Distributors of diesel fuel have had reason to fret in recent years as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has raised diesel’s cleanliness requirements, putting new cost pressures on everyone from producers to end users.

But one of the largest diesel distributors in Massachusetts, Dennis K. Burke, Inc., has found reason to celebrate instead. The private $300 million company has tripled the volume of its multi-fuel business from 45 million gallons sold in 2001 to 150 million gallons this year. A combination of old and new business strategies explains how this tenacious operation on the Boston waterfront turned a potentially sour business environment into lemonade for owners and employees.

On the traditional side, the firm practices a loyalty to customers, vendors, and employees that’s proven more effective than antiquated in the 21st century. And on the forward-looking side, Dennis K. Burke’s infrastructural investments of six years ago positioned the company to become a leading supplier of what’s billed as a clean fuel of the future: biodiesel.

Ted Burke

“One of the biggest reasons why people are looking to this is to reduce the dependence on foreign oil,” said Ted Burke, president and co-owner. “The soy we use is grown here in the United States and refined here as well. So from a security and patriotic standpoint, it has a lot of advantages.”

Branching out
Dennis K. Burke Oil Co. has 85 employees at its Chelsea, Mass. headquarters in a prime location beside the region’s busiest shipping terminal. From here, a fleet of 54 trucks delivers diesel as well as heating oil, gasoline, and other fuels to customers who often operate fleets of their own. These buyers are end users who pay wholesale prices for the fuel they need to power cranes, tractor trailers, tugboats, Coast Guard vessels, snowplows, golf carts, and other machines.

In just the past year, Dennis K. Burke has branched out beyond its core service areas of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Maine. The company now serves facilities in Vermont, Connecticut, and New York, but not because it has a geographic expansion strategy. Long-time customers simply want Dennis K. Burke to supply their facilities in other states, and drivers have been happy to comply.

“It’s been a wonderful thing,” Burke said. “Once we have a strong customer who brings us into a new state, we’ve been backing that up with a sales rep and the infrastructure to support him.”

Customer loyalty over decades isn’t unusual for Dennis K. Burke, which is named for Ted’s uncle, who founded the company in South Boston in 1961. That’s because the company aspires to compete not only on price but also on superior service. Drivers make sure to leave a facility spotless after a delivery, Burke said. And if a customer has a problem, such as water in a fuel tank, experienced staff at Dennis K. Burke will make a point to recommend a solution and sometimes provide the name of a competent, reasonably priced contractor who can do the job.

To provide this level of service, Dennis K. Burke relies on experienced drivers. The company pays more than competitors, Burke said, but that’s fine with him because skilled drivers with hazardous materials training are always lined up to work for him. Plus, several drivers with more than 20 years experience with the company forge the basis of long-term, trusting relationships with customers. All that, Burke said, makes his guys behind the wheel well worth their salaries.

Changing times
Of course, sticking with traditional business strategies doesn’t solely account for Dennis K. Burke’s success. The business began as a steam cleaning service for trailers carrying meat products. From there, Dennis K. Burke and his brother, Eddie, added a fueling station to what was becoming the seed of a family empire. Over time, a distributorship grew out of the retail fuel business. In 1980, the distributorship moved across town from South Boston to Chelsea.

Adapting to changing times has served Dennis K. Burke well. The company’s addition of lubricants and hydraulic oils to its repertoire in the early 1980s required the acquisition of warehouse space in Chelsea. But lubricants and oils have juiced up the firm’s income over the long haul as a strong complement to fuels, where pricing is always volatile and annual revenues are difficult to project.

A beneficial break came in 2001, when electric utility and Dennis K. Burke customer N-Star notified the company of plans to convert its truck fleet to run on biodiesel. Within a few years, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts mandated that all its Department of Transportation vehicles also run on biodiesel. Dennis K. Burke now supplies the fuel for the state’s fleet.

“If someone wants to know about biodiesel in the state of Massachusetts, we’re the people to talk to,” Burke said. “So that’s been a good thing from a marketing perspective.”

To serve the biodiesel market, Dennis K. Burke needed to convert four motor oil tanks to biodiesel, a process that at the time cost upward of $20,000 per tank. Now, as biodiesel captures the imagination of an increasingly eco-minded public, the investment seems worthwhile. Dennis K. Burke is already reaping the benefits of association with a cutting-edge fuel.

“Someone will see a truck promoting how it runs on biodiesel and they’ll ask, ‘Hey, where do you get your bio-diesel from?’” Burke said. “Next thing I know, my phone is ringing and somebody else wants biodiesel. It’s opened a lot of doors for us.”

The evolution of Dennis K. Burke’s product line isn’t finished yet. The company has asked regulators for permission to open the first retail pump in Massachusetts to serve E-85, a fuel that consists of 85% ethanol. As federal lawmakers look for ways to cut down on gasoline consumption and boost the usage of ethanol, Dennis K. Burke is already positioning itself to become New England’s go-to distributor of choice for another 21st century fuel.

G. Jeffrey MacDonald is a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. Based in Newburyport, Mass., he can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .