TL;DR: Telecom towers run diesel gensets in places a bowser can't reach: rooftops, narrow lanes, hill sites. Tower operators pay for it in downtime, pilferage and emergency trips. Buddy Can delivers diesel in certified cans (jerry cans) on small vehicles, scheduled from genset run-hours instead of panic calls, with every litre traceable from depot to tank.

Operating model v2.0 · Product owner · Operating model and requirements, FuelBuddy

The problem

Tower sites need small, frequent, reliable top-ups of diesel, but the supply chain is built for large drops. The result is dry gensets, network downtime and fuel that goes missing in between.

Who What hurts
Tower operator / infra company (buyer) Site downtime penalties, pilferage, no proof of what was delivered
Regional energy manager Dozens of sites, refills booked by phone, no forecast
Field technician Carrying fuel by hand to rooftop or remote sites

Evidence

The model came from time spent with FuelBuddy's field teams on diesel delivery. The pattern they described: refills booked by phone when a site was already close to dry, bowsers that couldn't reach rooftop or hill sites, and no proof of how much fuel actually reached the genset tank. This page documents the operating model and requirements; it doesn't publish delivery results.

How it works

flowchart LR
	A["Forecast<br>run-hours + tank level<br>set next refill date"] --> B["Plan<br>cluster sites into<br>daily routes"]
	B --> C["Fill and seal<br>cans logged with<br>can ID at depot"]
	C --> D["Deliver<br>site scan, photos<br>before and after"]
	D --> E["Reconcile<br>dispatched vs delivered<br>vs tank rise"]
	E --> F["Bill<br>monthly invoice with<br>site-level proof"]
	E -. "variance" .-> G["Pilferage check<br>on that route"]
  1. Forecast. Genset run-hours and tank level set the next refill date for each site.
  2. Plan. Sites are clustered into daily routes by distance and urgency.
  3. Fill and seal. Cans filled at the depot, sealed and logged with a can ID.
  4. Deliver. Driver scans the site, photographs tank level before and after, and the seal is broken on site.
  5. Reconcile. Litres delivered vs litres dispatched vs tank rise, per site, per day.
  6. Bill. Monthly invoice with site-level proof attached.

Decisions and trade-offs

Why cans, not bowsers

Bowser Can model
Drop size Large Small, matched to genset tank
Site access Needs road access and space Reaches rooftops, lanes, hill sites
Vehicle cost High Low; light commercial vehicles
Best for Large DG sets, industrial sites Distributed, low-volume, hard-to-reach sites