Special delivery
DUNNING’S is one of the few companies in the country that have raised the bar to celebrate 55 years in business, growing to include wholesale fuel distribution, a fleet of fuel cartage trucks, 20 company owned fuel sites and a retail truck stop network in association with Shell.
Added to this is a presence in the Pilbara, Gascoyne, Kimberley, Wheatbelt, South West WA, Perth and Goldfields.
Dunning’s also has a strong involvement with the supply of fuels to agriculture and aviation.
It is little wonder then that this third-generation business has a significant involvement in the mining industry, featuring some tailor-made fuel solutions.
Transportable fuel tanks
The first major facet of the company’s mine site solution is a range of self-bunded fuel tanks.
Gone are the days when fuel tanks were round and cumbersome, had only a single skin and required a manual wall to be built around them for containment.
Dunning’s tanks are double-walled – built with a 6mm inner skin and a 6mm outer skin to meet Australian Standards.
The tanks have integral pump bays, so that all dispensing equipment is located in front of the tank for ease of setup on site.
Another huge bonus is that the tanks are rectangular and have ISO container lifting points attached.
This allows them to be transported on a skid trailer or moved with a sidelifter.
These features reduce the cost of both transport and setup on site.
Transport costs are reduced because all mid-range sized tanks (between 10,000l and 68,000l) are 2.438m wide and can be moved on a truck without the need for an escort.
Once at site, they can be unloaded and set up without the need for a crane, further reducing the cost of installation.
Because of this flexibility and low relocation cost, Dunning’s tanks are very popular with exploration companies – especially as they transition from the exploration phase to the development phase and fuel demand rises sharply.
Their modular system allows a master tank to be installed first, with an integral pump, and then more tanks can be added later as extra storage is required.
Conversely, they can also be removed as operations scale down and move to another location.
Dunning’s has constructed a number of fuel farms for its customers in this way.
All plumbing and auxiliary tank ports are fitted to the tanks prior to delivery to make hook-up easier, quicker and more cost-effective when they reach site.
There is also the option to hire tanks on a monthly basis and that includes a further option to amortise the cost of the tank into the price of the fuel, effectively giving a cost per litre solution for both the tank and the fuel.
Often companies are required to hire a tank of a minimum volume but that is not the case with Dunnings.
In fact, because it provides regular deliveries to so many areas, clients are able to use smaller tanks and further reduce their hire costs.
Again, this is a one-stop solution because Dunnings supplies the tank, the wholesale fuel and the cartage – eliminating the need to work with three separate vendors in some instances.
Fuel management solutions
Dunnings also has a number of fuel management solutions for mining sites that allow the measurement, transaction reporting and automatic re-ordering of fuel to keep the whole site in continuous operation.
The system records all fuel transactions and stores them on the onsite FMS, the data from which can also be transmitted via a 3G or 4G network to an online web application for management offsite.
Features such as PINs, fob keys and electronic card systems can be integrated to provide accurate tracking of fuel usage by individual employees or vehicles (or both).
Management, procurement and maintenance personnel can all log into the online application to read fuel gauges, monitor fuel levels, track and log fuel dispensing and initiate and check deliveries.
It is also possible to fully automate the system so that Dunnings can manage stock levels and arrange deliveries to seamlessly top up tanks as needed.
This is a cost-effective and efficient way to maintain required fuel and lubricant levels to all plant and equipment on site and this degree of management also delivers significantly lower onsite costs.
Dunnings provides a one-stop fuel solution that includes wholesale fuel sales, fuel delivery, fuel storage and fuel management hardware and software – all with 55-years’ experience thrown in for free.