Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

[ProdigyofZen]

There is a new startup called BoosterFuels: https://boosterfuels.com/

They have already raised millions.

Apparently they come to your workplace to fill up your vehicle so you don't have to do a mundane act like driving to the gas station and filling up your vehicle yourself.

What does the community think about the validity of the startup?

I have already heard from one personal friend (a woman) that she "hates filling up her car."

This market is incredible....

[Southernguy]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

Couple of centuries ago rich people used to have someone dress-undress them...

[ProdigyofZen]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

Couple of centuries ago rich people used to have someone dress-undress them...

Some still do.... and I believe that was common practice in England up until the 1940s.

[Woodsman]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

Some still do.... and I believe that was common practice in England up until the 1940s.

Then I expect these skills are still in demand.

[dcarrigg]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

There is a new startup called BoosterFuels: https://boosterfuels.com/

They have already raised millions.

Apparently they come to your workplace to fill up your vehicle so you don't have to do a mundane act like driving to the gas station and filling up your vehicle yourself.

What does the community think about the validity of the startup?

I have already heard from one personal friend (a woman) that she "hates filling up her car."

This market is incredible....

Anything that exacerbates inequality and leads to the poor serving the rich in ever more humiliating and ridiculous ways is probably a surefire financial model. Especially if they are paying the employees as independent contractors and make sure the wage is poverty level, I can't see how this thing could fail. Only question is competition from filld. Which will end up the Uber and which will end up the Lyft?

[shiny!]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

Anything that exacerbates inequality and leads to the poor serving the rich in ever more humiliating and ridiculous ways is probably a surefire financial model. Especially if they are paying the employees as independent contractors and make sure the wage is poverty level, I can't see how this thing could fail. Only question is competition from filld. Which will end up the Uber and which will end up the Lyft?

You're right, dcarrigg.

Do these guys bring the fuel to the car, or drive the car to the gas station then return it?

FWIW, General/President Eisenhower had a butler who dressed and undressed him. He'd stand there and hold his arms out for the guy to put his shirt on him, button it up, etc. Pants, socks, the whole deal.

My head is full of useless trivia.

[GRG55]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

The corporate campus is more prevalent in and around major USA cities than it is in Canada...at least for now. Fueling on the commute from the 'burbs to downtown, as in "the old days" usually meant driving right by any number of filling stations; one didn't even have to make a left turn to cross the street. The campus, usually with divided arterial route access, and the declining numbers of filling stations, probably means a lot of detouring to fill up? It isn't a service I would use (I am cheap!) but I don't have difficulty seeing the appeal - particularly for women who may be concerned about personal security when they get out of their vehicle at a filling station.

Anything that exacerbates inequality and leads to the poor serving the rich in ever more humiliating and ridiculous ways is probably a surefire financial model. Especially if they are paying the employees as independent contractors and make sure the wage is poverty level, I can't see how this thing could fail. Only question is competition from filld. Which will end up the Uber and which will end up the Lyft?

Yep, with Self Serve we permanently eradicated those humiliating pump jockey jobs some of my high school friends used to do after classes and on the weekends. Terrible to see such things return in a new form. Maybe we should emulate the Middle East model. The numerous government owned companies that dominate the economy create many jobs for the nationals, everyone has a "manager" title and an office, and most of them can't and don't actually do anything productive.

[dcarrigg]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

You're right, dcarrigg.

Do these guys bring the fuel to the car, or drive the car to the gas station then return it?

FWIW, General/President Eisenhower had a butler who dressed and undressed him. He'd stand there and hold his arms out for the guy to put his shirt on him, button it up, etc. Pants, socks, the whole deal.

My head is full of useless trivia.

They drive to the car. You leave the gas door open. They show up basically in a pickup truck with a big gas tank and single pump in the bed. They pump it, close the door, wash the windows, and go. For that you pay a $5 delivery fee on top of your gas.

So long as you can pay an employee between $5 and $10 per hour to do this, and they can consistently average 4 fillups per hour, I figure the truck and labor should pay for itself. But when you have to pay minimum wage and match FICA and cover Worker's Comp and Unemployment insurance and temporary disability, etc. etc. it stops adding up. That's why you have to classify them as "independent contractors."

Actually, I'll do you all one better.

Anyone want to invest in a cruel social experiment?

Let's start one of these where the guys filling up the gas tanks have to buy their own equipment and use their own cars at their own risk. We'll offer them special financing to do it at 8% interest. That way there they can make payments on their gas tank / pump they can keep in their trunk or truck bed.

Then we'll cut the delivery fee in half and undercut the other 2 companies.

And while we're at it, let's track absolutely everything people do and everywhere their cars go and sell the data to the highest bidders.

If you're going to set up a cutthroat sharing economy app, you have to get out of the business of supplying anything or spending any company money on capital goods.

Any idiot can put miles on his/her car to pump gas for less than minimum wage.

And people are desperate out there.

Let's make it a $2 delivery fee. Screw it.

Then let the independent contractors figure out how to earn a living off that and pay us back the equipment loan at interest.

Meanwhile, we'll sell them the gas at retail and pocket the wholesale resale difference for doing nothing but providing an app.

Plus we can sell all the customers' data for added gravy.

[dcarrigg]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

Yep, with Self Serve we permanently eradicated those humiliating pump jockey jobs some of my high school friends used to do after classes and on the weekends. Terrible to see such things return in a new form. Maybe we should emulate the Middle East model. The numerous government owned companies that dominate the economy create many jobs for the nationals, everyone has a "manager" title and an office, and most of them can't and don't actually do anything productive.

I myself was a pump jocky who did some small automotive repairs myself through high school and part of college. We had 2 full serve pumps, rest were self serve. I'd plug tires and do oil changes and break jobs and simple tune-ups too.

You know what the difference was?

I got minimum wage and UI and TDI and WC and they paid the employer share into my FICA OASDI and HI. Actually, I pulled in more than minimum. Inflation adjusted it would be a hair under $12/hr today.

I'd be damn shocked if these guys aren't doing what the rest of the silicon valley app companies are and calling them "independent contractors" instead of "employees" so they don't pay into any of that stuff and also aren't responsible for making sure they pay out minimum wage.

[GRG55]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

I myself was a pump jocky who did some small automotive repairs myself through high school and part of college. We had 2 full serve pumps, rest were self serve. I'd plug tires and do oil changes and break jobs and simple tune-ups too.

You know what the difference was?

I got minimum wage and UI and TDI and WC and they paid the employer share into my FICA OASDI and HI. Actually, I pulled in more than minimum. Inflation adjusted it would be a hair under $12/hr today.

I'd be damn shocked if these guys aren't doing what the rest of the silicon valley app companies are and calling them "independent contractors" instead of "employees" so they don't pay into any of that stuff and also aren't responsible for making sure they pay out minimum wage.

Anybody know how this is actually supposed to work?

The reason I ask is because I am not so sure its comparable to something like Uber. Yes, an app is used to place the order by the customer. And I expect computers are used to optimize the logistics. I note that a corporate campus has to "join", which means they are looking for volume in a concentrated area - multiple clients in the same parkade.

But there is no reason for them to have to raise millions in capital for an Uber like app. There is also no way to deliver a common standard of service to the customer without the company standardizing the equipment suite and maintenance of same. In addition, commercial road going transport containers for substances like gasoline are Federally regulated and the insurance to carry the substance (which is classified as a Dangerous Good) is quite different from your garden variety pick-up truck. On the face of it this is quite a different proposition from something like Uber.

That doesn't necessarily address your "slave labour" concern. But I wonder if we have a member who can articulate the factual details of how this business is structured and thus inform the debate a bit more?

[dcarrigg]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

Anybody know how this is actually supposed to work?

The reason I ask is because I am not so sure its comparable to something like Uber. Yes, an app is used to place the order by the customer. And I expect computers are used to optimize the logistics. I note that a corporate campus has to "join", which means they are looking for volume in a concentrated area - multiple clients in the same parkade.

But there is no reason for them to have to raise millions in capital for an Uber like app. There is also no way to deliver a common standard of service to the customer without the company standardizing the equipment suite and maintenance of same. In addition, commercial road going transport containers for substances like gasoline are Federally regulated and the insurance to carry the substance (which is classified as a Dangerous Good) is quite different from your garden variety pick-up truck. On the face of it this is quite a different proposition from something like Uber.

That doesn't necessarily address your "slave labour" concern. But I wonder if we have a member who can articulate the factual details of how this business is structured and thus inform the debate a bit more?

More details would be useful. But don't forget, in most states, motor carriers (taxis, towing, etc) are regulated public utilities that have to go through public utility commissions for set rates and a series of both state regulations and local ordinances. Uber just said, "Screw the regulations, we do what we want!" And for the most part, it worked. If you just claim that it's a "gas sharing service" or something, and act like it's not commercial use, but just somebody private citizen helping somebody else out for a fee, it's conceptually no different than if you filled a little red gas can and drove to help out someone stuck on the side of the road who ran out of gas. I'd imagine this must be the argument. Otherwise, why would VC be so gung-ho to get in on this?

In fact, I just looked into it a bit more. Uber's cofounders have started one of these called purple. It's just in LA and San Diego for now. They don't even charge a delivery fee. And the drivers are independent contractors who are instructed to use only 5 gallon tanks to get around regulations for larger commercial tanks, at least according to another internet forum where a member of Purple is trying to sell the service, and they only sell in 5 gallon increments for this reason.

Uber knows this model very well. Ignore all regulations. Ignore insurance. Shaft employees down to "independent contractors." Minimize costs.

If one of these is going to take off big time, I'd say off gut instinct and about 10 minutes due diligence that it's probably this one.

[jk]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

Ah found their Craigslist hiring ad:

Delivery Drivers Wanted! (Los angeles)
compensation: competitive rate per hour plus a per delivery sum
employment type: part-time

We are an App called Purple Delivery that delivers automobile gasoline to customers. Our current delivery hours are 10AM to 10PM, and shifts can be full or half day. Couriers are required to be on call for the period of time agreed upon, and deliver gas directly to the customer's car using equipment that will be supplied to you.
Must be able to work in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica Area

Requirements:
Valid CA Drivers License
Car for making deliveries -- Couriers drive in their own vehicles
Able to lift 30lb
Positive Attitude!

Compensation:
We provide a flat rate of $9-10 per hour plus a $3 per delivery sum. Your hours and schedule will be fixed prior to each work week. contact us at: info@purpledelivery.com for more info!

found this

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

My car has a fuel door release only inside the cabin.
Most cars are the same.

So this company will need customer car keys, or ask customers to leave their cars unlocked, or meet the delivery driver at the car.
Low wage, temporary workers, I suppose mostly young men and some dodgy older men. Unsupervised.
They will get into customer's cars and pour flammable gasoline by hand into the cars.

What could possibly go wrong?

[jk]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

My car has a fuel door release only inside the cabin.
Most cars are the same.

So this company will need customer car keys, or ask customers to leave their cars unlocked, or meet the delivery driver at the car.
Low wage, temporary workers, I suppose mostly young men and some dodgy older men. Unsupervised.
They will get into customer's cars and pour flammable gasoline by hand into the cars.

What could possibly go wrong?

you leave the fuel door released and the car locked.

[wayiwalk]

Re: Boosterfuels startup, any chance of success?

Nothing.

Just a few independent contractors hauled off to jail for not having proper insurance for the task they are performing, arson, violating environmental regs because the 5 gallon containers are too small so they improvise.....

Immediately following Hurricane Sandy, with most gasoline stations closed since they didn't have electricity to run their pumps, gas was very hard to come by in some NY metro areas.

I recall reading a story in either the NY Post or Daily News about some entrepreneurs (read: knuckleheads) who were arrested because they were running a hillbilly version of this business....only, they spared the expense of proper gas containers and were using the orange buckets you can buy at home depot to hold the gas, and driving around in a box truck (maybe rented?) to reach customers.

dcarrig might come across a bit cynical in this, but I think he's spot on in spotting this pattern of abuse of the desperate.