Fuel Supplier Loyalty

rino1494

How many of you guys get your fuel from a pump station or a supplier and are you a loyal customer ??

We deal with a local supplier that was actually friends with my grandfather. He gives us a $.10 discount and treats us pretty good. We go right to his yard and get it right out of the truck or he will deliver to us if we need it. He also has a pump there for on-road. We fill up all of our trucks there too.

We recently found a guy that has 1 truck that he parks in his driveway (no overhead) He is selling fuel roughly $.20 cheaper than we are paying. That is also delivered. Being the loyal customers that we are, we so far have stuck with our supplier. Well, our supplier recently sold his business to someone else but he still runs it for them. They also took out the pump for the on-road fuel. I guess that it is time to bite the bullet and go elsewhere. Business is business and money is money.

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dayexco

all road fuel is bought at pump so we have a receipt for road tax. our off highway, we have a 500 gallon tank/pump on a skid we carry from job to job. we call our supplier when it's empty, and machines are about 1/2 full....he comes and tops machines off, fills tank

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

Double-A

Loyality is a two way street, Rino. If your supplier is not loyal to you, then you have little reason to recipricate.

If they removed the on-road pumps and now have you making more than one trip for fuel, that seems to be costing you money, not saving you the 10 cents per gallon you thought you were saving.

I'd talk frankly with them and find out what is going on. Discuss the 20 cent savings from the other guy and see if they still want your business and what they are willing to do for it.

Good business relationships are important. Getting fuel when and where you need it to keep the job running is also important.

And since fuel is such a big part of your overhead, and passed directly to your customers, you need a good price to stay competitive.

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"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
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Nac

I get on and off road fuel deliverd to my yard 500 gal of each. I just switched to another fuel supplier beacuase he delivers 7 days a week.

denick

A while back I was looking at the same type of situation with a couple of different types of suppliers. I started to think about it and remembered how these suppliers handled the slow times and any problems that came along.

I figured it will cost me maybe $2,000.00 more a year this year. I will be dealing with the same families and as long as I receive fair treatment. I'll stay with them.

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Nick

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving" Albert Einstein

rino1494

I have to agree 100% with ya Nick. I think that maybe we'll have to have a talk with our current supplier and see if he can match or at least come close. Thing is, this guy doesn't own the business anymore, he is just merely running it for about 1 year to get them started. The new owners we have never dealt with before.

__________________
Life is hard. It is harder when you are stupid

Uncle Sam wants YOU....to speak ENGLISH

rino1494

Also, I know that some have mentioned it in previous post, but where do you store your fuel?

We have a 500 gallon tank at our shop for off-road and we have 2 pick ups, each with 100 gallon transfer tanks. Prolly within the next year, we will be looking at getting a 500 gallon tank for on-road at the shop.

__________________
Life is hard. It is harder when you are stupid

Uncle Sam wants YOU....to speak ENGLISH

denick

rino,

With things slow now maybe a good time to go see the new owners. Look the guy in the eye and tell them your history with the company they now own, and your loyalty to the former owner and why. If that guy is present you'd be giving him big thank you.

Then talk about your position.

Who knows?

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Nick

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving" Albert Einstein

dayexco

denick, i had the same situation with a pipe supplier about 15 yrs ago. job went sour, cash flow VERY tight for about 8 months until we got through all the legal crap with the bankrupt developer....he could have made my life miserable, but elected to ride the situation out. this same guy will personally deliver a 4" solvent weld coupling to your jobsite if he knows you need it desperately, plus whip through mickeyd's and grab you a sandwich on the way. he's very competitive price wise, but unless he got waaaaaaaay out of line, i'm not going to go shopping elsewhere

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someday, i'll be as patient as Nick.

Earth and Turf

I guess I am fortunate we have a local supplier who has a gas, on and off road diesel pumps at there place. The Fire Dept also buys from them. On big fires they will bring out a truck and they just charge for the fuel like we drove over and picked it up. No extra charges. I am very loyal to them they figure there prices with each load of fuel and are usually 10 cents cheaper than the gas stations. I figure if they will go out of there way for the fire dept without being compensated then I will buy there whenever possible. And it is less than 5 Min from the shop.