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Feature Articles

In-depth feature stories examining the trends, challenges and innovations shaping the propane and LPG industry.

  • Cargo Tank Maintenance: More Important Than Ever

    When the hydrostatic pressure test requalification period for some bobtails was extended in 2016 from five years to 10 years, a burden was removed from propane marketers. At the same time, though, that extension may allow problems on improperly maintained bobtails to fester for an additional five years. Jason Soulon, sales manager, southwest region at Westmor Industries (Morris, Minn.), has seen what can happen when people get lax with inspections and maintenance. He has 20 years of experience designing, selling, and servicing bobtails. Westmor Industries not only manufactures bobtails, transports, and other equipment, but also offers repairs, tests, and inspections at seven locations in the Midwest and the Eastern United States. “When we have a bobtail in the shop to perform a hydrostatic pressure test,…
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  • Propane Plays Critical Role In California Clean Air Now Legislation

    SACRAMENTO, CA (March 21, 2019) – California Clean Air Now, joined by legislative authors Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), Assembly Member Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Orange County) and Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach) today at the State Capitol, introduced a series of bills designed to ensure California meets its current clean air goals through the use of proven technologies and available clean-air solutions, including: • SB 216 (Galgiani) – Used Truck Exchange Program • AB 1115 (Quirk-Silva) – Fuel Neutral Protections for LCFS • AB 1406 (O’Donnell) – Fuel Neutral Protections for the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP) “Every year California, according to the American Lung Association, consistently ranks as having the worst air pollution in the country, while spending billions of dollars…
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  • VanderYacht Propane Develops Multipurpose Truck

    VanderYacht Propane (Lynden, Wash.) needed a specialized truck, but needed it only occasionally. To make sure the truck wouldn’t sit idle too long, the company decided to set it up so it could serve more than one purpose. What they developed was a truck that could be fitted with interchangeable bodies—a truck that could be many trucks in one.  The challenge that inspired this project was the company’s location. To serve customers in western Washington, VanderYacht Propane must occasionally send a truck up into mountains or over a suspension bridge. These treks require a vehicle that is lighter than the typical bobtail and equipped with four-wheel drive, so VanderYacht Propane chose a Ram 5500.  They then set out to make sure the truck could serve…
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  • Truck Sales Rolling High With Tax Incentives, Cold Winter

    “This is another one of those years where the calendar turned over without any lull,” said Tim Schweppe, Arrow Tank & Engineering Co.’s general manager for the propane division (Minneapolis). “Running wide open for consecutive years takes its toll on the crew but we also know the flip side all too well.” After several years of warmer-than-normal winters, colder temperatures that started last fall, and new tax benefits beginning in early 2018 with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, kept sales strong. “The deduction limit for qualifying equipment and software went from $510,000 in 2017 to $1 million in 2018 and it will stay there for 2019 and likely beyond,” said John Hawkins, CEO of H&H Sales Co . (Huntertown, Ind.). “We’ve never slowed down.”…
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  • 4th Straight Year Of Record-Setting Forklift Sales

    Forklift sales in the North American market continue their unprecedented rise, with 2018 marking the fourth consecutive year of historic growth, reports the Industrial Truck Association (ITA). More than a quarter-million units were sold, marking a 2.8% increase over 2017. “All five truck classes exhibited growth in 2018, representing diverse demand across production lines,” said Scott Johnson, chairman of the ITA board of directors and vice president of marketing and sales at Clark Material Handling Co. (Lexington, Ky.). Year-end forklift sales of 260,180 units included electric rider trucks, Class 1 and Class 2 combined; motorized hand trucks, Class 3; and internal combustion- powered trucks, Class 4 and Class 5 combined. Electric and internal combustion truck sales grew at similar rates, showing annual increases of 2.8%…
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  • Supply Update: “A Good Year, Really Good”

    The supply and logistics situation in the propane industry is strong — perhaps the best in 10 years — but marketers must remain vigilant and watch for changes. Complacency can be dangerous. Those were messages delivered last February during a meeting of the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) Propane Supply and Logistics Committee in Charleston, S.C. “It’s been a good year, really good,” Stephen Kossuth, operations vice president at AmeriGas Propane LP and chair of the committee, said during the meeting. “In terms of supply and logistics, it’s been almost a boring year. There is more supply and the logistics market is handling the challenge of moving it the last mile. For the first time in 10 years, there have been no problems to talk about when it comes…
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  • Natural Gas Processing Capacity Rises in Lower 48 Production Areas

    U.S. natural gas processing capacity has increased in recent years, and both capacity and throughput show a net increase of about 5% in the Lower 48 states between 2014 and 2017, based in Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates. Growth was largely concentrated in areas of high natural gas production growth, such as the Appalachian Basin in the Northeast, the Permian Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, and the Haynesville Shale in Texas and Louisiana. State-by-state changes in processing plant capacity and throughput do not correlate perfectly with changes in natural gas production, notes EIA, despite the link between the two. In regions where infrastructure is already well developed, such as along the Gulf Coast, new processing capacity may not be necessary to accommodate…
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  • Ferrellgas Partners Acquires Missouri’s Reliable Propane

    Ferrellgas Partners LP (Overland Park, Kan.) said March 1st it had acquired Reliable Propane, a third-party Blue Rhino distributor based in Sikeston, Mo. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive. Ferrellgas said the acquisition is further evidence of its longstanding commitment to growing its core propane business. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Reliable Propane is a longtime independent distributor for Blue Rhino, Ferrellgas’s cylinder exchange subsidiary, delivering to retail partners in the Midwest and South from locations in Spring- field, Mo.; Starkville, Miss.; Olive Branch, Miss.; and Benton, Ark. The acquisition is aimed at growing the Blue Rhino segment and identifying ways to improve operational efficiencies and lower production and delivery expenses. Ferrellgas previously acquired independent Blue Rhino distributors American Propane (Oklahoma…
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  • U.S. Shale Growth Could Offset Venezuela Shortfall

    The continued strong growth of U.S. shale oil will soften the blow from the recent U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA; Caracas), says the International Energy Agency (IEA) as it once again raised its estimates for non-OPEC supply on the back of robust U.S. shale flows, reports S&P Global Platts. The Paris-based IEA, a market watchdog, also trimmed its forecast for OPEC crude oil demand this year, but nonetheless kept its growth estimate for demand in 2019 unchanged at 1.4 MMbbld. However, U.S. liquids output is forecast to rise by 1.52 MMbbld this year, consolidating the nation as the world’s biggest oil producer with average production hitting nearly 17 MMbbld, IEA said in its latest monthly oil market report….
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  • NPGA and PERC Welcome New Leadership

    Kevin Boland has been named communications director for the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA; Washington, D.C.) . Most recently, he worked on Capitol Hill as communications director for Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-Texas) in the 115th Congress, handling her congressional and defense appropriations media portfolio. Boland had also been a member of Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) staff, serving in a variety of roles that included special assistant to the speaker, assistant communications director, and assistant press secretary. This followed his time as a senior associate at the Glover Park Group, a public relations and government affairs firm headquartered in D.C. Michael Newland was welcomed as the new director of agriculture business development at the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) with the promotion of Cinch Munson…
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  • EPA Extends Application Deadline For Clean Diesel Funding To March 26

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) anticipates awarding approximately $40 million in competitive grant funding for the Diesel Emissions Reductions Act (DERA) Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. The Program is soliciting applications nationwide for projects that achieve significant reductions in diesel emissions in terms of tons of pollution produced and exposure, particularly from fleets operating in areas designated by the Administrator as poor air quality areas. Eligible fleets include regional, state, local or tribal agencies/consortia or port authorities with jurisdiction over transportation or air quality and nonprofit organizations or institutions that represent or provide pollution reduction or educational services to persons or organizations that own or operate diesel fleets or have the promotion of transportation or air quality as their principal purpose. Private companies or…
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  • Conger LP Gas Celebrates New Location, Larger Showroom, Demonstration Kitchen, Growth

    More appliances, new appliances, and a larger space in which to display and demonstrate them — those are some of the benefits Conger LP Gas (Tifton, Ga.) is enjoying after moving its home office into a larger facility. After 29 years in a 1500-sq-ft building, the company moved its home office into an 8000-sq-ft structure that offers more office space, more warehouse space, and a 1200-sq-ft showroom. “The size of just our new showroom is nearly as large as the size of the previous whole building,” Kirsten McAlpin, communications director at Conger LP Gas, told BPN. The home office in Tifton is one of three locations Conger LP Gas has in South Georgia. From them, the company sells propane and sells, installs, and services all types of…
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