BIO DE A L E R Becoming a Biodealer
Windsor Fuel Co. is getting into biofuel in a big way BY S T EPHEN B E N NE T T
Photo courtesy PriMedia, Inc., which also assisted
in developing Windsor Fuel's Bioheat delivery truck marketing wrap.
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HANGE IS A CONSTANT, GOES THE OLD SAYING, AND WINDSOR Fuel Co. is an example. The family-owned enterprise began delivering ice and coal in the late 1930s. When
the ice and coal businesses dwindled, and fuel oil grew increasingly popular, the business changed with the times, becoming a fuel oil dealer. Now the company is changing again, venturing into biodiesel in a big way. Last fall the dealer began delivering B5 – a blend of five
percent biodiesel and 95 percent fuel oil – to all of its cus- tomers. "I'm glad we did it," said Donald ("D.J.") LeoGrande Jr., a
principal in the business based in Mineola, N.Y. The structure of its fuel oil business seems to have helped make Windsor Fuel's move into biodiesel somewhat easier.
JUNE 2012 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
The company operates a dozen or so fuel oil delivery trucks,
and two transport trucks that pick up product for a 125,000-gal- lon bulk tank on the company's site. "We've always felt that it was very important to have that,"
LeoGrande said, referring to the bulk tank, "for the sense of con- trol over the supply of the product." "That's relatively small as far as storage tanks go," LeoGrande
said, "but because we have our own transport trucks, we can supply that tank all day long. It's feasible that we could turn that over in a day." Having the bulk tank has another benefit too. "Because we
have a very convenient location in Nassau County, some other companies will come here to load," LeoGrande said. "We'll bring their oil here, store it in our tank and they'll come and use their
