Lorenzo Jensen scurried about the Hampel Oil Distributors, Inc. service area, 503 West St., Wednesday afternoon while his J & J Contractors crane strained to lift 20,000-gallon fuel tanks from flatbed transport trailers.
When the day was done, four of the huge fuel tanks were on the ground. They were scheduled to be set inside a dike-confined area today and soon will be filled with fuel for distribution from Iola.
About 85 percent of fuel sold here is delivered by tank wagon trucks, mainly to farms within 60 miles in any direction. A semi-tanker that carries 7,500 gallons of diesel or 8,100 gallons of unleaded gasoline services larger accounts.
“We’re upgrading and expanding our operation,” said Greg Schemper, manager of the local operation.
The four new tanks will replace four that held 12,000 gallons each.
“That puts us at 130,000 gallons of on-site storage capacity,” Schemper noted; before it 98,000 gallons.
When all tanks are full, Hampel has about $500,000 worth of fuel in Iola, 32,000 gallons of gasoline and 98,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
“We’re real excited about the expansion,” Schemper continued. Though reluctant to put a dollar figure on the upgrade, he said it “is substantial. We’ve been planning this for a year and a half,” prompted by “a lot of growth the past three or four years.”
Jensen judged that his boom and cable crane might have
difficulty setting the new tank and suggested to Schemper that he summon a larger hydraulic machine to finish the job. Jensen recommended two companies that are within easy driving distance of Iola.
HAMPEL OIL has had a presence in Iola since 1981, when it purchased Harold’s Mobile Service at the same location.
The company maintained ties to Mobile and later converted from a full-service station to the distribution station that it now operates.
In addition to fuel, Hampel sells oil, anti-freeze, hydraulic fluid and grease from it’s Iola outlet.
“Sales have been wonderful,” Schemper crowed, with this week’s expansion ample evidence.
Hampel Oil began as a family-owned and operated business in 1976 when Al Hampel, who started in the profession with Standard Oil Co. in 1946, was asked to become an independent distributor for Amoco.
