorated amount for the rest of the contract. Instead, your insurer will simply cancel the rest of your monthly payments.

Renewals. When you go over your policy with your insurer, it will generally include the length of your contract and when you will need to renew. Most auto insurance policies renew annually, but you can also change this to semi-annually or even monthly if you need the added flexibility.

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

As you operate throughout the year, you might find that you need additional coverage that you didn’t originally add to your policy. Most insurers will allow you to change and modify your policy as you go along. There are multiple additions you can add to your policy, but here are some basics:

• Collision or upset coverage —If a fleet vehicle is in a crash with another vehicle and your driver is at fault, collision coverage will either help pay for your vehicle’s repairs or replace your vehicle. In most commercial auto policies, you are responsible to pay for damages to your vehicle if it is involved in a collision.

• Comprehensive coverage Comprehensive coverage protects your vehicle from any damage that results from a natural disaster like a tornado or earthquake, severe weather like hail or snow, vandalism and theft. This might be an addition to think about if you operate out of a geographic area with intense weather systems or a higher crime rate.

• All perils coverage —All perils coverage, as the name suggests, covers all potential scenarios. It can be considered a combination of both collision coverage and comprehensive coverage.

• Specified perils coverage —If there are very specific situations that you would need to be covered for— say, if you need coverage added only for windshield damage due to hail— it would fall under specified perils coverage.

Fleet insurance is necessary but comes at a cost. It is worth the effort to find the right provider, fine-tune coverage and even invest in areas such as telematics to contain those costs without increasing liability for the fleet operator.

Jim Davis is the vice president, insurance, at Geotab, a global leader in connected transportation solutions. Geotab makes it easy to implement a usage-based insurance program through the power of telematics.

Avoiding Communications Breakdown

Established behavioral techniques can improve business operations and the office environment.

BY JOHN KIMMEL

W• The D personality style is outgoing and task-oriented. D stands for Dominant . Your style is the least common and only makes up about 15% of the population.

• The I personality style is outgoing and people-oriented. I stands for Inspiring. Your style makes up about 25% of the population.

arren Buffet said, “The one easy way to become worth 50% more than you are now, at least, is to hone your communication skills.” At the time this article was written, Buffet was worth $117 billion, making him the seventh-richest person in the world. Listening to him sounds like a good

plan. If you agree, and want to improve your communication, then read on.

This is the third article in a threepart series. If you missed the first and second articles, you can find them online at www.fuelsmarketnews.com.

As a quick reminder, DISC is an acronym for the four styles of human behavior that describe each of us.

• The S personality style is reserved and people-oriented. S stands for Supportive. Your style is the most common and makes up about 35% of the population.

• The C personality style is reserved and task-oriented. C stands for Cautious. Your style makes up about 25% of the population. While all of us have at least a little of each style, most of us have one or two styles that monopolize our behavior. PART

In our last article we explored the two outgoing personality styles: D and I. In this article, we will dig into the two reserved styles: S and C. S personalities are reserved and people-oriented, and are naturally the nicest people we know. They live their lives like soldiers: No man left behind. They will sacrifice themselves for others and value fairness to an extreme degree.

Every personality style has at least one secret fuel, but S’s have two. Peace and harmony. At first glance those may sound like the same thing, but they are not. Peace is the lack of conflict. S’s hate conflict and will go out of their way to avoid it. Harmony is what happens when people get along with one another and work together as a team. If an S has peace and harmony happening in their work environment, then they can be amazingly valuable members of your team, but if your office is filled with drama, you might just see them emotionally shut down.

While peace and harmony are key positive attributes for an S, like all the styles, the Supportive people we know also have a blind spot. Sometimes, they have a tough time getting started. Have you ever spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on new software only to find a key employee doesn’t want to use it? And when you question them about it, they confirm that the new software will be better and faster, but for some reason they just can’t bring themselves to use it. This has nothing to do with the software and everything to do with their personality style.

It may help you to understand why S personalities are so averse to starting something new if you hear what their biggest fear is. They fear change. Especially those who score as high S can be truly terrified of change even if they know that the change is the best thing to do. Ironically, S personalities are the best finishers of all the styles,

so once you get them off the ball, they will work late and do whatever they need to do to get the job done.

People with a Supportive personality style usually speak quietly and slowly. Unlike the D’s, who speak slowly because they want to make sure that you understand what they are telling you to do, the S personalities speak slowly because they don’t want to startle you or spook you. They want to keep the conversation drama-free.

If you want to get the attention of an S, you will need to focus your attention on people. People are always more important than tasks to an S. And if you are trying to sell something to this style, you had better not be pushy. If you try the “special price today only” tactic with an S, you might as well pack up your samples and leave, because they are not going to buy from you.

One of the most unique nuances of the Supportive style is that they will only make decisions once they have bounced the situation off their confidant. Who that person is can be difficult to determine, but there is someone in their life that they use as a sounding board to make sure that they are on the right track.

The Cautious people among us are also reserved like the S types, but they are not people-oriented. Instead, they are task-oriented. The C personalities are the smartest people you will ever meet, or at least they seem to be. When a cautious person answers a question, the answer is correct. It’s not that C’s have higher IQs or that they have a higher level of education. The answers they give are correct because before they answered, they checked, double-checked and maybe even triple-checked the data.

C personalities don’t trust the copy machine. I have seen a C make a copy, and then hold the original and the copy side by side to make sure they are the same.

S personalities are reserved and peopleoriented, and are naturally the nicest people we know.

When a cautious person answers a question, the answer is correct.

Cautious people have three secret fuels, and they need to be getting all of them to run at peak performance. Their secret fuels are being correct, adding value and giving quality answers. If you were to ask a C how sales are going this month, you are likely to get an answer like this, “As of this morning, we are at 102.4% compared to this date last year. That includes that big order we just got from Bob’s new customer and don’t forget, we still must return that cross-drop into the system, so that will pull us back down by .7% when it is entered.” They will give you more than just the data you requested. They will also give you detail and context, making the answer even better than what you asked for.

John J. Kimmel is the author of Selling with Power and has spoken at many state and regional petroleum marketer associations. Kimmel provides custom solutions to increase the effectiveness and profitability of sales teams for petroleum marketers all over the United States. To learn more, visit www.johnjkimmel.com

While perfectionism can be fantastic in certain situations, it also has its dark side. The blind spot for a C is analysis paralysis. If a C needs five pieces of information to make a decision and the first four all point to the same conclusion, but they can’t find the fifth piece of data they need, they may not make any decision at all.

For most of us, that makes no sense, but when you hear what cautious people are afraid of, I think you will understand. C personalities are afraid of making a mistake. As I mentioned in the second article in this series, my personality style is I. If I make a mistake—no problem! I just make a new decision. That is not the way that C types are wired. Even a minor mistake can keep a cautious person awake at night days after everyone else has forgotten that it took place.

Cautious people communicate with business-like, straight-forward speech. They focus their points on data that can be verified and speak in specifics like exact numbers, avoiding generalities that might be vague. While C personalities speak quietly, they also speak quickly. They think quickly, too. Sometimes C’s think so fast that when they are speaking, they might leave the last word or two off the end of a sentence and start speaking their next sentence because their mouths can’t keep pace with their minds.

Have you ever shaken someone’s hand only to have them pull away from you slightly or break eye contact with you? If you have, you were likely shaking hands with a C. Remember, C stands for cautious, and they are very cautious with other people, especially those they are meeting for the first time.

In this series of articles, we have learned about all four personality styles: D, I, S and C. Which of these styles describes you? Did you see the different members of your team in your mind as you learned about the different styles? Do you feel more equipped to talk to them in the language that they understand? According to Gallup, 70% of employees who quit their jobs quit for the same reason; they don’t like working with the person they report to. The last thing you want is to lose the most valuable members of your team because you are not speaking their language. So, take the time to learn how to communicate more effectively. Your team members will be glad that you did.

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Fewer gallons sold in the industry is a concern, but one that will affect some retailers more than others.

By Keith Reid

The conventional wisdom in the industry is that fuel retailers are facing a future of increasingly fewer gallons. Less assured, but certainly not an outlier, is the idea that eventually all gallons will go away to be replaced by EVs and charging. So how can an industry that relies on fuel sales as a significant traffic driver (and currently as a profit generator with strong margins) survive in this new world?

These questions were a central focus of several fuels-related educational sessions at the NACS Show, held Oct. 3–6. Offered below is an overview pulled from the various sessions. Not only can the industry survive, but the retailers that best execute in their markets may not lose gallons, or they may even see gallons grow.

What are the current projections for fuel sales in the coming decades?

Fewer gallons are projected to be sold for a range of reasons. Central is the global push for net-zero carbon. However, increased fuel efficiency exemplified by aggressive CAFE mileage standards is a push that predates carbon reduction. As Transportation Energy Institute (formerly Fuels Institute) Director John Eichberger pointed out in the session “The Future of Fuel Retailing,” an individual’s attitude towards climate change doesn’t matter. From a business standpoint, “The path forward is to reduce carbon emissions. Almost every piece of regulation you’re seeing affecting the

transportation energy space is about how do we reduce carbon.”

Is a significant reversal possible? Certainly. To say a transition to zero carbon is ambitious and goes far beyond the transportation sector is an understatement. Further, claims from many supporters that this transition will be painless seem hard to justify. But a reversal would have to be global in nature and is unlikely to happen in the near term. There are also additional pressures on gallons unrelated to carbon, such as telecommuting and driver habits.

Another consideration, although one that is less assured than was once thought, is a reduced interest in driving among Millennials and Gen Z. Less affluent youth are lagging in getting licenses and cars due to economic factors. While they eventually do get on the road, gallons are lost in the delay.

So what are the projections?

Katie Kline, the U.S. South sales manager for ExxonMobil, shared insights from the oil company’s Global Energy Outlook in the session “Thriving in a Shifting Fuel Market.” She told the audience, “When we look at the United States out to 2050, the population is going to grow at less than 1% per year over this period. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s going to end up being an additional 43 million people by 2050. Economic activity is going to almost double GDP by 2050. During that same period, we expect energy demand to decline by 13%.”

She noted the demand destruction will be due to efficiencies offsetting the growth. There is also an aging population and continued urbanization. Klien cited three major factors driving the energy sector: technology, policy and consumer demand.

“Technology is what drives the efficiency gains,” Kline said. “It can be influenced by policy, but for something to be scalable, it must be supported by consumer preference and market drivers. Policy is necessary to enable technology and to enable consumers to adopt new technologies. But policy is not going to be able to drive something that doesn’t [perform] better than the current alternative in consumer’s eyes.”

Kline noted that ExxonMobil sees oil and gas continuing to provide 70% of the energy demands within the United States out to 2050. Most of the expected demand decline noted earlier—about 40%—will come from the light-duty vehicle side of transportation, even as the fleet itself continues to grow. Motor gasoline is currently about 60% of the fuel mix, and by 2050, it is expected to decline to about 30%.

“When you look at that motor gasoline demand, while that decline is partially due to electrification, it is largely due to the efficiency gains that are anticipated across the conventional fleet,” Kline said. “When we do the Outlook, [we] take stated policy and we assume that it’s all going to come true. The stated policy for fuel efficiency gains says that they will more than double over this period. The fleet in 2021 was, on average, 25 miles per gallon. The stated policy says that by

2050, it’s going to be over 60 miles per gallon. That feels a little bit aggressive. If fuel efficiency gains over this period are similar to 2000-21, we’re going to see a much higher demand.”

The ExxonMobil Outlook has commercial transportation set to increase over this period by about 1%, and this sector will be the predominant user of oil and gas.

WHAT ABOUT EVS?

There is no doubt that EVs have arrived as an effective mode of transportation in the lightduty sector, and one that is preferred by many consumers. Global leaders driving carbon reduction seemingly push EVs exclusively over other solutions. EVs are in headlines, news broadcasts and commercials. However, not all consumers are as enthused by that transportation option, and various applications such as heavy-duty and over-the-road trucking or consumer pickup trucks used to tow long distances are likely better served by other solutions that meet carbon goals through liquid or gaseous fuels.

“Americans believe 20% of vehicles in operation are electric,” Eichberger said. “Only 1.5–2% of vehicles in operation are electric. We have this perception of reality, and I want to make sure that this industry is not susceptible to that headline-driven narrative. [EVs do] represent an opportunity, and they are a major part of the future. I also don’t want you to ignore that, because there’s going to be a balance going forward. It is a slow transition.”

Fewer gallons are projected to be sold for a range of reasons. Central is the global push for net-zero carbon.

Just how slow? As of August 2023, EVs represented 7% of sales, or roughly 1 million vehicles, Eichberger noted. By comparison, the top three vehicles sold in 2022, the Ford F-150, the Chevy Silverado and the Dodge Ram, sold more than 1.5 million units. There are nearly 300 million combustion vehicles in the United States today and 1.5 billion in the world. He noted that even if the United States passed a European-style no-internal-combustion-engine mandate for 2035 and turned over the traditional 5% of the vehicle fleet inventory every year, 40% of vehicles on the road in 2050 would still be liquid-fueled.

“That’s the reality—these [combustion] vehicles are going to be around a very long time, and they’re going to need fuel,” Eichberger said. “So, there are options to supply them as long as we open up the door to that discussion and allow innovation to take over.”

While EV adoption might not be quick, and much of the charging will take place at home or other venues, that does not mean EV charging opportunities can’t help make up for shortfalls in liquid fuel sales. Retailers in many markets are still struggling to find EV customers, but there are some regions where EV penetration is creating solid traffic opportunities. Such opportunities are also opening on the national highway arteries. To get this business and help offset the lost gallons and traffic, the retailer must execute on meeting EV customer needs.

Fast chargers are seen as being essential to attract EV drivers to a retail fueling site.

“Most people don’t think about the speed that the fuel enters their car,” said Matthew Dunn, head of mergers and acquisitions for Pilot Travel Centers, in “The Future of Fuel Retailing” session. “But as you get used to an EV, [charging speed] becomes a critical element.”

Pilot, through its travel plaza operations, is well suited to get the roadtripping EV customer. This involves establishing a relationship built on trust.

“We’re trying to build out a nationwide network,” Dunn said. “So Pilot has an everywhere, all-at-once strategy. Giving the customer the knowledge that they can drive from Detroit to Orlando and back again and stop at Pilots along the way is important.”

The session “The Business Case for EV Charging” raised the point that attracting the EV customer should mirror attracting the fuel customer.

“Our philosophy at Parkland has been that EV charging is more than just a plug,” said Scott Sharabura, the vice president of EV charging for Parkland Corporation. “I think everybody recognizes that a gas station is more than just a fuel pump–having strong amenities, a great bathroom, great food, safe lighting, easy access, location, things like that. We’ve been trying to recreate that for EV drivers, as well. We put canopies in place for our drivers. You’ll see vacuums at our sites, squeegees, garbage cans out at their charger locations—just little things. As fuel retailers, we get this. There are a lot of EV networks that haven’t figured this out yet.”

IMPACT OF THE STORE

As has always been the case with convenience retail, fuel (and now potentially charging) can be a primary traffic driver. But what is offered in

the store and at the forecourt will be critical for maintaining traffic and winning what gallons are on the table. The solution is not rocket science—it has never been for the industry—but knowing the customers and giving them what they want, with high-quality and highly efficient operations on the cost side.

In one current, real-world example brought up in “Thriving in a Shifting Fuel Market,” Nathaniel Doddridge, the vice president of fuels for Casey’s General Stores, explained how his company increased fuel sales by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2023 in a region where fuel sales were down 4% overall.

“It feels really good to be flat to positive,” Doddridge said. “I think there’s something to be said about the offer in the store. We pride ourselves on things that attract people to our stores besides the commodity of fuel—competitive pizza prices against the Papa Johns and the Pizza Huts of the world. That brings traffic to our locations. Some of the value items like our private label are attracting people in this recessionary environment. We’ve got seven million rewards members. So how do you attract and retain and reward people for coming to your pad? I think those are the things that make the most difference right now.”

He also noted that Casey’s is pursuing a strategic growth strategy to optimize opportunities for its brand in the current and future markets.

The competition for the customer is going to become fierce, according to Dunn. “Everyone’s going to want to get those purchases as the market shrinks,” he said. “You want to be able to get people in the store. You must prove to them that your full site offer meets their needs better than your competition. And you gotta do that consistently. You can no longer just assume your consumers are going to come back as part of their routine. Assume that someone else is gonna be trying to take those consumers.”

It was emphasized through the sessions that these pressures will force more consolidation and create opportunities for those companies positioned to take advantage of the environment.

MAXIMIZING THE FORECOURT

The fuel offerings on the forecourt have morphed considerably in the past decade. Instead of the typical three grades of fuel, you now have several additional grades of ethanol fuel (E15 and E85),

As has always been the case with convenience retail, fuel (and now potentially charging) can be a primary traffic driver.

biodiesel, EV chargers and, in some cases, CNG, Autogas or “clear” ethanol-free gasoline. Potential additions include renewable diesel, hydrogen and even more ethanol offerings. Some of the fuels will be mandated to commercial customers with initiatives such as low carbon fuel standards, while the various ethanol blends, for example, can be more of a consumer choice based on issues such as price.

“From Pilot’s perspective, we’re here to provide the customer with what they need, whether that’s ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel or anything new that comes along,” Dunn said. “Pilot’s one of the largest providers of renewable fuels in the country. Customers are asking us to help them solve these problems, and being flexible with them and having a dialog allows us to figure out the best solutions.”

He noted that a lot of the solutions being proposed, such as hydrogen, require notable capital expenditures, unlike fuel stations today where it’s just a matter of putting in a new UST or dedicating an existing tank and filling it up with fuel. The question is whether to pull the trigger on various solutions now or wait for the market to mature.

“We debate internally all the time,” Dunn said. “Diesel is here to stay for a very long time. We see hydrogen as a potential diesel replacement for long-haul trucking, eventually. But we view this as the early days. Right now, we are looking at it as an opportunity to understand a market that needs to be developed from top to bottom.”

For the retail consumer, fuel choice can be great for traffic and profitability, but it can also be confusing.

“It’s going to take a village of products to just meet the demand needs going forward,” Doddridge said. “I’ll start by saying, you can go into a Casey’s for a pizza and, depending on the day, do I get a sausage [slice]? Pepperoni? A supreme? You have

choices, and you feel pretty good about it. However, I pull up to the pump and I pick something different and stick that nozzle in my car—that can be a scary thing for some people.”

How do you get customers up to speed on a product they might want to buy from a price perspective but are otherwise unfamiliar with? Doddridge noted that while educating the customer is an appealing idea at first blush, it can be a double-edged sword that might further confuse the consumer if not explained simply. Things industry members take for granted might be entirely new for the traditional gasoline customer. For example, E15 is a cheaper ethanol fuel approved for most of the vehicles on the road. However, the consumer may have concerns over the ethanol content and not be aware that all the “traditional” fuel has 10% percent ethanol in it already. A more nuanced approach, such as calling the product Unleaded 88 instead of E15, can make the product more accessible.

“You have to be careful about overeducating, because as long as the consumer can put it in the car and it works, they will come back,” he said. “They’re going to trust you to do the right thing for them.”

Editor’s Note: This article just touches on the depth of information provided by each session. Most can be downloaded at convenience.org/store.

Keith Reid is editor-in-chief of Fuels Market News. He can be reached at kreid@fmnweb.com

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Renew your benefits for 2024 now convenience.org/membership

By Keith Reid

IN THE

LEAD

Hightowers Petroleum Corporation works hard to stay ahead of the curve with new fuels and charging.

STEPHEN HIGHTOWER PRESIDENT AND CEO, HIGHTOWERS PETROLEUM CORPORATION

Hightowers Petroleum Corporation (HPC) began as a licensed motor fuel dealer in 1984. Over the decades, HPC developed into a “virtual marketplace” with the ability to provide gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, ethanol, lubricants, additives, DEF, oils and greases around the world. As low carbon alternative solutions came online, HPC actively evaluated its range of new product offerings and, today, supports renewable diesel, hydrogen and EV solutions and services.

HPC’s customer base includes Ford Motor Company, Duke Energy, General Motors, DW Morgan Co., P.A.M. Transportation, The Kroger Company, FedEx, UPS, AK Steel Corporation, Progress Energy, Pepco Holdings, Inc., ConEdison, Catholic Health Partners, the state of Ohio, General Mills and many others.

FMN interviewed HPC President and CEO Steve Hightower to discuss how the company is working to stay ahead of the curve with new fuel and charging offerings.

HOW DID HPC GET OFF THE GROUND IN 1984?

We were selling the state various goods and services, and one day they set aside fuel and BP— which had the contract for 32 years—chose not to participate. I was able to get a supplier, Don Lykins, Lykins Oil, and my first contract was the entire state of Ohio. That didn’t put me in business, but it gave me an opportunity and I turned that opportunity into a business. Now, 43 years later, we’re in every state in the United States and we also have a global presence.

WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE?

Well, I started very early. My parents were entrepreneurs in the janitorial business, so I grew up in that industry. I became a supervisor by the time I was 16, when I could legally drive. I was on the truck heading up crews because I just had that desire to be good at what I was doing. By 18, I started at Wright State University and studied management and communications. About three and a quarter years into my college education, I decided that I was tired of going to school and also that I was not going to work for anybody else. If I changed my mind, I would have go back to college and finish my degree.

I may not have a degree, but I am proud of my time at Wright State. What I have on my resume is consistent, honest, quality performance over a 43-year period.

YOU HAVE BEEN OUT IN FRONT OF THE DECARBONIZATION PUSH, AND NOW THAT INCLUDES EV CHARGING. WHAT DROVE

THAT?

We began to look at the energy transition a couple of years ago. Being very close to the political process and knowing what was happening with EV promotion is what started us down that road. We began going to different conferences and getting involved with think tanks like the Transportation Energy Institute. We started learning early and developed relationships. And those relationships gave us opportunities to not just network with potential customers but the manufacturers

and engineers—the whole ecosystem. We eventually became experts and began to speak at conferences.

HOW ARE YOU BRINGING THIS TO MARKET?

We do a turnkey offering that starts by working with the utilities, looking at it from an engineering and design standpoint, selecting equipment and software and installing and maintaining the equipment.

We have contracted with a large number of hotels to provide services throughout the country. We’re also looking at a lot of office buildings, management companies in the marketplace in general, even hospitals. So, what we’ve found is that the opportunity is widespread. The biggest challenge is faced by our retailers in the petroleum space.

As an industry we are volume driven, but being in the Midwest, we don’t have a whole lot of EV vehicles at scale to give a lot of retailers the comfort to go ahead and make the investment. So, we’ve targeted retailers in what we call Hightower as a Service, which is our version of Charging as a Service.

We provide creditworthy retailers with equipment, so they don’t have the out-of-pocket. A level three super charger can run anywhere from $55,000 to $125,000. We also work out profit sharing with them long term. That allows retailers to gain exposure to charging while getting people used to coming into their stores. I think it is a really good solution for those who are waiting on the traffic to get there before they make that kind of investment.

We have several thousand units contracted through some large customers, and we’re now starting to see the actual implementation of projects that we’ve worked on for months or years.

YOU NOTED MAINTENANCE—THAT SEEMS TO BE A CORE ISSUE WITH RETAILERS FIELDING CHARGERS TODAY.

Early on, a lot of people bought a lot of cheap, untested charging equipment. I’ve seen people buy things off Amazon, and they’ve had nothing

Because I was politically active and knew the conversations that were going down, we were able to prepare ourselves two and a half years ago.

but downtime and problems. We’re fortunate knowing who the good players are and who’s not so good. And sometimes the not so good has nothing to do with the quality of the unit, but the quality of the service to keep them up.

Our customers, primarily being in the automotive and utility industry, prefer to have one vendor manage the entire process, instead of having to buy all these components individually. That carries over into maintenance, and not really knowing who to go to when something goes wrong, then having the finger-pointing that comes along with multiple vendors.

We use the phrase “one throat to choke.” If you’ve got a problem, you just come to us, and we’re the ones responsible for the entire process— whatever goes wrong.

WHAT DO YOU SEE WITH HYDROGEN AS A FUEL OFFERING?

It’s going to be there for most of your Class 8 trucks. It is lagging because EV was really the experiment that people started out with. The Department of Energy is doing a study, working feverishly to understand how it can implement hydrogen into the mix of fuels.

We have a very solid green hydrogen manufacturing relationship that is global in nature, and we can provide hydrogen hubs from residential sizes all the way up to large maritime vessels. We learned early how to manage the supply chain on a nationwide basis with the same capability and oversight that we do every day [with the rest of our operations]. It took a couple years to get to where we are today, but it was a very good move to go in this direction. We keep our ear to the ground—we don’t want to be too far behind the curve or too far ahead of the curve. We want to

understand it responsibly and we want to be able to deliver hydrogen with high quality.

WHAT ABOUT YOUR BIO AND RENEWABLE DIESEL?

Just about all our gasoline has some ethanol in it, but we also have utilities that can have no ethanol or bio. So, we also still must find and deliver clear fuels or bio free.

We’ve been doing biodiesel since it first came out, and we’ve still got customers to this day that we sell biodiesel to. But when you go into a 100% renewable diesel that has all the same properties as diesel but is still 100% renewable and fossil free, I just think that’s where we’re going. We’ve been very fortunate to work with Neste, a 100% renewable, and we have exclusive distribution for everything east of California and Washington state.

Our challenges obviously are the costs and the lack of additional incentives that California and Washington state have. We’re looking to help lobby some of the states in the east to also become more competitive and aggressive on their renewable diesel incentive programs.

We know that it’s the future, and we’re looking to get more support out of the federal government, whose policies are not favorable to any liquid fuels right now. But we think eventually they will come around since the vehicles we currently have on the road using fossil diesel are going to be here for decades to come and can benefit today from low carbon fuels.

YOU HAVE AN ACTIVE FLEET CARD PROGRAM AS WELL.

We have the Hightowers Petroleum Company MasterCard fleet card, which has over 250,000 cards out right now. We have almost 40 retailers

giving discounted fuel at the retail pump across the country. It is a great program that offers a lot of savings to our customers, and we’re continuing to grow that as part of the business from the retail side.

We’ve been fortunate to be able to sell back into our existing customer base. Companies such as Kroger, General Motors, Honda, Nissan, Duke Energy—those types of customers also use fleet cards. Once you have proven it’s robust, you have the reporting and we are giving you more money back than you were getting from your traditional fleet card producers, it becomes pretty compelling.

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO BE POLITICALLY ACTIVE?

If you are active in the political process, you are in tune with what’s coming. And anytime legislation is established, there is a lag time before it’s implemented.

I’ve been politically active since I was 14 years old. But it was in my early 20s when I started going to Washington, D.C. to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus, working with

different legislators like Parren Mitchell and Ron Dellums and Shirley Chisholm, back in those days. And now with Bennie Thompson, Jim Clyburn and Joyce Beatty. They help keep me in tune with what’s coming. Knowing that there is money getting ready to come down, preparing yourself to be able to understand it.

Because I was politically active and knew the conversations that were going down, we were able to prepare ourselves two and a half years ago. I knew those bills were signed and it was going to happen, and therefore I prepared myself to take advantage of it because I’m in the business of providing fuel for vehicles. And if that fuel happens to be electric or something else, I’m going to serve my customers.

Keith Reid is editor-in-chief of Fuels Market News. He can be reached at kreid@fmnweb.com

Your Store Could Be Next…

The NACS In Store program brings convenience and fuel industry members together with members of Congress to gain first-hand knowledge of our industry and local operations.

Multiple dates and locations available across the United States.

Learn how you can host a NACS In Store event in your store.

When everything is considered, are they better for the environment?

THE GROWING TRANSITION TO ELECTRIC

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the demand for transportation grows, resulting in a surge of private vehicles on our roadways. However, this rapid proliferation of vehicles comes at a significant cost to the environment. While estimates may vary, an average passenger car emits roughly 4.6 metric tons of carbon yearly, according to the EPA. A number of studies over the years have presented alternatives to the internal combustion engines (ICE) currently used in most passenger vehicles. At present, the primary alternative is the electric vehicle (EV).

The rise of EVs can be attributed to advancements in battery technology and the growing concept of an environmentally friendly society. Government policies endorsing EVs have gained popularity in the global market, offering promising prospects for their development. For example, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 work to incentivize cleaner vehicles and fuels, facilitating cleaner public vehicles and providing tax credits for cleaner vehicles.

VEHICLES

By Dr. Raj Shah, Abigail Kriska, Mrinaleni Das and Dr. Vikram Mittal

EVs possess an electric motor and bank of batteries, in contrast with the standard ICE in most cars. Because EVs run on electricity, they have the potential not to emit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while driving, assuming that the battery banks are recharged from renewable energy sources. Thus, EVs have drawn the attention of the more environmentally conscious members of society; they accounted for about 5% percent of America’s vehicle use in 2022, trending toward a projected 31% of vehicle use by 2050, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. However, before committing to this technology, there must be research done on these vehicles’ mechanical strength and environmental viability.

Gasoline-powered cars are still occupying the largest share of the passenger car market by a wide margin across the globe, mostly because of the availability of gasoline and, thus, an easy refueling system. For EVs, the cost of ownership is a significant barrier to entry. A 2020 study found that EV owners spent 60% less on fuel compared with traditional passenger car owners, as reported by CNBC. This shows that even though the cost of EVs is substantially higher than most traditional cars, in the long run, the cheaper operational cost of EVs is expected to balance out the higher initial costs in most cases.

Traditional cars cannot be replaced overnight due to issues associated with incompatible power grids, the cost of batteries, the weight of the

vehicles, etc. Decades of prominence in the U.S. alone means cars are everywhere and affordable for many people to purchase and maintain. EVs are (comparably) prohibitively expensive and are limited to urbanized areas that can accommodate them, but ICEs can be purchased easily and can be refueled and repaired at any gas station or mechanic in the country. The question remains: How should a household replace its traditional cars with EVs?

The government is trying to address these issues. With the recent subsidies, the cost of EVs is decreasing gradually. As more and more people start to buy electric vehicles, there will be more production, which will further drive the cost of EVs down, making them more accessible to the public. However, the main questions are: How long will the transition take, and is there a better alternative than EVs?

In recent years, world governments have enacted policies to ease the financial burden of EV ownership. As previously mentioned, the Inflation Reduction Act allows a tax credit for EVs for both individuals and businesses, as well as revised requirements for clean vehicle manufacturers for this credit. Similarly, Singapore enacted a 45% rebate of the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) for owners who registered fully electric vehicles, reducing the floor ARF for EVs and reducing road taxes for such vehicles to reduce the financial burden on owners. With these tax

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breaks and reduced fees, consumers would be more inclined to purchase an EV without suffering the high costs of EV ownership.

Furthermore, EVs tend to perform better than ICEs, owing to their lack of combustion and general characteristics. Unlike traditional cars, most EVs employ a rechargeable battery as an energy source. Because the source is all electric, no GHGs are emitted at the tailpipe. GHGs may be emitted from the production of electricity; however, these processes are more efficient than traditional engines, and the global energy market is moving toward renewables. Further, the battery also provides instant torque and a lower center of gravity for the vehicle, resulting in faster acceleration and increased stability, in comparison with ICE vehicles.

The environmental cost of battery production is too great to ignore.

Finally, an underappreciated benefit to EVs is the drastic noise reduction of the engine compared with an ICE. In a summary of 227 expert interviews on the benefits of EVs, these experts noted that an overwhelming majority of responders praised the noise reduction of electrification. While not an easily trackable factor, many responders expressed that noise pollution was quite harmful, with one Copenhagen, Denmark, resident claiming it was responsible for hundreds of deaths in the city due to constant exposure. An increase in EVs would mean a significant decrease in noise pollution in cities and on major roads, increasing the quality of life in those areas and benefiting residents everywhere.

While EVs may have reduced emissions during their operational use compared with traditional cars, the same cannot be said about their construction. The environmental cost of battery production is too great to ignore. The most common type of battery is lithium-ion batteries, owing to their high energy efficiency and power and their low cost of manufacturing. While lithium-ion batteries are abundant, the production

cycle of the batteries is very dangerous to both individuals and the environment. In a life cycle assessment of the battery, researchers observed that the construction of one pack of batteries would produce between 20 and 200 mg of hydrofluoric acid (HF) per watt-hour.

This byproduct is incredibly deadly, and the mass production of lithium-ion batteries ensures that HF levels far exceed all health and safety regulations of any production factory supervising this production. Furthermore, other hazardous species, including dimethyl fluorophosphate, diethyl fluorophosphate and alkyl fluorophosphate, are also generated in the process, which are equally toxic if not properly disposed of.

The byproducts of lithium-ion production are not the only destructive element of the process, however. The most ecologically harmful element comes from the electrolytic solution within the battery, rather than the battery itself. Lithium hexafluorophosphate is the primary electrolytic solution of lithium-ion batteries and is very effective at conduction. The issue, however, is with the process of creating the solution. The process, according to a study estimating the cost and energy demand of the compound, consumes a staggering amount of energy and releases a devastatingly large quantity of GHGs.

There have been many studies done to address these concerns associated with lithium-ion batteries and to make the process more sustainable or find an efficient alternative. A study led by Chen et al. proposes the use of lithiated redox organic molecules, specifically lithiated oxocarbon salts, as alternative electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries. These materials contain electrochemically active C==O functionalities and can be synthesized from renewable starting materials. The authors focus on the tetralithium salt of tetrahydroxybenzoquinone (Li4C6O6), which can be reduced to Li2C6O6 and oxidized to Li6C6O6. The Li4C6O6 compound exhibits favorable electrochemical performance with sustained reversibility. This suggests the potential for constructing a lithium-ion battery that cycles between Li2C6O6 and Li6C6O6 using the proposed materials. The paper further highlights the synthesis methods for Li4C6O6, including direct synthesis from tetrahydroxybenzoquinone and thermal disproportionation of Li2C6O6 under an inert atmosphere.

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An underappreciated benefit to EVs is the drastic noise reduction of the engine compared with an ICE.

Other studies focus more on the recycling of lithium-ion battery cathode materials. In a study led by Xu et al., the researchers proposed a regeneration method based on defect-targeted healing, which will reportedly make the recycling process more efficient and environmentally friendly. It combines low-temperature aqueous solution re-lithiation and rapid post-annealing to efficiently regenerate LiFePO4 (LFP) cathodes, a crucial material for EVs and grid storage applications. The researchers successfully restore the composition, structure and electrochemical performance of LFP, even under various degradation conditions, achieving levels comparable to pristine LFP. Comparative life cycle analysis reveals that this defect-targeted direct recycling approach substantially reduces energy consumption and GHG emissions, providing greater economic and environmental benefits compared with current hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical recycling methods.

In another study led by Shi et al., the researchers presented a nondestructive process (novel particle-to-particle approach) for directly regenerating degraded NCM cathode particles, resulting in the production of new active particles. Through this method, they successfully achieved nearly ideal stoichiometry, low cation mixing and highphase purity in the regenerated NCM particles. These regenerated particles exhibit high specific capacity, good cycling stability and high rate capability, comparable to pristine materials. The study demonstrates a simple yet efficient approach to directly regenerate high-performance NCM cathodes, offering significant advantages over traditional hydrometallurgical methods. These studies successfully address the current challenges associated with lithium-ion batteries and provide solutions to better the existing technology without making any environmental or economic sacrifices.

While standard petroleum cars are detrimental to the environment, electric cars have a long way to go before they replace traditional vehicles fully.

EVs have the potential to produce zero emissions, assuming updates to the electricity grid, and have increased performance and decreased noise compared with ICE-based vehicles. However, paired with a prohibitively high cost, other drawbacks still exist. There are still many costs associated with EVs, but the constant research and continuing developments are addressing and solving these issues rapidly and efficiently. Eventually, more and more developments will occur, improving sustainability and affordability until electric cars will finally be able to compete with petroleum cars.

Dr. Raj Shah is a director at Koehler Instrument Company. He is an elected fellow by his peers at IChemE, CMI, STLE, AIC, NLGI, INSTMC, Institute of Physics, The Energy Institute and The Royal Society of Chemistry. An ASTM Eagle award recipient, Dr. Shah recently coedited the bestselling “Fuels and Lubricants Handbook.” For any inquiries, Dr. Shah can be contacted at rshah@koehlerinstrument.com.

Dr. Vikram Mittal is an assistant professor at the United States Military Academy in the department of systems engineering and an expert on engine technologies.

Abigail Kriska is a student of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, and Mrinaleni Das is a student of chemical engineering at The State University of NY, Stony Brook. Both are current interns at Koehler Instrument, a company active in the field of alternative energy technologies.

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GROWTH ENERGY UNVEILS NEW BRAND

Growth Energy has rebranded with a new look and feel that reflects the full spectrum of the opportunities and innovations that are transforming the biofuels industry and expanding the bioeconomy. The new look emphasizes how the science of biofuel production is echoing across America’s bioeconomy, cultivating a new generation of plant-based solutions on the ground and in the air. The new Growth Energy logo is a natural evolution from the leaves depicted in the organization’s former logo. Each color and line forming the new leaf and its echoes reinforces the diversity of the biofuels industry. The logo is designed to showcase the full spectrum of plantbased solutions Growth Energy represents—from animal feed to low-carbon fuel to biogenic CO2 and more.

OPW RETAIL FUELING INTRODUCES PREPLUMBED DSE DISPENSER SUMP

OPW Retail Fueling, a global leader in fluid-handling solutions, has announced the availability of the newest member of its E-Series Fiberglass Containment Sump family: the Pre-Plumbed DSE dispenser sump. The Pre-Plumbed DSE fiberglass sump features the quality, fast delivery lead times and value of the original DSE model, but with factory-tested and assembled components. The factory-tested and assembled parts that set the Pre-Plumbed DSE sump apart include pre-installed stabilizer bars; 10 Plus Emergency Shut-Off Valves with SmartGuard design that helps contain shear-groove leaks; standard DSE Dispenser Sump base with consistent and smooth walls that help prevent leaks and other maintenance issues; dual-sided rigid (REF) or hybrid (HEF) entry fittings; flex connectors or NPT rigid-riser pipe nipples with pre-installed tees and elbows; and FlexWorks secondary test kits and test jumpers for testing the interstitial space in double-wall pipe couplings (DPC).

HART FUELING SERVICE ADDS THUNDER CREEK FUEL AND SERVICE TRAILERS

Hart Fueling Service has added Thunder Creek Equipment’s lineup of fuel and service trucks and trailers to its fuel equipment sales lineup. The Pennsylvania-based supplier of fueling solutions for businesses nationwide will now rent, sell and support the full lineup of Thunder Creek fuel and service solutions, including the Multi-Tank Trailer (MTT) and the Multi-Tank Upfit (MTU)—a truck chassis-mounted evolution of the same design. Hart Fueling Service serves all 48 states in the U.S. mainland with fuel deliveries, mobile fleet fueling, generator refueling and mobile fueling—providing customers with diesel and DEF on sites ranging from commercial and industrial operations to disaster response and construction sites.

DFS PARTNERS WITH GRUBBRR TO LAUNCH SELF-ORDERING SOLUTION

Dover Fueling Solutions, a part of Dover and a leading global provider of advanced customer-focused technologies, services and solutions in the fuel and convenience retail industries, announced a new partnership with GRUBBRR, a cutting-edge provider of self-ordering technology. The partners will launch a self-ordering solution, DX Market powered by GRUBBRR, within the DFS Anthem UX platform on the Wayne Ovation fuel dispenser. DFS’s collaboration with GRUBBRR will generate increased revenue for fuel retailers by providing them the opportunity to offer customers the convenience of ordering food and shopping for products while pumping gas. DX Market powered by GRUBBRR will also enable retailers to offer customizable promotions and upsell opportunities with video and static content. This cutting-edge experience delivers on the transgenerational consumer expectation that fueling stations are becoming increasingly automated and featuring more self-checkout options, revealed in DFS’s Future of Fueling Trend Report.

CHARGEPOINT’S NEW SUITE OF FLEET ELECTRIFICATION MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS

ChargePoint, a leading provider of networked solutions for charging EVs, announced the expansion of its fleet management product line. A new suite of software solutions is available for both mixed fuel and all-electric fleets to streamline their operations as well as lower their total cost of ownership, easing the transition to electric mobility. The fleet application suite is designed to simplify the management of both all-electric and mixedfuel fleets. The platform has three core software solutions: charging station management, vehicle telematics and mobility services such as over-the-road session reimbursement and roaming. These deliver end-to-end capabilities for fleet managers, help lower cost of ownership, drive higher uptime and performance, and can be implemented as a complete package or as individual solutions.

VONTIER’S ANGI ENERGY SYSTEMS TO DELIVER HYDROGEN REFUELING STATION FOR BUSES IN CALIFORNIA

Vontier Corporation, a leading global provider of critical technologies and solutions to connect, manage and scale the mobility ecosystem, and ANGI Energy Systems (ANGI), a Vontier business and leading provider of alternative fueling solutions, are proud to announce a major milestone in the evolution of sustainable transportation as ANGI prepares to supply its first full Hydrogen Refueling Station

(HRS) to Trillium to be installed at Santa Clarita Transit. Demonstrating its continued commitment to decarbonizing mobility, ANGI’s HRS offers a complete end-to-end solution for hydrogen refueling, enabling fleet operators and transit companies an effective means of transitioning to zero-emission vehicles. Continuing a strong partnership across multiple fuels, ANGI has collaborated with alternative energy infrastructure provider Trillium to develop an expertly configured station for Santa Clarita Transit in California.

TARBELL MANAGEMENT GROUP SELECTS ADD SYSTEMS AS ITS SOFTWARE PROVIDER

ADD Systems, a leading supplier of software solutions for the convenience store and energy distribution industries, is proud to partner with Tarbell Management Group as its software provider for its convenience store and wholesale fuel operations. Tarbell needed a software system to streamline its day-to-day operations across all aspects of its business. After extensive research, it decided to partner with ADD Systems to accelerate its daily business operations in its convenience store and wholesale fuel businesses. Tarbell is using ADD eStore for its convenience stores and ADD Energy E360/ADD Energy E3 for its wholesale fuel operations. Additionally, Tarbell is using Atlas Reporting, ADD Systems’ solution for business intelligence and reporting, as well as Raven for its wholesale operations.

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VERIFONE INTEGRATES WITH TRUAGE AGE-VERIFICATION SOLUTION

Verifone has integrated its Commander Site Controller software with TruAge, an age-verification system, to enable convenience and fuel retailers to seamlessly use TruAge’s services to verify an adult customer’s age for purchases of age-restricted products. All retailers using Verifone’s latest Commander software release are able to implement TruAge at their stores. Verifone’s point-of-sale solutions are used by more than half of the 150,000-plus stores in the convenience and fuel retailing industry.

TITAN CLOUD LAUNCHES FUEL ASSET OPTIMIZATION PLATFORM

Titan Cloud, a global leader in the downstream fuel software market, launched Fuel Asset Optimization, a software platform designed to deliver a consolidated view of vital data to manage risk and fuel profit in real time. Titan’s Fuel Asset Optimization connects people, equipment and facilities to deliver precise data to the right people in real time for better proactive decision-making across compliance, maintenance and fuel operations. Titan Cloud helps companies in the c-store, fleet and service provider markets reduce compliance risk, decrease maintenance costs and increase revenues. Drawing on precise data from ATGs, dispensers and other transactional or third-party systems, Fuel Asset Optimization provides a scalable software approach that removes operational constraints, eliminates manual processes and decreases operational and compliance blind spots, allowing customers to fully optimize their fuel operations.

REMEMBER THIS?

A Buc-ee’s Before Its Time

BY KEITH REID

The large-format, multipleprofit-center convenience store is a trend that has been building for decades now, with some operators taking it to exceptional limits. Buc-ee’s leaps to mind as the most notable example of the trend. But as with so many things in the industry, this concept has been explored regularly throughout its history.

One such example can be found in the April 23, 1941, issue of National Petroleum News. The article “Motorist Department Store Is Part of Modern Service Station” described Ned’s Auto Supply Company of Detroit’s newest superstation, which was located in the Detroit suburb of Mount Clemens. It featured three buildings with an overall floor space of about 37,000 square feet. In addition to fuel, Ned’s Auto Supply featured three significant profit centers that each occupied roughly the same amount space.

The company was started by Ned Gersshenson in 1918. He passed away two years later. The operations were then assumed by his four children, Chuck (president), Bill, Aaron and Sam. Chuck and Bill were of the mindset that “merchandise of almost any kind could be sold to motorists if it were made convenient for them to shop when they were driving, and if the goods on sale were displayed to catch their attention.” This philosophy led to the construction of their superstation.

In a precursor of the modern convenience store, the location included an A&P Supermarket. The article notes that “this unit is an example of what some people think the service station of the future will be.”

The other two profit centers were

more traditional in nature, but with some notable exceptions.

As was common at the time, one profit center was the lubritorium. Automobiles of that era needed considerably more operator maintenance than what you see today. In particular, the chassis and drivetrain needed regular lubrication, and this messy and no doubt aggravating service was the first notable ancillary profit center to be widely coupled with fuel sales. At this point in time, the industry had realized that lubrication provided a good inroad for additional automotive service and the “tires, batteries and accessories”(TBA) era was underway.

Ned’s took its lubrication to another level by incorporating a conveyor system like you would find with an in-bay carwash over a lubrication pit, and for much the same reason—increased volume. While vehicles moved at a speed of approximately four feet per minute for 10 minutes, up to seven mechanics lubricated them. Additional services included inflating tires, filling and testing batteries, checking lights, cleaning windshield glass, oiling door hinges and locks and vacuum cleaning the interior.

The final profit center was a “Motorists’ Department Store” that not only featured a full range of auto

supplies but carried household appliances, toys, some clothing, and a wide line of sporting goods.

There was a wide range of parking available and store customers were provided with a valet service. The keys were returned at an interior cashier station when the customer finished shopping or getting the car serviced, and as the article noted: “The point in having the car owner go to the cashier’s desk for his keys is that he must pass by display counters where there are goods that are most likely to appeal to that particular time, either accessories for the car or seasonal sporting goods. Management believes this display space is more valuable in inducing sales than that on the counter near the street entrance to the store.”

Ned’s Auto Supply offered regular and premium and a “Benzol” motor fuel supplied by Ford. They did not handle “third grade” discount branded gasoline, and gasoline prices were shown at the pump.

“Our price is always determined by the going prices of other outlets in the city, and standard brand gasolines,” said Chuck.

The construction finished right on the eve of World War II, which saw driving curtailed, gasoline rationed and the production of virtually all automobiles, tires, batteries and accessories (and virtually everything else that was merchandise) quickly shifted to war production. This site would’ve been very challenging to operate during the war years. However, as modern-day operators show, the concept had merit.

For more than 100 years, from its founding in 1909 to when it went out of business in 2013, National Petroleum News (NPN) documented the rise of petroleum marketing and retailing in the United States. NACS, PEI and The Fuels Institute have catalogued the rich history of NPN in its entirety. Each issue of Fuels Market News will look back at the history of our vibrant industry, through the eyes of NPN, to see how it reflect the issues, challenges and opportunities we face today.

Keith Reid is the editor of Fuels Market News

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