fdoberman
ArboristSite Operative
Been buying propane since the days it came in 100# bottles on a 1 ton flatbed and the man with a 2 wheel truck swapped the "empty" for a full bottle. I think he often took quite a bit of propane back with him.
The switchover to bobtail trucks and metered delivery brought a new set of problems, and the new game of changing dealers every few years over this brawl or that. Honestly, looking back buying propane for the house was always a lot like getting screwed with a dull chainsaw. Back in 95 along came Level Propane. Great business model, all new equipment and damn good pricing. The rich man behind the company got bored with propane and put a man in charge he had run under buying up and taking over territory. The rest was guaranteed. A hell of a lot of Level customers wound up cold and holding their hand on their ass as the survivors mined their wallets. They gave up any advantage they could have had by failing to learn.
Simple enough here, Townsend Oil had seen the writing on the wall, bought a couple bobtails and hired Level's employees. Direct switchout and same people. 3 years down the road Townsend got big and clever. Then Townsend got BUSTED by the Sheriff for selling him underoctane fuel. Townsend got more clever and I told them to stop filling me, I even padlocked the tank after the fool driver overfilled the 100 gal tank.
I was fortunate to know a bit more about propane than most buyers, so I used what I knew to obtain my own tank, actually Level had left 3 on my property over 18 months, set it up and drift 100# into the 500 from a bottle. Then I went shopping.
Some vendors have office staff who know exactly what the screen in front of them says, they learned their craft in College, and they are worthless to deal with unless your desire is to get screwed.
Vendors all pay pretty much the same for propane from their supplier, and the big guys like Agway, Suburban and Amerigas should be able to sell at lower price due to economy of scale. They won't because that doesn't fit their business model.
Propane vendors learned around 2000 that they could not only charge around 40¢ per gallon to put their product in their tank on your property, they could also charge annual tank rental fees. It was a windfall to their profit and money they could invest in propane futures. They ran with it.
Some even learned to stick the customer with underusage charges from the Level fiasco, and ran with that too.
Pretty much all tank truck drivers are paid by gallons delivered, generally the rate is 25¢ per gallon.
Propane salesmen are creatures of habit, probably former car salesmen. They play games. When you know the game you can win.
Currently we have returned to the business model of the 1950s, Fuel Brokers. A broker needs a computer and a phone and nothing else to be in business. Vendors like brokers, brokers eliminate having a salesman on the payroll. Brokers only get paid for what they sell. Find one and you save money.
The switchover to bobtail trucks and metered delivery brought a new set of problems, and the new game of changing dealers every few years over this brawl or that. Honestly, looking back buying propane for the house was always a lot like getting screwed with a dull chainsaw. Back in 95 along came Level Propane. Great business model, all new equipment and damn good pricing. The rich man behind the company got bored with propane and put a man in charge he had run under buying up and taking over territory. The rest was guaranteed. A hell of a lot of Level customers wound up cold and holding their hand on their ass as the survivors mined their wallets. They gave up any advantage they could have had by failing to learn.
Simple enough here, Townsend Oil had seen the writing on the wall, bought a couple bobtails and hired Level's employees. Direct switchout and same people. 3 years down the road Townsend got big and clever. Then Townsend got BUSTED by the Sheriff for selling him underoctane fuel. Townsend got more clever and I told them to stop filling me, I even padlocked the tank after the fool driver overfilled the 100 gal tank.
I was fortunate to know a bit more about propane than most buyers, so I used what I knew to obtain my own tank, actually Level had left 3 on my property over 18 months, set it up and drift 100# into the 500 from a bottle. Then I went shopping.
Some vendors have office staff who know exactly what the screen in front of them says, they learned their craft in College, and they are worthless to deal with unless your desire is to get screwed.
Vendors all pay pretty much the same for propane from their supplier, and the big guys like Agway, Suburban and Amerigas should be able to sell at lower price due to economy of scale. They won't because that doesn't fit their business model.
Propane vendors learned around 2000 that they could not only charge around 40¢ per gallon to put their product in their tank on your property, they could also charge annual tank rental fees. It was a windfall to their profit and money they could invest in propane futures. They ran with it.
Some even learned to stick the customer with underusage charges from the Level fiasco, and ran with that too.
Pretty much all tank truck drivers are paid by gallons delivered, generally the rate is 25¢ per gallon.
Propane salesmen are creatures of habit, probably former car salesmen. They play games. When you know the game you can win.
Currently we have returned to the business model of the 1950s, Fuel Brokers. A broker needs a computer and a phone and nothing else to be in business. Vendors like brokers, brokers eliminate having a salesman on the payroll. Brokers only get paid for what they sell. Find one and you save money.
