Tanknology exhibiting at first-ever UNITI expo

Tanknology’s International Division will be participating in the first-ever UNITI expo, an international trade fair and conference focused on all aspects of petroleum retailing, June 3-5 in Stuttgart, Germany.

If you are planning to attend the UNITI expo, please be sure to stop and visit us on the exhibition floor at Stand #6A60 in Hall 6.

For those familiar with the annual PEI/NACS Show, the UNITI expo is something of a European version, tailored to the petroleum retailing industries in Europe and international markets.

UNITI expo includes a trade exhibition, in which Tanknology is participating, as well as a conference and associated workshops covering eight categories: Forecourt Equipment and Technology (which is the fuel storage and dispensing systems and related services); Fuel Logistics; Car Wash and Car Care; Payment and Automation; Shop and Convenience; Motor Fuels, Lubricants and Additives; and Services and Media. 

The UNITI expo has been developed in association with PetrolPlaza, erpec and erpecnews, the leading European trade media for the petroleum-related industries.

We are excited to participate in this inaugural event. Please be sure to stop by and visit with us if you make it to the expo. For more information or to register for the UNITI expo, visit their website: www.UNITI-expo.de.

Five team members promoted to key management roles

Tanknology today announced the promotions of five team members into key operations and account management positions in several regions of the U.S.

• Dan Batten has become an Operations Manager in the Ohio Valley Region. Batten, who has been with Tanknology for eight years, is based in Columbus, OH.
• Lauren Arons has also been named an Operations Manager. Based in Tanknology’s Gulf Coast Region, Arons works out of the Austin, TX office. Arons has been with the company for nearly four years.
• Maurice Pezone is the third new Operations Manager. A 7-month employee of Tanknology, Pezone is based in the Southeast Region office in Suwanee, GA.
• Jared Beavers is now Corrosion Protection Operations Manager. A 15-year veteran, Beavers is in Tanknology’s Field Services Group based in Austin. TX.
• Denise Yohe has been named Senior Account Manager. Yohe is also based out of the company’s Ohio Valley office and has been with Tanknology almost 5 years.

“We are pleased to have the ability to promote from within the ranks of our team when it comes to selecting people for such key roles in operations and account management,” said Allen Porter, President and CEO of Tanknology.

“We put a significant emphasis on development and growth for our team members, so it is gratifying to see such capable people within our company step up to the next level with the opportunity to put their skills and expertise to work for our customers.”

See us at the California CUPA Forum in San Francisco

If you are taking in the California CUPA Forum Annual Training Conference next week at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, you’ll want to be sure to take in a session at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, titled, Storage Tank Maintenance for Today’s New Fuels.

Video still of blistering and exposed fibers in a fiberglass UST

Tanknology’s Brad Hoffman, VP of Engineering and R&D, will be a speaker in the session, along with Wayne Geyer and Lorri Grainawi of the Steel Tank Institute.
 
Brad will be discussing PEI’s RP900 recommended UST Inspection and Maintenance practices and RP1200 protocol for Testing and Verification of Spill, Overfill, Leak Detection and Secondary Containment Equipment at UST Facilities; UST cleaning and removal methods; and sharing some actual video results from Tanknology’s TankCam® and PetroScope® video inspections of actual in-use USTs. Brad first shared some of these video clips at the National Tanks Conference in Denver last fall, and will be adding to them with new clips in this presentation at Cal-CUPA.

As a UST operator, it’s a session you won’t want to miss – 10 AM Wednesday in the Regency A room.

Be sure to also stop by and see us on the exhibit floor, where we will also have actual tank inspection video that you can view up close and personal. You will find us in Booth #30.

Three Tanknology executives named to PEI Committees

With the New Year came a new President of the Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI). Phil Farrell, President of Double Check Company of Kansas City, MO, assumed the leadership of the industry’s largest association of companies that manufacture, distribute and service petroleum equipment.

Double Check Company is a strong partner of Tanknology, as one of our Master Alliance Partners (MAPs) in the U.S. We congratulate Phil on this new leadership role with PEI and know that the association is in good hands.

One of Phil’s first acts was to name members to PEI’s 22 various committees. Three Tanknology executives were among those named this week:

• Brian Derge, Vice President of the Eastern Division, is a member of the Overfill, Release Detection and Release Prevention Equipment Testing Committee.

• Brad Hoffman, Vice President of Research & Development is a member of the UST System Inspection and Maintenance Committee.

• Eddie Campbell, Regional Manager of the Southeastern US, is a member of the Safety Committee.

We are pleased to have the opportunity for our executives to participate with PEI in these important industry committees. 

Visit us at the NACS Show in Atlanta and see some tank inspection videos you won’t want to miss

Be sure to stop by and see us at the PEI at the NACS Show in Atlanta, starting Sunday.

You’ll find us in Booth #4622 in the Fuel Equipment & Services Section.

On display, we will have a new video, with the same clips our Vice President of R&D Brad Hoffman just presented at the National Tanks Conference last month in Denver. The clips exhibit the exceptional insights provided by our TankCam and PetroScope Video Inspection Services – with a series of high-definition clips showing some astonishing details of the condition inside several USTs we’ve inspected. You won’t want to miss seeing this.

If you didn’t see these clips in Brad’s presentation at the National Tanks Conference, don’t miss this second chance. If you did see them, you need to see them in the high definition clarity provided by these technologies.

While you’re visiting, be sure to sign up to win an iPad. We will be giving one away again this year to a lucky winner who stops by to visit and enters the drawing.

We hope to see you in Atlanta!

Aging tank population in Arizona makes headlines; But is the focus on age the right focus?

Beneath the ground at more than half of the gas stations in the State of Arizona, sit “old, rotting and potentially leaking fuel storage tanks,” according to a recent CBS-5 TV 5-Investigates report.

Quoting an audit performed by the state Auditor General’s Office, the Phoenix CBS-TV affiliate reports that nearly 1,000 USTs in the state are older than their expected 30-year lifespan and nearly 3,000 are approaching it within the next decade.

Click here to watch the CBS-5 Segment

Steve Brittle, the President of Arizona-based environmental advocacy group, “Don’t Waste Arizona,” says in the story that these thousands of tanks are at, or on the verge of, the end of their 30-year life expectancy. Generally, Brittle says, the tanks “need to be replaced at that point.”

“In our experience, that’s definitely not a given,” said Allen Porter, President and CEO of Tanknology.

“We have a lot of customers across the country with tanks in this age range. Most of them are wrestling with how and when to upgrade and replace tanks as they approach the 25-year mark. There are a number of factors that influence how a tank degrades over the years and age is just one of them.”

Porter said the company has seen many tanks in the 25- to 30-year age range that are in just fine condition.  “We’ve also seen tanks half that age that are in worse condition. It’s very site and situation specific.”

Still photo capture from actual TankCam video

In response to the growing need to understand the condition of aging tanks, Tanknology worked with several large nationwide service station operators in the development of its TankCam® Remote Tank Inspection system. The TankCam service involves putting a high resolution, lighted camera inside the tank, providing the ability to closely survey the conditions so that an operator can understand what’s happening inside the tank and then prioritize upgrade programs.

“Obviously operators want to focus their upgrade plans on the tanks in the poorest condition,” Porter said. “Our TankCam service provides them a very economical way to get a good clear look at what’s going on in that tank so that they can make informed decisions. In many cases, they are learning that just because a tank is 25-years old, it’s not necessarily in need of replacement. That allows them to turn their attention elsewhere, to the tanks which we help them see are at a higher risk of leaking.”

Tanknology’s TankCam® Remote Inspection service is available nationwide.  Inspections are quick and tanks typically do not have to be taken out of service during the process. More information and examples of actual video from inside a tank can be found on our website.

Don't miss Tanknology's Brad Hoffman in his presentation at the National Tanks Conference next week in Denver

Next week at the National Tanks Conference in Denver, Brad Hoffman, Tanknology’s Vice President of Engineering and R&D, will provide a presentation and participate in a panel discussion on UST management and compatibility related issues. It’s a session any tank operator won’t want to miss.

According to Brad, his focus in this session will be on helping operators with the management, maintenance and evolving compatibility issues in their aging tank population.

“Many operators upgraded tank sites to conform with the initial EPA regulations in the late 80s,” he said. “Many of those tanks have been in the ground for around 25 years now – or more. As they look to evaluate their condition, and prioritize replacement programs, many are struggling with how best to do that.”

“Age is the most obvious basis for that prioritization,” he said. “But that’s not necessarily the most prudent approach.”

Brad will address in this session how to prioritize tank management and replacement programs based on actual need, rather than simply age.

“In our experience, operators could be spending their upgrade dollars most effectively by understanding the actual conditions of those tanks and prioritizing on that basis. Just because a tank is x-years old, doesn’t mean it needs to be addressed earlier than one which is several years younger,” he said. “The specific conditions inside those tanks really matters.”

This very issue is exacerbated by the unusually high level of metal corrosion and tank lining and structural issues that have become a growing problem of late in some aging tank systems.

“These are all factors in managing the risk and best practices of a tank population,” Brad said. “We’ll do our best to tackle these issues in our session and address what operators can do to understand specific tank conditions before automatically looking at replacement.”

The session is titled, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: How to Evaluate UST Usefulness, Management and Compatibility, and will take place in the Sheraton Denver Downtown Plaza Ballroom E on Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 8:00 to 9:30 AM.

Brad will be also be available for individual conversations at Tanknology’s booth in the exhibitor area – Booth 300 – on and off throughout the conference.