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The Circuit – November 2024 Newsletter
Table of Contents
News from Our CEO
Greetings!
We are back from the NACS/PEI Convention in Las Vegas. It is the biggest event in retail petroleum and this year’s show had a really strong energy. Booth traffic was exceptional and customers showed much excitement in our new products. I even met a few customers who are readers of the Circuit newsletter 🙂
The Convention offers so much more than just the tradeshow floor. The Petroleum Equipment Institute hosts many educational sessions through the convention. I counted a total of twenty-three. My favorites were “The Big AHA” by keynote speaker Jack Uldrich, which I had the pleasure of introducing. The closing keynote speaker was Admiral McRaven of the “Make Your Bed” fame. I have been attending the PEI Conventions for many years but started taking advantage of the educational session only in recent years. If you work in petroleum and are not currently a PEI member I would encourage you to join and support that organization. You will receive much in return.
While we were enjoying connecting with industry friends and colleagues, not everyone was able to come this year. Hurricane Milton made landfall just south of Tampa as a category 3 storm. We were blessed that all of our FL employees made it through the storm OK. I am happy to report that our facility received only minor roof damage. The FL team was back up and running quickly, ready to support our customers who were working overtime to repair storm damage.
The remainder of this year is focused on putting the finishing touches on our 2025 Operating Plan and taking this year to a strong finish. We also have a few more exciting products we are launching this year, but you will have to wait for next month’s update.
Until next time,
Patrick Jeitler
Freedom Electronics President & CEO
Freedom to innovate, power to solve.
Industry News
Our 2024 NACS Recap
One of my favorite weeks of the year comes every October, the week of the NACS trade show. This trade show always provides great industry networking, quality face-to-face interaction with customers, and learning opportunities in leadership, products, and happenings in our industry. This year NACS hosted the show in Las Vegas, Nevada. It did not disappoint, providing record-breaking attendance, 26,124 attendees. NACS said this was 8.5% higher than last year and 3.8% higher than the previous record attendance. This included attendees from 68 different countries.
Freedom Electronics’ continued involvement, as a Gold PEI Priority Club member and recently NACS Hunter Club Member, provided added opportunities for networking and marketing many of our new products. Our team had the opportunity to participate in the Priority Club Reception, Manufacturing Council, Manager’s Special Interest Group, PEI Find Red, PEI Women’s Luncheon, and much more. One of the highlights was our sponsorship of PEI’s opening day General Session with speaker Jack Uldrich. Our CEO, Patrick Jeitler, was able to share from the stage about the continued growth, new innovative products, and great customer service offered by Freedom Electronics, along with introducing Jack. We were also recognized during the PEI Member Celebration and awarded a plaque for 25 years of membership in PEI. We certainly value and appreciate the PEI and NACS staff and the opportunity to be involved with both organizations.
Our booth this year, was our largest display to date, highlighting the vast capabilities of Freedom Electronics and our strong engineering team. Each corner showed off a specific area of our business. Our Freedom Engineered products were a hit as many customers spent time in that corner looking over and learning about the many brand-new products the Freedom Electronics team has recently developed and brought as high-quality solutions to the industry. Customers could view some of the custom solutions we offer as our team works to solve challenges with innovative solutions and products. Our Freedom Remanufactured products continue to give customers solutions with their cores, and product needs, and our ESCO Intercoms, overfill alarms, and Emergency Shut Off Switches offer customers some cost-effective quality solutions for new stores. We look forward every year to showing off our growing new products and capabilities. We hope to see you at the next trade show and invite you to stop by one of our booths and meet with our team. We hope to see you next year in Chicago at the 2025 NACS show.
Product Spotlights
Battery Pack for Commander
Why Do We Offer These Products?
- Freedom batteries give you the power to keep your customers running and to let service companies sell scheduled services (and not emergency services).
- The highest specifications used for batteries and specialty charging circuits are present (SPM, Commander) so your equipment will continue to run.
- Read our Tech Tips on how long the OEM recommends between battery changes. Given the expense of a dead battery (Dead SPM, or Site down due to Commander’s loss of programming), scheduling a maintenance visit every 2 years with your customer makes a lot of sense to them, and a profitable visit for the service company.
More Probe Choices
Greater Flexibility for Stainless Steel Shafts
What Is Changing
- Easier Ordering for Stainless Steel Shafts on MagPlus Probes
- You can choose between:
- Standard MagPlus (846390-xxx)
- MagPlus with a Stainless-Steel shaft (846397-xxx)
- Upgrading or repairing your MagPlus probe with a stainless-steel shaft is just $50 extra.
- You can choose between:
- Partial Credit for Probes of Different Lengths
- Freedom offers 50% credit when you trade in a Mag or MagPlus probe on your new order (of the same kind) for a different length.
Why This Is Important
Since introducing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in 2005, ethanol blend rates have surged from less than 3% to consistently over 10% by 2016 (EIA data). Standard probes’ aluminum alloys are prone to corrosion from ethanol-blended fuels, which can lead to small but critical pinhole leaks. That’s why Freedom replaces every aluminum shaft with a new one, ensuring long-lasting performance.
What You Should Do
- Order Stainless Steel Shafts for High-Ethanol Environments
- When ordering MagPlus probes, consider stainless steel shafts if the probe will be exposed to high ethanol fuel environments.
- Maximize Your Trade-In Credit
- Have a probe core of a different length in stock? Send it in for partial credit and apply it toward the remanufactured probe you need.
What Stays the Same:
- Trust Freedom’s Remanufactured Probes
- Freedom-remanufactured probes are reliable, corrosion-resistant, and ready to install.
- Only Freedom replaces every aluminum shaft to prevent corrosion risks.
- The original Mag probes are still available but come exclusively with aluminum shafts.
- You have the flexibility to purchase a probe outright or through an exchange program.
- Always Use a New Probe Cable and Epoxy Kit
- Don’t overlook the importance of using a new probe cable and epoxy kit (both included with every probe purchase). The connection between the probe and the probe cable is a common failure point, so replacing the cable during installation helps ensure the longevity of your probe.
Tech Tip
Routine Battery Replacement
Having a weak or dead battery during a power outage can disrupt business even further and be very costly. POS systems, tank monitors, and dispensers can all be affected by a low/dead battery.
Some dispenser components can become tampered with and require replacement before operations can resume. Example: It is recommended to replace Wayne SPM Keypad batteries every 2 years or when below 3.2V.
Some POS systems can crash preventing any transactions and fuel sales. Example: It is recommended to replace most Verifone POS batteries every 2 years. Using a UPS Battery Backup on a POS system is highly recommended but will not make up for a dead Point-of-Sale battery.
Some tank monitors may lose their programming, and you may not be able to dispense fuel or get inventory readings. Example: It is recommended to replace the Veeder Root TLS-350 battery every 2 years or when below 3.4V.
Don’t let such a basic, inexpensive part cause further headaches. Replace your batteries routinely and write the date of replacement on the batteries for future reference.
Core Charge Refunds
Buy outright or exchange your cores for credit.
Top-Notch Support
We’re experts on fuel dispensers parts.
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