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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www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | OCTOBER 2016 37 to start the gas fireplace and we'll have a glass of wine tonight,'" Smith said. "It's hard to predict when you're going to have that let's-start-the-gas-fireplace feeling—you know?" Monitoring commercial and institutional accounts with irregu- lar usage patterns—convention centers, restaurants, churches—can pay off in a big way, Smith said. "They don't particularly burn the same amount of gas every day," he said. "A church may have a wed- ding this weekend but not the next weekend." Most dealers that aren't using monitoring technology show up when a customer's tank is "about half-full, on average," Smith said. "With monitors we drive it down to an average of about 20% full [before] drivers deliver." At that point, Smith noted, "You're not losing money on the cost of delivery and you're not wasting money going there when you don't need to." For his audience at the Northeast Propane Show, Smith demonstrated a spread sheet he had created. The spread sheet had fields for tank capacity and the level the tank was filled to—usually 80% for a propane tank, Smith said. After variables were plugged in—the price the dealer charged the customer, the dealer's cost of fuel, the cost to deliver— the spread sheet calculated profit or loss on the transaction. Smith added that for dealers who offer tank monitoring there is some additional revenue opportunity in offering related value- added services such as indoor temperature monitoring. The session on collections featured Milissa Lord, vice presi- dent of business development for A.R.M. Solutions, a collection agency based in Camarillo, Calif., discussing "best practices." The fuel industry is plagued with "load-to-load mentality" customers, Lord said in an interview. "Because dealers are not creditors, customers feel little to no urgency to pay their past due balance until their tank is empty," Lord said. "These slow-paying customers require extensive internal collection efforts every time they get a delivery," she said. "The time and resources expended have real costs associated," Lord added. "Meanwhile margins are shrinking." In the propane business, she pointed out, tank locks, service disconnections, reconnections, and safety checks all inflate operational cost and reduce margins. Lord said the cost of operating has risen to the point that fuel marketers can no longer afford to operate with delinquency and still remain profitable or grow their business. Trying to do that can leave a company exposed and vulnerable to acquisition, she said. "What we see is that folks that have poor internal processes and don't manage their customers' paying habits properly ultimately are less profitable—they work harder, they make less—and also they're the ones that are being acquired," Lord said. When dealers turn an account over to a collection agency they're typically advised that they should discontinue working with or taking payments from that customer, Lord said, and that means the account is no longer in their control. Fuel dealers should develop a proactive credit policy and stick to it, Lord advised. A.R.M.—it stands for Accelerated Resource Management—features a web-based technology that enables fuel dealers to remain involved with the management of prob- lematic accounts, she said. Through a web-based portal dubbed A.R.M. WebView, fuel marketers maintain access to current standings and collection activity on accounts. Fuel marketers may intervene on any account to preserve client retention, Lord said, adding that the collection agency has integrated its system with software platforms that provide automation of account placement, transaction updates and status changes. Among exhibitors at the Northeast Propane Show, Bergquist Inc., demonstrated "Pipe It Propane" a smart phone application designed to assist propane marketers in regulator and tubing size selection during tank installations. The app, available for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, is a tool for proper Kosan+ regulator and line sizing calculations for tank sets, Don Montroy, director of marketing for Bergquist, said in an email after the show. Users of the app enter information including Btu load by appliance, whether plastic or copper tubing is being used, and the distance from tank to building. "The app will identify applicable first-stage regulators, second-stage regulators and tubing size necessary for the job," Montroy said. The app also allows users to purchase applicable regulators via a link to Bergquist's mobile storefront. Hanbay Inc., Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada, exhibited a new valve actuator for propane dispensers, tanks and bobtail trucks. "Moisture, corrosion, and ice buildup pose a major problem for propane distributors during the cold season," Isaac Ennio of Hanbay said in an email. The company's electric Spring Return Fail Safe Actuator, designed to be explosion-proof, is compact and fits new or existing valves on dispensers, tanks, bobtails and trucks, the manufacturer said. Dual fail-safe protection includes a fusible link and electronic thermal cut-off, the manufacturer said. The actuator is designed to ensure a valve will be securely shut in an emergency event: the actuator automatically closes the valve when its power supply is turned off or lost. l F O N Interest is high during a presentation (left) under the tent at the Northeast Propane Show in Boxborough, Mass. Right: The tent and display trucks occupied the parking lot of the Holiday Inn, site of the show. PHOTOS BY JESSICA LEVAGGI/PGANE