 Cardlock, Fleet Fueling
Rusty
Firenze is the founder and president of Cardlock
Development, Design and Consulting, located on the
San Francisco Peninsula. Prior to starting his own firm, Rusty
was senior vice president of operations for one of California
largest independent marketers that specialized in unattended
cardlocks. For over 25 years, Rusty was responsible for site
selection, design, and layout, marketing and sales. He developed
over 20 cardlocks in that period and assisted many CFN participants
on projects throughout the United States. He has also represented
CIOMA testifying as an expert witness in support or opposition
of legislation involving both UST and AGT installation before
the California State Senate and Legislature.
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CLICK HERE TO ASK YOUR QUESTION
Recent Questions:
1)
What is the most important element in developing an unattended
cardlock?
Like
retail, the answer is location ... location ... location.
But this is considerably different. You need to determine
your current and future customer base. What products they
will desire. Remember the average commercial cardlock sells
65 to 75% diesel fuel. What type of customer base do you
have and do you want. These are all questions you need to
review first.
They will help you determine if a piece of property fits
your customer profile. Some of my most successful cardlocks
would never have ever been considered for a retail station
but became very successful unattended
cardlocks. A cardlock operator needs to think outside the
conventional box.
2) What do I look for in a piece
of property?
One
of the most important issues is ingress and egress. Can
a truck enter and exit the property in one smooth turn.
Can they enter from a street making either a right or left
turn into the site and exit accordingly or do they have
to make U-turns or go around the block. The best case is
easy entry in one - way and easy exit one way with the ability
to go any direction without delays or making numerous turns
to get them to the direction they were intended.
3) What one site issue is
my greatest concern?
Driveways.
They need to be large enough for that 54' semi or sets of
doubles to enter the site easily and make their approach
to the islands without a lot of maneuvering. If this doesn't
occur you will end up with accidents and damaged equipment.
Many municipalities limit commercial driveways to 45', some
even 30'. I have always managed to get 60' and some case
100' by applying for a variance, but these issues need to
be determined prior to leasing or purchasing a site for
development.
4)
What property size do you need for a cardlock?
This
is very subjective and can be answered very easily, whatever
size you can get that you feel will be successful. But in
saying that, I always looked for a site between 20,000 to
30,000 square feet (100'X 200'), which was basically a rectangle,
which had 2 to 3 driveways.
A site this size could accommodate 200,000 to 300,000 gallons
per month. But I have also done sites on 7,500-sq. ft.,
120,000-sq. ft. and done one on a triangle. They have all
have been successful, because we followed our marketing
plan and determined who our customer base would be and we
filled their needs in a particular area.
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