gas station runouts

Well there isn't much you you're self can do it's more of an office problem. Only way you could help is asking your dispatch if you can change the order you run your dispatch to be as efficient as possible.

 

Check with your company and let them know it's a problem and could you run that load first load. If we worked days we had before noon loads and if on nights we had before midnight loads. If it's a small station then they may have some problems on their own when to order. You're going to have run-outs but see what you can do to help. I would believe your boss would be thankful.

 

I wouldn't wory too much about it. If your company was going to lose those accounts, they would have already.

/sez the guy who's boss owns all the stations he fuels

 

Why is it a big deal to the delivery driver that a store runs out?

I know nothing about gas hauling. Just ask out of curiosity.

 

Well it really isn't that big of a deal for the driver. It is however, a big deal for the station as they loose money and sometimes they have to call a tech out to get the pumps running again. Then you have the customers that literally wait till the last drop to get gas, and sit at the station looking at you all sideways as you unload. I've had attendants come out all upset yelling like really, I could of started my unloading process already.

 

It might not be the companies fault.... With prices falling some customers don't want to buy any extra inventory .

It all depends who is watching the tank levels and who gets to decide when it's time to get a load....

Remember a .04 cent decrease in price adds up on a 8600 or 11,000 gallon load .

 

Yeah, but don't knock it. You too will one day be looking at the end and your pension, and the new kids will be making the same complaints twenty five years earlier. That's how it works.

That's how we do it. We only have 17 stations, some small, and a few truck stops. The owner plays the wholesale market all day long. I'll drop just enough to keep the station going until the next day usually.

I like it. It makes for faster-paced work, and since I get paid for the extra drops on the same load, it pays better than loading 8000gal. onto the truck, then dumping it at one station and going back for more to go to another. Sometime you can spend an hour or more waiting in line at the refinery.

My boss owns the station, and the truck company, and he dispatches the trucks. So basically what happens is I will call him just before I pull into the refinery, find out what he wants and what station I need to go to, load it and head on out. From the station I call him with the meter numbers, he dicides how much to drop, and where the next stop is going to be. I drop it, go on the the next stop and repeat. I do this until I'm empty and then I go back tot he refinery. Usually I make 2-3 trips to the refinery in an average day, sometimes more sometimes less. And I usall get 2-4 drops out of each load, being paid the base fee for the stop, then a fee for each subsequent stop on that tankful.

It's hectic sometimes, but I like it. And if I work fast, I get done quicker. I don't really work much more than about 10-11 hours a day, five days a week. There are drawbacks, but so far it has worked resonably well, for me anyway.

 

Heh...I had this happen last week. The store manager started kvetching at me because he was out of 93. This was the second time in a week he was complaining to me about it. Went on and on. I finally looked him in the eye and told him he was being whiny and to stop bothering me.

 

It's bad for business to have a station turning people away. I have seen people refuse to buy midgrade when it's only a couple of cents per gallon more. I even offered this guy the difference and he wouldn't take it. Most the time it's not the drivers fault for run outs but sometimes it can be. That's when the boss will ask why.