Is Your Gas Station Prepared for the Storm Season?

The storm season is nearing. Is your gas station prepared?

From May 6 to May 12, 2018, the National Weather Service will be celebrating National Hurricane Preparedness Week.

It’s a weekly program held every year to educate people on how to better prepare themselves for a potential hurricane or land falling tropical storm.

So, is your gas station prepared for the upcoming storm season?

Is Your Gas Station Prepared for the Storm Season

If you haven’t carried out necessary arrangements, wondering what you can do to storm-proof your gas station, here are few tips and guidelines that you may find helpful…

Give Your Insurance Company a Call

You’re likely to have a commercial property insurance for your gas station. If not, you should, because every business needs one.

A commercial property insurance protects your business’s physical assets from storms, fire, explosions and other potential sources of damage. In case of a financial loss, it helps you to quickly recover from it by paying in part or in full (depending on your policy) for the expenses incurred in repair and restoration.

However, floods and earthquakes aren’t usually covered by commercial property insurance, unless you’ve added those perils to your policy.

Give your insurance company a call and find out the details of your coverage. If your gas station isn’t protected for floods under the current policy, you can purchase a separate policy and secure your gas stations against such risks.

Make Sure Your Gas Station Is in Good Repair

A potential hurricane or storm can cause damage to your gas station. And if your gas station is not in good shape, it can potentially cause havoc.

This National Hurricane Preparedness Week make sure your gas station is in good repair. Call in a technician and get your facility checked.

  • Look for any signs of damage in the canopy and address it immediately
  • Inspect your underground and above the ground storage tanks for any signs of repair
  • Sumps should be in a good state and well contained

The technician would be able to give you a better assessment of what needs to be checked and repaired at your facility.

Wrap Your Dispensers with a Stretch Film

Some stations, especially in the Florida area, wrap their dispensers in stretch film as the storm season approaches to prevent the hanging hardware from flying around in wind. It’s a smart solution—one we’d definitely advise you to implement. Plus, it also helps protect your dispenser mounted card readers against rain damage.

Don’t Forget to Arrange a Backup Power Source

Power outage is normal during storm season. Sometimes these power outages can extend to days and weeks.

While you might be used to a life without electricity, your service station isn’t. How will your pumps operate without power? You can potentially lose revenue.

It’s therefore advisable to make arrangements in advance for a backup power source, on which your service station can run uninterruptedly in event of a power outage. A commercial generator should do the job, however, make sure you purchase or rent a generator that can adequately power your service station equipment. Consult a local electrician if you’re not sure what type of generator you should invest in.

How will you be preparing your gas station for the upcoming storm season? Let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to hear from you.

A BONUS read: More Gallons, More Savings: Implementing a Customer Loyalty Program for Your Gas Station

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