The Value in Being Proactive with Your Fuel

There is huge value in not having to worry about whether your fuel is going to deliver. James Fitzpatrick of the City of Orlando found a way for his 3,000 vehicles and equipment to run without any fuel-related concerns for the past 10 years.

The Challenge

In his Supervisor position with The City of Orlando, James Fitzpatrick runs into some of the same diesel fuel contamination challenges that other fleets face. Contamination of fleet fuel can happen when water makes its way into a fuel tank, which provides a breeding ground for microbes that impede the reliability and compromise the overall usefulness of the fuel. That’s what Mr. Fitzpatrick found to be true in their system.

“We had both bacterial growth and water in our tanks.”

“Ball park, we have about 2,800 to 3000 vehicles and equipment in our fleet. We also have fuel tanks and generator tanks.”

How Bell Performance Helped

Bell Performance provided quality fuel treatment chemicals - Dee-Zol for their stored diesel and Ethanol Defense for their small engine gasoline fuel, to help get their fuel back on the “right track”. 

Bell Performance also provided essential training and guidance for The City of Orlando on the best practice steps recommended to get their fuel back to normal condition and keep it that way.

“The biggest thing is with the diesel fuel. We had issues getting all our equipment up to snuff and James was doing a great job helping us get there. And now we have just been maintaining them ever since. Once you get them up to snuff, it's easier to keep them there than it is to try to get them there.”

“One of the things I like, that I personally buy and use, is Ethanol Defense. We use it for different departments that have small engine equipment. They were having issues with the fuel and any equipment where the alcohol in the gas attracts water. And then they would turn around and have issues and everyone would want us to get alcohol free gas. We turned them away from that and encouraged them to get the gas that they were originally getting, with the addition of using the Ethanol Defense. And they haven't had a single problem with their small equipment ever since.”

The Results

The City of Orlando found that after engaging in proper tank maintenance and treatment, not only did their fuel “issues” disappear, their overall costs shrank significantly because they didn’t have to spend time or resources correcting the same kinds of problems over and over again.

After that, routine tank cleanings and continued use of Bell Performance fuel additives, in the words of Mr. Fitzpatrick, kept their fuel running well. Simply being proactive with your fuel, using a combination of cleaning tanks and using Bell fuel additives, can remove most, if not all, fuel related issues. This leaves you time, energy, and resources to reach your goals and do your job well.

“We don't have issues! We don't have issues, especially from the refilling of our vehicles. The worst ones are the generators because the fuel doesn't get used as much and it sits. It doesn't get recycled as much, but we are now able to maintain the quality of the fuel. Of course, that leads to a reduction of costs. The fuel hasn't been an issue for a long time.”

“Dealing with James is an excellent thing. It's worked for both of us, because Bell was developing their programs while working with us… like I said, it's also been a great benefit to us.”