News and Views

Thank you for your feedback!

 "The technician who serviced us in November, went above and beyond.  As always, everyone is prompt, courteous, and efficient. Thank you" - J.G.

"The people who answer the phones, and the tech's I have had contact with for over 20 years, have been nothing but professional.  Kudo's to your people." - G.M.

"Great service as always. Hated to call on a Sunday, but the technician was great!!" - E.V.

WINTER 2009-2010

As I write this, the first "thaw" of the season is upon us.  We have had a fairly long stretch of colder than normal weather, after a warmer than normal fall.  Sledding and ice skating have been off to a great start this winter.  After this short warming in January, the forecast is for more below average cold and above average snowfall through the month of February.  We'll see.

How does our season to date compare with others in the past?  Our heating season is figured from September 1, through August 31. As of the end of December 2009, we were about 1% behind the normal in degree day totals for the season.  (A "degree day" is the average temperature of the day, subtracted from 65.  Other factors are also included in the degree day calculation such as wind and sun.  This is what's called an "effective" degree day.)  After the first 10 days of January 2010, the degree days are now approximately 1% higher than normal. 

All of the employees here have been working hard through these last several weeks to make sure that you are well taken care of.  The office staff is doing a great job in coordinating the daily service work, with boiler and furnace replacements for those systems not running very efficiently.  The technicians have had their hands full with this service and installation work.  Throw in a couple of snowstorms, and it makes it a little more difficult to get the job done safely.  And the drivers have all been put to the test as well.  Making their way into some difficult driveways is always a challenge, but throw a little snow and ice in there, and we can appreciate what a good job they do.  I have seen it when I have driven the truck this winter, and the other drivers have mentioned it to me as well - THANK YOU to all of you who take the time to clear a path to the fill pipe for us.  Pulling the hose through knee deep snow can be a challenge- especially when you are doing it 30-40 times a day.

The price of oil is as unstable as ever, with volatility coming mostly from the state of the economy and the strength, or weakness, of the dollar.  Boosted mostly by speculation, the price of oil is currently just down from its high point of the season.  We continue to watch the numbers every day, and do our best to purchase fuel at the right time for you.  As we have always done, you will continue to receive great service at a fair price.  

We want to wish all of you a happy and healthy 2010.  We appreciate the confidence you place in us, and giving us the opportunity to service you and your family. 

Thank you for your business, and we will see you around town.

-Kyle

FALL 2009

Well, here we are headed towards another winter after the summer that never was.  June 2009 was one of the coldest and wettest on record.  After a couple of days in May, the next 90 degree day did not come until mid - August.  As always, we have started up with our 11 month budget payment plans as of August 1^st.  We are finding that more and more of you have signed up for this option as an easier way to budget yourself for the coming season.  For those of you who are not signed up for this program and would like some more information, please call our office and we can provide you with an estimate as to what your monthly payments would be on the plan.

As some of you may know, the State of Massachusetts is the first in the country to have a mandate for the use of Bio-Fuel.  The initial date of compliance was July 2010.  This means that all Home Heating Oil and all Diesel Fuel must contain at least a 2% blend of Bio-Diesel - also called B2.  (Bio-Diesel is basically a clean burning fuel alternative that is produced from different renewable energy sources.  Mostly from vegetable oil, soybean oil, and animal fats).  As of recently, the state has postponed that deadline to 2011.  That is one of the reasons we will not be offering Bio-Fuel this winter.  Our plan was to start offering Bio-Fuel to all of you, our customers, before the start of the 2009-2010 heating season.  Because of the mandate postponement, many of our suppliers are also holding off with bringing the product to their facilities.  When we decide to offer Bio-Fuel, we want to be sure that there will be no chance of insufficient supply of the fuel.  

In the meantime, you will continue to receive the high quality heating oil that we have always provided.  As well as the service you have counted on to keep you and your family warm and comfortable throughout the winter.

Thanks for all of your business.  See you around town.

-Kyle

Winter Update / "Green is Good"

As we "round the corner" and look toward Spring, it is also a time for us to look back and see how the winter has gone so far.  We certainly have had our share of snow for the season. Seems like once it started, it kept building up more than once a week.  Our drivers had their work cut out for them for a while there.  Hauling the hose through more than a foot of snow takes its toll after a while.  This is when the drivers really appreciate the paths that some of you have made going to the fill pipe on your house.  Thank you for that!  Thank you also to those of you who took a little extra care in making sure your driveways were accessible for our delivery and service trucks -  It helps to make a safer day for all of us.

As for the temperature, we started out the season a little warmer than normal.(Normal meaning an average of the last 20 years)  From 9/1/08 to 12/31/08, the accumulated degree days were approximately 3% less than a normal season.  January, however, made up some ground in the numbers.  The month of January ended up approximately 12% colder than a normal year, and an impressive 20% colder than last year.  The accumulated numbers through January 2009, were only 1% colder than a normal year but almost 10% colder than last year.  Seems as if the overall weather pattern has stabilized somewhat, but we can still expect a few cold surges before the season is done.

On the idea of "Green is Good", I found it interesting to see the town of West Bridgewater recently trying to approve a 5 cent tax on all disposable grocery bags: both paper and plastic.  It is their intention to use the tax to help fund the landfill and recycling programs in the town.  While at the same time, try to eliminate waste.  I also read recently that the state is considering a 2 to 15 cent tax on the same items.  Some countries have had this program in place for years.  Ireland, for example, has had a plan in place since 2002, taxing plastic bags 29 cents.  This has ultimately led to a decrease in use of the bags by more than 90%.

Makes sense, doesn't it?  Not only for the reduction of waste, but to save money also.  Not long ago I read an article about our nations use (or abuse) of plastic bags.  It is estimated that we use 100 billion plastic bags annually.  If we had started a program similar to Ireland back in 2002, our country could have saved nearly 400 million gallons of oil in five years.  Makes you stop and think, hmmmmm. (FYI - Plastic water bottles : It is estimated that America's love for bottled water results in the use of more than 17 million barrels of crude oil annually to produce the bottles)

So for those who look at the proposed bag tax as an inconvenience or unnecessary cost, take a look at the big picture.  There are reusable bags available at most grocery food stores and some will give them out for free.  We have been using them in my family for a couple of years now, and once you get used to it, you will find that it is not an inconvenience at all.  You even feel good about it when you walk out the store -  Try it.

Thanks for all of your business!  See you around town.

Kyle

The price of oil continues to be a dominant topic of conversation for many of you.  It was only 4 to 5 years ago when it would take a month or more for the oil price to change 5 cents. Now, a five cent change can happen in 5 minutes- and before the trading has opened for the day. 

 Oil prices have dropped dramatically over the past several months as we enter this "recession".  The record price of $147 per barrel in July, 2008 was not a result of supply and demand.  Nor is the sub $50 mark we are seeing today.  The oil inventories in the northeast are close to the lowest they have been in 5 years, yet coming into the winter the price continues to stay down.  The Fall season is typically when suppliers start to build inventory to prepare for the cold weather.  Instead we are seeing supply outages quite often in the Greater Boston area- and it is only December.  All we can do is wait and see what happens through the next few months.

 This summer, many of you asked us for some type of Price Protection for the 2008-2009 heating season.  We were able to provide this service for those who wanted price assurance.  Many of you said almost the same thing: ‘If this price continues to climb, I want to be sure I am not going to pay $5 per gallon for heating oil this winter'.  At the time we offered our price program, it was a very fair price for the market conditions.  Little did we know that the price was about to fall to where it is today.  Please know that we are no happier than any of you who chose the fixed price for the winter, but we are obligated with our suppliers to take delivery of any of the gallons that you bought from us at the fixed price.  This service that we provide has been beneficial to any of you who have chosen it for 6 out of the last 7 years we have offered this plan.  Keep in mind also, that when you lock in a price for the gallons, you also lock in a guaranteed supply of gallons.  We are very fortunate to have a bulk storage facility in Marshfield where we can keep up to 80,000 gallons of oil.  For those who do not have storage, they may be subject to fuel allocations and rationing that has already happened and may continue throughout the winter.

We constantly strive to provide you with the very best in service for you and your family.  We know you have choices, and we appreciate the confidence you place in us every day. 

At Rand-Handy we take pride in knowing that you are being taken care of by our professional staff of people.  It has often been said that a company's biggest asset is it's employees. We are fortunate to have such a great group of people working here.  We all live in the area and see our customers every day when we are around town at the store, school functions, and community activities.  It is part of the pleasure of working in a local business.

 As always, thank you for your business.  See you around town.

 -Kyle