White Fuel Installs Leading Edge Technology to Makr Oil Delivery More Efficient & Oil Delivery Trucks More Secure

07/18/2002

White Fuel Company, a local business founded in 1864 as a provider of coal, has stood the test of time by changing with the times - particularly when it comes to adapting newer technologies that streamline its business and offer more efficient options to its customers. The company, which has provided home delivery of heating oil since the 1940s, as well as heating and air conditioning sales, service and installation, has been fully computerized since the early 1980's. White Fuel uses up-to-date software that allows it to make degree-day calculations to closely anticipate when customers will need a delivery - or 'drop' as it's called in the retail oil & propane industry.

The company was among the first in the industry to install electronic fuel meters on its trucks in 1993, as well as on-board cameras that allow drivers to see what's going on all around the vehicle. The firm has also offered its customers alternative fuels, including solar panel systems.

Now White Fuel is among the first in the nation to install SmartDrops™, an integrated delivery solution from New Haven, Connecticut-based Vertrax, Inc., that allows White Fuel to track its trucks through GPS (Global Positioning Satellites), schedule deliveries more dynamically, and electronically map out more efficient delivery routes.

"We're always concerned with efficiency and safety and know that these have contributed to our success," said Richard C. Gower, the company's president and the second of three generations of Gowers involved in operations since the family acquired the firm from the Whites in the 1950s. His son Curtis serves as Vice President. "SmartDrops is helping us better dispatch and serve our customers through mapping and routing that lets us be more efficient for scheduled customers while assuring that emergency or call-in customers get timely deliveries, too. In addition, the ability to know where each of our 13 oil delivery trucks is at any given time is increasingly important for safety as well as efficiency - especially after 9-11."

The SmartDrops software component interfaces with White Fuel's existing degree-day software. In addition to identifying and selecting which customers will need a delivery each day, it now automatically groups all anticipated deliveries within a five-day window into efficient routes, complete with maps and directions for drivers. SmartDrops' software allows White Fuel to seamlessly use the Internet, GPS wireless tracking and satellite infrastructure technologies.

Like most retail fuel oil companies, White Fuel drivers used to be handed a stack of customer tickets every morning and were expected to determine the most optimized route. In addition, non-contract customers who would call in for deliveries would have to be worked into the schedule. This situation made for routes that often crisscrossed and backtracked - especially in the case of newer or seasonal drivers not as familiar with the company's customers. SmartDrops mathematically calculates the urgency of a customer's delivery with the geography of a delivery zone and determines optimal routing.

According to Fred Brooke, SmartDrops' Vice President of Product Development, "When considering just 10 deliveries, there are a possible 300,000 combinations a driver could choose from. Our software goes through these mathematical permutations in a matter of seconds to best determine the optimal delivery sequence and routes."

The system also gives drivers directions that tell them the correct way to go at key intersections and shows them which direction they're heading. White Fuel's drivers can now make more daily deliveries in less time - which reduces costs and contributes to the bottom line.

"This is a seasonal business and there's a lot we can't control - like the weather," said General Manager Brud Waterman, who's been with White Fuel for 34 years. "We now can better control the delivery process by giving these excellent tools to our drivers. SmartDrops is good for our customers, for our employees and for the company - the three most important reasons that we adopt any new technology."

White Fuel Company has grown from two trucks to its present fleet of 13, partly through strategic acquisitions. The company is located at 12 Hylestead Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02905 and serves customers throughout the state, as well as Southern Massachusetts. For further information call 401-467-6510.