With restaurants, grocery stores and retail outlets all integrating delivery options, why not gas stations?
The obvious reason is it seems difficult to dig up a PetroCanada and haul it around town, but Vancouver-based fuelsrv is doing that, more-or-less (more hauling, less digging).
"We've set it up so it's a replica of gas station technology with a calibrated meter, the same equipment as a gas station, the same safety stuff," says founder Tyler Reyno. "We pull up right to your car and we have the same fuel nozzle and reel and fill up the car where ever it is."
The fuel delivery business launched in July of 2019, when a service called filld was already in the marketplace.
However, filld shuttered their Vancouver operation and fuelsrv is still trucking, having delivered some 2 million liters of gas and diesel over the last two-and-a-half years, with between 6,000 and 7,000 tanks filled a month.
"We're living in a world now where a lot of things can be delivered right to your door," says Reyno. "It saves time, saves frustration; you don't have to deal with congestion at a gas station."
Reyno's business has found two niches; one with fleets that have a lot of vehicles to fill up (including Evo, if you've ever wondered how that works) and the other with customers who want to avoid the hassle and time it takes to fill their tank.
"Traffic can be bad enough in Vancouver, also having to get gas after a long day can be a pain point," he says.
How it works
The concept is pretty simple. Customers just looking to get their personal vehicle filled can sign up and use the website to order fuel for a time and place.
The fuelsrv driver arrives and pumps it into the car pretty much wherever it's parked, says Reyno.
Costs are pretty straightforward; there's a flat delivery fee of $8 and then the per liter cost is worked out to be competitive to what people see at local gas stations. The company works with PetroValue out of Langley as a bulk fuel supplier; most of the gas and diesel comes from Burnaby (it depends on pricing) and is the stuff you find in local gas stations like Flying J or Parkland.
Reyno says those who use it often become habitual users.
"It becomes clear it's part of their week-to-week," he says. "Once people have sort of made a habit of it it's something they really love."
Where they operate
Due to the Evo contract, fuelsrv trucks can be found everywhere Evo is. The company has trucks in Vancouver, Richmond, North Vancouver every day. Communities slightly further, like Delta or Langley, get service twice a week.
Expansion
While other parts of North America have competitors, fuelsrv is the only fuel delivery service in the area, and Reyno is looking to expand further across B.C., notably into Victoria. He hopes to launch on the Island later this year or early 2023.
Expanding their coverage area is one way to grow, but Reyno is looking at new technology to enter a new market; mobile EV charging.
"We have different tech resources we've tested," he says. "We've done some mobile EV charging."
The company is still in the research and development phase and trying to figure out the economics of offering a service like that.
Another consideration is operating trucks like mobile stations. So instead of delivering to a location, it would be similar to a food truck, setting up in a location for a while, serving people in that spot, be it an event or a grocery store parking lot, and then moving on. Reyno notes a lot of grocery stores in other parts of the country (with cheaper real estate) have gas stations. In Vancouver the number of gas stations is decreasing, not increasing.
There's also the option to make it a bonus for companies with employees who commute via vehicle; a truck could show up and fill cars while everyone is in the office.
