When Failure Is Not An Option

DENNIS K. BURKE, INC., HITS THE HEIGHTS OF FUEL DELIVERY IN NEW ENGLAND WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF BLACKMER® TXD SERIES SLIDING VANE PUMPS

Knowing what we know about Ted Burke today, if you were growing up with him he just might have been one of those kids who was game for anything. Eat that bug? Sure. Jump out of that tree? OK. Put a tack on the teacher’s chair? Sounds like fun.

Burke has brought that same let’s-give-it-a-try mentality to his current role as President of Dennis K. Burke, Inc., a 52-year-old company headquartered in Chelsea, MA, USA, that was founded by his Uncle Dennis and run for many years by him and Ted’s father, Ed Burke. Except now, the questions are a little bit different: Operate a multi-state fuel oil, gasoline and lubricants distributorship? Of course. Become a trend-setting supplier of biodiesel to the Northeast? It’s worth a shot. Jump on the Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) bandwagon as one of the first suppliers in the region? You can’t win if you don’t play.

It seems, however, that a “let’s take a shot” attitude is imbedded deep within the DNA of the Burke family tree. Uncle Dennis actually started his eponymous company in 1961 as a provider of steam-cleaning services for the inside of meat trailers. Even when the company branched out into the delivery of heating oil, it didn’t follow the traditional path of supplying a customer base that consisted mostly of residences, but chose to concentrate instead on municipal and commercial/industrial end-users.

“We started off as a local company supplying diesel fuel for emergency response in high-service areas, companies that needed rapid response time for their requirements,” explained Burke. “Since then, we’ve grown to operate in all of the New England states, plus New York, and as far south as Maryland. We own our own fleet of trucks and we’re a little different than traditional fuel and gas companies in that we don’t deliver heating oil to homes and don’t do gasoline to gas stations. We really specialize in end-users, commercial/industrial and municipal accounts that we supply with diesel fuel.”

A Long-Standing Relationship

While Dennis K. Burke has an impressively diverse product offering – which even includes antifreeze and hydraulic oils and automatic transmission fluids – Ted Burke is a one-pump man, and that pump is a Blackmer® TXD Series Sliding Vane Pump, which Dennis K. Burke has been using for many years.

Today, whenever Ted Burke needs some new pumps he reaches out to Mike Trask, President of Hall Trask Equipment Co., Braintree, MA, USA, for help in identifying the best pump for his myriad applications. Hall Trask acquired its current name in 1995 when it purchased Hall Equipment Co., but Trask Equipment had been a recognized supplier of pumps, meters, valves and tank equipment in New England since the 1930s, when it was founded by Mike Trask’s grandfather. His father subsequently ran the business for many years, with Mike and his brothers, Billy and Paul, now in charge.

“Our relationship with Dennis K. Burke started before Hall Trask, and today Dennis K. Burke is a large buyer of pumps, meters and valves, and many of the other components that go on their transports and straight trucks,” said Trask.

Hall Trask has also had a longstanding relationship with Blackmer.

“Blackmer has been a long-time manufacturer-supplier of pumps for us, long before Hall Trask came into being in 1995,” said Trask. “When we bought Hall Equipment, we asked Blackmer if they could keep us on as a preferred supplier of Blackmer products and we’re glad they accepted us. We now have more than 40 years overall as a Blackmer supplier.”

The TXD pumps are ideal for all parties involved because they have been designed for use in truck-mounted applications for the delivery and transfer of a wide array of petroleum products. They feature Blackmer’s unique sliding vane design that self-adjusts for wear and maintains desired flow rates, while providing excellent self-priming and dry-run capabilities. The mechanical seal and ball-bearing construction provide maximum reliability while the symmetrical bearing support assures even loading and wear. Maintenance is also quick and easy as any worn vanes or rods can be replaced without needing to remove the pump from the vehicle.

No Room For Compromise

The four-decade relationship between Dennis K. Burke, Hall Trask Equipment and Blackmer has been fruitful for everyone. It’s hard to walk through the Dennis K. Burke facility and truck yard and not see a Blackmer TXD pump, whether in 2-, 2.5- or 3-inch sizes, on most of the company’s 75-strong fleet of rolling stock, or in any number of stationary applications. And if a TXD pump isn’t being used now, odds are it soon will be.

“We choose to go with Blackmer because they have had a lot of success in fuel-transport applications. We only have a couple other kinds of pumps in service only because they haven’t failed…yet. If we’ve purchased a truck with another type of pump on it, they always fail and then we replace them with a Blackmer,” said Shane Verge, Fleet Manager for Dennis K. Burke. “I’ve also talked to other fleet managers who have purchased low-cost, knock-off pumps who thought they were getting something equal to a Blackmer TXD pump, or the same quality, and they’ve had problems right from the start. Why would you waste the time—which equals money in our business—and go with the knock-off pumps? We make sure it says Blackmer on the pump because we want consistent reliability.”

“Without question, many of our customers, along with Dennis K. Burke, when they come to us to spec out a truck for the process of oil delivery, gas delivery or something similar, right away we’re thinking Blackmer and we’re gonna recommend Blackmer,” added Trask. “Several years ago, Dennis K. Burke bought a host of stock vehicles off the lot and with that they had competitive pumps and they were having trouble with those pumps over and over again and they asked us what they should substitute in place and they chose to go with Blackmer. Unless they buy a truck off the lot, everything they request from us, we’re going to put a Blackmer pump on it.”

In addition to their exemplary performance in the field, the TXD pumps are also easy to maintain and service – in the rare instances when they need service.

“Uptime is key and crucial in this business and you have to keep the product delivered,” said Verge. “The thing about Blackmer pumps is that they are very easy to work on. You just pull the cover off and look at the vanes to see if they are bad, pull the bad vane, replace it and put the pump back in service.”

Blackmer is so confident in the performance and reliability of its TXD Series pumps that it offers the best standard warranty in the market. The warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship under normal use and service for 60 months after installation, or 66 months after shipment, whichever comes first. Blackmer also offers a two-year Pump Assurance Program in which the company will replace any part (including wear parts) in a pump over the first two years of pump operation.

Conclusion

Dennis K. Burke didn’t get to where it is today by making haphazard choices when it came to choosing its preferred pumping equipment. The reliability, durability, ease of maintenance and overall performance that is delivered by Blackmer TXD Series pumps in a number of diverse applications means they will continue to hold a hallowed place in Dennis K. Burke’s wide-ranging fuel- and liquid-handling operations.

“Over the years we’ve tried different configurations, different technologies and components, but we’ve found that the reliability of the Blackmer pumps can’t be touched. Never have. Never will. The performance and longevity of Blackmers dramatically exceed what we’ve found from competitive pumps, so when we build new trucks we mandate that Blackmer pumps be included in that build,” said Burke.

Take a chance on a new business opportunity? Sure. Go down that road with a fleet or fluid-handling application that doesn’t feature Blackmer TXD Series Sliding Vane Pumps? Now that’s TOO risky!

About the Author:

Kent Crawford is the Regional Manager, USA and Canada, for Blackmer® and PSG®. He can be reached at Kent.Crawford@psgdover.com. For more information on Grand Rapids, MI, USA-based Blackmer and the company’s full line of pumps and compressors, please go to blackmer.com or call (616) 241-1611. Blackmer is a member of Dover Corporation’s PSG®, Oakbrook Terrace, IL, USA, which is comprised of several leading pump brands – Abaque®, All-Flo, Almatec®, Blackmer®, Griswold™, Maag, Neptune™, Mouvex®, Quattroflow™ and Wilden®. You can find more information on PSG at psgdover.com.

Following in the innovative footsteps of his Uncle Dennis and father, Ed, Ted Burke continues to make Dennis K. Burke, Inc., one of the most diversified petroleum-product delivery companies in New England.	As long as Ted Burke can remember, Blackmer® TXD Series Sliding Vane Pumps have helped keep the Dennis K. Burke fleet rolling along.

As Fleet Manager for Dennis K. Burke, Shane Verge (left) is in charge of keeping Ted Burke’s 75-strong fleet of rolling stock on the road, not in the workshop. Verge does that by counting on the performance and reliability of Blackmer® TXD Series Sliding Vane Pumps.

Breathe Easier With Blackmer®

The success of many companies can hinge on the capability they have in not only identifying potential growth areas, but also then having the courage to act on their intuition. Such is the case with Dennis K. Burke, Inc., Chelsea, MA, USA, and biofuels. The long-time gasoline and diesel supplier was one of the first to begin distributing biofuels in New England and now it’s hard to go a day without seeing a fuel-delivery truck or 18-wheel transport emblazoned with the slogan, “Boston Breathes Better With Burke.”

“We’ve actually been on the leading edge of the transition to biofuels and have had the commonwealth of Massachusetts contract for biofuels since 2001,” said Ted Burke, President of Dennis K. Burke, Inc., the company that was formed in 1961 by his Uncle Dennis and operated for many years by his father, Ed. “We supply a number of municipal entities, colleges or universities, really a lot of people who have a mandate or sustainable initiative to use biofuels. Over the last several years, we’ve also seen a trend where private fleets want to go ‘green,’ for lack of a better word, and utilize alternative fuels and reduce their oil consumption, so we’ve gotten more and more calls to introduce biodiesel to private fleets.”

Dennis K. Burke buys B100 biodiesel and blends it with traditional diesel fuel as needed for specific customers. Playing a major role in helping Dennis K. Burke blend and deliver its biofuels are TXD Series Sliding Vane Pumps from Blackmer®, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.

But Dennis K. Burke didn’t stop expanding its repertoire with biofuels. When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) stricter new standards regulating the amounts of nitrogen oxide (NOx) that could be emitted to the atmosphere through a diesel vehicle’s exhaust system went into effect in 2010, a niche market for Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) was created.

Blackmer® TXD SeriesSliding Vane Pump

Recognizing another opportunity, Dennis K. Burke became one of New England’s first distributors of DEF, which converts the harmful NOx found in diesel exhaust into harmless nitrogen and water vapor through a process called Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). All new diesel vehicles now contain a DEF tank that must be refilled periodically lest the vehicle is found to be in non-compliance with the new NOx regulations and subject to fines. Supplying that DEF to petroleum marketers is now a growing business for Dennis K. Burke.

“Diesel Exhaust Fluid, from a growth perspective, is certainly the most exciting part of our business now,” said Burke. “It takes a little longer for fleets to kick over and introduce new (post-2009 model year) vehicles into their fleets, but once that conversion starts happening it really moves at an elevated rate, so we’re starting to see volumes ramp up quickly.”

Blackmer has also recognized the potential in the DEF supply and transportation market and has responded with the STX2A-DEF and STX1220A-DEF Sliding Vane Pump models, which were introduced to the market in 2012 for use with DEF, which has a series of unique handling characteristics.

Blackmer STX2A-DEF Pump

Source: By Kent Crawford, PSG Dover webpage