By now I am sure you have seen, heard of, or experienced supply shortages in your daily life. Whether it be at the grocery store, the hardware store, or even the farm store, the supply chain is heavily taxed. As an example of supply chain issues in our business, the lead times for propane tanks jumped from 12 weeks to 30 weeks. Forward planning is imperative.
I say this not to create panic or anxiety but only to suggest a pivot from “just in time inventory” to “just in case inventory” for common petroleum equipment items. What does “just in case inventory” mean? It means having new, replacement items on hand “just in case” rather than waiting until something breaks. We don’t know when the next supply chain outage will occur but having extra stock of key items just may prevent unnecessary downtime. For instance, if you have an older, weather-checked hose on your diesel tank, what is your backup plan if the hose should finally burst, especially if your supplier doesn’t have a replacement in stock?
Preparing now can significantly reduce the risk of out-of-stock situations or having to travel an extended distance to get a critical item. While we don’t foresee any extended outages on the horizon for common petroleum equipment items today, the potential still exists.
To prevent unnecessary downtime, the first thing we suggest is to implement a standard procedure of inspecting all your petroleum equipment for potential issues, failures, or points of wear. Hoses, nozzles, filters, and pumps are a good place to start. Electrical wires and connections should be inspected, too.
The second step is to contact your fuel supplier and create a supply plan for the items you identify that may need to be replaced. When the supply chain is taxed as it is today, communication is critical. When fuel suppliers understand your anticipated needs, they have a better sense of how much inventory is needed and have more time to acquire it, sometimes from non-traditional suppliers. Whether it is FS or another fuel supplier, they want to help you by having the items on hand before you need them. As planting becomes fast and furious next spring, you’ll rest a little easier knowing that you or your supplier has the backup petroleum equipment parts on hand should you need them on short notice.