In some ways, gas stations and fuel distributors view fuel storage differently than fleets and end users. They don’t store fuels on a long-term basis for later use. Diesel fuels and gasolines are there to be sold as quickly as possibly. Fueling stations and distributors work off very thin margins, and fuel that’s sitting around is cutting into those margins.
In other ways, however, they are no different than these fleets and end users. They all view fuel as a means to an end, and the value comes from how the fuel enables them to do something of value. For users, fuel value is in the work it does for them through their engines. For gas stations, stored fuel represents customers and income.
Ensuring Customer Satisfaction
Satisfied customers are the life blood of gas stations and fuel distributors. And what do these customers expect when doing business with them? They expect their expectations to be met. Expectations of consistent quality from fuel that performs the same way for them every time they use it. If these expectations aren’t met, customers go elsewhere. And it’s much more expensive to attract new customers and win old ones back than it is to keep existing ones happy and satisfied.
The biggest threats to these customer expectations are the fuel-borne problems that may potentially be passed on to them. Fuel handlers need housekeeping protocols to deal with water in storage tanks. They need protocols to stay on top of fuel microbe problems (which are surprisingly easy to pass along to customers). They need storage tank protocols to stay on top of tank maintenance issues that can easily erode their thin margins to a fatal degree.
