Q&A with Family-Owned RKA Petroleum

Remote connectivity provides the foundation that allows convenience stores, fleets, and any other facilities with fuel the visibility needed to tap into the power of technology. 

As the name implies, without remote visibility into your equipment, you’re stuck with manual, on-site processes that slow you down and cost you money. You won’t be able to tap into the benefits of remote solutions and you’ll have to keep performing every inspection on-site and filling out all paperwork by hand.

Remote connectivity is the first step in digital transformation. But it’s also crucial that the data you get from your devices is trustworthy and accurate. When you make major decisions for yourself or your customers, you have to know that you’re basing them on correct information. 

The right solution that’s dependable and accurate can revolutionize how you do business. But you don’t have to take our word for it. We talked with Joseph Whalen, the Retail Account Manager for RKA Petroleum, about how technology has improved the way they do business. 

This technology allows them to identify issues sooner, get them fixed faster, and make them the best at what they do. Here is what he had to say.

How has remote connectivity helped your daily operations?

Remote connectivity allows us to see up-to-date inventories, which in turn allows us to take care of our customers much quicker. It allows for better communication between our dispatchers and drivers, which ultimately saves our drivers time on the road.

What departments use remote connectivity in their day-to-day operations and how?  

Our Dispatch Team relies on our Titan devices throughout the day to check fuel levels and to make sure there are no major changes—plus or minus—at our customers’ sites. Management occasionally needs to access the information in the software if a customer needs any reconciliation reports. Our sales department utilizes the phone app as a backup on the weekend. As you can see, we use this technology across departments.

How has remote connectivity improved your services?

Having real-time data is crucial for knowing the levels at our various customer sites. If there is an unexpected increase at one of our customers’ sites, the real-time data allows us to make quick changes in deliveries and make sure that every customer has what they need. Also, if we ever notice that something doesn’t look quite right in the data, we can notify them that there may be an issue, such as a probe being out, a tank monitor issue, etc. We are able to see these issues further in advance and implement the fixes needed sooner as well.

Has remote connectivity helped you maintain compliance? If so, how?

Remote connectivity has absolutely helped us maintain compliance. Michigan law states that you only can fill a tank to 90%. Knowing the correct fuel levels helps us make sure we take the correct amount of fuel, saving time for the driver and saving money for the customer. Water in the tanks can also be a compliance issue. The water level icons also help with communicating findings to our customers so they can implement solutions before they rack up major problems–or major fines.

Has remote connectivity helped with fuel delivery? If so, how?

Coordinating a fleet of drivers is a task. I feel that RKA has always been one of the best in the business at doing this, but having this technology allows us to be the best! Coordinating fuel deliveries has seen the biggest improvement with this technology. Time is money, not only for our customers, but for our company as well. The better everything is coordinated, the better our customers are taken care of! Having remote access to accurate data makes it possible. 

Wrap Up

Digital transformation is key for thriving in today’s market. Technology allows you to anticipate challenges and solve them before they cost you money. Like RKA Petroleum, you’ll be able to keep an eye on your data, noticing when something is off long before it causes expensive damage. 

Technology allows you to work faster and cheaper with the confidence to say that you, too, are the best in your business.

Learn how Titan’s family of brands can make your business more effective.

Jeff Sexten

Senior Customer Success Manager

With 20 years of industry expertise, Jeff brings a wealth of experience from his leadership of the Environmental Compliance Department at a major Logistics & Transportation company, overseeing 300+ locations across the U.S. and Canada. Now a Senior Customer Success Manager at Titan Cloud, he excels at building strong client relationships, driving customer satisfaction, and delivering measurable value through strategic account management and cross-functional collaboration.