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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EDITOR'S NOTE EDITORIAL STAFF Editorial Office EPG Media & Specialty Information 10405 6th Ave. N., Ste 210 Plymouth, MN 55441 Publisher John Prusak 763/383-4402 jprusak@epgmediallc.com Editor Stephen Bennett 763/ 383-4406 sbennett@epgmediallc.com Columnists Charles Bursey, Sr. Shane Sweet George Lanthier List Rentals Joanne Juda jjuda-prainito@epgmediallc.com • 763/383-4401 Reprints Robin Cooper rcooper@epgmediallc.com PRODUCTION Production Manager – Karen Kalinyak Associate Art Director – Andrea Schneider ADVERTISING SALES East – Dave Campbell, Associate Publisher 763/383-4457 dcampbell@epgmediallc.com Central & South – Rich Alden 763/383-4463 ralden@epgmediallc.com Barbara Reynolds 763/383-4477 breynolds@epgmediallc.com West – Ken Jordan 972/540-2122 Fax: 972/540-2127 kjordan@epgmediallc.com MAIN OFFICE EPG Media & Specialty Information 10405 Sixth Ave N, Suite 210 Plymouth, MN 55441 CUSTOMER SERVICE 763/383-4491• Fax: 763/383-4497 customerservice@epgmediallc.com Fuel Oil News PO Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823 We present a hazmat double bill in this month's issue. First, a feature article on safe management of fuel oil in the event of a leak or spill. "A driver who is transporting hazardous materi- als has to be able to read and understand a safety data sheet in case they get exposed or in case they have to interact with a chemical more than just filling up somebody's tank," says Marc Nerino, who conducts training for fuel oil companies ("Safe Handling," page 16). According to Nerino, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration, which oversees hazmat programs for the DOT, is making "sweeping changes almost weekly." He urges marketers to pay close attention in order to keep up. Further, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is overhauling its hazard communication standard to conform to "global harmonization"— common standards that have been or are being adopted in European nations. Nerino says. The other half of our hazmat double bill is a feature article on safe handling of propane ("Safety Means No Accidents," page 19). "Every fire department should be on a first-name basis with their local propane dealers," says David Walsh, who teaches a fire safety course at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and works closely with Rich Muellerleile, president of Star Gas Products in Poughkeepsie. "Our program is aimed at emergency response personnel but can certainly be beneficial to folks in the propane industry," Walsh says. "Three o'clock in the morning is never a good time to meet somebody and history has proven that joint ventures—before something goes wrong—can be critical to the successful mitigation of an incident." Speaking of propane, Jim Proulx, president of Proulx Oil & Propane, Newmarket, N.H., did just that, delivering a talk about propane as a motor fuel at the AltWheels conference in Norwood, Mass. ("AltWheels Highlight," page 43.) The market is in its infancy, but it has big potential, Proulx says. In his own company fleet, Proulx has converted a number of vehicles to propane-gasoline, including a crane truck, box trucks and Ford pickup trucks. The company does not have a fuel oil delivery truck running on propane-gasoline yet, but the pur- chase of a Freightliner S2G, with a factory installed propane autogas engine and fuel system, "is on the horizon," Proulx says. Using converted vehicles is part and parcel of persuading other fleet operators to convert their vehicles, in Proulx's view. "We need to be using the product to sell the product," he says. One more note on products. New products are covered regularly in this magazine, but they are usually—almost exclusively—created by manufactur- ing companies that are well-known to fuel marketers. Unusually in this issue, we report on a product ("Fuel Oil Hose Puller," page 44) that was designed and made by an oil deliveryman, Pete Ozols of Norwalk, Conn. Check it out. l F O N 8 DECEMBER 2016 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com On Safety STEPHEN BENNETT