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How a man with idea, grows his idea into a successful business. A lot of companies ask me, “How do we start a mobile fuel operation so that it’s successful?” I usually tell them how I started my company, but there are many different ways to go about it. Many people, that read this magazine, already have things going for them such as credit lines with banks, trucks, and are currently operating businesses with a full staff. Some have clients that just need to be talked to about the process. Sure it’s a different business.
You will make some mistakes along the way. You can limit those kinds of mistakes by talking to other SIGMA members, going to a SIGMA mobile fueling meeting or hiring a company like Sokolis Group. I interviewed Greg Cushard, President of Rubicon Oil, about how he started his company.
Rubicon Oil was founded with humble beginnings in February of 1997. With one pick-up truck, a 550 gallon storage tank (his first rack), and lots of persistence, Greg Cushard began wet hosing construction sites at night. His business idea came Christmas Eve, 1997, after brokering transport and bobtail deliveries to retail and commercial users for 10 months. Cushard received a call from a construction customer asking if he would fuel their equipment for them before the beginning of his shift 6 days per week.
Being strapped for cash and not knowing exactly what the customer was asking for, Cushard agreed. He set up a 550 gallon storage tank about 30 minutes from the job site and had a local marketer fill the tank daily. Cushard pulled out of the tank to fuel the equipment on the job site. After one week, the job had grown to 1,500 gallons per night. Not having enough fuel in his 550 gallon storage tank, he was forced to make up to four trips to a cardlock to fuel his pick-up truck that carried 400 gallons. His business grew quickly and Rubicon Oil had two jobs; fueling all night, and running a business all day for which he was the only employee. There was plenty of construction business to be had in Northern California and so, Rubicon Oil was born.
Greg Cushard divested himself out of the low margin broker business three months later to concentrate on mobile fueling (wet hosing). He was now $70,000 in credit card debt, mobile fueling construction equipment at night, and running a business during the day. Business was plentiful but, like most new businesses, was severely understaffed. He hired his first driver and built the first top loading bobtail a few months later. Cushard shared with us that he ran that bobtail without placards or a hazmat license, for 12 months before getting caught and fined $8,200. He wasn’t fully knowledgeable about all of the laws at the time, just that he had a good idea and growing business. He has learned most things the hard way for his business. It’s not like there are books out like Mobile Fueling for Dummies. What was really impressive about his story was the he doing all of this at only 24 years of age. He had an idea and he ran with it.
Cushard had six bobtails by the winter of 2001, and made the leap of faith into on-site fleet fueling to offset his winter construction losses. “On-site fleet fueling was a promotion for my drivers who were used to driving onto construction sites at night, getting their truck stuck, twisting ankles, and never being able to find equipment to fuel. Fueling in well lit, paved yards was a piece of cake.” Thus they began to grow that new division very quickly.
With all of this success there was something missing in both divisions by 2004, and the daily thrill of running an on-site fueling company was diminishing. He began to invest more time in creating a better business process. Cushard got heavily involved in truck-to-back office automation, and the thrill returned. Rubicon Oil currently operates in four major markets, and they have almost completed the integration to a fully paperless truck-to-back office delivery system. They operate over 24 trucks with many millions of gallons a year pumped. Cushard says he “owes a lot thanks to a few people that helped me along the way”. We see a lot of mobile fueling companies across the country and Rubicon Oil is a premium company with an excellent owner. We wish them the best of luck.
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