On Slow Days, On-Demand Fuel Speeds Up

Every propane marketer in America understands the rhythm of the business. Winter brings a sense of urgency along with it – long routes, full schedules, and maximum asset utilization. By late spring, that urgency fades. Delivery volumes soften. Trucks that ran six days a week sit idle more often. Experienced drivers see fewer hours, even as insurance, financing, and overhead expenses remain constant. 

This seasonality has long been accepted as the cost of doing business in the propane industry.

But, at the same time the propane demand cools, the need for another fuel type is accelerating – one that peaks precisely when propane does not. On-demand, on-site gasoline and diesel delivery has quietly shifted from a novelty to a necessity across fleets, marinas, construction sites, municipalities, and high-convenience residential markets.

For propane marketers, this is not an unfamiliar business. Rather, it is a parallel one.

Increasingly, the strategic question is no longer whether propane companies can add gasoline and diesel delivery to their operations, but how to do so efficiently in a market shaped by modern delivery expectations.

On-Demand Fuel: From an Extra to an Expectation
The on-demand fuel delivery model is straightforward. Customers order fuel through a mobile app or web portal, select a delivery location and window of time, and then a licensed fuel truck completes the delivery. Pricing typically combines per-gallon margin with service or delivery fees. Commercial customers often sign up quickly for recurring, scheduled fills.

What has changed? It’s not so much the fuel – it’s the customer behavior.

Industry analysts now place the global on-demand fuel delivery market firmly in the multi-billion-dollar range, with strong double-digit growth projected through the end of the decade. In the United States, adoption is driven by practical realities: fleet operators reducing downtime, marinas prioritizing safety and compliance, labor shortages at retail stations, and a customer base conditioned by Amazon, DoorDash, and Uber Eats to expect quick and seamless product delivery.

Despite the recent attention given to electrification, more than 90 percent of vehicles on U.S. roads still rely on gasoline or diesel. Diesel, in particular, remains indispensable for trucking, construction, agriculture, backup generation, and marine use. Crucially for propane marketers, much of this demand peaks from late spring through early fall – exactly when propane volumes are at their lowest.

Operational Fit: Why Propane Marketers Have the Edge
Few industries are better positioned to enter the on-demand fuel delivery market than propane companies.

The operational overlap is significant. Hazardous materials handling is already embedded in company culture. DOT, EPA, and state compliance requirements are familiar terrain and established expectations. Route planning, dispatch, and customer scheduling are core competencies, not new disciplines. Perhaps most importantly, propane marketers already enjoy a high level of customer trust when it comes to fuel handling and safety.

In many states, adding gasoline and diesel delivery requires incremental permitting and appropriate tank configurations – not a wholesale reinvention of one’s operations. For propane companies with underutilized trucks and drivers during the summer months, the counterseasonal alignment is unusually strong, thereby offering an unprecedented opportunity to grow one’s business without a large, burdensome initial investment.

The Hidden Constraint: Legacy Dispatch Technology
Surprisingly, adoption of this new market has been slower than the opportunity might suggest. For most propane retailers, the hesitation is not operational – it’s technological.

The majority of propane companies still rely on legacy dispatch and back-office systems designed decades ago. These platforms excel at planned, recurring deliveries and degree-day forecasting. What they were never designed to support is today’s on-demand delivery economy.

Modern fuel customers now expect real-time ordering and scheduling, customer-facing mobile apps, automated payments and receipts, live delivery tracking, dynamic route optimization, and instant communication. In short, they expect the same digital experience they receive from any other modern delivery service.

Legacy propane software was not built for an app-first, customer-initiated model. As a result, many operators assume that entering the on-demand fuel delivery market requires either building custom technology from scratch or joining a franchise that already has it.

That assumption is increasingly outdated.

Two Paths Forward and a Meaningful Divide
Propane marketers exploring on-demand gasoline and diesel delivery typically encounter two distinct paths.

The first is the franchise model. Franchises bundle branding, technology, and operating procedures in exchange for substantial upfront fees and ongoing royalties. While this approach can reduce perceived technical risk, it is very expensive and therefore introduces long-term economic and operational constraints – limited pricing flexibility, restricted territories, shared customer data, and margins that shrink as volume grows.

The second path, gaining momentum among independent fuel operators, is the modern SaaS platform model.

Purpose-built platforms like BlinkFuel are designed specifically for on-demand fuel delivery, not retrofitted from legacy propane systems. They provide the digital infrastructure required to operate with Amazon-level efficiency, including special features such as branded customer apps, driver apps, dispatch automation, routing, payments, reporting, and real-time visibility – without taking ownership of the brand, the customers, or any portion of revenue.

For retailers accustomed to legacy systems, this represents a noticeable shift – not in operational complexity, but in capability.

Why Timing Matters 
The on-demand fuel delivery market remains largely local. Customers choose providers based on reliability, responsiveness, and trust – not national brand recognition. That creates a window of opportunity for established regional fuel companies to secure market share before larger, venture-backed players saturate every market.

At the same time, customer expectations have permanently changed. Delivery is no longer viewed as a premium service; it is increasingly the default. Fleets want fewer detours. Marinas want safer refueling. Municipalities want digital records, transparency, and accountability.

Meeting those modern expectations requires modern technology built for real-time delivery – not yesterday’s dispatch model.

Turning Seasonality Into Stability
For propane marketers, adding on-demand gasoline and diesel delivery is not a pivot; it is an extension of what they already have and do. The trucks, drivers, safety protocols, and operational discipline already exist.

What changes is the interface – with customers and with internal workflows.

For operators evaluating how to enter this growing market, the evidence increasingly favors independence supported by modern software. Innovative and user-friendly platforms like BlinkFuel allow propane companies to launch quickly under their own brand, retain full control of their customers and data, and convert idle summer assets into year-round productivity – without franchise constraints or legacy limitations.

As this market matures, early local leaders will be difficult to displace. For propane companies looking to turn seasonality into stability, the opportunity is real, the timing is favorable, and the technology gap – once a barrier – is no longer a reason to wait.