Navigating Impacts of COVID on the Tanks Industry (NTC 2022 Preview)

Posted on Wednesday, August 31st, 2022 | Kale connerty

We are still feeling the cascading effects of COVID-19 in our UST universe. The pandemic has created a global disruption in manufacturing, shipping, distribution, and service.

Components like spill buckets aren’t just laying around waiting to be installed. Receiving a new fiberglass UST is about 18 months out from order to delivery.

COVID-19 has also caused disruptions in employment standards, creating a shortage of Class C UST operators, fuel delivery drivers, and perhaps most critically, qualified UST service providers.

Add to the mix: many states are backlogged trying to ensure their periodic inspection quotas are met. Plus, service providers are having difficulty in scheduling testing, service, and repairs.

So, if you are an UST operator and your spill bucket may have been tested after its due date, in part because of a lack of available testers, it may be irreparably cracked,  and, more likely, a replacement was backordered. What is an operator to do to maintain compliance? And what is an inspector to do with a non-compliant situation for which there is no simple or immediate remedy?

Hear from a veteran panel of distributors, testers, and owners, as to how they’ve tackled the problem. How do we accommodate this never-before-seen scale of disruption without jeopardizing public safety?

Moderator Ben Thomas will also summarize a survey about what various states are doing to address the impacts of COVID on UST compliance.

Panelists:

• Ben Thomas, UST Training
• Ed Pedchenko, SourceNA
• Ed Kubinsky, Crompco
• Adam Sansoucy, EG America