Fuel 2.0; how FuelSrv plans to revolutionize the way you get gas
FuelSrv started as an idea in Ontario, Canada, when its founder Tyler Reyno was driving down the 401 on a 3-hour trip from Guelph to Kingston, speaking with a friend about potential startup ideas while simultaneously realizing he should’ve gotten gas the night before — it was almost on E. Having done what we all do — put it off until the last minute — he realized that it would’ve been pretty nice if someone had come by his car last night and pumped his gas, without any effort on his part.
This led to a lot of parallels between companies like Goodfood — who deliver meals and recipes directly to your door each week, without any effort on your part — and Netflix, each a company that tailors to a specific need in Western society, while doing most of the heavy lifting themselves in terms of actually delivering the value right to the customer.
With bright eyes and high spirits, a pitch deck for the concept was put together and pitched at an angel event in Guelph a week later. The angels appreciated the uniqueness and appeal of the service, but overall the feeling was that the startup would be too capital-intensive; too much overhead. The trucks, the mobile fueling systems, the fuel storage — it was all just too much.
This led to a reimagining of the concept. For one, there are already plenty of gas stations in the world, representing an existing global infrastructure of refueling locations. Why buy and store your own fuel when you can partner up with existing entities, from whom you can refuel in-between trips to customers? And there are already tons of trucks on the road, many of whom are looking for work. There must a handful of them willing to deliver fuel, as a sort of business partner, or franchisee.
From there, the focus was simple: 1) Develop a seamless, familiar, and easy-to-use mobile application on which you could order fuel and full services directly to your vehicle in real-time, and 2) Design and manufacture a fueling system which could be installed and uninstalled from a pickup truck in less than a half hour.
Of course, none of the technology was as easy as was expected (you’ll laugh at the simplicity of the initial fueling system concept below, when the company’s name was FullSrv; basically a 200 L container with a hose reel sticking out of the top), but via happenstance, the company was able to purchase an existing two-fuel (Regular and Premium) fueling system from a company in Ontario, and hire a ragtag team of entrepreneurial developers in Possibility Solutions, featuring Alam Hallan, Ravinder Kumar, and their fellow software engineers/testers, making it possible for FuelSrv to hit the streets, offering a brand new way of refueling.
But there was a catch. It all seemed too good to be true; there was no competition in Ontario, and this represented an enormous opportunity to expand and serve many metropolitan areas spanning London, Toronto, and more. Early research following the company’s first seed investment revealed the reason: TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority), which regulates the transportation, storage, handling and use of fuels in Ontario, would not back down in their adherence to a regulation stating that gasoline could not be delivered for retail sale out of anything other than a CSA-B620 or -621 tanker truck.
Arguing proved futile, as is often the case when dealing with a regulatory agency, and so the only feasible option was to consider other provinces.
Conversations were initiated with Quebec, Alberta, and — of course — British Columba. In the end, it was BC that proved the most feasible for launching the startup; a province which already housed a competitor in San Fransisco-based Filld, an American entrant to the Canadian fuel dispensing market, and which demonstrated more flexible and welcoming regulations surrounding mobile retail sale of liquid fuels.
With some cash in hand, a 2014 F-250 XLT rigged with extra leaf springs and the fueling system, and belongings in the back seat of the four-door truck, it was off to BC from Ontario; a trip that spanned 8 days, including a day-long stay in Calgary where custom work was done on the truck to install electronics.
After arriving in Vancouver, the home of FuelSrv’s first customers, it took only a couple weeks to get the truck inspected, approved, insured, decaled, and equipped with the necessary items to perform on-site full service, including a portable 30-gallon air compressor, 20 lb ABC fire extinguiser, back-of-the-seat spill kit, 40 ft. hoses for the fueling system, windshield wash, motor oil — you name it.
Now, it’s all paid off. The FuelSrv website (fuelsrv.com) and mobile apps (iOS and Android) are now available for on-demand and scheduled fueling requests, 7-days per week. No more navigating busy Vancouver congestion to get to the gas station, or waiting in lines at the pumps, or standing in the rain or snow pumping gas, or even needing to know what kind of oil your vehicle takes or how much air goes into your tires. Those inconveniences are a thing of the past, and all because of FuelSrv — fuel delivered right to your car.
