20 MAY 2016 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
Training Program," Taylor said. "Most
problems occur due to human error, and
complacency is the root of all evil. Once
we start becoming complacent an accident
can happen." He added, "The properties
of propane are very, very predictable and I
tell my people it's always going to react the
same way, but you have to respect it, you
have to respect the product and once you
lose that respect and become complacent,
someone's going to get injured."
Selling tanks that are to be buried creates
potential liability, Taylor warned. "You can't
j u s t b u r y
it and for-
get it." The
National Fire
Protection
Association's
L i q u e f i e d
Petroleum
G a s C o d e
58 requires
c a t h o d i c
protection
testing every
24 months.
"That is the
testing of the magnesium anode bags,"
Taylor said. "We have a full-time person that
does nothing but go around and test the
anode bags and they replace them as needed
to make sure [the tanks] aren't deteriorating
in the ground. Metal is always trying to turn
back into dirt. Mother Nature is trying to
take that tank back to what it came from."
Selling tanks for underground instal-
lation without telling the customer about
the NFPA requirement for periodic test-
ing creates "long-term time bombs in
the field," Taylor warned. "Once you've
sold that tank to the consumer you've lost
control over who's going to be handling
that testing. We never sell propane tanks.
Selling tanks is really the kiss of death in
so many respects."
PRICE OF ENTRY
Launching a propane business requires "a
huge investment," Taylor said. The invest-
ment includes equipment, tanks, safety
training and insurance.
Based on what a number of industry vet-
erans have told Fuel Oil News, here are some
of the major costs: a delivery truck, approxi-
mately $125,000 to $150,000; a crane truck,
with a price tag of about $100,000, to set
tanks on customers' property; and a service
truck, such as a Ford F-450 or F-350 with a
small utility body, for roughly $75,000.
For a bulk plant with a 30,000-gallon
tank on land you already own: $250,000.
That includes the cost of site work such as
piping, concrete, fencing, electricity lighting
and security. These investments together
amount to approximately $600,000. Then
there are the tanks that go on customers'
property. Tanks that hold 100 gallons typi-
cally cost about $400, experts told Fuel Oil
News. Purchasing 100 at that price will cost
$40,000. Larger tanks, which hold 1,000
gallons, cost about $2,000.
l F O N
"All of our
employees go
through the
NPGA
Certified
Employee
Training
Program."
For more on getting into the propane business, visit
the website fueloilnews.com, go to the digital archives
and pull up the February 2012 issue. See the article
titled "Propane: The Price of Entry," pages 18-21.