This article is brought to you by Titan Cloud.

Fuel logistics is a challenge whether you're a single-site operator or one of the largest national retailers. And that is especially the case for mid-tier companies in expansion mode—such as Parker's Kitchen, which operates over 98 locations throughout Georgia and South Carolina.

As part of an ambitious five-year plan to double its store count, Parker's is leveraging technology to drive operational efficiency, improve decision-making and support sustainable growth.

Parker's Kitchen had already used several software packages to support its fueling operations, however they came up short in a number of areas and the lack of integration was less than efficient.

“The software program we had prior to Titan Cloud was very similar to those a lot of people use,” said Josh Cohen, Parker's field logistics manager. “Certain parts and pieces were missing. We would get how many gallons you have right now, some of the alarms and that’s it. It was then up to us to tie together and digest that data. We needed something that did a better job tying things together and with more capabilities.”

A critical factor for moving forward was the need to streamline operations with the common carriers that Parker's uses in as pain-free a manner as possible for all parties.

“The ability for our individual carriers to see only their own sites and the most at-risk tank volumes was essential,” Cohen said. “And it was equally important to make their onboarding as smooth as possible.”

After a diligent search, Parker's chose Titan Cloud. Some of the specific pain points that were addressed included demand forecasting to prevent runouts and to support its carrier relationships, along with load planning to provide better integration and align deliveries with demand shifts. Critically, it was scalable to fit Parker's growth strategy and provided a carrier interface that made life easier and more efficient for both parties.

“Without the capabilities Titan Cloud brings to the table, they would have had to hire another me,” noted Cohen. “And for onboarding the carriers, some were already interfaced with Titan Cloud, and it had an adaptable API that helped get the others on board easily. There was lot of support.”

By automating some of the more mundane tasks, Cohen can now concentrate on providing a higher level of support for Parker's goals, aided by robust and easy to manage reporting from the Titan Cloud system. For example, “I was asked how many stores had a fuel run out for all of 2024 versus all of 2023,” Cohen said. “That might have taken me half a day or a day, previously. Now, I had it done in 90 minutes.”

Fuel is a challenging, but critically important product. According to the Transportation Energy Institute, it still drives over 50% of the visits to convenience stores. Reducing those challenges through technology not only minimizes the headaches for fueling experts like Cohen but provides a dividend in efficiency and profit potential for their employers.

This is part two in a two-part series from Titan Cloud. Read part one here.