LP Gas, June 2015

Food for thought A reminder about promoting safety sharing the benefits of propane A YouTube video has drawn the ire of the propane industry Certainly one can find anything on the Internet good bad or indifferent But when a video comes across as professionally made and the parties involved assert damaging statements against our industry its a topic worthy of discussion The hot topic is food trucks which have gotten more attention in recent years for a couple of reasons Their popularity seems to have grown as the colorful mobile vehicles are visible on downtown city streets in the warm summer months An IBISWorld market research report reveals 93 percent annual growth in the food truck industry over the past five years It cites consumers who are increasingly favoring unique gourmet cuisine at budgetconscious prices But food trucks also have created a certain safety and regulatory buzz following a July 2014 incident in Philadelphia that killed a mother and daughter operating a truck In fact the National Fire Protection Association is considering a national standard through NFPA 96 addressing food truck fire safety The video hosted by T Boone Pickens public company Clean Energy Fuels brings these types of incidents to light in a 3 minute 21 second span that spends the first couple of minutes questioning the safety of propane and its use on food trucks Their message Propane is meant for backyard grills not to be jostled around in exchange cylinders on city streets Clean Energy Fuels whose website reports its market value at about 1 billion and which operates more than 500 EDITOR IN CHIEF BRIAN RICHESSON Food trucks have created a certain safety and regulatory buzz natural gas fueling stations in 43 states explains why it believes compressed natural gas CNG is the answer for food trucks and carts The company teamed with New York City food truck vendor Neapolitan Express and technology provider MOVE Systems on a food truck that uses CNG to power the vehicle and cook the food Stuart Flatow is no stranger to hearing about questionable practices and messages related to propane in online videos The vice president of safety and training at the Propane Education Research Council PERC has been known to show do it yourself propane videos during presentations at industry events Its his way of hammering home a safety point So it was no surprise that he had seen the food truck video in question I dont think any gaseous fuel whether its natural gas or propane should compete on safety To say one gaseous fuel is safer than the other is a fallacy Flatow says Second I think its outrageous to exploit the death of a mother and daughter to advance your market into food trucks Flatow says PERC is willing to work with local governments and municipalities to help train food truck owners and users on cylinder safety and propane safety in general This video casts a pall on the industry in general as being irresponsible and having an unsafe product and its just not true Flatow says So what can we learn from this issue Two points in particular As Jay Johnston our safety columnist has written and reminded propane marketers and refillers should always inspect the condition and requalification dates on all cylinders before filling them With proper equipment and trained employees and when tanks are safely transported used secured and stored propane is a great portable fuel Johnston says Secondly take control of your messages for the sake of your business and the propane industry Tell your story reminding customers and your community about the many benefits of propane When you do this dont forget about the digital tools at your arsenal your website and social media among them If youre upset about this take action Flatow says PERC has a number of videos that espouse the safety of propane Put them on your websites Call your local media and show those videos Get those out to the public One final thought courtesy of Johnston Our efforts ensuring food truck safety should be founded in code compliance with regard to inspecting filling and transporting cylinders according to DOT regulations he says LPG brichesson@ northcoastmedia net 6 LPGas June 2015 www LPGasmagazine com