• Home
  • Resources

Unlocking Construction Success: 5 Key Advantages of Fuel Delivery

Whether you work in heavy construction, residential construction, landscaping, road construction or mining and resources, one thing is sure — refueling is a constant. Especially if you are a fleet manager, you know just how vital fuel is to everything you do. Without fuel, your fleet of vehicles and equipment would be rendered useless.

You don’t just need fuel — you need a lot of it. Some of the most common types of equipment consume about three to six gallons of diesel fuel an hour. Depending on the size of your fleet, you could go through hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel every day. Of course, diesel isn’t the only type of fuel construction sites rely on. They may also use gasoline, propane or compressed natural gas.

Based on the high volume of fuel construction companies need to get the job done, it’s no wonder that getting that fuel is an important step in keeping things running smoothly and maintaining productivity. Every construction business needs a strategic plan in place for meeting their fueling needs. What makes a plan strategic? It needs to help you save time and money, and maximize your uptime.

While there are many aspects of fuel management a construction business should pay attention to, the first big question is how you’re going to obtain your fuel in the first place. The two main options are to purchase your fuel on an as-needed basis from gas stations or to have your fuel delivered. While it takes less up front planning, running to the gas station to purchase fuel when the need arises is probably not the most strategic plan. Having your fuel delivered is a far better option.

Fuel delivery means a provider is coming to you, either at your headquarters or on the job site, to fill storage tanks or directly fill tanks on equipment or vehicles. In this post, we’ll look at five benefits your business can gain from fuel delivery. Having your fuel delivered is more streamlined, consistent, cost-effective, accurate and convenient way to manage your construction fueling needs.

1. Fuel Delivery Is More Streamlined

One of the biggest benefits of fuel delivery is that it streamlines the process in some important ways. Consider the steps to obtaining fuel another way. You need to find a place to buy what you need, and make sure you’re getting a good deal. This means you end up comparing prices on several types of fuel and making multiple trips to various locations to purchase all the fuel you need.

To further complicate matters, purchasing other types of fuel beyond gasoline and diesel may require you to travel farther. For instance, there are places in Pennsylvania where you may have to drive an hour to get to the nearest natural gas fueling station.

When you add up the time a fleet manager or other workers would spend locating fueling stations, comparing prices and making trips to buy fuel, you’re looking at a large chunk of time that could have been spent on other valuable aspects of fleet management, like maintenance or improving fuel efficiency. You can save your business the hassle and free up time for these valuable pursuits by working with a fuel delivery service.

Signing up with a fuel delivery service streamlines the process of obtaining fuel. For one, you don’t need to compare prices for each type of fuel. You can count on a steady, reliable price-point from one source. We’ll talk more about cost later, but for now, suffice it to say that this is a cost-effective option, not just a streamlined one. You also benefit from the simplicity of dealing with one vendor.

Another way the process is greatly simplified is that you can obtain all your fuel from a single source. Rather than making ongoing trips to various locations, you can count on one source to provide for all your fueling needs. This is especially important for construction businesses since they tend to rely on a combination of fuel types to power their fleet. For instance, you may need highway diesel for your trucks, off-road diesel for heavy equipment such as backhoes or loaders, propane for your forklift, and gasoline for your generators.

Look for a provider that offers a wide selection of high-quality fuels, so you can use them as a comprehensive fueling solution for all types equipment, whether it be on-highway vehicles, compact equipment, heavy equipment, power generation equipment or any other types of equipment you use. Ideally, you want a delivery service that can fill your equipment as well as trucks, skid tanks, and storage tanks.

When you get your fuel from a fuel delivery service, the one big decision you have to make is which company to work with. Once you’ve made that decision, the hard work on your part is done. You can now enjoy a simplified process of obtaining fuel, one that saves you time, effort, and money and even simplifies your budgeting and bookkeeping. No more keeping track of countless receipts. You have one simple payment to keep track of. It’s a fleet manager and accountant’s dream.

2. Fuel Delivery Is More Consistent

Fuel represents a significant percentage of a construction company’s operating costs, so it makes sense that fleet managers care about using fuel wisely and keeping their fueling costs as low as possible. Unfortunately, fuel is a commodity that goes through extreme price fluctuations. Within a single day fuel costs can vary widely. You can see even more dramatic variations from week-to-week or month-to-month. Here are a few factors that can influence the price of fuel:

  • Seasonal demand: Retail gasoline prices are typically higher in the spring and summer when people drive more frequently. Comparing gas prices in the U.S. in January and August from 2000 to 2017, the average price of regular-grade gasoline was about 36 cents per gallon higher in August. Diesel prices are characterized by an opposing seasonal trend. The demand for heating oil in the fall and winter can cause diesel prices to rise. In agricultural communities, diesel prices may also be influenced by seasonal farming demands.
  • Seasonal specifications: Seasonal changes in specifications can also affect prices. Environmental regulations for gasoline do not remain constant throughout the year. Gasoline sold in the summer has to be made to resist evaporating in the warm weather, which necessitates using more expensive components in the gasoline. This, of course, results in a higher price on gas during warmer months.
  • Stocks: Stocks are hugely important to the current price of various types of fuel. Stocks can drop when problems arise that limit the supply of crude oil. In turn, wholesalers are likely to bid higher for the available supply, resulting in a higher final price for the consumer.
  • International supply and demand: All the complexities of world economic conditions and international supply and demand for crude oil play into the price of fuel both abroad and in the U.S. This can involve complex political relations as well as more straightforward economics.
  • Location: To account for the cost of transporting fuel to your region the farther away you are from the fuel supply, the higher prices are likely to be. About half of U.S. diesel fuel comes from the Gulf Coast, so if you live far away from this source, you can expect higher prices. Local economics and retail markets also influence the current price you pay.

With so many factors playing into the fluctuations in fuel prices, it can be difficult or impossible to predict when prices will spike or when they’re getting ready to come down. Trying to predict the best times to purchase fuel takes time and effort and can still be unreliable. A disruption in any part of fuel production, such as crude oil supplies or refinery operations, could suddenly affect fuel prices.

Regardless of what you think the market will do, if you need fuel, you can’t wait for prices to come down. To some degree, you’re always at the mercy of the current market price in your area. And with the sheer volume of fuel construction companies need, even a small fluctuation in price can mean a big difference in the total cost you pay. This is no longer the case, though, when you sign up with a fuel delivery service. You can choose to pay a variable rate, but you can also opt for a fixed rate that ensures you’ll never have to deal with price fluctuations or surprises that wreak havoc on your budget.

3. Fuel Delivery Is More Cost-Effective

It isn’t just market fluctuations that can cost you. You also pay more when you have to transport your fleet to a station to refuel. If you have 10 or more trucks in your fleet, the time it takes for each to go to a station every day to fuel up ends up costing you at least a full shift of work. Construction companies may not have many trucks in their fleet, but the same principle applies to refueling heavy equipment, as well. Most types of equipment need to be refueled every three to four hours.

If you run out of fuel and don’t have an immediate plan for refueling, you’ll experience unplanned downtime that can cost you substantially. The time a piece of equipment is out of commission while you wait for someone to go get fuel is time and money you lose on the job. When fuel is brought to you, however, you can plan ahead to keep plenty of fuel on-hand and count on speedy delivery on-site if you ever find yourself suddenly in need of fuel.

Having fuel delivered lowers your operating costs by allowing you to focus on getting the job done, without spending valuable time obtaining fuel or paying too high a price when the market spikes. Fuel delivery may feel like a luxury, but in the end, it can save you money.

4. Fuel Delivery Is More Accurate

In today’s world, technology has had an impact on just about everything we do. In the construction industry, equipment is now being outfitted with all sorts of technological tools to help improve safety and efficiency, and fleet management software is allowing fleet managers to coordinate vehicles and equipment more accurately and efficiently. As construction businesses embrace these forms of technology, they shouldn’t miss the way technology can play a role in their fuel management, as well.

Some fuel delivery providers, like Shipley Energy, embrace the use of cutting-edge technology to ensure accuracy at all levels. At Shipley Energy, this includes remote fuel level monitoring for your fuel tanks and detailed data on fuel usage, which gives you exact information about the present and can help you precisely predict the future. Accurately tracking the way you use fuel allows us to anticipate your needs so we can ensure your equipment stays up-and-running and you maintain efficiency in your operations.

Our technology also helps to alert us and you to potential issues with pieces of equipment or the way they’re being operated. You can tell a lot about the health of equipment and how carefully it’s being operated based on fuel consumption, but you’ll miss out on this insight if you don’t have an accurate means of tracking your fuel usage.

With fuel delivery providers who embrace technology, you can expect a delivery process that uses computerized systems to ensure that the right amount of the right kind of fuel goes into the right tank, vehicle or machinery. Our company uses a barcode system to ensure precise and error-free filling procedures.

These aren’t the only benefits to the level of precision that technology from fuel delivery providers can offer. As Construction Business Owner points out, in addition to ensuring accurate record-keeping by eliminating any guesswork on expenditures, tracking your fuel usage will make it obvious if a theft ever occurs, whether internally or externally.

5. Fuel Delivery Is More Convenient

Last, but certainly not least, fuel delivery is extremely convenient. Many of the benefits we’ve already discussed contribute to the convenience of mobile fueling for construction:

  • It takes a huge portion of the responsibility for keeping your fleet fueled off of your shoulders.
  • It greatly simplifies the process, offering a single solution for all your fueling needs.
  • It allows you to count on a consistent price-point, which is extremely convenient for budgeting.
  • It keeps you from running into the issue of unplanned downtime.
  • It does much of the work for you to help keep track of your fuel usage and predict future usage.

These aren’t the only ways fuel delivery is convenient. Construction Review recommends contracting with a trusted on-site fuel delivery provider because of the ease and flexibility you can enjoy from 24/7 delivery services. This is exactly what we offer at Shipley Energy. We come to you any time of night or day, whenever is convenient for you.

Even if you’re in the middle of a job and happen to run out of fuel, emergency delivery services are a convenient way of meeting your needs right away so your productivity doesn’t come to a halt. You don’t need to worry about where your fuel is coming from or send someone off to purchase it. Instead, you just keep working while we come straight to the job site and take care of it right there.

The main thing that summarizes why fuel delivery is so convenient is that its whole purpose is to serve your business. That means it’s customizable to fit your needs in the best way possible. You don’t work around us — we work around you. This means we respect your schedule and consider your needs carefully.

Fuel delivery service is so convenient, that it may seem like you should be paying substantially more for that benefit, but as we’ve seen, you can actually save money.

Partner With Shipley Energy for All Your Fueling Needs

With these major benefits your business could enjoy, construction site fuel delivery may seem like a no-brainer. Just remember, it’s essential that you choose the right provider to work with. You want to partner with a fuel delivery service that offers high-quality products and will deliver on potential benefits like cost-effectiveness, accuracy, and reliability.

Partnering with Shipley Energy ensures that you will enjoy the major benefits we’ve discussed here along with excellent customer service. We are here to answer your questions. We understand that every company is different, so we want to make sure your unique needs are fully met. That’s why we assess your specific needs and put together customized plans for the businesses we work with.

We also understand that, while every business is different, they share a common goal — to maximize their productivity. You can do just that when you eliminate the wasted time, headaches and potential problems that arise when you don’t have a strategic plan in place for refueling. When you embrace the benefits of fuel delivery, you can enjoy a process that is more streamlined, consistent, cost-effective, accurate and convenient.

When you partner with Shipley Energy for bulk fuel delivery, you can rely on us to consistently meet your needs and to be there at any time to quickly deliver fuel when you need it. All it takes is one phone call, and we are there to take care of it.

Our team travels a total of over 1.75 million miles each year to deliver over 300 million gallons of fuel. We offer our delivery services to parts of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. If you’re interested in partnering with Shipley Energy, or if you have questions about pricing or how we can help your construction business, contact us today. One of our bulk fuel delivery experts would be happy to answer your questions.

Refueling is a constant for your company, so you should approach this ongoing task strategically. Make the switch today to enjoying a better way to refuel with Shipley Energy.

 

test
Share this post
Related Posts