By Tony Huppert, CEO, Team Oil Inc.
The government’s knee jerk reaction following hurricanes Katrina and Sandy was having meetings and studies and then more meetings on coordinating a way to respond to energy outages that caused hardship and stress on the citizens.
People react differently in a crisis, causing long lines and unruly people at gas stations. We live in a just in time society, pay check to pay check with groceries and gas purchased on a day-to-day basis. Commuters gauge the volume in their gas tanks like the majority of gas stations owners gauge the gas in their supply tanks. It is not uncommon to run off the bottom half of the tanks, following the ‘Just in Time’ deliver philosophy. Inventory cost. The problem is, when something happens, everybody and every location is in need of product.
Eric and Tony Huppert, the son and father owners of the Team Oil Travel Center in Spring Valley Wis., have a different philosophy. Supply tanks are kept full. As soon as a transport of product will fit in the tanks, it is delivered.
A 400 hp diesel powered 200 KW electrical generator supplies power to the complete complex, including the manager’s house, Westconsin Credit Union, car wash, etc. during an emergency. The large generator powers up every Monday morning for 20 minutes and then switches back to line power. Eight 100-gallon water pressure tanks are placed in line with a back check on the city water supply line in case of water supply problems. The Travel Center can operate for two days without any city water supply in an emergency. If the emergency persists, a 6,000-gallon water tanker can be attached to the travel center’s pressure pump extending the water supply to service the community’s emergency needs.
Eric and Tony have created a community emergency safe haven for the area. Some 120 cameras keep a constant vigil of activities on the nine- acre oasis. Team’s fiber optic phone lines, satellite dishes, Internet and WIFI access are essential in today’s technical demanding society.
After extensive testing two new Bobcat units, a V417 Telehandler and a 5600 Toolcat complete with 12-foot and nine-foot snowplows, were added in 2014 to make sure the four-acres of asphalt parking lot remains usable for the community during the harsh winters of the Mid West.
Community involvement means more to Eric and Tony than the scholarships and fundraisers they donate to. It means being there in an emergency, when everything else fails.
Tony Huppert is a Wisconsin businessman of 40 years and CEO of Team Oil Inc., the family-owned and operated Team Oil Travel Center, and Subway in Spring Valley, Wis.