LPG Spotlight: Boehlke Bottled Gas Corp.

When it comes to operating a successful propane business, achieving diversification is key to growing gallons and profits. Boehlke Bottled Gas Corp., a propane marketer in southeastern Wisconsin, prides itself on diversification through several avenues.

Boehlke Bottled Gas Corp. has a combined 64,000 gallons worth of storage to fill GO Riteway’s vehicles. Photo courtesy of Boehlke Bottled Gas Corp.

“We pretty much touch into all sectors of the propane market you can get into,” says Chad Kroening, vice president of safety and commercial operations for Boehlke Bottled Gas. “We diversify and touch into all of those different markets in the industry. We don’t just do home heating or commercial or autogas, but we do a little bit of everything to meet the customer’s needs.”

Boehlke Bottled Gas holds a strong position in the local autogas market. The company provides fuel for three local police fleets, two independent contractor school bus fleets, and a school bus fleet and airport shuttle operation both managed by GO Riteway Transportation. It even operates a substantial portion of its own company fleet on propane.

The company’s autogas work began when GO Riteway, a ground transportation company, was exploring propane autogas for its airport shuttle fleet.

The relationship between the propane marketer and transportation company began in 2011 after Riteway acquired transportation company GO Airport Connection. Kroening says GO Airport Connection was entertaining the idea of adding propane as a motor fuel before the acquisition, but Riteway provided the final push to adopt the alternative fuel.

Kroening and Boehlke Bottled Gas got to work on drafting a quote, providing service information and organizing infrastructure equipment when GO Riteway decided on propane. Boehlke Bottled Gas was heavily involved in the entire process, from the construction of infrastructure to fuel delivery.

Today, GO Riteway operates a 24/7 airport shuttle service and school bus operation with nearly 200 of its vehicles powered by propane. Each of those vehicles, Kroening estimates, uses 2,500 gallons per year from one of the company’s three propane autogas refueling stations that hold a combined 64,000 gallons of on-site storage.

Establishing that first autogas refueling station presented some hurdles, Kroening says, requiring a strong attention to detail.

In Wisconsin, Kroening explains, proper identification on refueling equipment is crucial. If the proper sticker or code isn’t on a piece of equipment, the state won’t allow the installation. Kroening says a lot of research went into this process to ensure construction was done in a timely matter.

“We had to make sure we were meeting the state permitting plan properly,” he explains. “We really did our due diligence on that because we knew it would be an issue, so we built the dispenser on-site and brought an inspector on-site to make sure it went smoothly.”

Boehlke Bottled Gas Corp.

Founders // Earl Boehlke, Ernst Boehlke, Gerhard Wetzel
Headquarters // Cedarburg, Wisconsin
Owners // Roger Boehlke, Royal Boehlke, Linda Sommer
Employees // 28
Website // boehlkebgcorp.com