With the clock ticking down on an impending lawsuit aimed at producers and sellers of leaded avgas in California, a new company, Clear Gas, formed in May by a group of pilots in the Merced area, will deliver lead-free, ethanol-free autogas to airports, marinas, race tracks and all off-road appplications in California in amounts as small as 500 gallons.
The company has devised two programs aimed at making fuel available in even the smallest markets, a Reservation Program, and a Staged Delivery Program.
Reservation Program: This program put the purchasing power of volume in the hands of the wholesale buyer. Clear Gas publishes on its website the unreserved capacity (in gallons) on its next truckload. When this reaches 75% of maximum capacity, a truck is dispatched to make deliveries. This is an useful tool for the wholesaler, since it allows one to strategize purchases depending on the volume that other wholesalers currently have on reserve. A prudent wholesaler can eliminate special delivery charges associated with deliveries made on short notice, officials explain.
Adam De Bard, founder and general manager of Clear Gas, explains: “The benefits to our staged delivery program are related to the volume of orders and not the price. For instance, a small airport can purchase 1,000 gallons on a truck making deliveries within the next 4 days because he can see that his volume, combined with everyone else’s, is enough to dispatch the truck. This contrasts with the usual problem of having to wait for weeks or make a minimum purchase of 4,000 gallons to get a truck dispatched. When airports and others work together in this manner, our costs at Clear Gas are reduced, allowing us to offer the same pricing to small and large sellers alike.”
Staged Delivery Program: Clear Gas officials said they believe that part of the company’s success will be in staging smaller deliveries, (less than 1,500 gallons) between larger ones on a given day. This allows the company to spread transportation expenses across all deliveries, eliminating the need to assess a delivery surcharge on all buyers. In cases where smaller deliveries can’t be staged in this manner, a $1 per mile surcharge will be added.
For more information: 209-322-1474, ClearGas.co
