How a Midwest Wholesaler Closed Most of a 1.2 Million Gallon Gap Before Month-End
Use case Contract intelligenceMidwest fuel wholesaler, 310 dealers
How a Midwest wholesaler closed most of a 1.2 million gallon gap before month-end.
Eight dealers were behind on their volume commitments with eleven days left. The instinct was to lean on the dealers. Cortex showed most of the gap started with the wholesaler’s own trucks.
Cortex · connected to your business“Which dealer accounts are at risk of missing their volume commitments?”
Eight accounts, 1.2 million gallons behind pace with eleven days left in the month.
The difference
Same question. Different results.
The question“Which dealer accounts are at risk of missing their volume commitments, and why?”
Claude / GPT / Public LLMs
Uploaded file
Answer
Eight dealers are 1.2 million gallons behind their commitments. Contact them and consider allowances to close the gap.
Just an answer.
Cortex AI
Connected intelligence
Cortex AI- Load timing
- Route changes
- Road closures
- Rack prices
- Rival supply prices
- Local demand
- Traffic counts
- Weather
- Dealer street prices
- Contract terms
- 62% of the gap is supply-side
- Road closure on 2 routes
- 3 dealers buying elsewhere
Answer
Most of the gap is on your trucks, not your dealers. Move 41 loads forward and restore the old route order. Give account managers rack data for the 3 dealers buying elsewhere.
A decision.
Eight dealers behind. Eleven days left.
On the 19th, the monthly volume report showed eight dealers well behind their committed gallons. Their shortfall also put the wholesaler’s own supplier minimums at risk.
Account managers called a few dealers, and every one said business was fine. The usual playbook was ready: push the dealers, offer allowances, and buy the gap back with margin.
Before Cortex
What the team saw first
- Dealer volume8 accounts, 1.2M gallons below commitment
- Rack pricesNo unusual moves at their terminals
- Dealer feedback“Sales are normal”
- InstinctPressure the dealers, offer allowances
Then they kept asking
The follow-up questions, in the team’s own words.
“Why are they behind?”
62% of the gap is on your side: late loads, missed delivery windows, a road closure and softer demand. Three dealers are lifting from a cheaper supplier.
“Which dealers were hit hardest?”
Two dealers on one route had loads arrive after their morning peak nine times in three weeks. The route was resequenced when a driver left.
What Cortex found
Where the 1.2 million gallons went
- Late loads and missed delivery windows330,000 gal
- Loads arriving after the dealer’s peak hours230,000 gal
- Road closure detouring traffic past two sites110,000 gal
- Softer local demand80,000 gal
- Three dealers lifting from a cheaper competing supplier450,000 gal
62% of the gap came from late loads, missed delivery windows, a road closure and demand. Only 38% was the dealers.
“What should we do first?”
Move 41 loads forward for the five supply-side dealers, restore the old route order, and give account managers rack data for the three buying elsewhere.
The dealers weren’t short on customers. Their fuel was arriving late.
Cortex joined dealer sales, dealer tank inventory, dispatch records, terminal lifts and contract terms. It added weather, road closures, local events and competitor rack prices, and split the gap by cause in under a minute.
Two dealers on one route had loads arrive after their morning peak nine times in three weeks. A driver had left, and the route was resequenced. Low tanks at peak meant fewer grades available and lost sales. Nobody had connected the late arrivals to the volume report.
Fix the trucks first. Then talk to the dealers who really were buying elsewhere.
- Moved 41 loads forward for the five supply-side dealers and restored the old route order.
- Set an assistant to alert dispatch when any committed dealer’s tank falls below 30%.
- Gave account managers competitor rack data for the three off-contract dealers. Two came back within their contract price.
What changed.
Look at your own trucks before you lean on your dealers.
We were about to have eight hard conversations with dealers. Five of them would have been about our own trucks.
A volume commitment is a promise both sides keep. The team now knows which side slipped before anyone picks up the phone.
