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 escalate 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 equipment fueling, DEF, onsite storage tanks, and temporary project fueling.
- Develop relationships with contractors, landscapers, trucking companies, municipalities, and construction firms.
- Maintain an active pipeline that tracks prospects, quotes, follow-ups, new accounts, and estimated versus actual gallons.
- Grow existing accounts by finding customers who need another product, more tanks, or additional locations.
Reporting and Results
- Send a written weekly report to the Director of Operations covering retention, collections, commercial activity, budget accounts, runouts, driver and fleet issues, open problems, and next week's priorities.
- Hit measurable targets for retention, runouts, delivery efficiency, new accounts, commercial gallons, receivables over 60 days, and fleet downtime.
Qualifications
Experience
- 5+ years of management experience in heating oil, petroleum distribution, propane, commercial diesel, transportation, fleet management, dispatch, logistics, or home services.
- A track record supervising drivers or field employees, including experienced ones.
- Experience in commercial sales, collections, or customer retention is highly desirable.
Technical Knowledge
- Working knowledge of DOT and CDL requirements and commercial vehicle operations.
- Comfort analyzing operational data such as runouts, delivery efficiency, receivables aging, and pipeline numbers.
- Understanding of automatic delivery, will-call, budget-plan, and call-first account programs.
- Strong organization and attention to detail in customer records and reporting.
Leadership and Communication
- You work independently and act on what needs attention without waiting to be told.
- You follow every assignment through to completion.
- You can have difficult conversations with customers and employees, and handle them with respect.
- You raise problems promptly and bring a proposed solution when you do.
- You care more about measurable results than looking busy.
Work Environment
This is an on-site role based in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Your week will split between the office, the yard, and commercial customer visits.
Fuel delivery is seasonal. Expect longer days and quick decisions during cold snaps, weather events, and peak heating season, and a steadier pace the rest of the year when commercial growth takes more of your time.
