Leading fuel marketers share their insights on the latest tech trends in the fuel distribution space.

 

By Pavan Maheshwari

It’s no secret that tech investments have generally gone up. For fuel marketers, tech advancements mean better operations workflows, much more flexibility in building a tech stack that best suits their business needs and a treasure trove of data that will help them make business-critical decisions.

But what exactly are these tech advancements, what’s fueling them and how are fuel marketers leveraging them to set their business up for success?

 

AI-way or the Highway

With everything happening in the industry—volatility in fuel prices, supply chain challenges, fiercer competition, increasing customer demand and expectations—AI is going to be more important than ever for business growth.

Almost every aspect of operations will be digitized. Here are some places where AI will have the most impact:

  • Predictive maintenance will help prevent costly equipment failure.
  • Demand prediction and forecasting using AI will help companies accurately predict demands for downstream petroleum products. That in turn helps manage inventory, quickly respond to changing market dynamics, optimize resource utilization and maximize profits.
  • Route optimization makes deliveries more cost-efficient with better route planning that maximizes delivery volumes and minimizes time on the road.
  • Predicting price trends and selecting the right suppliers further optimize procurement.

And this is just scratching the surface. Companies that understand this opportunity and put it to use are the ones that are going to benefit from the efficiency gains of streamlined fuel distribution.

 

Making Better Decisions With ‘Big Data Analytics’

“Data is at the forefront of everything we do. The more information you have at your fingertips, the better decisions you’ll be able to make. Leveraging this data correctly can help companies grow tenfold,” Alex Salazar, ex-VP of operations at 3L Energy Solutions said.

More businesses realize this today. This points towards an increasing use of big data analytics tools and business intelligence dashboards to monitor operations in real-time, fine-tune daily processes, prepare for the unknown and easily identify ways to optimize and reduce costs using historical and current data.

 

Leveraging Modern Dispatch Software

“There are too many moving parts in this industry and we’re trying to cut all manual processes. It’s a long-term play and we want to set up a good foundation with the right partner because having a good software system is the key to being successful,” a Tulsa on-site fuel delivery company said.

Manual workflows and dependency on pen and paper-based processes have been the norm in the industry. But that’s changing. While these traditional methods might have worked in the past, they’re no longer efficient. And fuel marketers realize this.

Industry trends like market consolidation are fueling the change. The upstream sector has seen some major acquisitions such as ExxonMobil acquiring Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron buying Hess. This also points towards the growing M&A trends in the downstream sector too. RelaDyne, one of the largest lubricants distributors, partnered with Sun Coast resources. Spec Oil merged three fuel distribution companies to create 3L Energy Solutions—a 60+ fleet business.

The point is that trends like these have made it necessary for fuel marketers to invest in tech. Without it, these mergers can go awfully wrong. Operations can become a mess without a streamlined workflow, which can only be achieved with tech.

“With the technological advancements happening, it’s very important to adapt. The industry itself is seeing the larger companies acquiring the smaller ones. And those large companies are already equipped with new-age tech. So, in times like these—to stay competitive and scale your business—you have to adapt to tech,” Patrick McNeece, partner at McNeece Bros.

 

Mobile-Based Technology for Drivers

The ATA predicts that driver shortages will shoot up from about 60,000 in 2023 to 82,000 in 2024.

One of the major reasons is the retiring/aging driver workforce. Plus, the younger generation is resistant to taking driver jobs. Hiring and retaining new drivers becomes a challenge for fuel marketers.

This has increased the adoption of mobile-based technologies for drivers to enable them to complete their deliveries efficiently, with minimal manual efforts.

“Everything is drilled down for drivers, so they don’t have to think about anything. It takes all the guesswork out and prevents drivers from making mistakes. It’s like giving them the easiest day we can,” fuel and lubricants distributor serving the industry for more than 20 years.

With mobile-based technologies, delivery information and tickets don’t have to change hands. Drivers don’t have to go back and forth with a bunch of paper tickets. There’s a lot more flexibility in responding to changing schedules with up-to-the-minute updates provided to drivers.

Even getting new drivers trained on tech becomes a lot easier. They have their smartphones, they hit download on an app—and they get step-by-step instructions for completing their orders—making it easy for drivers to manage their daily loads.

 

The Rise of Cloud-Based Solutions

Tight budgets and the need for higher efficiency together have increased the demand for cloud-based solutions. And the days of server-based legacy systems are counted.

Cloud-based solutions save fuel marketers a significant amount of implementation and maintenance costs that can hit millions of dollars for server-based systems.

Imagine managing your entire operations over a browser/mobile app from anywhere in the world. The way fuel marketers manage their operations will never be the same—that’s what we call revolutionary tech.

 

Implementing Integrated and Unified Systems

“There is a lot of stuff happening out in the field. Information is scattered in different places, and you want to consolidate … in one place so that reconciliation becomes easy. With legacy systems data can be so fragmented—it’s difficult to bill a customer without retrieving data from 10 different places and piecing it together,” McNeece said.

Because companies have a lot of growth opportunities (like expanding their geographic reach or adding new business lines), the need for a unified system that can manage all their business lines in one place rather than having 10 systems that don’t play well together is pretty evident.

By connecting different systems in the back office, such as accounting, pricing, CRM and  tank monitors, operators create a single source of truth for their data across all these platforms that ultimately makes operations more accurate and efficient.

 

Owning Customer Experience

“We offer the same service and sell pretty much the same products as our competitors do. You know, we sell fuel, they sell. The question becomes, how can we provide a better service to our customers that makes us stand out for the pack? Offering technologically based solutions is a good way for us to stand out in the marketplace,” Salazar said.

In the face of competition, fuel marketers need to focus on customer experience to stand out and gain loyal customers. Software makes that a lot easier.

Tools like customer portals give customers the ease of placing and tracking their orders directly from one place.

The entire delivery experience—customers get instant notifications on order delivery and get their invoices (accurate ones) as soon as the order is delivered—significantly improves customer satisfaction.

 

Adapt or Die

Until now, everyone got a sort of growth pass even with broken and disconnected operations. There was so much of “don’t fix what’s not broken” that almost everyone managed to grow. But now that pass is over, and it’s important to embrace these latest trends.

And the key to success is not just navigating change but leading it. And the right tech partner will help you be that leader.

 

Pavan Maheshwari is the founder and CEO of FleetPanda, a San Mateo, California-based company dedicated to driving innovative fuel dispatch software solutions for fuel distributors. Reach him at [email protected].