CHALLENGES

A Cumbersome Route-Building Process That Limited Delivery Capacity and Hindered Growth

Luke Sanders, customer service representative and in-house software support resource at Ed Staub & Sons, recalled the challenges the company faced with its former energy software system. Having started his career at Ed Staub & Sons as a bobtail truck driver ten years ago, Sanders experienced the struggles firsthand.

“We used route cards, and they were very inefficient,” Sanders said. “It was cumbersome flipping through cards and trying to figure out where customers were and what was going on with their tanks.”

He explained that setting up routes to prioritize deliveries according to which customers needed deliveries more urgently than others was difficult and time-consuming.

Moreover, because of that inefficiency, it limited how many deliveries drivers could accomplish in a day. 

Mark Paulsen, credit manager and director of operations support at Ed Staub & Sons, added that the company’s previous vendor wasn’t responsive to their needs. “Our previous software solution just didn’t provide the support that we needed, especially on the delivery side, to grow efficiently.” 

He said they wanted to find a system that would allow the company to optimize its current assets and grow its footprint without making a substantial investment in additional equipment and personnel.

According to Paulsen, with the former software, it was not uncommon to have two of the company’s trucks pass each other on the same road, servicing the same area on the same day. “With Cargas, we don’t have that happen nearly as often,” he shared. 

He also said that Cargas Energy makes it far easier than the former solution to track the company’s assets, such as propane tanks. “We had a wildfire that went through a region that we service a couple of years ago. Our IT team was able to put together a program that would query the Cargas database, and Cargas showed us what tanks were in the fire zone. So as tragic as it was, at least we knew which assets of ours were affected. It definitely helped us with the insurance claim and planning what we had to do to try to reclaim the value of what we lost.”

Sanders added that Cargas Energy’s efficiency-boosting features have helped drivers increase the number of deliveries they can accomplish. “I think my record in the old system was in the mid-twenties. And with Cargas Energy, I was able to get to 60 customers — 60 different deliveries — in one day from 8 to 6.”

Sanders, who has gone from using the software as a driver to working with the software and the Cargas team, said he values the collaboration. “I really enjoy coming to the Cargas Energy summits. Not only to get one-on-one time with the people behind the phone calls but also to interact with other Cargas customers.”

Regarding what he views as the biggest benefit overall gained from Cargas Energy, Paulsen said it’s the U.S.-based support. “It’s hard to find that nowadays. It’s great to be able to get hold of somebody during our business hours. That’s been huge. It has value that I don’t think we can put a price tag on. Cargas has been great at supporting us.”