Under the terms of the purchase, ownership will be combined with FuelNation Energy LLC, a FuelNation Inc. subsidiary, to become the first of several petroleum transport companies to completely automate and track the petroleum supply chain using the FuelNation Rack to Retail R2R electronic tracking system system. FuelNation will also tie Star Transport into its Petro-Tracking system, which allows major oil companies to audit fuel products.
FuelNation said the Star Transport purchase is part of its strategy to acquire key assets in the petroleum marketing operations and transportation services businesses. It will also help FuelNation attack a periennial industry problem called ‘cross-loading,’ where petroleum retailers buy a cheaper-priced petroleum product and place it in another company's tanks. The consumer is then cheated out of buying the quality product they believe they are receiving, said FuelNation.
FuelNation said it estimates over 40% of the petroleum products delivered by major oil companies suffer from cross-loading, costing the industry $500 million annually.
