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Dear PEI Member: The new practice
of using on-demand fueling services to bring gasoline and diesel to
consumers may soon get a boost from the National Fire Protection
Association.
On-demand fuel delivery startups like Filld, Purple,
FuelMe and Booster Fuels feature a process that mirrors Uber’s—enabled by a
smartphone app, you sign in and supply your payment information with the
make, model, year and color of the car, and a driver is sent to fill your
parked car with fuel, in most cases for some sort of delivery charge plus
the price of gas. Motorists who use on-demand fuel delivery cite time
savings, convenience, safety, cleanliness and mileage among the reasons they
are willing to pay a little extra for the service.
As these startups look to move beyond their urban bases
in California and Texas, certain regulatory agencies are likely to get
involved, including DOT, weights and measures and the fire service,
depending on the method used to transfer the fuel to the vehicle—portable
gas cans or specially outfitted tank trucks.
From the fire service perspective, Section 9.6 of the
2015 edition of the Code for Motor Fuel Dispensing Facilities and Repair
Garages (NFPA 30A) covers refueling operations from tank vehicles. This
section clearly applies only to fueling vehicles directly related to the
function of the facility (i.e., commercial, industrial, governmental or
manufacturing establishments). As currently written, the code does not
permit on-demand fueling to the general public.
Possible amendments to the 2018 edition of Section 9.6
that would pave the way for on-demand fueling to the general public are
currently being considered by members of the Technical Committee on
Automotive and Marine Service Stations. The exact language under
consideration is shown below. If that language makes it out of the
committee, the industry will be given ample opportunity to comment. |
NFPA & On-Demand Fueling
Promotions
PEI Women Conference
Fuel Marketing News
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9.6 Refueling from Tank
Vehicles
The dispensing of Class I and Class II liquids in the open from a tank
vehicle to a motor vehicle located at commercial, industrial,
governmental, or manufacturing establishments in connection with their
businesses shall be permitted only if all of the requirements of 9.6.1
through 9.6.7 9.6.9 have been met.
9.6.1 An inspection of the
premises and operations shall be made and operations shall not be conducted
unless approved by the authority having jurisdiction.
9.6.2 The tank vehicle shall
comply with the requirements of NFPA 385, Standard for Tank Vehicles
for Flammable and Combustible Liquids.
9.6.3 The dispensing hose
shall not exceed 15 m (50 ft) in length.
9.6.4 The dispensing nozzle
shall be a listed, automatic closing-type without a latch-open device.
9.6.5 Nighttime deliveries
shall only be made in areas deemed adequately lighted by the authority
having jurisdiction.
9.6.6 The tank vehicle
flasher lights shall be in operation while dispensing operations are in
progress.
9.6.7 Expansion space shall
be left in each fuel tank to prevent overflow in event of temperature
increase.
9.6.8 A means for
bonding the tank vehicle to the motor vehicle shall be provided. Such
bonding means shall be employed during fueling operations.
9.6.9 A spill kit
designed for motor vehicle fuels shall be carried on the tank vehicle and
employed in case of a fuel spill.
Is there a market for a new kind of full-service
fill-up? Will the old-fashioned fuel business be upended the same way Uber
disrupted the taxi market? Nobody, of course, knows for sure. But as the
regulatory obstacles are removed, a number of people out there are willing
to give it a try.
PROMOTIONS
Northwest Pump & Equipment Co., headquartered in Portland, Oregon, has
appointed Mark Mathews, currently vice president of sales, to be the
company’s new president. Mathews, who marked his 40th year with
the company in 2015, has led the sales team during the most prosperous years
in Northwest Pump’s history. Gregg Miller, former president of Northwest
Pump and PEI’s president in 1999, will continue to be active as the chief
executive officer of the company and trustee of Northwest Pump’s employee
stock ownership plan (ESOP).
J8 and the Acterra Group have promoted Trent Caster to the position
of general manager and Dan Cannell to service manager of J8. Caster was most
recently an account executive with J8; Cannell was a senior service
technician for the company. Both are based in Denver, Colorado. J8 is a
wholly owned subsidiary of the Acterra Group.
2016 PEI WOMEN CONFERENCE
REGISTRATION OPEN
Registration is now open for the 2016
PEI Women Conference, to be held May 11-13, 2016, in New Orleans, Louisiana,
at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel. The conference line-up is packed with
exceptional educational sessions on industry-specific and professional
development topics, as well as allowing plenty of time to network. The
schedule includes:
- Welcome reception and dinner on
Wednesday, May 11.
- Keynote and break-out sessions
by Stacey Hanke: “Speak to Be Heard!” Hanke is a dynamic communications
specialist who helps people eliminate the static that plagues
communicative delivery—to persuade, sell, influence and present with a
clear message.
- Presentation on “The Future of
Fuels” by John Eichberger, executive director of The Fuels Institute.
- Two sessions by Vicki Hitzges:
“Attitude Schmattitude: How to Stay Positive” and “New Tricks: Conquer the
Challenge of Change.” Hitzges career has included hosting the weekly TV
show Special Edition.
- Interactive session by Bob
Renkes on “Outrageous Industry Predictions: True or False?”
Early-bird registration for
the PEI Women program is $495 ($595 for non-members) through March 11. After
March 11, the fee increases to $595 for members ($695 for non-members). Note
that the non-member registration fee includes a lifetime PEI Women
membership. The fee includes all sessions and materials, breakfast, lunch,
two receptions and two dinners. The room rate at the Bourbon New Orleans is
$169 plus tax Monday, May 9, through Thursday, May 12, and $269 for Friday
and Saturday, May 13 and 14.
To learn more about the
speakers, schedule and
host hotel, and to register,
click
here.
FUEL MARKETING NEWS
Murphy USA, El Dorado, Arkansas, said January 27 that it intends to work
with Walmart on the remaining term of the existing program to build
out 60 to 80 joint retail fuel sites for both 2016 and 2017. Walmart
recently decided that going forward it would exclusively develop its own
proprietary fuel operations alongside its Supercenters, although Murphy USA
continues to operate gasoline outlets at or near about 1,100 Walmart stores.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. has completed the acquisition of Ireland’s
convenience store and fuel retailer Topaz.
Sunshine Gasoline Distributors, Doral, Florida, has acquired
Miami-based Victory Petroleum, which includes about 50 gasoline stations.
GPM Investments LLC, Richmond, Virginia, has signed an agreement to
acquire 42 Apple Mart convenience stores with gasoline and about 25
dealer-operated stores in Virginia and Kentucky from Fuel USA,
headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS
Illinois distributor. Howard Lee & Sons Inc., 4093 Perryville Road,
Cherry Valley, Illinois 61016, has applied for distributor division
membership. Vicky Buhl is president of the firm, which was established in
1984. The company sells and services petroleum equipment, automotive lifts,
lube equipment, and tire changers and balancers. Howard Lee & Sons
represents CentralIL, DaycoParkr, GPI, Graco, HuskyCorp and Morrison.
Sponsored for PEI membership by Kelly A. Mulligan, Morrison, Dubuque, IA.
www.howardleesons.com
California repair and service firm. Complete Fueling Solutions, 12601
Jasmine Avenue, Bakersfield, California 93312, has applied for service and
construction division membership. Aaron Koop is owner of the firm, which was
established in 2013. The company builds stations and repairs, services and
tests fueling station equipment and aboveground and underground tank
systems. Sponsored for PEI membership by Gregg Miller, NWPump, Portland, OR. |
