Essential Fuel Supplier Agreement Elements: Quality Control/Training, Marketing Support and Credit Card Processing

Detailing the 10 Essential Elements of a Favorable Fuel Supplier Agreement, Part 3

By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals, Aviation Business Strategies Group

Publisher’s note: Our bloggers, John Enticknap and Ron Jackson will be discussing these topics and others affecting the FBO Industry at the next NATA FBO Success Seminar, March 8-9, New Orleans.

Previously, we talked about six of the 10 essential elements of a favorable fuel supplier agreement: Term of agreement, pricing methodology,  transportation and delivery, terminal locations, credit terms and taxes. A favorable fuel supplier agreement is one of the six intangibles that can build equity in your FBO.

For this blog post, we'll break down three additional elements of the favorable fuel supplier agreement and provide insight and tips to help you protect your business while adding intrinsic value.

Quality Control and Training

Putting safety first is paramount in developing a good relationship with your fuel supplier. Often your fuel supplier will have resources to help you train your employees in all aspects of the fuel delivery process to help insure not only safety but the quality of the product as well. Your fuel supplier agreement should detail what type of training program they will provide. It may include their own program or supplement your own in-house safety and quality assurance program such as NATA Safety 1^st. Determine during your fuel contract negotiations what quality program your fuel supplier will provide. For example, will they come to your facility for training or just conduct an audit? Will they complete quality assurance seminars and at whose expense — yours or theirs?

Marketing Support

Many fuel suppliers offer support for marketing your facility and their brand of fuel. This support often comes  in the form of a co-op program that creates a marketing fund based on your fuel volume. Like many parts of your fuel agreement, the terms or percentage of fuel sales put into these funds by the fuel supplier is somewhat negotiable. We suggest you have a well thought-out marketing program in place to help your negotiations.

Credit card processing

If you want to have a real impact on your bottom line, watching your credit card processing fees is a very important factor. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when you come to this part of your fuel agreement:

1. These fees are negotiable.
2. Do your research on what your fees are prior to negotiating with your fuel supplier or local bank.
3. Train your CSR staff to ask for the no-fee card or card with the lowest fee.

Keep in mind that there are many factors and nuances, and we will not be able to expound on all of them in the framework of a blog. Therefore, we encourage you to attend our next NATA FBO Success Seminar, March 8-9 in New Orleans, where we spend additional time and discussion on these important topics as well as others.

If you have a comment you'd like to share, please do so in the space provided below.

About the bloggers:

John Enticknap has more than 35 years of aviation fueling and FBO services industry experience. Ron Jackson is co-founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group and president of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and customer service training. Visit the biography page or absggroup.com for more background.

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Essential Fuel Supplier Agreement Elements: Terminal Locations, Credit Terms and Taxes

Detailing the 10 Essential Elements of a Favorable Fuel Supplier Agreement, Part 2

By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals, Aviation Business Strategies Group

Previously, we talked about three of the 10 essential elements of a favorable fuel supplier agreement: Term of agreement, pricing methodology, and transportation and delivery. A favorable fuel supplier agreement is one of the six intangibles that can build equity in your FBO.

For this blog post, we'll break down three additional elements of the favorable fuel supplier agreement and provide insight and tips to help you protect your business while adding intrinsic value.

Terminal locations

The location of fuel terminals is essential to understanding the transportation cost element of every gallon of fuel you purchase from your supplier. When you talk to your fuel supplier you should establish both a primary and secondary fuel terminal for distribution of your Jet fuel. You need to make sure that the terminals have the storage capability for your product as well as locations within a reasonable distance of your FBO. Know the cost of transportation from each of the terminals as well as any surcharges and extra waiting expense. The cost per mile can be different for each common carrier; therefore, you need to manage this cost. Of course, your fuel supplier may want to assure themselves of good quality control by the carriers, but most all common carriers of aviation fuel are aware of quality control issues and utilize dedicated trucks and trailers. Avgas may come from a long distance due to the limited refinery capacity in the United States. Therefore, the cost of transportation for this fuel type may not be as negotiable as the cost for Jet-A.

Credit terms

Did you know the credit terms provided in your fuel agreement can be negotiated? Providing good financial statements is the primary key and can assist you in discussions with your fuel supplier. It is standard practice today to use electronic payment methods for fuel and reimbursements back to you of your credit card receipts. This system assures both the FBO and the fuel supplier of prompt payments in accordance with your negotiated credit terms.

Taxes: Federal, LUST, State, Local and Flowage Fees

There are five taxes you have to deal with in your fuel agreement: Federal, state, local, LUST and flowage fees. You can’t do much about the fees set by the federal, state and local governments. The flowage fee is a “tax” because it is imposed by your airport authority. An FBO can try to negotiate the flowage fee with the airport authority, but in many cases it is set by the local government and you just have to pass it along to your customer. There are two methods of payment for flowage fees. The first, and most common, is paid based upon the amount of fuel delivered into storage, and the second method is based upon the amount of fuel pumped into wing.

Keep in mind that there are many factors and nuances, and we will not be able to expound on all of them in the framework of a blog. Therefore, we encourage you to attend our next NATA FBO Success Seminar, March 8-9 in New Orleans, where we spend additional time and discussion on these important topics as well as others.

If you have a comment you'd like to share, please do so in the space provided below.

About the bloggers:

John Enticknap has more than 35 years of aviation fueling and FBO services industry experience. Ron Jackson is co-founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group and president of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and customer service training. Visit the biography page or absggroup.com for more background.

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Essential Fuel Supplier Agreement Elements: Term of Agreement, Pricing Methodology, and Transportation and Delivery

Detailing the 10 Essential Elements of a Favorable Fuel Supplier Agreement, Part 1

By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals, Aviation Business Strategies Group

In our last blog post, we introduced our new series on the 10 essential elements of a favorable fuel supplier agreement which is one of the six intangibles that can build equity in your FBO.

For this blog post, we'll break down three of the favorable fuel supplier agreement elements and provide insight and tips to help you protect your business while adding intrinsic value.

Before we detail each of these elements, it is important to understand that you should act in your own best interest by first going out for competitive bids to several fuel suppliers. This will give you a better understanding of the parameters set by each fuel supplier and which incentives are available that may help you in your negotiating process.

Term of agreement

In a nutshell, you should protect your enterprise from engaging in an agreement that is excessively long in order to maintain flexibility within an ever changing industry landscape. As you grow your business, and in particular your fuel volume, you can gain leverage by keeping the term of your fuel supplier agreement within a three- to five-year period. You may find that you can obtain a better fuel price by a longer-term agreement, but you may lose the desired flexibility that a shorter term provides.

Pricing methodology

Understanding fuel pricing methodology will increase your odds of negotiating a favorable agreement. If your FBO is pumping at least 300,000 to 400,000 gallons per year, you should be able to get a contract that has an index-based pricing formula. That way, you can negotiate the differential fee to be paid to your supplier. The differential is the profit margin that the supplier will be receiving on each fuel purchase by the FBO. Unbundle your pricing structure so you know each cost element. For example:

• Index price
• Differential
• Transportation
• Federal taxes
• State and local taxes
• Flowage fees at the airport

This pricing formula applies to Jet A purchases. Avgas pricing, on the other hand, is determined at the time of purchase.

Transportation and delivery

Don't overlook or downplay this element, for there are savings that you can negotiate. First, you need to know the primary terminal and secondary terminal where your Jet A fuel and Avgas will be picked up by the transportation company. Delivery should favor your FBO schedule, such as at night or during the slow periods during the day. This will optimize time for quality control to be completed efficiently.

Also, obtain proposals from multiple transportation firms. Although they must be approved by your supplier, this can benefit your effort to minimize costs. After all, you, as the FBO owner/operator, are the ultimate customer. You should also determine any extra charges, such as delays in delivery, extra charges for high cost of fuel or other fees. Although extra charges for high cost of fuel are not an issue in today’s market, they have been in the past.

As we work through each of these elements, please keep in mind that there are many factors and nuances that we will not be able to expound on in the framework of a blog. Therefore, we encourage you to attend one of our NATA FBO Success Seminars where we spend additional time and discussion on these important topics as well as others.

About the bloggers:

John Enticknap has more than 35 years of aviation fueling and FBO services industry experience. Ron Jackson is co-founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group and president of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and customer service training. Visit the biography page or absggroup.com for more background.

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10 Essential Elements of a Favorable Fuel Supplier Agreement

By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals, Aviation Business Strategies Group

In our last blog post, we concluded our series on the 10 critical elements of an FBO airport lease that was first on our list outlining the six intangibles that can build equity in your FBO.

Next up is a discussion about another intangible that will help build equity in your FBO enterprise: A favorable fuel supplier agreement.

One of the most important agreements you can have with any vendor in the FBO business is the one you establish with your fuel supplier. When done properly, it can add real intrinsic value to your business and, quite frankly, make or break your bottom line.

Over the years, we've reviewed and helped write many fuel agreements and have coached FBOs on the intricacies of arriving at a favorable agreement.

As we teach in our NATA FBO Success Seminars, your initial approach and mindset to developing a favorable fuel supplier agreement is one of partnership. Working as partners with your fuel supplier will provide a win/win agreement where both parties want the other to succeed and are willing to work in concert to that important end.

With this in mind, here are the ten essential elements of a favorable fuel supplier agreement:

1. Term of Agreement.
2. Pricing Methodology.
3. Transportation & Delivery.
4. Terminal Locations.
5. Credit Terms.
6. Taxes: Federal, State, Local & Flowage Fees.
7. Quality Control & Training.
8. Marketing Support.
9. Credit Card Processing.
10. Contract Fuel Programs.

In coming blogs, we’ll discuss each of these and make recommendations on how to improve the equity in your FBO.

About the bloggers:

John Enticknap has more than 35 years of aviation fueling and FBO services industry experience. Ron Jackson is co-founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group and president of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and customer service training. Visit the biography page or absggroup.com for more background.

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