The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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22 DECEMBER 2015 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com BUSINESS OPERATIONS The 2015 Sourcebook Readership Survey BY KEITH REID I t's that time of year again, when Fuel Oil News provides its readers with its annual sourcebook survey. The goal is to offer a snapshot of our readership (relative to the specific respon- dents that year) that represents a comparison benchmark. We received 120 final responses this year from a range of companies. Our staff would like to thank those who participated. Your help with the survey helps the industry as a whole by supporting this useful project. While some long-term trends can be observed, the mix of respondents changes year to year. So, each survey should be taken on its own merits. We do provide, up front, a picture of the demographics of the specific respondent group. We comb though the data to eliminate failed survey responses. Within the accepted data, some respondents might be smaller dealer operations, and others larger marketer/whole- saler operations that are far from typical and that might only operate home heating oil delivery and service as a division of a much larger and more diversified operation. This survey is confidential and we cannot (nor would we) specifically identify the companies that provided a response, but a thoughtful look at the outliers would suggest the above assumptions are accu- rate. However, both the typical smaller fuel oil dealer and large regional diversified petroleum and fuel-oil specific marketers are part of the industry's competitive landscape. Responses are also rounded to an even number. REGIONAL DEMOGRAPHICS From a regional perspective, and as is typically the case, the vast majority of respondents were from New England or the Mid- Atlantic states. Multiple regions could be selected. REVENUE From a revenue standpoint (and as has been the case for several years now), the majority of respondents (40%) enjoy revenues between $1 million and $5 million. Following that, some 21% had revenue between $5 to $25 million. Notable this year was a general move upward in respondent revenue. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES The average operation featured about 29 employees. This included some very large outliers and a number of very small operations. NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS SOURCES OF REVENUE Retail fuel oil was, not surprisingly, a primary source of income for 95% of respondents. Some 28% provided bulk fuel oil and a significantly increased (over 2014) 34% provided propane service and a notably reduced (compared to 2014) 70% HVAC sales and service. FUEL OIL SALES BY VOLUME When looking at the percentage of fuel oil sales by volume, it TABLE 1 REGIONAL DISPERSION OF THE RESPONDENTS NEW ENGLAND: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42% MID-ATLANTIC: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, Washington, D.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46% SOUTH: Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5% MIDWEST: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7% WEST: Oklahoma, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oregon, California, Alaska, Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2% TABLE 2 REVENUE LESS THAN $1 MILLION 8% $1 TO $5 MILLION 40% $5 TO $10 MILLION 21% $10 TO $25 MILLION 12% $25 TO $50 MILLION 12% MORE THAN $50 MILLION 7% TABLE 3 NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES, NUMBER OF NUMBER OF INCLUDING YOURSELF SERVICE TECHNICIANS DELIVERY DRIVERS 29 7 9 TABLE 4 NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS NUMBER OF NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL/ NUMBER OF HOME-HEATING CUSTOMERS INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS PROPANE CUSTOMERS 4,947 513 3,517 TABLE 5 REVENUE SOURCES RETAIL FUEL OIL 95% BULK FUEL OIL 28% RETAIL GASOLINE 30% BULK GASOLINE 23% LGP/LNG, RETAIL OR BULK 34% HEATING EQUIPMENT SALES 70% AIR-CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT SALES 47%