Fuel Operations Manager

Position: Fuel Operations Manager (Ref#099)
Position Overview

You’ll own the fuel-delivery operation for an established fuel distributor in Hawthorne, New Jersey. That covers residential heating oil, on-road and off-road diesel, commercial accounts, automatic delivery and will-call customers, DEF, and onsite fueling programs. Drivers, deliveries, customers, collections, fleet issues, and commercial growth all run through you.

This is not a dispatch job or an admin role. It’s an ownership role. Nobody will hand you a daily task list. You’ll spot what needs attention, fix it, and confirm it stayed fixed, well before senior management has to find it.

The stakes are real. In heating oil, a runout means a cold house and often a lost customer. A commercial account left to drift past 60 days turns into a write-off. You’ll report weekly to the Director of Operations, and you’ll be measured on results, not activity.

Key Responsibilities Daily Operations and Problem Resolution

• Run daily delivery execution with dispatch and drivers: assignments, route coverage, runouts, emergencies, call-first accounts, vehicle availability, and weather events.
• Make sure every delivery is completed safely, efficiently, and accurately.
• Own fuel-department problems from start to finish: missed deliveries, delivery errors, complaints, scheduling conflicts, and equipment issues. Investigate, solve, communicate, and confirm the fix.
• Anticipate problems and solve them before customers feel them.

Driver Management

• Serve as the primary manager for fuel drivers, covering scheduling, PTO coverage, attendance, safety, vehicle inspections, and policy compliance.
• Set clear expectations for delivery procedures, customer service, and accurate documentation, then coach and correct when needed.
• Interview and evaluate prospective drivers and department staff, and conduct annual performance reviews.

Delivery Efficiency and Fleet Readiness

• Track gallons per delivery, deliveries per driver, route efficiency, truck utilization, overtime, emergency deliveries, and failed deliveries.
• Find recurring problems and fix them. Improve delivery density and cut unnecessary mileage and labor.
• Keep a clear view of the fleet: preventive maintenance, driver inspection reports, repairs, downtime, and inspection requirements.
• Make sure every driver-reported issue gets documented and resolved, so trucks are ready when demand peaks.

Customer Retention and Account Quality

• Own the customer-retention process. Spot at-risk customers early through pricing complaints, service problems, declined deliveries, and automatic-delivery removals.
• Call customers and resolve issues before accounts are lost. Track who you contacted, who stayed, who left, and why.
• Work property transfers promptly so new homeowners have a reason to stay.
• Monitor automatic-delivery and will-call accounts, find the cause of every runout, and convert the right will-call customers to automatic delivery.
• Follow up on call-first customers who repeatedly decline deliveries, and make sure they understand the risk of a runout.
• Keep customer records accurate: tank size and location, delivery instructions, contacts, delivery status, payment status, and special property conditions.

Budget Accounts and Commercial Collections

• Monitor budget-plan customers for missed payments and delinquencies, and reach out before small problems grow.
• Work with the admin team to move customers to automatic payment.
• Own collection follow-up on commercial fuel accounts with an organized list showing balance, aging, contacts, commitments, and payments received.
• Prioritize accounts past aging thresholds and escape serious credit risks. The goal is lower receivables, not more phone calls.

Commercial Sales and Growth

• Build the commercial fuel business: on-road and off-road diesel, fleet and…