With a team of over 500 employees, Eastern Propane & Oil, Inc. serves more than 100,000 residential and commercial propane and oil customers across 5 states in New England. Operating from 14 district locations, Eastern manages a fleet of 165 delivery trucks with the support of 6 dedicated dispatchers.
The company remains family-owned and committed to its founding values of reliability, safety, and customer-focused service. For over 90 years, Eastern has been a trusted name in the communities it serves, delivering innovative energy solutions with the same commitment to quality and care that began it all.
The Challenge: Efficiently managing delivery operations
With increasing customer demand and a commitment to reliable and responsive service, Eastern faced a growing challenge in efficiently managing their delivery operations across multiple states and required a comprehensive solution to address several pain points:
- Inefficient route planning and scheduling.
- Limitations in their legacy routing system, which couldn’t dynamically adjust routes based on actual delivery gallons.
- Limited visibility into delivery schedules and customer updates.
- Limited visibility in integrations between their ERP system and the meters on their delivery trucks.
- A complex and difficult-to-use routing system with limited integration visibility, making support a challenge.
- Technical struggles with an outdated mobile delivery application, which was slow and unreliable in areas with low or saturated cellular coverage.
Eastern needed to implement a delivery solution which was more user-friendly, and which worked on more modern technology.
The Solution: Simplifying deliveries with modern technology
Eastern partnered with Bestrane and Descartes to implement an advanced Gas & Fuel solution with a clear objective: to provide a seamless scheduling and routing system that enhances efficiency, improves communication, boosts visibility, and supports an exceptional customer experience. The solution was designed to reduce the time dispatchers spent managing routes throughout the day and to deliver a mobile application for drivers that was intuitive, responsive, and built on a platform which would evolve with modern technology.
“Our experience with Bestrane was a highlight of the project. We feel like we’ve established a fantastic relationship with Scott and Jason and consider our partnership with Bestrane to be strategic and important to our new solution’s long-term success.”
Mark Stone, Eastern Propane
Impact: Tangible results with an end-to-end solution
The implementation of this comprehensive solution delivered significant benefits for Eastern in both efficiency and customer experience.
- Company-wide, through January 2025, they achieved a 7% YoY improvement in gallons delivered per hour by drivers. They saw a 2% increase in gallons delivered per mile driven and stops completed per hour.
- Their drivers now complete more stops than with their legacy system, as they no longer need to spend as much time managing the mobile application.
- The combined Bestrane and Descartes solution for Gas & Fuel is easier to manage by providing visibility and auditing capabilities that were not available in their legacy system.
- This solution allows Eastern to involve more people in logistics processes, as it is easier to learn and more efficient to use than their legacy system.
"Route Planner is proven to be easier to learn and work with compared to our legacy system. Consequently, user adoption has been great and Eastern is finding that the app is suitable for a wider range of users. As for Bestrane App Connect, Eastern drivers really appreciate it. The app provides a more stable, easier to operate interface for the drivers, which not only improves their productivity but also increases their job satisfaction."
Mark Stone, Eastern Propane
The overall solution not only addressed Eastern’s immediate operational challenges but also positioned the company for long-term success. By streamlining processes, enhancing customer interactions, and leveraging real-time route and meter data, Eastern reinforced its reputation as a leader in the propane and oil industry—setting a new standard for efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction.
About Bestrane
Bestrane is a Descartes United by Design partner. Bestrane brings together a unique combination of solutions, services, and technologies to solve complex problems for our customers. We specialise in delivering advanced Route Planning and Optimisation from dynamic and same day solutions, to territory or master routing.
If you would like to find out more about Bestrane App Connect or discover how Bestrane's tailored solutions can enhance your operations, contact us today.
