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So far Tony Caputo has created 28 entries.

Caroline Walker, Director of Research, Warren Rogers, to present at 2020 Sigma Annual Conference

By |October 16th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized||0 Comments

 

Middletown, RI-We are excited to announce that Warren Rogers’ own Caroline Walker, Director of Research, will be presenting a virtual session at the upcoming 2020 SIGMA Annual Conference, occurring from November 9-13, 2020. The subject is Operational Analytics and the Forecourt. We hope that you will take some time to review her insights. She will demonstrate ways in which you curate available data in order to take travel center and c-store operational oversight to an optimal level. Learn more about how we help retailers “curate” their data at www.warrenrogers.com.

UPDATE:  View the session at this link on the Warren Rogers YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS5a_qCGvZ4

Caroline Walker has a strong background in mathematical statistics (B.S. MIT, M.S. University of Washington) and a passion for solving challenging problems. Since joining Warren Rogers in 2013 she has continued to advance our proud legacy of innovation, developing next generation analytical tools which leverage the power of big data to provide our customers with actionable insights- enabling them to maintain high standards in maintenance efficiency, ensure positive customer experiences at the pump, and increase forecourt profitability. At Warren Rogers, Caroline loves having the opportunity to work closely with customers to find the perfect-fit solution for their novel analytical and diagnostic needs. In addition to her analytical work Caroline has presented at a number of national conferences, most recently including the 2020 SAS Global Forum where she gave the talk “Principal Component Analysis Demystified”.
How can Warren Rogers help you?
Implementing improved system controls can greatly-increase efficiency in preventing fraud, abuse, or theft. With Warren Roger’s fuelWRAp Real-Time App, you can get:

*tighter fuel inventory control
*important equipment alerts
*detailed reports, and much more.
*interactive charts and graphs as well as historical data right to any of your devices
*dedicated account support […]

Fuel Losses and How You Can Prevent Them

By |August 25th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized||0 Comments

By Caleigh Millette, Warren Rogers Associates, 2020

Fuel management systems are important for maintaining, controlling, and monitoring both stock and fuel consumption. These system controls are meant to detect and prevent any potential fraud or abuse, saving you trouble in the future. Fraud or abuse can be a result of fuel leakages, thefts, inaccurate deliveries, or siphoning. Fuel theft can also be known as “shrinkage”, or any discrepancies in the amount of product onsite versus the amount the software reports. 

Fuel theft can take place internally or externally. Internal theft occurs when an employee of a C-store or retailer pumps fuel without ringing the transaction up. External theft is usually when a customer drives off without paying. Luckily, these types of thefts can be prevented or identified through security cameras and prepayment transactions. 

However, when it comes to other types of fuel theft, having the proper technology can allow you to see both dispenser and tank activity in order to pinpoint the exact time of the fraudulent transaction(s). Accurately tracking fuel levels in all systems can allow you:

 *to identify potential delivery shortages/overages, leaks, losses, or manual errors with your fuel tanks. 
*be alerted with proper and updated technology, ‒ in real-time ‒  about any inaccuracy after a delivery. This can be achieved by monitoring your automatic tank gauge (ATG), which can help you keep track of your tank amounts and fuel sales. 
*to use these high-tech tools and easily avoid the cost of missing fuel. 

How can Warren Rogers help?

Implementing improved system controls can greatly-increase efficiency in preventing fraud, abuse, or theft. With Warren Roger’s fuelWRAp Real-Time App, you can get:

*tighter fuel inventory control
*important equipment alerts
*detailed reports, and much more.
*interactive charts and […]

Biodiesel Sales Predicted to Double by 2025. But, managing Biodiesel can be complex.

By |August 17th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized||0 Comments

 

By Tony Caputo, Director of Business Development, Warren Rogers, August 2020

A recent article from the Wall Street Journal stated that “the coronavirus pandemic has crushed demand for fuels such as gasoline and jet fuel, and many expect global oil consumption to remain depressed for years. But the appetite for so-called renewable fuel is poised to grow because of government regulations in places, such as California, that are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Greener Fuel U.S. renewable diesel consumption is poised to continue climbing as environmental rules tighten.” 1

Bob Herman, Phillips 66’s refining chief, spoke of the refinery conversions taking place to increase profitability, “The economic conditions are ripe for it,” He further added that “the company’s San Francisco-area facility isn’t making money as a traditional refinery.”1

In the same article, Turner Mason, an analytics firm, estimated that, as California’s rules become stricter and other states consider adopting similar rules, U.S. renewable-diesel consumption is projected to roughly double over the next decade to around 1.1 billion gallons a year.1

Per the US Department of Energy, Biodiesel is a cleaner-burning renewable replacement for petroleum diesel fuel. It can be manufactured from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant grease. Agri-biodiesel comes solely from virgin oils (soybean, corn, sunflower seed, cotton seeds, canola, etc.) or animal fats. Renewable biodiesel is derived from biomass and is treated the same as biodiesel for tax purposes.2

As such, Biodiesel is quickly becoming a source of additional margin and profit for traditional travel center operators.  This is also tempting conventional convenience store operators, such as Thornton’s, Speedway, and RaceTrac, into stepping into the travel center and bio-diesel blending business. But, with biodiesel, comes many positives, higher profits………and more complexities.

EPA credits can be as high as […]

Get my drift? Meter drift explained.

By |August 12th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized||0 Comments

 

 

Get my drift? Meter drift explained.

By Caleigh Millette, Warren Rogers Associates, 2020

 

What is meter drift? How can it be fixed?

Meters tend to drift when they are out of alignment or off center, usually in the positive direction. This results in more fuel being pumped out than what the customer paid for, which can lead to considerable money loss for your business over time. Meter drift can become more serious as the dispenser ages, though all dispensers may drift at their own rate. As a meter naturally wears down, more fuel passes through than expected.

Flow meters measure the amount of fuel being dispensed and can show leaks through data. Because of this, flow meters are essential in detecting problems and preventing harm to public and environmental health and safety. For flow meters to perform properly and accurately detect problems as they arise, they need to be well-maintained and calibrated when necessary.

Conducting calibrations on your meters whenever necessary can prevent them from performing inaccurately, thus preventing fuel loss — and money loss. Most of the time, calibrations are required at least once a year. A meter that cannot be effectively calibrated may need to be replaced or repaired. 

 

How Warren Rogers can help:

We display and report on locations with slowing fueling positions, dispenser meters out of variance, sites with communication loss, and tanks showing water. We also offer real-time, interactive tank and dispenser performance charting. We will even prioritize issues based on their impact to your site revenue, so you can fix the most costly issues first.

Your Warren Rogers analyst support team can customize reports and email alerts to meet your specific needs, and offers first-class troubleshooting assistance — all viewable on desktop, tablet, or mobile (great […]

Want to boost your forecourt’s profitability? Here are five things every fuel retailer should know.

By |August 12th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized||0 Comments

Want to boost your forecourt’s profitability? Here are five things every fuel retailer should know.

By Tony Caputo, Director of Business Development, Warren Rogers Associates, 2020

The weights and measures inspector protects your customer — not your fuel inventory. An inspector can give your store a “thumbs up” in terms of meeting tolerances, even though you may be losing hundreds of gallons of product due to meter drift. Our patented meter drift technology protects you, your fuel inventory, and your customers by identifying meters that are drifting away from strike and holding back or giving away product. Meter drift analysis reports for each dispenser position associated with a product help you identify meter error’s impact on profitability.
You don’t always receive the delivery amounts you pay for. Terminals, carriers, and drivers will all push back hard if you question a delivery amount and claim a delivery shortfall.– With our Continual Reconciliation data at your disposal, including actual calculated delivery amounts, you’ll have the information and evidence you need to pursue claims of fuel shortages. We identify the gross and net amounts of product actually-delivered to the tank system, which is critical information because deliveries to retail facilities are not metered when product is introduced. Our delivery audit provides a reliable measure of the actual amount of product delivered versus the bills of lading, and our precise delivery calculations consider factors such as temperature, tank geometry, and elapsed sales.
Want to attract business from the forecourt into the store? Don’t ignore slow flow rates that irritate customers.– Restoring a dispenser to its proper flow rate will increase sales at the position by up to 20% and help increase your store traffic. Our system calculates dispenser […]

Leak Detection and Compliance For Underground Storage Tanks

By |July 17th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized||0 Comments

Leak Detection and Compliance For Underground Storage Tanks

By Caleigh Millette, Warren Rogers Associates, 2020

About leak detection and compliance:

Leak detection for Underground Storage Tanks (UST) plays a crucial role in preventing site contamination from spreading. Leaks are expensive to clean up and harmful to the environment. The EPA requires owners and operators to detect releases from their UST systems through a choice of three categories: interstitial, internal, and external. Any UST installed on or before April 11, 2016 must use one of these methods. Owners and operators that have installed or replaced UST since April 11, 2016 must use secondary containment with interstitial monitoring.

Two other EPA requirements include detecting a leak from any portion of the system (tank or piping) as well as installing and calibrating your system in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Most tank systems are obligated to undergo monthly monitoring (once every 30 days). You must be sure to properly maintain and operate your system over time to gain the full benefits of leak detection. For example, a faulty ATG system may read inaccurate data that makes it difficult to detect actual leaks. If there were a leak that went undetected due to faulty equipment, you may receive penalties for noncompliance as well as a costly cleanup.

How Warren Rogers can help:

Our understanding of Underground Storage Tanks (UST), water incursion, and environmental compliance is unmatched. We provide leak detection compliance that meets 30-day reporting requirements for complex retail fuel sites and active travel centers. Learn more here.

We also provide Continuous In-Tank Leak Detection (CITLDS) certification using multiple ATG systems with magnetostrictive tank probes for tanks and associated pipelines. The system reports a result of “pass” or “fail” and indicates minimum detectable leak and […]

EPA Renewable Fuel Standard draft lifts biodiesel blending mandates for 2020

By |July 10th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized||0 Comments

By Caleigh Millette, Warren Rogers Associates, 2020

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced its 2020 final ruling for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), lifting the mandated amount of bio-fuel that  refiners must blend into conventional fuel. The ruling calls for 20.09 billion gallons of total renewable fuel in 2020, which is an increase of 170 million gallons from what was required in 2019. The required target for 2021 is still being considered.

The RFS requires transportation fuel in the U.S. to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuel. The EPA administers the RFS and determines which renewable fuels are eligible as well as the amount of renewable fuel required in upcoming years.

The EPA’s 2020 ruling also finalizes other actions such as a change in how they calculate the annual percentage standard to account for volumes of diesel and gasoline that will be exempt from obligated renewable fuel volumes. Smaller refineries can be exempt from the RFS if they prove complying would cause them financial strain.

Furthermore, the EPA reports that the 2020 renewable fuel target includes 15 billion gallons from conventional biofuel and 5.09 billion gallons from advanced biofuel. The standard for biomass-based diesel for 2021 remains the same as 2020 at 2.43 billion gallons. However, the biofuel target of 15 billion gallons cannot be reached due to the declining production of products such as cellulosic (algae based) biofuel.

Warren Rogers role in bio-fuel blending:

At Warren Rogers, we monitor bio-diesel blending and audit consumption for federal and state reporting requirements. Learn more here.

Bracmort, Kelsi. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): An Overview. Congressional Research Service , Apr. 2020.

About Warren Rogers Associates

Founded in 1979 by Dr. Warren Rogers, Warren Rogers Associates pioneered the development of Statistical Inventory Reconciliation Analysis […]

Warren Rogers Introduces new fuelWRAp ATG Alarm Management and Alert Notifications Capabilities

By |July 7th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized||0 Comments

 

MIDDLETOWN, R.I.  — Warren Rogers, a leading provider of precision fuel monitoring to convenience stores, travel centers, and other fuel retailers, will introduce a major new enhancement to their fuelWRAp web application on July 7th, 2020.  The new enhancement to fuelWRAp provides users with a comprehensive look at real-time tank gauge alarms directly on the online dashboard, accessible on desktop, tablet, or mobile —all in a highly secure, cloud-based environment.

The alarm management enhancement features real-time alarm reporting as well as archived and historical alarms by location.  After secure-user login to fuelWRAp, the tank gauge and sensor alarms can be filtered and sorted for ease of review and exported to meet the retailers internal reporting needs.  Notifications can be delivered by email, text or phone call, and can be customized per alarm type for the users’ specific needs.

“Our Alarm Management module and enhancement to the online fuelWRAp portal helps people who are responsible for managing compliance, maintenance, and costly customer disruption due to these alarms across many sites.” said William Jones, Warren Rogers president and CEO. “We’re getting great feedback. Customers appreciate the real-time aspect of our alerting portal as well as our customized alert notifications. Now, our customers can see what is going on in their sites immediately and make the best, most cost-effective decisions”.

Jones adds, “Due to its inherent cloud-based security features, our fuelWRAp application appeals to IT departments as well. Our application utilizes Warren Rogers’ Security Suite to keep users off VPNs and centrally administers login credentials.”

In terms of its user interface, the fuelWRAp and alarm management application has a streamlined dashboard with enhanced graphics so customers can obtain real-time data at-a-glance. The dashboard is easily viewed on desktop, tablet, or mobile device.

The Warren Rogers procurement application is also very-scalable, […]