Subject: [NEXTEL-1] New equipment part of Gate Fuel Service efforts to drive service, efficiency

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2003 21:07:09 -0500

New equipment part of Gate Fuel Service efforts to drive service,
efficiency

November 4, 2003 10:42am
Modern Bulk Transporter

A NEW tankwagon with 5,000-gallon capacity and new electronic tank
monitors on 25 customers' storage tanks are just part of
the steps underway at Gate Fuel Service, Jacksonville, Florida, to boost
service quality.

“We're very bottom-line driven,” says Mike Love, vice-president of the
Gate Petroleum Co division. “Everything is so
competitive today. We have to be efficient to stay in business.”

Gate Fuel Service, as a distributor and jobber, operates 19 tank
trailers and 12 tankwagons (dedicated to the Jacksonville
service) and serves hundreds of customers with gasoline and diesel
throughout Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia,
Kentucky, and Louisiana. In addition, Gate serves 100 convenience stores
owned by its parent.

The company typically handles 300 million gallons of product annually —
80 million gallons of which are for wholesale accounts.
In addition, a small amount of fuel oil is provided for residential
accounts over about a three-month period each year. Gate also
handles diesel and gasoline under Exxon, BP, Citgo, and Marathon brands.
Some product is transported by common carriers in
addition to Gate tank trailers.

The company limits its bulk tank storage to 20,000 gallons for high- and
low-sulfur diesel and kerosene, preferring to maintain
low storage inventory as part of its operation plan. Gate also prefers
to load gasoline at terminals and transport it from there to
customers rather than handling the product at company facilities, which
eliminates the need for underground storage tanks and
their accompanying environmental requirements.

Diversified customers

Although the petroleum service is typical — gasoline, diesel, kerosene —
several of Gate's customers are not. One reason for the
diversity is the Jacksonville location, which has a nearby US Navy base
and a commercial port, is home to a Professional Golf
Association (PGA) annual tournament, and is in the same area as a NASCAR
event. Gate has tagged them all.

“We're always looking for opportunities,” Love notes.

One of the latest marine opportunities allows Gate to distribute fuel
directly to ships in the port. In order to qualify for the job,
Gate had to meet stringent Coast Guard requirements.

Enhancing Gate's ability to meet the requirements is the company's
membership in Jacksonville Spillage Control Inc, a
cooperative group that holds spill response certification with the Coast
Guard and discharge cleanup certification by the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection.

Also as part of the marine service, Gate supplies diesel for tug boats
that move US Navy ships in the nearby harbor.

Back on land, Gate hauls special fuel for racing cars at the Daytona 500
and supplies diesel for generators used at the PGA
Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach.

In September of this year, Gate entered the lubricants business.

More typical for a petroleum distributor is the night service for
trucking companies that keeps their storage tanks filled with diesel.
Similar services are provided for automobile dealers to supply gasoline
for vehicles on the sales lots.

“Our goal is on-time delivery with a quality product,” says Love.

Electronic monitors

Installing storage tank electronic monitors is one way Gate improves
on-time delivery. The Centeron wireless system from
Robertshaw Industrial Products Inc is supplied by ETank Systems. The
Centeron system uses DSSS (direct sequence spread
spectrum) technology to monitor customer tank levels remotely. The
information reaches Gate dispatchers via e-mail so that they
can schedule deliveries. In the event of a low-product alarm, the system
will send a message directly to the dispatchers' cell
phones. However they receive the information, the dispatcher can route
drivers immediately to the customer. Drivers are issued
Nextel phones with Direct Connect Service that in addition to telephone
services provides communication via the cell phone's
digital walkie-talkie feature.

“This system pays out in a matter of months because of the time it saves
us,” says Love. The company is adding the system to
about five locations per month.

Another timesaver was purchase of the 5,000-gallon tankwagon assembled
by Oilmen's Truck Tanks Inc. Gate trucks generally
have 2,800-gallon and 4,000-gallon capacity.

“The 5,000-gallon truck gives us the extra capacity we needed for a
truck to stay on the road rather than having to return to the
terminal for more product — and that saves time and money,” Love says.

Another plan to increase efficiency will be to eliminate ticket printers
in the truck cabs. “We will be integrating an electronic
system from Liquid Controls that we can use with our own computerized
billing system,” he says. “We are working toward
becoming paperless.”

Using the latest electronic equipment is but one of the vehicle regimens
in the operation. The company is getting as many miles out
of its tankwagons, tank trailers, and tractors as possible.

The goal originally for tractors was to drive them one million miles.
Having reached that goal, they've now been able to achieve
1.3 million miles before a trade. As for the tankwagons, Love says:
“We've gotten tremendous service out of them.”

Vehicle maintenance

Gate has a shop directed by Bob McVay. Although he sends vehicles out
for major repairs, tractors are serviced in the shop
every 15,000 miles, and mechanics check and service trailer brakes on a
regular basis. Tankwagons, the workhorses of the fleet,
are under constant scrutiny by both drivers and mechanics who are alert
for any mechanical warning signs. The close watch pays
off with the vehicles' long-time performance.

Love lauds the Allison automatic transmissions used in the Kenworth
tankwagons, which he says helps explain the vehicles' life on
the road. “The automatic transmissions have done more than just about
anything to stop mechanical downtimes,” he says. “We've
gotten tremendous service out of them.”

The new 5,000-gallon tankwagon is equipped with Scully overfill
protection systems and EBW dry disconnect couplings and
vapor return systems. Meters are from Liquid Controls, and Veeder Root
supplies in-cab printers. Two Blackmer pumps are
used for separate jobs — one for gasoline and another for diesel. Four
reels handle the different hoses for different services.

The 9,200-gallon, four compartment, Heil tank trailers have single
bulkheads. Components include Scully overfill protection
systems and EBW dry disconnect couplings and vapor return systems. Gate
specifies Alcoa aluminum wheels to lighten the load.

Drivers are consulted before the company purchases new tractors to get
their input on performance requirements. Some of their
safety suggestions include lighted cab steps, heated mirrors, and corner
windows in the doors.

Kenworth T-800s with Cummins 370-horsepower engines are the tractors of
choice. They are equipped with Fuller 10-speed
transmissions. Dana Spicer supplies axles, and antilocking brake systems
are from MeritorWABCO.

Driver pool

Handling the vehicles is a driver pool of 42 company drivers. Because of
increased security at terminals, they all carry
identification cards with photos. Training is under the direction of
Ernie Miller, operations director. Drivers are schooled in
company policies, Department of Transportation regulations, defensive
driving, and hazardous materials handling.

Love says drivers have played a major role in enabling the company to
have a successful growth that currently stands at about 15
to 20 percent per year. The future looks bright as the Jacksonville area
continues to offer opportunities for Gate Fuel Service —
and as the company expands services into other parts of the country.
http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR200311042500.8.4_ad16006bffd6a179

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