RIP Propane

soren wrote:

liborko wrote:
Like I said in my previous post I tried to get propane in three fair size towns before I finally found gas station that had propane and was willing to refill. It seems to me that gas stations are reluctant to sell propane because average propane fill is probably in $25-30 range and needs licensed person to dispense it while average gasoline fill is probably in $50-100 range and anyone can do it. There just is not enough profit to sell propane. Who knows?

I have a supplier who runs a small propane station as a sideline at his plumbing supply store. Last time I filled there, he told me that he had no skin in the game at all. His propane supplier supplied and installed the filling and storage equipment. I paid $1.40 a gallon over his cost. At the moment, large end user bulk purchases are going for under $1.50/gal. in my area, and retail is $3.19 to $3.99 at local filling stations. So, compared to somebody dropping $30-50 to fill their car's gas tank, RV propane is a heck of alot more profitable. A few pennies a gallon profit on gasoline, $1.70-$2.50, and more, a gallon on propane. I just passed a station that had CNG for vehicle use at $1.69 Gal. and propane for BBQ and RV fills at $3.99. Not quite an even comparison, but still interesting.

We filled tanks for years, and it isn't very profitable at all. Yes, you can get a dollar or two over cost, but you don't pump that much. The vast majority of purchases are filling the 20 pound barbeque tanks. They hold 4 gallons. That's only $8.00 gross profit each fill. You maybe average 4 or 5 bottles a day. Even if business is completely steady all year, that is still only $15,000 a year. But to do that, you have an employee fill each tank. That costs labor and that employee has to go outside into the elements at each customer's beckoning call. That means just like the mailman they have to be available come rain, snow, sleet and gloom of night. Your insurance policy must have a propane fill rider. That costs additional premiums. You have to have the space available for RVs to pull up to the pump location and also be able to navigate out, that takes up a lot of real estate in prime locations. There are other requirements and costs as to where a pump can be located and what needs to be done to keep the area safe and secure. We determined it just wasn't worth it and we are not alone.