Purchasing power: fuel prices fall, fuel oil orders explode in Isère

Energy prices are starting to drop and perhaps you have already noticed it, when filling up with fuel oil, or wood pellets. For fuel oil and biofuel, we are at 1.10 euros or 1.20 euros per liter, or 50 to 70 cents cheaper than a few months ago. So inevitably, there is a real craze, especially since summer is ending, autumn and winter are coming, the ideal time to fill up. But such good news for consumers is not without consequences for suppliers: although this increase in sales is positive news, it inevitably leads to a disruption in the pace of work and organization. Report from “Touvet Combustibles”, in Touvet (Isère).

A faster pace

More orders, therefore more sales and therefore more deliveries, Fuel companies are operating at full capacity. This is now the daily life of the Touvet Combustibles company in Touvet. For three weeks, it’s been a rush, orders are coming one after another, says the site director, Jean-Michel Cottier.

“I would say that we have more than 20 customers per day and I have five drivers who work from morning to evening to deliver all the orders. And since there are a lot of orders, the goal is to optimize all the routes” he explains. LThe reorganization work is also carried out upstream of these tours, at the time of order taking.The sales floor is in high demand, so there are five people working there full time.” he continues.

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Long days

Such success is positive for both customers and businesses, it is true. That said, the days are longer for everyone, especially delivery people. This is the case of Alexander.”Last year at this time, we had twelve or thirteen customers a day. This year, it can go up to 17 or 18.” he says, after finishing his delivery round, on the company site.

The days are noticeably longer for him.”You might think that only two or three more customers a day is not much. But at the end of the week, that’s between twelve and fifteen more customers, which is a bit of a drag.” smiles Alexandre, for whom a working day can last between nine and ten hours. “Last year, about seven hours of work. But we adapt, we always have. We work at the pace of the orders, that’s the game.” he tempers.

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