Can this business survive? How?

Interesting concept. The company will deliver fuel to you at work (or elsewhere) for the same price that you would pay at the pump. How? The company doesn't have to pay the $0.40 per gallon fee for the franchise rights (IIRC). 

Seems cool, I'd love to have my car filled for me at work for the same price I'd pay at a gas station, but if I understand, the company is only making that 40 cents per gallon. That means if the truck is 900 gallons, they're only making about $360 per tank. The overhead has to be pretty painful.  

They are open in a few markets already, do you think the company can survive? I was thinking they could offer other quick services that could be performed in about the time the tank is filling, like setting tire pressure? I thought about wiper blades, but then you have to have stock on the truck.  I'm also wondering about acess to fuel-filler doors when the car is locked since locking fuel filler doors are pretty common.  

Here's a quick video:

Booster Fuels

I have no affiliation to booster fuels, just intrigued.  

Like most things like this, it's most likely a loss leader backed by stupid amounts of venture capital money in order to capture some market share they see out there.  Once they get the share, they will transition to different pricing plan, or market it out to something else.  This assumes its a viable market of course.

I remember hearing about that years ago then it fell into obscurity in the technological black hole that seems to surround Pittsburgh. I'm surprised they're still around honestly.

Much like uber, and those uk companies that drive your car home for you, I remember thinking this up in a bar one night and being told how stupid and pointless it was by the old guard. I just assumed there would be some regulatory bs that would put the brakes on the idea. 

"Same price as the pump" doesn't mean much. Within a mile of each other is a grocery-chain gas station @$3.03/gal and a corner store at a busy intersection @$3.57/gal. If the company is buying at true bulk rates like the grocery and selling for the price-gouger rates, than they are making $0.95+/gal easily.

$180,000 per DAY in revenue in 20 cities?  Darned right it’s sustainable. 

They are doing it right. Targeting select markets, contracting with large companies, cloud based logistics. 

I think they make more than $.40 per gallon. They also win on the procurement side. They are buying 60,000 gallons a day  

And they can make the transition to electric in a heartbeat. Gas stations can’t. 

Its all about market share. Once they have 1 contract with a company, they’ve got loyal regular customers every week. 

Just wait until a few gas stations start closing.  Then their market share will soar. 

They have these guys where I work.  I've never used them (they don't have diesel or race gas, and I'm not letting them drip gas down the paint on my cars anyway), but coworkers and I have speculated about the economic model and whether it's a "pets.com" sort of thing or actually viable.

One thing that's missing from your economic calculation is that they don't have to own/rent a gas station lot on a busy street corner so the overhead is a lot less.

For the gas door you leave it open when you park the car, they close/latch it when they're done.

We have this service at work and a lot of people use it.  They’ve been doing it for several years here.

Locally filld is delivering this service under contract to car2go. Filld obtained an investment from Parkland Fuel and has expanded to serving individuals, you $5 dollars plus the fuel and they will fill multiple vehicles for the $5.

Booster guy talked about clients and employee benefits, the companies may pay a fee or grant exclusive rights to serve their parking lot.

If i dont go to the gas station how will i get my fix of Slim Jims and Red Bull?

codrus

One thing that's missing from your economic calculation is that they don't have to own/rent a gas station lot on a busy street corner so the overhead is a lot less.

 

 

And there is your answer. They also do not have to worry about the EPA and all the regulations and insurance that follows in ground tank storage. Seeing as they are a mobile service, they may also not have to worry about capturing the displaced air out of your tank as it is filled. Overall it is a pretty clever loop hole around a lot of things that make owning a gas station so expensive.

You probably use a cell phone app to hail the truck too right? I bet they get some useable data from that app that can be monetized.

I would love it!  I don't go into gas stations except on the rare occasion to get some coffee, so for me if I could just have my truck filled while I am at work that would be a win.  Our parking lot has 400-500 vehicles.  Could empty out that 900 gallon tank pretty quick just on our lot.  Figure 1/7 of the cars need gas every day if you fill up once a week, thats 12 gallons per car per day in our lot alone assuming 500 cars and 900 gallons/day.  So not even a full tank on most rigs.  $2520 gross per week on our lot alone at $0.40/gallon.  

Work with the parking lot folks to get a dedicated parking area for fill-ups and now you are really cooking.  

SVreX said:

$180,000 per DAY in revenue in 20 cities?  Darned right it’s sustainable. 

They are doing it right. Targeting select markets, contracting with large companies, cloud based logistics. 

I think they make more than $.40 per gallon. They also win on the procurement side. They are buying 60,000 gallons a day  

And they can make the transition to electric in a heartbeat. Gas stations can’t. 

Its all about market share. Once they have 1 contract with a company, they’ve got loyal regular customers every week. 

Just wait until a few gas stations start closing.  Then their market share will soar. 

Another factor that I'm sure is contributing is that the sort of real estate you need for a successful gas station is going to be expensive - someplace that attracts a lot of passing traffic on a well traveled road. You can set up your truck lot wherever you can get the best deal on the land.

Doesn't work for me. I'd have to leave my office, down the elevator, and walk down to the car to unlock it (so the fuel filler door would open), wait for them to fill it, then lock the car and walk back up to my office. I drive past 3 gas stations on the way to work.

Now if they are going to walk from the other side of the lot, up the elevator, to the office, have me leave my keys with the receptionist, lock the car when he's done, then return the keys to the receptionist.......ok, then that saves me 3 minutes every 3 weeks not having to stop and fill up.

But is the company responsible if they forget to lock the car and then items are stolen? It's a cool idea, just doesn't make sense for me.

Will they take my grocery store reward points?  Let me buy my lotto tickets from the driver?  Does the truck carry just regular unleaded or does it have some way to deliver premium as well? 

I could see the business working if they could spend a lot of time in a few large lots fueling up Camrys for professionals who can't be bothered to stop for something as mundain and icky as gasoline.  I'll be passing on it however.

I'll also point out that a couple years ago I suggested a mobile service that aired up tires to help keep the average fuel economy up for a municipal area and was widely eviscerated by the hive for suggesting anyone touch their beloved rides without permission. 

z31maniac said:

Doesn't work for me. I'd have to leave my office, down the elevator, and walk down to the car to unlock it (so the fuel filler door would open), wait for them to fill it, then lock the car and walk back up to my office. I drive past 3 gas stations on the way to work.

Now if they are going to walk from the other side of the lot, up the elevator, to the office, have me leave my keys with the receptionist, lock the car when he's done, then return the keys to the receptionist.......ok, then that saves me 3 minutes every 3 weeks not having to stop and fill up.

But is the company responsible if they forget to lock the car and then items are stolen? It's a cool idea, just doesn't make sense for me.

I can foresee this not being a problem in the future.  With the use of phone apps and remotes becoming ubiquitous, I could see you getting a text that says "driver is 10 minutes out, reply '1' to open your fuel filler door, '2' to cancel."  It wouldn't be too difficult for your app to have your RF profile and the driver would be able to use his/her phone to open your fuel door when they get there.  It would just link your car/account with the app and allow their phone to transmit the specific signal to open your car's fuel door.

Looks like you just leave your gas tank popped

From their website.

https://www.trybooster.com/

1. Park in your normal spot at work and pin the location in the app

2. Request a Boost, pop your gas tank, and lock your car doors

3. Focus on your day while we fill your tank and send a receipt.

Most fuel stations don't make much money on fuel.  Take notice of fuel prices versus the size of the convenience store associated with it.  The fuel doesn't make a ton of money, it brings people in for sodas, food, etc.  The tiny stores that only have soda and chips tend to have higher gas prices.  The bigger stores with a made-to-order deli, McDonalds, and a gift shop (like truck stops) tend to have lower gas prices.

I don't know the real costs, but the way I see it you are removing the expense of maintaining underground storage tanks, the inspections on all the pumps, the franchise fees, and the expensive real estate.... but adding DOT costs, fleet costs, and the cost of operating the trucks themselves.  Might be a wash.

I think that's actually a really great idea. 

As mentioned, leaving the fuel doors open when you park allows them the fueling to be done without your presence. (Does leave the opportunity for someone to siphon what's left of your tank first though...)

Right now being in these major cities and partnering with these big companies/parking lots makes it relatively easy for them to do a lot of business without a lot of travel. For them to get to a larger, possibly nationwide market, would be tricky, but not impossible. I'm thinking if you have the app downloaded, maybe they send a push notification the day before or the day of that they are in your area, and say "Hey! We'll be passing by your workplace during regular working hours on Friday, need fuel?" Could be pretty neat. 

Especially in winter time, saving people from pumping gas in the cold would be a big selling point to a lot of people. 

I kinda wish I had thought of this. Though at the same time, there's still room to observe, improve, and dominate.

DrBoost said:

I was thinking they could offer other quick services that could be performed in about the time the tank is filling, like setting tire pressure? I thought about wiper blades, but then you have to have stock on the truck.  

Looking on their website, in some areas they do/can provide windows cleaning, airing tires, and changing wiper blades. 

https://www.trybooster.com/#services

On the topic of EPA regulations (capturing the fumes, inspections, etc), while it's possible that there's a loophole around them now, I wouldn't expect that to last.

AWSX1686 said:

I think that's actually a really great idea. 

As mentioned, leaving the fuel doors open when you park allows them the fueling to be done without your presence. (Does leave the opportunity for someone to siphon what's left of your tank first though...)

Right now being in these major cities and partnering with these big companies/parking lots makes it relatively easy for them to do a lot of business without a lot of travel. For them to get to a larger, possibly nationwide market, would be tricky, but not impossible. I'm thinking if you have the app downloaded, maybe they send a push notification the day before or the day of that they are in your area, and say "Hey! We'll be passing by your workplace during regular working hours on Friday, need fuel?" Could be pretty neat. 

Especially in winter time, saving people from pumping gas in the cold would be a big selling point to a lot of people. 

 

I kinda wish I had thought of this. Though at the same time, there's still room to observe, improve, and dominate.

Curtis has a good idea, if possible (I don't really like the idea of Otto the gas man having an app that interfaces directly with the DME in my car) but for now, that would mean leaving my car unlocked. 

Sorry, nope. 

I lock my car when I park it in my garage every night. 

z31maniac said:

Doesn't work for me. I'd have to leave my office, down the elevator, and walk down to the car to unlock it (so the fuel filler door would open), wait for them to fill it, then lock the car and walk back up to my office. I drive past 3 gas stations on the way to work.

Now if they are going to walk from the other side of the lot, up the elevator, to the office, have me leave my keys with the receptionist, lock the car when he's done, then return the keys to the receptionist.......ok, then that saves me 3 minutes every 3 weeks not having to stop and fill up.

But is the company responsible if they forget to lock the car and then items are stolen? It's a cool idea, just doesn't make sense for me.

How it works for the local company here:

It’s a monthly subscription and you tell them how many,  and what days,  you want them to come per week.  Then for cars that have locking filler doors,  well you just leave it open for them.  I don’t know anyone that actually uses this service,  then goes out and watches them fill it up.  They also don’t leave the car unlocked,  just the filler door if it is locked on their particular car.  A new Wrangler or Challenger for instance does not have a locking filler door.

On your set days they text you and ask if you still want a fill up that day and you simply say yes or no.  It’s a very simple process.

Curtis said:

Most fuel stations don't make much money on fuel....

That’s partly true. 

This is not a fuel station. They are a fuel wholesale transporter. 

Having done a little business with fuel wholesale transporters, they do fine. 

Hadn't even thought about popping the fuel door and leaving it for them. 

....feeling pretty not bright right now....