With the official start of the 2024 Hurricane season approaching, now is the time for fuel operators to check protocols and anticipate the potential impacts of storms and natural disasters. There’s no disputing the fact that the frequency and severity of such events has increased, which is why preparing now for operational continuity, as well as service and supply chain contingencies, is critical.  

In just the first quarter of 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has already recorded several “billion-dollar weather events” across the central, southern, and northeast regions of the United States. These severe storms, including tornadoes, high winds, and baseball-sized hail, have caused almost $6 billion in damages, and taken several lives. Add the fact that this closely followed extreme east coast storm-surge flooding in December, and a six-month drought in the South and Midwest between spring and fall 2023. It’s clear that climate change will continue to spur unpredictable weather challenges for the foreseeable future. 

The true cost of weather events 

Downtime caused by severe conditions can negatively impact fuel operations and revenue long after the storm clouds have parted. Managing fallout beyond interruptions in service, fuel operators may be left to deal with physical damage to infrastructure and fuel systems. Repairs, especially when those who can make them may be overwhelmed with requests, cost even more time and money. To top it off, the amount of time it will take to get back on track can be tough to estimate following a disaster.  

To best prepare for the unpredictability of severe weather, fuel operators must focus on a few key preventative measures: 

• Prioritize regular fuel supply chain maintenance and critical facility system updates to spot vulnerabilities early 
• Inspect tank equipment and vent lines for damage that could invite the risk of water ingress 
• Check for gaps or cracks in caps, gaskets, grommets, and spare risers to spot potential breach points 
• Look for cracked or settling concrete that could damage components below ground 
• Put a system in place to track water entry above a given threshold 

The value of integrated technology 

With severe weather events increasing year over year, enhanced monitoring and response capabilities can mean the difference between coming through a storm fully operational or managing costly downtime for days to weeks afterward. Industry-specific technology has become a vital tool for fuel operators to strengthen storm preparedness. 

Titan Cloud’s Fuel Asset Optimization platform does this by providing fuel operators with:  

• End-to-end visibility of fuel supply chain systems via one single, centralized overview 
• Automated water trend reports to flag ingress into tanks 
• Real-time monitoring of critical data before, during, and after adverse weather events to adapt to evolving conditions 
• Remote troubleshooting capabilities to address equipment issues quickly and mitigate potential losses, without having to brave a storm to be on site 

By leveraging innovative technologies and implementing robust contingency plans, businesses can minimize the impact of extreme weather events and safeguard their operations against disruptions.  

To learn how Titan Cloud can fortify your business against whatever Mother Nature sends your way this year, speak with one of our solutions experts.  

Increased frequency of natural disasters means higher risk of downtime, but many operators are unprepared. Read more to ensure you are doing everything to better plan for and recover from extreme weather events.

Halfway through 2023, there have already been nine weather- or climate-related disasters with losses exceeding $1 billion each to affect the United States. Flooding, winter storms, and severe storm events were among these events, which also had a substantial economic impact on the affected regions.

If that were not enough, a dangerous heat wave recently created powerful tornadoes in Texas and Florida, where at least four people were killed this month in twisters that touched down in the nations’ panhandles. Heatwaves and electrical storms can easily damage sensitive equipment, while other more serious events like hurricanes and tornadoes can knock fuel locations offline for days or even weeks.

As a result, these storm events have a direct impact on fuel operations and supplies. Tulsa municipal authorities, for example, were hard at work this month to avoid a possible gas shortage after stations were damaged or lost power during the recent round of severe storms. Some fuel stations are still operating but getting to the pump required waiting in standstill traffic.

Take Measures to Ride Out the Storm

The costs of downtime can be staggering. Beyond the loss of services and availability, natural disasters can also cause a lot of damage to the physical infrastructure and fuel systems that keep businesses running. Fortunately, owner operators can take measures to ensure their fuel facilities are ready for difficult weather events — and recover more quickly from them.

Integrate Maintenance with Fuel Assets to Optimize Uptime
The most effective facility managers excel at preventing severe weather from wreaking havoc on their operations and customer experiences by prioritizing regular maintenance and updates to critical systems in their facilities. This is more easily and optimally managed on a single platform that provides centralized visibility. That’s why leaders in c-store and fleet work with Titan to unify their entire organization onto one platform. Get the tools you need to remotely fix your most pressing fuel equipment problems as well, which is essential during severe weather situations.

Storm-Specific Actions & Preventative Checklists
Prior to severe weather occurrences, teams can assess and record important issues at the site level using Titan’s Advanced Facility Inspection (AFI) solution and storm-specific preventative checklists. Corrective actions can be carried out with the tool’s automated workflows before any customer or site impacts have an influence on profitability. The AFI app also goes beyond fuel assets to address other critical applications such as refrigerated coolers, HVAC systems, and electrical inspections before and after storms.

Examples of storm-specific actions may include:

• Tank Top Equipment – Inspect any potential source of intrusion into the tank such as caps, gaskets, damaged grommets, and spare risers. Be sure to look for settling concrete that may cause damage to below ground components.
• Vent Lines – Inspect vent lines for signs of corrosion and damage. Vents that lean may have been struck, leading to below grade fractures and a subsequent source of water entry.

Water Trends Visibility
With remote connectivity to your location, track the entry of water above a given threshold using Titan’s Water Trends Reporting. Additionally, reports may be automatically sent to your teams at predetermined intervals. For instance, you set your water threshold at .25 inches. You have .25 inches of sludge already in the bottom of your tank. The report will flag any ingress of water into the tank so that you can work to stay ahead of phase separation, and you can set up specific alerts once the water level in the tank hits .50 inches of water. This would represent a .25-inch increase over the sludge in the bottom of the tank.

Make the Most of Your Technology
Are you currently leveraging your technology to the fullest during these severe weather events? With remote connectivity a reliable and comprehensive fuel management platform is critical in times of disaster to ensure data is safe and accessible during and after severe weather occurrences. Storms can strike at any time and from anywhere, and having a reliable software provider with contingencies in place can help minimize losses and respond with the best plan of action.

Learn how the team at Titan Cloud can help you capture and monitor critical data points that will help you deliver a proactive approach to preparing for these events, reduce risk, and minimize equipment down time.

Schedule a complimentary assessment with a solution expert today

Brent Puzak

VP of Solutions Consulting

Brent brings 25 years' industry experience to Titan Cloud as the Vice President of Solutions Consulting. He led environmental shared services for a global retail chain with over 9,000 locations, moving through numerous leadership positions. Brent's diverse background and knowledge allows him to take a strategic approach to addressing complex industry challenges.

There’s a lot to keep up with when you start as a new fleet manager. To help you keep up, here are ten things fleet managers need to know to understand, track, and stay ahead of your UST compliance.

1. Every state has different regulations: As a fleet manager responsible for UST compliance, you need to know that every state has different regulations. Even though the regulation comes from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), each state has the authority to create its own rules. You can find those here.

2. Your inventory cycle may change depending on the state: Every state is a little different regarding requirements. In some states, you must do inventory variants on a ten-day cycle. Some are 30 days. In other states, you don’t have to do it at all. Learn about state requirements here.

3. Some states require a third party inspector: Some states require a third party inspector to come out and inspect the system to get your permit (i.e., Illinois). In other states, you pay a fee. Other states don’t even have an annual process. You can learn the specifics here.

4. There are three types of operators: The three types of operators are Class A, Class B, and Class C. Class A operators must operate and maintain your UST system. Class B performs your monthly walkthrough inspections. Class C is often the first respondent to emergency situations. 

5. Violation fees multiply until you pay them: Regulators can issue violation fees monthly if you don’t resolve a violation immediately. For example, if you have a $1000 violation and it takes you six months to get it fixed, that violation could ultimately cost you $6,000 total.

6. You need a follow-up process for inspections: All deficiencies that crop up in an inspection require not only corrective action but also a way to track that action. With a process in place, you’re able to produce the required documentation whenever someone needs it, be it a technician or an inspector. Without the proper paperwork, the next time a technician goes out, they won’t know there is an issue. 

7. You must maintain a record of deficiencies and corrections: Monthly walkthrough inspections now have a monthly compliance report that includes any deficiencies. As noted, you have to have documentation for every deficiency as well as the corresponding corrective action. You need a means to attach those corrections to your compliance reports easily and linear linkage–when each document links to the next one in the chain–is the most efficient method.

8. Implement a standard practice to triage alarms: Some alarms will clear themselves, such as needing a fuel delivery, low volume, and high volume, but most will need you to respond. Having a standard in place to triage and respond to alarms can stop you from wasting hours sorting them.

9. Keep track of your UST operators: It’s important you know which operators are on your roster for each location you manage. Each class of operator has different training requirements and different frequencies for training in order to be up to date. Fleet managers need to know that every facility has the right class operator with up to date training ready to respond to any issues.

10. Know every facility’s testing requirements: Every UST system is a little different with different components and requirements, and this is especially true for fleets. Because of these variations, there are few standards for maintaining facilities. New fleet managers need to know what they’ve got and when testing is done or you risk falling behind and getting hit with major fines.

How to get ahead

Being a fleet manager is rewarding, but, in the past, it required juggling reams of papers containing all the dates, personnel info, deficiencies, and corrective actions you need to stay compliant. Luckily, these days, you can invest in technology that keeps you on track and documentation at your fingertips.

Discover technology that does the tracking for you.

Jeff Sexten

VP of Solutions Consulting

With 20 years of industry expertise, Jeff, formerly with a leading Logistic & Transportation company, led the Environmental Compliance Department for 300+ locations across the U.S. and Canada. Now serving as the VP of Solutions Consulting at Titan Cloud, he oversees pre-sales activities, including discovery, customized solution development, and effective communication of value to stakeholders.

Apps are available to download for both Apple and Android devices and connect to Titan’s complete inspection cloud platform.

The manager begins by setting up the inspections you want performed. Then, inspectors open the app and are taken to a list of the facilities the manager has given them to inspect.

To ensure compliance, the app includes free access to a library containing all accepted state forms and PEI forms, which apply to states that have not yet adopted their own forms. This means you’ll always meet compliance requirements, with new state forms automatically added as states adopt them. Even better, all completed inspections are published on approved state PDFs for paperless compliance reporting that’s as fast as it is easy.

Operators can set up a new inspection by selecting “add new” and then choosing the inspection they desire completed by field personnel or vendors. Simply select the date of the inspection and your Inspector will automatically be filled in based on the list you’ve set up to perform these inspections. Select “add new” again and the inspection is created. 

You have the ability to require specific fields and attachments, so no inspection can be scored until all forms are filled. You have the option to score results as pass/fail or on a weighted scale.

Information is pulled from your site data in the Titan platform, including facility-specific information like tanks, lines, dispensers, canopies, sumps, and ATGs. This ensures inspectors see and inspect what equipment is actually installed at your sites, increasing both the accuracy and efficiency of your inspection process. 

Once a user has been set up in the inspection app, they can work online providing you with real-time results, or if no internet is available, they can perform inspections offline and sync when the inspection is completed and internet is available.

The types of inspections you can do with Titan are as flexible and versatile as your business needs. Forms in the inspection library are not limited to EPA and PEI inspections since you can configure virtually any form or inspection type you want performed, including 30-day walk-throughs, spill bucket inspections, big oil brand or secret shopper inspections, clean bathroom inspections, fleet inspections and so on. You can even set up an optional approval process if you so choose.

Completed inspections are accessible as mapped PDFs in both the Advanced Facility Inspection App and the Titan platform. And because it’s a cloud platform, you can include as many videos, documents, and photos without worrying about possibly running out of space.

Titan’s management dashboard allows users to manage the inspection process, offering complete visibility into what inspections have been completed and which have not in any given month. 

Additionally, you’ll be notified of deficiencies, inspection statuses or stages, trends, and even the root causes of any recurring problems. You can even set up a workflow with notifications to help users and staff track all issues to resolution—even linking to work orders for full maintenance resolution management.

Inspectors have the flexibility to open previously started inspections, start new inspections, or look at completed inspections from the app. Leading convenience stores have used Titan’s inspection app to perform more than 8,000 fuel facility walk-through inspections each month for over 5 years, making is the #1 inspection app in the fuel industry.

If you’d like to learn more about Titan Cloud Software’s Advanced Inspection Platform and Apps, please reach out today to set up a demo.

Brent Puzak

VP of Solutions Consulting

Brent brings 25 years' industry experience to Titan Cloud as the Vice President of Solutions Consulting. He led environmental shared services for a global retail chain with over 9,000 locations, moving through numerous leadership positions. Brent's diverse background and knowledge allows him to take a strategic approach to addressing complex industry challenges.

There’s a saying in life: If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll only get what you’ve always got. If you’ve been tracking fuel tank inspections with pen and paper, then you can expect the same inefficient workflows and cumbersome compliance reporting.

If the people who have been going from site to site and tank to tank with pen and paper only knew they could be conducting inspections with digital tools. With mobile inspections software tools, customers can replace dozens of manual processes with one software tool  that enables efficient, on-the-go data capture.

You already understand the importance of accurate information. The wrong data or a faulty tool could potentially cost you thousands of dollars in downtime, environmental fines, or more. Inspecting your fuel tanks one by one is actually more likely to produce errors than when you utilize digital tools. 

We’re here to help you save time and improve accuracy while remaining—and even improving—compliant. Here are some fuel tank inspection recommendations that utilize technology in order to keep your inspections as efficient as possible.

Underground Fuel Tank Inspection Basics

Conduct a visual inspection with a mobile form. You should perform visual inspections of your fuel tanks regularly—but are you doing it thoroughly, consistently, and accurately every time? Using a mobile form, you can be sure that your inspectors are looking for the right things every time and not missing anything. A mobile form will guide your inspectors to look for signs of corrosion, cracks, and leaks in all the highest risk places so you don’t miss anything if an inspector is in a hurry or inexperienced.

Our environmental software automates access to all required state and PEI forms in a central hub and stores all documentation for as long as you want or need. Titan also adds new forms as states adopt them so you’ll always work from the most current regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states that enforce UST rules do require a walkthrough inspection every 30 days, and you are required to retain inspection records for at least three years. 

Reporting and record keeping. Depending on your UST, you’ll need to inspect various equipment associated with your storage tanks and keep written verification of equipment performance. Equipment manufacturers or installers provide this verification, but it’s the owners’ responsibility to maintain accurate and current records. If and when an inspector conducts an on-site inspection, you need to keep records that prove your facility or store meets certain requirements. 

This is a lot of information and paperwork to keep track of. However, the right technology makes it simple. Our platform operates as a virtual filing cabinet so you no longer have to search actual filing cabinets—or worse, shoeboxes—for the relevant paperwork. Instead, you can do a simple search on the platform and see everything you need in seconds. 

You can also keep track of vendors and work orders to make sure you’re fixing all notifications and alerts that pop up.

Wrap Up

With Titan’s facility management software, you can keep all the essential federal and state records stored in one place and ensure that inspectors see and inspect what’s installed at your site. You can connect all your fuel equipment to understand the root issues of your most valuable assets.

Our solutions represent the convergence of compliance, fuel analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), setting a new standard for facilities with fuel.

Learn more about how Titan can streamline fuel inspections—and more.

Brent Puzak

VP of Solutions Consulting

Brent brings 25 years' industry experience to Titan Cloud as the Vice President of Solutions Consulting. He led environmental shared services for a global retail chain with over 9,000 locations, moving through numerous leadership positions. Brent's diverse background and knowledge allows him to take a strategic approach to addressing complex industry challenges.