If you went trick or treating this year, hopefully you are recovering from your sugar high. I remember when my kids were little and I would take one for the team and eat the Halloween candy they didn’t want. (And some that they did want if I found their candy bag unattended. You snooze, you lose.) Now my doctor tells me I have to stay away from sugar. Honestly, does she have to ruin everything?
Speaking of holidays, a couple of our propane delivery drivers are going to receive an early Christmas gift in the form of a new propane delivery truck. We’ve got one going to Waupaca and one to our Westby location. We are increasing the size of our new trucks from 3,499 gallons to 5,000 gallons. The 3,499 capacity trucks were rated at 6,333 pounds per tire fully loaded. Since the new trucks have an additional axle, they have a rating of 5,400 pounds per tire. This puts less downward pressure per tire on the surface which means that although the trucks can carry more weight in total, it is spread over a larger area so it’s much easier on driveways and our highways than our older trucks are. It will also allow us to fill 6 more tanks before driving back to one of our propane plants to reload, which translates into less road miles and better efficiency.
The new trucks have some excellent safety features. One is a mechanism on the back of the truck which will not allow a truck to pull away while the driver is filling it at a propane plant. Another feature is a backup camera that allows them to see directly behind the vehicle. There is also a backup proximity alarm to ensure safer backing. On the passenger side, there is a downward facing mirror to allow the driver to see anything that happens to be in the blind spot from behind the passenger door to the front bumper.
Let’s take a quick walk down memory lane. Back in ‘the day’, our driver had to get out of the truck, grab the hose and walk it to the tank, then hook it up. The driver then had to walk back to the truck, engage the pump and walk back to the tank again to fill it. Once the tank was full, the driver would walk back to the truck, disengage the pump and then walk back to the tank to unhook the hose. Then the driver would walk the hose back to the truck and stow it. They definitely got their steps in every day. Now the driver can control the pump from the tank, which means one trip to the tank. They also have an unwind button to make the hose easier to pull. This helps to make our drivers’ job more enjoyable, safer and it also increases their efficiency.
Veterans Day is coming up. To all my fellow vets out there, thank you for your service. That’s a great day to give one of your vet buddies a call to catch up. As I literally finished the previous sentence, I got a text from a soldier who was my best friend in Iraq and has just gotten back from a tour in Africa. He must be a mind reader. Be safe if you’re a deer hunter and thank you for your business.
