Terra — Fuel and propane distribution

Before the tank runs out.

Terra keeps one live model of every tank, customer, truck, driver and route across the systems you already run. It reads tank levels and degree days against the delivery schedule, sees the runout before it happens, and names the delivery that matters now.

For propane, heating oil and fuel distributors. Your dispatch and billing system does its job. Terra works across what it produces.

See it on your routes See a worked example →

In the Command center

Watch it work.

Synthetic data

01 SeeMemphis is running over capacity, and the map shows it in its place in the network.
02 RelieveTerra ranks the sites with room to spare, by distance and spare capacity a day.
03 PlanThe move is planned with its volume, duration and handling guidance.
04 SearchOne question returns the late shipments behind it, record by record.

Two questions

What tells you today?

When a cold snap is coming, does anything tell you which tanks will run out before your trucks reach them?

Terra does. It reads every tank against the degree-day forecast and the next scheduled delivery, and shows the runouts forming while there is still time to re-route.

If a driver or a truck were out for a week in January, could you see today which customers would run out?

Terra does. It runs that week before it happens: the deliveries that slip, the tanks that cross empty, and how to re-sequence the routes that are left.

The gap

The tank monitor says how full the tank is. Not whether the truck gets there first.

A K-factor set three winters ago for a customer who has since added a pool heater. A monitor reading on one screen, the route on another, the forecast on a third. Each is right on its own, so the first sign is a runout call on a Sunday night, an after-hours delivery, and a leak check before the system can be relit.

What Terra flags

In your words, before it costs you.

Runouts coming.
Every tank against the degree-day forecast and its next scheduled delivery, ranked by when it will cross empty.
Usage that changed.
Customers burning more per degree day than their K-factors say, seen from the readings before they run out.
Routes that won't fit.
The deliveries the week needs against your trucks, drivers and hours, before the schedule is set.
Records that disagree.
Delivery tickets against tank readings, so a short delivery or a leak shows as data, not as a complaint.

A worked example

One cold snap. Nine trucks. One week.

An illustrative operation, not a customer account. The figures are realistic, not real.

What Terra read: Two heating seasons of delivery tickets from a propane retailer with 7,400 customers and nine bobtails, with monitor readings for 2,100 of the tanks and daily degree days for its service area.
The signal: The forecast puts next week at about 45% more heating degree days than this one. And 310 customers on automatic delivery are using more gas per degree day than their K-factors say.
What it reaches: On the current schedule, 96 tanks fall below 10% before their next delivery, and 31 of them run out. Four of those are poultry barns that cannot go a night without heat.
What is at stake: Thirty-one runouts: after-hours deliveries, a leak check before each system is relit, about $11,000 in overtime and service calls, and the customers most likely to change supplier.
The move: Pull the 96 deliveries forward into Monday and Tuesday, re-sequenced across the nine routes to fit drivers' hours. Projected runouts fall from 31 to 2, for one added Saturday route. The K-factors that drifted are corrected from the readings.
What follows: The decision is kept with its evidence. When the cold passes, each tank's actual use is checked against the prediction, and the corrected K-factors carry into the next forecast.

31 runouts projected. Two after the routes were re-sequenced.

Works with what you run

Nothing to replace.

Your dispatch and billing system runs the deliveries. Your tank monitors report the levels. Your ELD tracks the trucks. Terra works across what they produce, with the weather, to see what they mean together. Exports and spreadsheets work as readily as APIs.

Reads from

Dispatch and billing
Tank monitors
ELD and telematics
Degree days and weather
Spreadsheets and exports
APIs

Terra →

How to start

See it on your routes.

Show us where the operation breaks down. We build Terra around the systems you already run, show you what it sees on your own tanks and routes, and you compare it with what you run today.

You bring: Delivery tickets plus tank readings: customer, tank size, date and gallons delivered, and monitor readings where you have them. Exports are fine.
We bring: Terra, built around your data, your systems and how you actually operate, and a walkthrough of what it sees on your own tanks, trucks and routes.
Cost: There's no cost while we work with you, for the foreseeable future. You see what the software does on your own operation before it costs you anything.
Then: Terms are agreed only once you have seen what the software does on your operation. They are sized to what you run, not to us, and nothing becomes a contract until you agree to it.

See it on your routes

Your data

Used only for your operation. It is never shared with, or used for, anyone else.
No third-party models. Your data is never sent to an outside model provider.
An NDA first, before you send anything, if you want one.
Where it is processed is named before any data moves, and access is limited to the people working on your operation.
Deleted on request.

Questions

What operators ask first.

Do we have to replace our dispatch or billing system?

No. It does its job. Terra works across what it and your tank monitors produce, and nothing you depend on is touched.

What if only some of our tanks have monitors?

That is the usual case. Terra forecasts unmonitored tanks from delivery history and degree days, and uses the monitored ones to correct the K-factors as it goes.

What do you need from me?

The problem, someone who knows how the routes run, and the delivery tickets and tank readings around it. Exports or a spreadsheet are enough to start. Imperfect data is fine.

Is this built for an operation my size?

Yes. We build around the operation in front of us, at whatever size it is, and it costs nothing while we work together.

What does it cost?

Nothing while we work with you, for the foreseeable future. You see what the software does on your own operation first. When it has shown its value there, we agree terms with you, sized to what you run, and nothing becomes a contract until you agree to it.

Why is there no cost?

Because the software is best judged on your own operation, not on our word. It isn't a trial or a pilot: you see what it does on your own data first, and when it has shown its value there, we agree terms with you.

What does it cost once the software has shown its value?

Terms are agreed only after you have seen what the software does on your own operation. They are sized to what you run: how much of the operation the software covers, the volume and the number of sites, not the size of Theralon. You start with the product that fits the problem in front of you and add the rest when it has earned it. Nothing becomes a paid contract until you agree to it. The same software runs owner-led operations and large ones alike.

Who sees my data?

Only the people working on your operation. It is never shared with or used for anyone else, never sent to a third-party model, covered by an NDA if you want one, and deleted on request.

Find your operation