Most fuels for internal combustion engines are still mostly or exclusively of petroleum origin. Their development is primarily dictated by new motor technologies, and in the last decade by increasingly stringent and restrictive environmental policies. Therefore, we can find that petroleum fuels pollute the environment significantly less today than a few years ago.
Fuels are different from products that a customer can see or even try when buying. Confidence in the quality of the product and its suppliers is a very important item when refueling. It can only be acquired and retained if the fuel meets all the customer’s expectations throughout its use.
Their fulfillment is more or less influenced by every part of the process on the way from the production plant to the final point of sale.
When it comes to fuels of the highest quality level, it is understood that the customer’s expectations are higher because they reflect the bidder’s ability to offer the customer the most technologically advanced products at a given time.
Every part of the production and logistics process that leads from crude oil to fuel is important for obtaining a quality final product. The key factors are the required knowledge, skills and compliance with set limits and norms.
If we want the fuel to be of above-standard quality, a few more factors are important for market success and customer satisfaction.
These include primarily:
- selection of proven suppliers of fuels and additives that raise the level of quality of the basic fuel (base fuel, additives, biofuels, etc.),
- ensuring adequate fuel quality control and handling at all key points of the fuel distribution chain (internal control, transport, storage),
- introduction and application of business quality and supervision standards (social responsibility, environmental responsibility).
Storage, transport and release of fuel into the market
The road from the refinery to the point of sale is generally quite long and includes a number of complex logistics operations and activities, such as transport, storage, additional additives, etc. It is important not to change the quality of the finished product until the refueling point where the user receives fuel into the vehicle tank.
Storage
Storage is an intermediate stage on the fuel path from the manufacturer to the customer. At the same time, the fuel can be exposed to very different atmospheric and manipulative influences. At this stage, fuel care must include protection against any alteration or degradation of the fuel.
Transport to points of sale
Transport is an important risk factor for fuel quality in terms of ensuring its impeccable cleanliness and the risk of mutual contamination of different types of fuel transported. Careful and supervised handling in transport is important at all stages of fuel relocation, especially when supplying points of sale, because it directly affects the quality of fuel that the user will receive in his vehicle.
Today, containers for the transport of goods are a key part of world logistics and it is estimated that there are about 50 million of them, although some estimate that this number is three times higher, and most goods in overseas are transported by containers.
The very idea of using a standardized steel box to transport goods that can be placed on a ship, truck or train, seems as logical and simple and as old as the transport of goods itself. Transportation of goods in containers has provided numerous advantages, not only in terms of much faster loading or unloading, but also due to the protection of goods from theft, damage, moisture, etc.
Today, the goods are loaded into a container in the factory itself, the contents of the container are completely protected from damage or theft during transport, and only the buyer has access to the goods again. The container can be easily locked or sealed, which simplifies customs clearance and inspection of goods.
All this ultimately simplifies and reduces the cost of transporting goods that can then be produced anywhere in the world, so it can be said that containers have largely enabled globalization as we have today (with all its advantages and disadvantages).
It is estimated that 85-90% of the transport of goods in the maritime world takes place with the help of containers. Although containers are crucial for overseas transport, they are also widely used in road transport for transport from the port to the final destination (and vice versa), and there are companies that will rent you their own containers so you can use their fuel tank rental or any other type of tank rental for your goods.
Placing on the market
Fuels are most often put on the market at points of sale – petrol stations. Therefore, the flawless operation and cleanliness of all devices and installations at the point of sale are the last condition for the user to receive the declared quality of fuel.