When daylight hours are shorter, the propane industry does not slow down. In fact, in most markets across the country, it accelerates. Winter demand peaks just as daylight visibility shrinks, routes stretch later into the evening, and drivers operate in conditions that compound operational exposure. Darkness changes more than just the landscape; it changes incident… Continue reading How Less Daylight Reshapes Propane Delivery Risk

Short-notice school closures – whether driven by weather, public health, or localized emergencies – rarely make headlines in the propane trade press. Yet for fuel marketers serving districts, private schools, and auxiliary facilities, the operational impact can be immediate and costly. A school closure announced the night before, or mid-route, can upend carefully sequenced commercial… Continue reading When School Closures Disrupt Propane Routes Overnight

Every major propane legal case carries a hidden cost beyond the settlement number: it exposes where everyday operations had drifted from what courts expect a “reasonable” propane company to do. Judges and juries don’t weigh theory; they examine training records, inspection habits, documentation gaps, and what customers were told, or not told, before an incident.… Continue reading After the Verdict: Turning Propane Lawsuits into Safer Operations

In propane operations, long meetings are rarely a people problem; they’re actually an information problem. When managers walk into a room armed with spreadsheets, anecdotes, and last week’s printouts, discussions often drift into debate. Time gets burned reconciling whose numbers are right instead of deciding what to do next. That inefficiency has a cost. Meetings… Continue reading Dashboards Over Debates: Shortening Business Meetings

Why Pipeline Issues Become Field Problems Fast When the Mid-America Pipeline tightens, slows, or reroutes product, the impact shows up far beyond the terminal gate. What starts as a supply or scheduling issue quickly turns into missed customer windows, longer routes, overtime creep, and underutilized bobtails parked at the wrong rack. For propane operators, pipeline… Continue reading Mid-America Pipeline Constraints and the Real Cost to Operations

Timely, accurate knowledge of propane tank levels is essential for consistent service. Missed refills, unexpected shortages, or delayed deliveries can greatly disrupt operations and erode customer trust. Digital tank monitoring tools have emerged as a transformative technology, enabling propane companies to continually monitor usage, accurately anticipate demand, and strategically respond to potential issues before they… Continue reading Real-Time Tank Data Improves Propane Service Reliability

Every summer, the same problem shows up across propane operations. Trucks sit idle more often. Drivers lose hours. Assets that were pushed hard all winter suddenly have nothing urgent to do. At the same time, gasoline and diesel demand spikes for fleets, construction sites, marinas, municipalities, and convenience-driven residential customers. Startups have noticed this gap… Continue reading What Propane Companies Possess That Fuel Startups Don’t

Cylinder encampments in parks, rights-of-way, and industrial fringes are no longer a peripheral concern for propane retailers. When cylinders appear in public spaces, the risk shifts quickly from a merely aesthetic or social issue to an operational and liability problem. These situations create ambiguous ownership, unclear custody of containers, and heightened exposure for marketers whose… Continue reading Encampment Cylinder Incidents and Community Risk

Safety has always been a cornerstone of the propane industry, but today’s operational environment demands more than regulatory compliance alone. While formal training programs and certifications are essential, true safety performance is shaped by corporate culture – how teams think, communicate, and act when no checklist is present. For propane companies, building a strong safety… Continue reading Building a Safety Culture: Training Teams Beyond Compliance

Most companies say they want to “develop people,” but too often that goal collapses into vague titles, ad-hoc raises, or hoping senior staff will mentor the next generation by osmosis. That approach is no longer workable. Tight labor markets, rising insurance scrutiny, and increasing compliance exposure mean operators need repeatable ways to grow drivers and… Continue reading Making Career Paths Real in Propane Operations

Most propane marketers focus on weather, inventories, and rack spreads. That’s rational, but incomplete. Propane pricing, availability, and volatility are increasingly shaped by what happens outside the retail propane channel, particularly by butane substitution and petrochemical demand. When petrochemical buyers swing between propane and butane, or when export economics tilt one way, the effects show… Continue reading Propane–Butane Market Dynamics That Still Hit Your Bottom Line

Propane retailers across North America are increasingly exploring on-demand gasoline and diesel delivery as a strategic way to maintain steady revenue throughout the year. Rather than simply competing with other propane operations, many marketers view mobile fueling as a complementary service that leverages their existing infrastructure, drivers, and customer relationships. Promoting Diversification Without Disruption Industry… Continue reading Propane Retailers Tap On-Demand Fuel Delivery for Steady Year-Round Revenue

As 2026 progresses, most propane companies will not be squeezed by a single headline issue. Pressure is coming from the quieter intersections: labor availability colliding with tighter delivery windows, insurance expectations hardening just as fleets age, and margin volatility forcing tougher route decisions. Strategy talk is plentiful, but execution is where operators feel risk first… Continue reading The 2026 State of the Propane Industry: What Operators Should Do Now

Every propane operation eventually faces a moment when supply, drivers, or rack access cannot meet full demand. When that happens, customer priority decisions move from theory to exposure. A weak or informal policy creates operational chaos, strains customer relationships, and can invite regulatory or legal scrutiny if service appears arbitrary. A defensible customer priority policy… Continue reading A Customer Priority Policy That Holds Up Under Stress

Allocation weeks compress margin, raise liability, and expose weak operating discipline faster than almost any other event. When supply tightens, the question isn’t whether customers will be unhappy; it’s which failures become legally, financially, or reputationally expensive. Missed fills at critical-use accounts invite claims; broken contracts trigger penalties; rushed dispatch increases safety risk and workers’… Continue reading Allocation Weeks: A Practical Model for Delivery Triage

Equipment upgrades in propane operations are no longer framed as growth initiatives alone. For lenders, they represent a company’s ability to manage risk, stabilize cash flow, and maintain compliance under tightening labor and insurance conditions. Bobtails, meters, telemetry systems, and bulk plant automation all carry operational consequences that directly affect underwriting decisions. Applications stall when… Continue reading Finance Playbook for Propane Equipment Upgrades

Energy efficiency has become a growing influence on propane consumption patterns across residential, commercial, and agricultural markets. As customers seek to reduce both their energy costs and environmental impact, advances in equipment, building standards, and usage habits are changing how propane is consumed. For propane companies, understanding these trends is essential for accurate forecasting, customer… Continue reading Energy Efficiency Trends Affecting Propane Consumption

In the propane industry, duty to warn is often treated as a compliance box to check or a mailer that goes out once a year and disappears into the background. That mindset misses what duty-to-warn programs actually do inside a business. These communications are not about branding or customer engagement; they are about risk containment.… Continue reading Duty to Warn Is Risk Control, Not a Marketing Exercise

Why “Boring” Still Wins in a High-Risk Business In propane delivery, growth strategies come and go, pricing cycles rise and fall, and technology stacks change every few years. What does not change is the cost of failure. Missed fills, late deliveries, paperwork errors, and safety lapses do not just irritate customers; they create regulatory exposure,… Continue reading Reliability as the Quiet Competitive Advantage in Propane Delivery

When winter demand spikes, a transport delay hits, or a bulk plant goes down, the dispatch room becomes the nerve center of a propane business. Phones ring nonstop, drivers push back on routes, and customer concerns escalate quickly. This is where decision quality matters most and where “panic routing” quietly erodes margins and increases risk.… Continue reading Leadership Under Pressure: Dispatch Room Decision Quality