LPG Spotlight: PepUp

March 25, 2026 By Bob Sandrick 0 Comments

Nash McMahan, left, Keith McMahan and PepUp considered a more efficient way to source propane. (Photo by Tara Brittingham)

The March 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is still affecting traffic patterns and area businesses today.

No one has experienced that more than Nash McMahan, president of PepUp, a retail and wholesale deliverer of propane and other fuels. The company’s headquarters is in Federalsburg, Maryland, just southeast of Baltimore.

PepUp relied on the Key Bridge, which was part of Interstate 695, to cross the Patapsco River and pick up propane delivered to a Baltimore railroad terminal in the city’s Canton neighborhood. From there, the company trucked the fuel to customers throughout the mid-Atlantic.

“That terminal is one of five rail terminals we have in our holdings,” McMahan says. “It’s not the only one available to us, but it was an important one.”

With the Key Bridge gone, PepUp had to take a longer, more circular freeway route to the Canton terminal that can add up to 90 minutes to the trip. It was a thorn in the company’s logistics.

“Three hours in total really does take a toll on your logbooks,” McMahan says.

The bridge collapse occurred at the tail end of the heating season, when propane isn’t in such high demand, but PepUp officials knew they had to act fast because fall and winter would return soon. They needed an alternative way to move propane.

PepUp assembled its senior leadership team, including McMahan’s father, Keith McMahan, the company’s chairman and CEO. They discussed using a different, closer terminal, but there were few in the region.

Access to one particular railroad terminal on the river’s south side, opposite the Canton terminal on the north bank, could help. Fortunately, McMahan knew leaders of a fuel wholesaler that had recently obtained rights to use that terminal. He called them and asked if PepUp could also receive product there.

“Their response was, ‘Hey, we’re here to help. Tell us what we can do,’” McMahan says.

McMahan says PepUp plans to keep the southern terminal in its transportation network until a replacement bridge is built over the Patapsco River. The company is still using the Canton terminal, but to a lesser extent.

It might seem counterintuitive to expect help from a competing business, but McMahan says the propane industry is tight-knit.

“Our industry is a small industry with a loud voice,” McMahan says. “When someone is in need, we rally around each other to help make sure that need is taken care of. And that’s exactly what has happened here.”

Company Profile: PepUp

Year founded // 1963
Headquarters // Federalsburg, Maryland
Founder // Lee and Audrey McMahan
Owners // Nash and Keith McMahan
Delivery vehicles // 57 bobtails, 21 transports
Employees // 230
Online // pepupinc.com