Fuel Oil News Cover Story June 2002
 
SOS FUELS EMBRACES NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE ITS BOTTOM LINE,  BY GEORGE SCHULTZ
Richard Spiegel has been in the petroleum-marketing industry for more than 45 years, but he's no old dog who can't learn new tricks. His company, SOS Fuels of Tuxedo Park, N.Y., is among the first in the oil heating industry to use the latest in wireless technology to improve delivery performance and reduce back-office paperwork. This technology employs rugged new hardware that is integrated with software systems from suppliers that have many years of experience serving the oil heat industry. The result is a seamless network from delivery truck to office that allows greater control and flexibility, improved performance, and a significant reduction in clerical labor.

Interestingly, Spiegel began his career as a gasoline distributor on Long Island. He built, opened and operated gasoline stations, and also drove fuel oil trucks and delivered fuel oil to residential and commercial accounts. Eventually, he hired others to do the deliveries while he concentrated on managing his growing operation. Today, his two sons, Robert and Jeffrey, are an integral part of the organization officially known as M. Spiegel & Sons Oil Corp. (dba SOS Fuels, which is a subsidiary of M. Spiegel & Sons). Robert handles the oil-delivery side of the business; Jeff is in charge of heating equipment service and installations.

SOS Fuels distributes fuel oil and gasoline throughout the Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey in a territory that encompasses nearly a 50-mile radius. This has come about in part because the company does a lot of bid business with municipalities and commercial facilities, which has opened up areas of coverage for residential accounts. SOS Fuels supplies some 5,500 fuel oil accounts, both residential and commercial.

This large territory contributed to the company's decision to install the wireless computer system on its 10 fuel oil trucks last summer. With one heating season completed using the new system (albeit one of the mildest on record), company officials are extremely pleased with the results.

"The most striking improvement we have achieved has been a 75-percent reduction in our back-office clerical requirements," said Robert Spiegel. "The wireless system virtually eliminates data input by our office staff and turns it into a data review activity instead."

Switching to the wireless system did not require the office staff to learn a new back-office computer system, which also influenced management's decision. SOS uses the OilPro computer system from Micro-Analyst Associates for its back-office operations. The delivery data from OilPro interfaces with the RF Metered Delivery wireless software from Automated Wireless Environments, which captures data transmitted by OilPro and makes it available on the delivery truck, then transmits delivery information back to OilPro from the truck once the tank has been filled.

Another key component of the system is the hardware used on the trucks. An ordinary laptop computer would never hold up in such conditions, so SOS Fuels' trucks are equipped with Sidearm All-Terrain Handheld PCs, a product made by Melard Technologies. The Sidearm is a Microsoft Windows, CE-based computer built to withstand 40-mph driving wind and rain. It can easily handle being knocked around in the cab of an oil truck (it's been tested to handle 26 consecutive drops to concrete on all sides and has an environmentally sealed case, shock mounting and integrated bumpers).

The Sidearm is also equipped with integrated wireless communications, an advanced battery system that provides a full day's charge (although at SOS Fuels the computers are wired to the truck batteries, too), a high-powered integrated radio with dipole antenna, easy-to-use keyboard and touchscreen, a 32-Mb processor (expandable to 96 Mb), optional scanner, and USB and serial ports.

Drivers can print invoices on the truck using a ticket printer that's connected to the Sidearm. They don't have to look up prices or other information since the OilPro/RF Metered Delivery software/Sidearm computer handles it all. The driver doesn't even have to enter the amount of fuel delivered since the meter is connected to the Sidearm, as well. He simply has to tell the computer to print an invoice, which involves a few keystrokes on the touchscreen.

The RF Metered Delivery application allows dispatchers to monitor and control delivery fleet inventory. A variety of data is available that is fed into the OilPro back-office system, such as the cumulative gallons delivered by truck. On board the vehicle, drivers have customer profile information available on the Melard Sidearm, such as name, address, directions, account profile, credit history, tank size and custom messaging from dispatch or customer service, etc. The RF Server controls the transmission of information between the host OilPro software system to the mobile-data terminal (Sidearm). Automated Wireless' software also includes RF GPS/Automatic Vehicle Locator that lets dispatchers know at any given time the exact location of every delivery truck (or service van). This is extremely useful to SOS Fuels because of the large area it serves.

The integrated system allows data to be sent to each truck's Sidearm computer that receives, verifies and stores the data in its memory. The Sidearm has the capability to send commands to the meter on the oil truck and receive data back from it, to do calculations and print delivery tickets. It can also store the data and send it back to the office. The benefit of sending the data back to the office instead of returning with a capture disk at the end of the day is that inventories are kept in real time and back-office operations can be performed on a normal cycle.

The system also has "chat" capabilities so drivers can communicate directly with headquarters. However, SOS Fuels trucks are also equipped with two-way radios, so they're used for communications most often.  The loading rack at SOS Fuels Co. The company has about 300,000 gal. storage capacity on-site and draws from various suppliers as far away as the Bayway Refinery in Linden, N.J.

The OilPro system issues delivery orders to the various trucks daily, whether as a result of an automatic delivery schedule or as a will-call (or manually scheduled delivery that may be the case in a bid account). Although the system is capable of dispatching drivers to each delivery based on efficient routing, SOS officials don't employ this capability. Instead, they let each driver set his own delivery routing since they feel that drivers know their territories best. It also gives drivers more freedom to make decisions and overcomes any "big brother" fears they might have as a result of having a computer/GPS system on their trucks.

According to Robert Spiegel, the drivers have adapted well to the introduction of the new equipment. Some had initial hesitation about using the on-board computers, but after becoming familiar with them, they now enjoy using them and don't want to go back to the old way of doing things.

This summer, SOS Fuels' service vans will be equipped with the wireless system. It will enable service technicians to access complete service histories of every account and provide the same real-time inventory and billing capabilities that the delivery department now enjoys. Jeff Spiegel is looking forward to achieving the same efficiency improvements in the service department that brother Robert has realized in deliveries.

The success of the wireless system at SOS Fuels is possible because of the flexibility of the various components, including the OilPro back-office system. It has been in use by fuel oil dealers for many years and offers a wide array of features, including delivery scheduling and ticket printing, driver routing, oil dispatching, delivery posting, k-factor calculations, tank location records, budget controls, service dispatching, inventory and invoicing, service contract management, tank protection plans, inventory control, purchasing, tax reporting, a report generator, and many others. It interfaces with a number of systems, including Mid:Com home delivery and truck fleets, Liquid Controls, gasoline key-card systems, Commercial Fueling Network, Palm Pilots, electronic fuel transfer, credit cards, Vertrax SmartDrops software, flat-rate pricing for service departments, various accounting packages, MS Word and Excel, and others.

Like most home heating oil dealers, SOS Fuels relies on customer satisfaction as its most effective marketing tool. The wireless system is one way the company improves its efficiency and thereby enhances customer satisfaction. It also offers service 24/7 (and operates a profitable service department), equipment sales and installations, tank cleaning (using the Claris tank-cleaning machine), and a number of other products and services, such as water filtration, and air conditioning sales/service.

As noted, the company's service department operates at a profit, and employs five full-time techs. SOS Fuels sells mainly Peerless boilers and Riello burners, and is a Carrier air-conditioning and furnace dealer. Some 40 percent of its customers have service contracts (80 percent of its automatic delivery customers). Each system is cleaned and inspected before a service contract is offered. That helps keep service costs down.

Richard Spiegel has been an active industry leader in both fuel oil and gasoline marketing. He has been a jobber council chairman for Shell, Gulf and Citgo and is currently chairman of the Empire State Petroleum Assn. Motor Fuels and Convenience Store Committee (and a member of the ESPA board of directors). He is also a member of the Petroleum Marketers Assn. of America Motor Fuels Committee and a member of the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America. On the fuel oil side, Spiegel is a member of the Hudson Valley Oil Heat Council board of directors. He has several other organizational affiliations as well, which demonstrates his dedication to the future of the petroleum-marketing industry.

"Our stated goals are to insure every customer's satisfaction and to maintain close and personal relationships with every customer," said Richard Spiegel. "We believe in providing quality products, competitive pricing, excellent service and guaranteed supply. There's no secret formula here ... just time-tested and proven methods for success."  Although SOS Fuels' mantra for success isn't new, the technology being used to achieve the goals is. It is helping to create a two-fold benefit: improved efficiency and better customer satisfaction.

Automated field service helps a $180 million fuel provider map a diet-conscious order processing model.  Article copied from Integrated Solutions, June 2002, Written by Tom von Gunden 
 

Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. If your company is in acquisition mode, that reminder may resound with a foreboding ring of truth. On one hand, you hope to become so profitable that you can eye your competitors with more than the usual hunger for growth. On the other hand, you realize that eating too fast can induce management nausea.

Recently, Carroll Independent Fuel Company, Inc. (Baltimore), a provider of heating oil and other fuels, discovered some of the pain of getting what it wished for. Until 1998, Carroll Fuel had serviced all residential and commercial customers from its Baltimore headquarters. To expand its coverage area, the fuel provider began acquiring smaller companies in the region. With two branch locations, Carroll Fuel discovered that the increased revenue didn't defray the cost of office salaries in all three locations.

Even before the expansion, Carroll Fuel had been experiencing gnawing sensations. Paper-based order processing had long been causing inefficiencies. So, in anticipation of additional growth, Carroll Fuel looked to automate its field service processes.

An Appetite For Automation
Under the previous system, drivers of metered fuel trucks departed each morning with preprinted delivery tickets. At the conclusion of a delivery, each driver manually cranked the fuel meter to stamp the ticket with the number of gallons delivered. One copy was left on-site as a customer receipt. Another was returned to the office for manual entry into the accounting system.

The problems were manifold. Drivers lost delivery tickets and missed deliveries. Office staff made manual data entry errors. Moreover, Carroll Fuel couldn't efficiently respond to calls for service. "Unless we continuously prompted our drivers on the radio, we had little idea where our trucks were or how much fuel was available," says Mike Connelly, operations manager.

Wireless Feeds Order Processing
To drive its automated field service solution, Carroll Fuel chose Automated Wireless Environment's (AWE) (www.automatedwireless.com) RF Metered Delivery System, a set of software tools designed for fuel delivery. Now, Carroll Fuel's back end accounting system transfers orders to the AWE system, which sends the orders wirelessly, via a Verizon CDPD (cellular digital packet data) network, out to the trucks. For the mobile data computers mounted in the trucks, AWE recommended SIDEARM units from Melard Technologies (Armonk, NY). The AWE system integrates the SIDEARM devices with the trucks' electronic meter registers.

In the morning, when drivers log on to their SIDEARMs, delivery tickets are downloaded to the mobile computers. At each delivery site, drivers now select "start" on a touch-screen-based SIDEARM, which triggers the fuel meter to begin pumping. When deliveries are completed, drivers push a "print" button. That action sends a command for a customer invoice to be printed and for completed delivery information to be transmitted back to the central office.

GPS Drives Service And Productivity
With the new system in place, Carroll Fuels has enhanced its customer service. Now that paper tickets have been eliminated, so has the chance of losing tickets and missing deliveries. Gone, too, are the posting errors in the accounting system. "In the winter, it's not uncommon for us to do 1,300 deliveries per day," Connelly says. "With that many deliveries, we've seen savings in the range of $70,000 per year just from eliminating errors."

The system's built-in GPS (global positioning system) functionality and inventory monitoring also contribute to enhanced customer service. "When we have a customer who is out of fuel, we'll go to the mapping screen, and view the trucks in the area. Then we'll determine which truck has enough available fuel to handle the stop," Connelly says.

By verifying truck locations throughout the day, the GPS functionality has also contributed to increased productivity. "Driver efficiency is up because unauthorized downtime has been eliminated," Connelly says. "We've actually increased our gallons delivered per hour by 5%."

Carroll Fuel's next step in the deployment will be to integrate truck-routing tools from GEOCOMtms (www.geocomtms.com). By automatically informing drivers which stop to make next, that software should enable Carroll Fuel to eliminate the cost of RF (radio frequency) communications.

Finally, Carroll Fuel can plan for future expansion that won't break the bank when it comes to office staffing. Says Connelly, "Because we can send orders and route instructions wirelessly from our central office, we have adopted a growth model that permanently eliminates the need for branch managers and dispatchers."