Posts Tagged :

StarOilco

B20 Biodiesel, a Proven Fuel 150 150 Star Oilco

B20 Biodiesel, a Proven Fuel

Using Biodiesel in the Pacific Northwest.


(NOTE: B20 refers to 20% biodiesel blended with an 80% petroleum diesel percentage. B5 refers to 5% biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel which is the legally required blend percentage in Oregon state. For more on biodiesel basics, visit the US DOE.)

Biodiesel is the “Drop In Solution” used in the Pacific Northwest to reduce CO2 emissions in diesel equipment.

If you are looking to use Biodiesel in a fleet or a personal vehicle it is as easy as just asking for it.  In Oregon the fuel is everywhere.  From an Oregon and Washington state requirement for a minimum 5% of biodiesel blended with every gallon to large financial incentives this low carbon diesel fuel is ready for you if you want it.

It’s not just the Pacific Northwest.  For years B20 has been a defacto blend at some of the biggest names in fuel. When you pull up to the pump on the west coast you are likely getting B5 or B20 as a blend. In Oregon, B5 biodiesel is the required fuel by law. Oregon also has a B20 incentive for a waiver of state on road taxes.  Washington as well has requirements that biodiesel finds its way into retail and commercial diesel throughout the state.   Additionally, Oregon and California have “Clean Fuel Standard” programs which heavily incentivize low CO2 fuels like biodiesel.  Washington state is expected to pass their own Clean Fuel Standard as well this year.  Biodiesel has been a fact of life in fuel for over a decade in the United States and Pacific NW and it is not going away.

Due to a mix of federal and state incentives to use biodiesel, there can also be financial advantages for a fleet dedicated to making B20 biodiesel its fuel of choice. You can see evidence of this at truck stops and other retailers making B20 available in Oregon and Washington, as well as in the trucking lanes of the United States. America’s largest fleets are choosing B20 biodiesel in order to reduce their cost per mile. So can you.

In an effort to deliver the best value to truckers, many U.S. truck stops are blending biodiesel up to 20% when the market enables them to pass along a lower cost yet high quality ASTM specified diesel fuel to their customers. Most prominent is Pilot/Flying J, who lists where and when their sites are serving up B20 or lower blends. Pilot/Flying J buys biodiesel directly and blends on site in order to give their customers the best value possible. Loves Travel Centers also sell biodiesel blends around the U.S.

In Oregon, due to a diesel road tax waiver on B20 sales, gas station retailers Safeway, Leathers Fuel, Spaceage, and others are offering B20 biodiesel as their retail diesel offering. Oregon’s system requires the biodiesel be sourced from used vegetable oil refined biodiesel products. Biodiesel has been in Oregon’s fuel supply since 2006 when the city of Portland mandated B5 biodiesel blends within its city limits. The state of Oregon followed Portland with its own statewide mandate not long after.

(NOTE: If you operate a retail gas station and are curious about Oregon’s fuel tax breaks for biodiesel blends here is a more in depth article Oregon Biodiesel Tax Breaks for Retail Fuel Stations that explains these rules for retailers of fuel).

Biodiesel has been in our fuel system since 2006 and the technology that goes into making it has vastly improved. It is proven in diesel engine performance while also creating a diversified supply for energy and significantly reducing emissions from the working fleets of the world. Biodiesel substantially reduces emission coming out of your stack without a major impact on price because it helps to offset high diesel prices.

B20 Biodiesel A PROVEN FUEL

If you want to look at using B20 blends in your fleet, we are here to help. Star Oilco carries B20 blends for mobile onsite refueling every day of the week. We also have dyed/off-road/heating oil blends of B20. If you are an over the road fleet we can provide B20 at our cardlocks as well as help you procure it with a fleetcard over the road. Let us know if we can be of help.

Contact Form

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

 

Old School Fleet Fueling Key Lock System 150 150 Star Oilco

Old School Fleet Fueling Key Lock System

Corporate fueling in the past was a far more complicated task than today’s Pacific Pride, WEX, Voyager, Fuelman, and CFN fleet cards.

Today, commercial fueling transfers data via satellite, securing and communicating in real time.

Prior to commercial cardlock and computerized site controllers for fleet fueling management, Key Locks were the standard. The way that Key Locks worked was simple. A vendor of fuel would set up a commercial fuel island or stand alone tank for diesel. Multiple commercial fleets would use the site reducing the overall cost of fuel and improving convenience.

Fuel inventory and billing was managed with the Key Lock system. Each fleet using a site was issued their own key. That key would turn on the pump, but would run the gallon transactions through a distinct totalizer. At the end of a week or month the company selling the diesel would take down the totalizer number and bill each individual firm for their share of fuel. The pictures below show an old school Key Lock system. Notice the side where there is a stack of different totalizers next to a key point. That’s how it worked prior to today’s modern cardlock systems. Easy and secure in analog time.

WEX article on documenting fuel theft 150 150 Star Oilco

WEX article on documenting fuel theft

Wright Express Fuel Cards versus Fuelman Fleet Cards for small business

Wright Express  (also known as WEX) has a great article for corporate fuel buyers on the best practices when documenting and confronting fuel theft.

WEX: Tips for enforcing proper fuel card usage and preventing employee theft.

A few things they left out that Star Oilco would include. As a Pacific Northwest Commercial Cardlock provider serving Oregon and Washington, we approach things a little differently than a credit card concept like WEX. We accept and love working with WEX, Voyager, Comdata and other fleet cards but still like personalizing the security of a fuel card to the use of it.  Call your current fuel vendor (or call Star Oilco) and review your security features.  If you suspect there is fuel theft, rather than watch it happen just eliminate the places it can occur. With either CFN or Pacific Pride networks the features are inherit and we can help you guarantee they are being used correctly.

Get out of the gas line

The Four Step Approach to Fuel Card Management

When a customer tells us they suspect fuel theft this is what we recommend to do with either CFN or Pacific Pride cards:

  1. Establish a no tolerance fuel theft policy and have every employee sign it.  This policy includes an acknowledgement by them they have a secret PIN unique to them and if it is used they are responsible for it. So if there is theft with their PIN they can be fired for that theft.
  2. Now that all users of your company vehicles have a unique PIN code. Attache their name to the use of that PIN.  So when you get your fuel bill, the actual names of the users of the cards is there next to the transaction. Just this best practice (and sharing this evidence with your team) will keep honest people honest. If they know their name appears to the transaction they will think about ownership of their actions.
  3. Ensure you have set limits on the cards to line up with the needs of the business.  Attach the fuel cards to the vehicle that uses them.  Then make sure the fuel type and volumes allowed line up with that vehicle. If a vehicle is diesel, that fuel should be the only fuel allowed to be used.  If that vehicle has a 30 gallon or 100 gallon tank set limits so no more than that can be fueled in a given day.  Just limiting the fuel volume to the tank size of a vehicle can eliminate most of the fuel theft that would occur.  Also you can limit the time of day as well as weekends. If a fleet isn’t on the road after 6pm, you can guarantee no fuel theft occurs after 6pm.
  4. Turn over the cards by having all drivers/staff turn in their old cards. Then re-issue those cards attached to the key-rings of the fleet keys.  Star Oilco can provide a card older designed to go on the vehicle key-ring to make this a no cost easy reform.By doing those things which is an easy project you will knock out most of the opportunity for theft as well as send a strong signal to your team that fuel theft is not okay. Honest employees will understanding clearly that theft is occurring and is not okay, the dishonest employees will know to immediately stop.  If theft continues it will also be very easy to spot as the name of the thief will appear on the bill alongside the transaction. That combined with a No Tolerance Fuel Theft policy will make removing the fuel thief an easy proposition for you regardless of your state of operation.If you do business in Oregon and Washington and have questions about securing your fuel purchases.

For more on how to stop fuel theft in your small business please see the Star Oilco whitepaper on securing your fleet cards at StarOilco.com/Stop-Fuel-Theft/ for a strategy on saving your business from the pain of managing drivers from stealing.

Call Star Oilco’s Sales Team at 503-283-1256 for an complementary audit of your processes and how we can give you peace of mind and less to worry about in your business.

Contact Form

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.