Six customers who need a tank monitor: #5 propane refill station

The Six Customers Who Need A Tank Monitor

For the next in our series of difficult to track propane customers, we’re going to look at a propane refill station. In case you missed it our first four posts highlighted pool heaters, greenhouses, generators, and second-homes. Our top six list is a result of analyzing the thousands of connected tanks we monitor across 46 states and Canada.

A propane refill station displays variable, high, and critical consumption characteristics that make these tanks perfect candidates for a tank monitor. Let’s unpack each of these characteristics. First, these locations can swing wildly as demand varies from BBQ cylinders, RV tanks, forklifts, food trucks and more. Second, a run-out is directly tied to lost sales for your propane refill station customer, so one run-out can lead to a lost customer. This variable and critical use becomes even more risky because of a refill station’s large consumption rate. Customers like the one highlighted below can sell through a 1,000 gallon tank every week often requiring 50+ deliveries per year to avoid run outs.

From the usage below, we can see exactly why this all adds up to both a challenge and an opportunity for suppliers. Without degree day dependent usage the supplier below opts to set this propane refill station on a scheduled weekly delivery. This delivery strategy can suffice for most drops but fails to capture the peak usage events that lead to a run-out – as indicated on Sept 3rd below. With live information about your propane refill station tank level, you can solve this challenge by making daily and even hourly decisions that help avoid a run-out.

While challenging, a propane refill station also presents an opportunity. Because of the large usage even the slightest increase in fill % can equate to a significant reduction in required stops. Filling the tank below at 20% would save ~15 deliveries over a year and at $50/stop would equate to saving $750/year.

Tank Level for Propane Refill Station

Put us to the test with your most challenging customers!

Request a free trial tank monitor from Generac and see how you can improve delivery efficiency and reduce run-outs.