{"id":11808,"date":"2021-07-14T13:29:46","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T11:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=11808"},"modified":"2021-07-14T13:29:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T11:29:46","slug":"airgas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2021\/07\/14\/airgas\/","title":{"rendered":"Private Fleet of the Year Finalist: Airgas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The largest packaged gas distributor in the U.S. kept hospitals stocked with critical oxygen during the height of COVID-19 thanks to the company\u2019s culture of teamwork and safety.<\/p>\n

Typically, Airgas<\/a>\u00a0is one of the first fleets to arrive with essential products for hospitals, refineries, and chemical plants after a hurricane or other natural disaster. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say we drive into the storm, but we\u2019re among the first responders after the storm,\u201d Christopher Sower, vice president of distribution and logistics at Airgas, told FleetOwner.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Last March, Chris Romig, a 10-year Airgas Merchant Gases (AMG) bulk delivery driver and U.S. Army veteran from Canton, Ohio, was the first to volunteer to drive right into another kind of storm: the COVID-19 crisis unfolding in New York City. In the early, uncertain days of the pandemic, as cases and hospitalization rates were spiking in and around New York, hospitals were facing critical shortages of medical oxygen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Airgas<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Romig, who served in Iraq and Panama, left his home in Ohio on April 3, 2020, and didn\u2019t return until June. He spent two months hauling medical oxygen from Airgas\u2019 Reading, Pennsylvania, air separation units (ASUs) to New York City hospitals. \u201cHe isn\u2019t the only one\u2014there are a number of folks that really stepped up like that,\u201d Sower said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

But Romig, who was named the company\u2019s AMG Driver of the Year and one of the Top 20 drivers in 2020 among the 5,200 company drivers across all of Airgas\u2019 divisions, was the first to raise his hand when the Airgas executives saw the crisis emerging. <\/span><\/p>\n

During the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020, Airgas saw its medical oxygen deliveries quadruple in some areas, putting an enormous strain on the company\u2019s infrastructure. \u201cWhen that took place, there was no shortage of drivers that would volunteer to go out-of-market\u2014and go for long periods of time,\u201d Sower recalled. \u201cMany, not accustomed to teaming up, did it to be more efficient in how we utilized equipment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Credit: Dan Ledbetter<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Chris<\/div>
Chris Romig<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By the end of April, Airgas delivered an average of 2,700 oxygen cylinders per day in New York City. \u201cI\u2019ve been amazed but not surprised by this impressive team,\u201d Rich Cassano, vice president of bulk sales and operations for Airgas East Region, said. \u201cThey\u2019ve taken charge, demonstrated leadership, and taken full ownership of their projects, helping New York City area hospital customers handle a medical surge that we\u2019ve never collectively faced before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Equipment was in short supply to keep up with the medical oxygen needs in the most critical areas, which at the start of the pandemic were metro New York and pockets of California. \u201cWhen we thought we might not have enough equipment, we transferred equipment from other areas. We leased available equipment. We converted some equipment that was compatible to move medical oxygen,\u201d Sower said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Credit: Airgas<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Airgas<\/div>
Airgas delivered 2,700 oxygen cylinders per day to New York City hospitals in April 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When some drivers out West got exposed to COVID and had to quarantine, Airgas NCN fleet manager Dale Harris, who oversees West Coast operations from Northern California and Nevada up to Alaska, faced a potential driver shortage. But instead, the drivers able to work stepped up. \u201cNo one complained about having to work extra hours or make extra deliveries or do extra work,\u201d he told FleetOwner<\/i>. \u201cIt was all a big team effort to make sure there was no interruption of service.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Airgas, which was acquired by France-based Air Liquide Group<\/a> in 2016, has the largest packaged gas distribution network in the U.S. Airgas ranks 35th on the 2021 <\/a>FleetOwner<\/a><\/i> 500 Private Fleets list<\/a>. Its entire fleet, which includes various brands serving a wide swath of industries, is the fifth-largest private fleet hauler of petroleum or gases. Airgas\u00a0<\/span>was named one of three finalists for the\u00a0annual FleetOwner 500 Private Fleet of the Year<\/a>\u00a0awards, which were announced during the National Private Truck Council’s 2021 conference in Cincinnati on June 15.<\/p>\n

Drivers at the forefront<\/span><\/h3>\n

Airgas has facilities and distribution across all 50 states. It is the largest organization in the U.S. that is specifically trained to handle compressed gases and has a hazmat team, the Airgas Emergency Response Organization, trained to respond quickly to emergencies. Beyond oxygen, some of the more popular gases the fleet hauls include argon, nitrogen, acetylene, and carbon dioxide.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSafety is at the forefront of everything that we do,\u201d Jerry Freeman, Airgas senior director of transportation and fleet safety, told FleetOwner<\/i>. \u201cIt\u2019s very much part of our culture and what we try to convey in our driver and workforce population.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Credit: Airgas<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Airgas<\/div>
Airgas executives credited driver teamwork for its success.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Any new Airgas driver spends his or her first 90 days working alongside a mentor to learn about the safety culture that is ingrained within the fleet as well as how to work with customers and identify the cylinders that hold gases. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot to learn when you\u2019re new to this industry,\u201d Harris explained. \u201cThere are thousands of different types of gases, and you have to be able to identify them all and what their hazards are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sower said that driver safety philosophy begins during the hiring process. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough for us to just look at whether or not they have a good roadway safety performance record. It\u2019s also a cultural fit,\u201d Sower said. \u201cIt\u2019s really about us feeling comfortable that they are going to come in and enhance our safety performance and service performance for the customer. Our drivers are the face of the company to our customer base.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added that there is a lot of responsibility when it comes to hauling gases. \u201cWe really try to appeal to the greater sense of morality and sense of responsibility to our driver base,\u201d Sower said. \u201cIt makes them feel more like they\u2019re part of something that matters as opposed to just a driver job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That sense of teamwork was tested\u2014and enhanced\u2014during the pandemic, Freeman said. \u201cCOVID required us to relook at what we were doing and how we were doing it,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe all adapted quite well to meet the needs of both our customers and the demands of the industry. We\u2019ve gone through the worst of it, and we\u2019re on the other side, all the better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Josh Fisher<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.fleetowner.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

KNOW WHO WE ARE<\/strong><\/a><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The largest packaged gas distributor in the U.S. kept hospitals stocked with critical oxygen during the height of COVID-19 thanks to the company\u2019s culture of teamwork and safety. Typically, Airgas\u00a0is one of the first fleets to arrive with essential products for hospitals, refineries, and chemical plants after a hurricane or other natural disaster. \u201cI don\u2019t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[231],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11808"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11810,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11808\/revisions\/11810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}