Protecting USTs from Bad Decisions
Have you ever read a news article headline and think “that didn’t really happen” as you’re reading it? Well, that actually happened to us this week as we read an article about a simple mix-up that will cost tens of thousands of dollars to rectify.
The incident took place in Connecticut at the end of November, in which a fuel distributor’s delivery driver dumped diesel fuel into a regular gasoline underground storage tank; and ordinary gasoline was dumped into a diesel underground storage tank. That’s quite a costly mix-up!
When we typically read about the wrong fuel getting pumped into a tank, it’s usually the motorist’s error. They aren’t paying attention to what they’re doing (or just weren’t aware, at all) and mistakenly damage their vehicle.
In this case, the consumers were filling their tanks “correctly” but could not have been aware that the delivery driver mixed things up hours before.
And why should they have had to worry about something like that? When you’re dispensing mid-grade into your car’s tank, you expect the actual product being pumped to be mid-grade fuel.
Motorists who patronized the station had their vehicles stall and shut down, could not get their vehicles started at all, and had to have their vehicles towed.
The distributor’s mistake was costly to fix. There were tens of thousands of dollars in repairs and vehicle tows. Some motorists were able to simply have their vehicle tanks drained and cleaned (especially if they realized something was wrong and didn’t run the motor once they discovered the problem). Others were not so lucky, especially if they ran the motor and drove off for a while. Those customers had to have their entire fuel systems replaced (with one stating it would cost $17,000 to repair).
You can read more about the incident by clicking HERE.
As you can imagine, the ramifications of this mistake are far-reaching. Not only are motorists’ vehicles damaged, but the station owner had to have their tanks pumped, and dispensers and lines cleared.
So, what can be learned from this? What are station owners to do to prevent such an incident from happening to them?
We have a few thoughts:
1 – Check in with your distributor. This incident may have been isolated, but it is entirely within the power of your supplier to prevent such an incident. Human beings make mistakes and no one is perfect, but the distributor and transportation company have a direct hand in those they employ and how they are trained. Forward them the article and ask them to remind their drivers to be cautious and careful at delivery time.
2 – Check your hardware. This story from Connecticut was clearly the fault of the distributor and their driver. However, what if the station owner contributed to the problem? One way to make sure product gets to the right tank is by inspecting your own station hardware and tank apparatus. That is, you should make sure that your fill ports, caps, access points, and any adapters are clearly marked, correctly color-coded, and labeled. Station owners should be aware of the API color/symbol system (API Recommended Practice 1637) which should be implemented. If you have questions on your own station adhering to these rules, consult with your own outside compliance company. An ounce of prevention now could save you lots of headaches later.
3 – Consider delivery times (or a camera system). Deliveries run around the clock, and there’s no way to be there in person for every load that comes to your station. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to schedule things to allow you (or an employee) to be there during a delivery. If this isn’t possible, and as part of your station’s own security apparatus, consider putting a camera or two (different angles) in the direction of your ports so you can capture how a delivery was dropped. If an issue occurs, you can always go back to make sure things were done properly. This also has the added benefit of keeping your distributor “honest” if something else goes awry (a spill, lost caps, damaged equipment, etc).
Has anything like what occurred in Connecticut ever happened to you? Are you implementing any precautionary measure to prevent a mix-up? Reply to this email and let us know!
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