One crucial aspect of any business continuity plan is the presence of essential personnel. Whether that’s you, the business owner, or someone you delegate as “essential,” you’ll expect that they’ll be there when it’s time to assess the damages and re-open.
But one question nobody may be thinking about: can they get to work?
Even if they live close to the facility, they’ll need their vehicles to get back and forth. Employees with longer commutes may have more trouble. But if regular fuel deliveries to neighborhood gas stations aren’t happening, how will they get there?
Everybody Buys It At Once
Many people fill their tanks when a storm or other disaster is predicted for the possibility of a) evacuating to a safer area if they need to, and b) make sure they have fuel if the supply lines are cut off. If your business or facility is in the storm’s path, that makes sense. But even if you’re not, supplies can run out unexpectedly.
When Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas Gulf Coast last year, including the Houston area, everyone went out and filled up their vehicles, gas cans and bought extra for the anticipated unavailability. Panic buying right when production was shutting down for the storm caused severe supply shortages for people way outside the Houston area.
The City of Plano, Texas, 260 miles north, was one of those locations. Harvey didn’t “hit” Plano, but the effects of panic buying suddenly made gasoline difficult to come by in Plano (as well as the entire Lone Star State.) The shortage affected the city’s ability to respond to emergencies, including ambulance and fire.
As the most densely populated city in Texas, Plano decided to stop storing its own fuel a few years ago. Rather than deal with the difficulties and regulations involved with replacing their old fuel tanks with new ones, the City decided to utilize fleet fuel cards to keep city vehicles fueled. The decision was financial, and a win-win situation for the local fuel vendors.
The system worked great until the day everyone ran to gas stations and bought fuel on the same day, draining the city’s entire supply. First responders were sent to another area to buy gasoline for the first few days, which ended up being very expensive. Nobody anticipated this kind of situation, and it left the city scrambling. (You can read the entire story here.)
In a situation like Plano’s, employees may have enough fuel to get to work for a day or two. Even if you’re not directly in a disaster zone, sudden emergencies that affect fuel production and delivery can make supplies difficult to get. Some employees may be able to work remotely until deliveries are restored and fuel is replenished. But for your essential employees, having fuel available for them is critical to start disaster recovery and business continuity. Having fuel available for them may be the difference between your business re-opening quickly, and lost revenues from the shutdown.
Emergency Fuel Delivery You Can Count On
Specialty Fuel Services can supply fresh gasoline daily to help your employees get back and forth to work when they can’t get it anywhere else. We can add it to your emergency generator fuel delivery to make sure your employees are able to get to your site, and help get your business back in business.
Contact us today, and one of our team members will discuss our fuel delivery services and how we can help. We’ll work with you to create a personalized fuel delivery plan for your business’ disaster planning to save you from the losses of unexpected downtime.