The Load That Doesn't Show Up on the BOL
On the operators who showed up when they wanted to be somewhere else.
Father’s Day was yesterday.
I spent it on a plane.
And somewhere between wheels up and landing, I kept thinking about the fuel operators I’ve gotten to know. The ones running dispatch at 5am. The ones on the phone with a driver at 9pm because a delivery went sideways. The ones who haven’t taken a full weekend off since summer 2019.
This industry doesn’t pause for Father’s Day.
Rack prices don’t care. Customers with low tanks don’t care. The driver who called out sick definitely doesn’t care.
So the operator picks up the phone. Again.
Not because they don’t love their family. Because they built something that depends on them showing up. A business that employs people. That keeps hospitals warm. That keeps fleets moving. That keeps towns running through February.
That’s not workaholism. That’s responsibility at a scale most people don’t understand.
I’ve sat across from enough fuel marketers to know: the guilt is real. Missing the game. Missing the recital. Explaining to a kid why a parent has to go check on a terminal issue on a Sunday.
“Yesterday, while I was on a plane, my son earned his Taekwondo belt. I wasn’t there. But he knew I was proud. That’s the quiet bargain every working parent carries.”
But I’ve also seen what they’re building. The pride in knowing their routes cold. The satisfaction when the month closes clean. The quiet confidence of someone who has kept the lights on for their customers through every shortage, every price spike, every snowstorm.
To every fueler who showed up this weekend when they wanted to be somewhere else: your kids will know what you built. Not today, maybe. But they will.
Happy belated Father’s Day. And to every parent in this industry, happy belated to you too.
Go home early this week. You’ve earned it.
About the author
I’m Dibyesh G., founder of Fueleo. I spend my time working with fuel marketers on the messy handoffs between pricing, dispatch, delivery, BOLs, invoicing, and accounting. This newsletter is where I write about the operational problems hiding inside everyday fuel workflows.