A Customer Priority Policy That Holds Up Under Stress

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 is not about favoring loud customers or the largest accounts; it is about consistency, safety, and risk control. Companies that clearly define their priorities before stress hits will do much to protect margins, reduce dispatcher burnout, and avoid decisions that look reasonable in the moment but fail under audit, complaint, or claim review.

Defining Priority Beyond Revenue
Revenue-based prioritization alone breaks down quickly under constraints. A sound policy starts with service criticality: life-safety loads, essential services, and regulated facilities must sit at the top regardless of gallon size. Heat during extreme cold for residences, hospitals, nursing homes, and emergency services are straightforward and obvious priorities. Where operators get exposed is the gray zone – commercial accounts with backup fuel, mixed-use properties, or large-volume customers with flexible consumption. These need pre-defined criteria tied to risk, not emotion. If two customers generate equal revenue but one presents higher freeze-up, liability, or public safety exposure, that distinction must already be documented and operationalized.

Dispatch, Staffing, and the Reality of the Board
Priority policies fail when they cannot be executed on a real dispatch board with real staffing limits. A defensible policy aligns customer tiers with delivery windows, minimum drops, and reroute authority. Dispatchers should not be forced to “interpret” priority during peak stress; that only serves to invite inconsistency and burnout. Clear rules, such as which tiers can be deferred 24–48 hours, which require management sign-off, and which override route efficiency, allow dispatch to function without constant escalation. The best operators also align driver assignments with priority tiers, reserving senior or multi-endorsement drivers for the most sensitive loads.

Compliance, Claims, and Documentation Risk
When complaints escalate or incidents occur, the question is rarely whether a company has a customer priority policy; it is whether the policy was applied consistently. Regulators, insurers, and attorneys look for documented standards, timestamps, and internal controls. A priority policy tied to written criteria, system flags in the back office, and recorded dispatch decisions creates a defensible record. In contrast, ad hoc decisions, especially those influenced by account size or personal relationships, are difficult to defend after the fact. Consistency is the protection; documentation is the proof.

Proactive Practices Worth Implementing
A smart place to start is to formally tier customers based on safety risk, regulatory exposure, and operational dependency – not just gallons or contract size – and to lock those tiers into the system of record. Next, define service rules for each tier: delivery triggers, allowable deferrals, escalation authority, and documentation requirements during constraints. Following that, train dispatch and operations staff using real stress scenarios, so that decisions follow policy instinctively under pressure. Lastly, be sure to review the policy annually against recent weather events, driver availability, and insurance feedback to ensure that it still reflects current risk, not past assumptions.

Why This Type of Policy Pays Off
A customer priority policy that holds up under stress does more than get trucks out the gate; it stabilizes the entire operation. This measure reduces internal conflict, protects frontline staff from unfair pressure, and ensures that customers experience predictable, explainable service even when conditions are tight. Over time, this consistency strengthens customer trust, supports insurance renewals, and lowers the risk of regulatory or legal fallout. In a business where stress events are inevitable, disciplined prioritization is not optional. Rather, it is a key type of operational maintenance that protects the company when it matters most.