A typical Ontario car dealership running a 25-vehicle lot loses 24 to 30 staff hours per month to fueling — porters and salespeople driving inventory off-site to gas stations, returning, and reconciling receipts. At loaded labour rates of $28 per hour, that is roughly $700 to $850 per month per rooftop in pure labour cost, before counting customer-facing time lost when a salesperson is at an Esso instead of on the floor. Wheel-to-wheel mobile fuel delivery eliminates the entire workflow. Refuel Mobile is the only Ontario provider that delivers regular gasoline (not just diesel) directly to dealership inventory. This post explains where the 24 hours actually go, what the math looks like at your rooftop, and how the switch happens.
Most general managers, when asked, will guess that lot fueling consumes maybe 4 to 6 hours per month. The real number is closer to 24 to 30 because the visible part (the actual fill-up) is the smallest piece.
A typical mid-volume Ontario dealership runs 3 to 5 fueling cycles per day: demo vehicles for test drives, deliveries to customers, recon on used inventory, lot rotation for displays, trade-in prep. Each cycle, somebody on staff:
Total per cycle: 20 to 30 minutes per vehicle. Multiplied across 3 to 5 cycles per day, 5 days per week:
| Daily Cycles | Weekly Hours | Monthly Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 3 cycles/day | 5–7.5 hrs | 22–32 hrs |
| 4 cycles/day | 7–10 hrs | 30–43 hrs |
| 5 cycles/day | 8.5–12.5 hrs | 37–54 hrs |
The 24-hour figure in the title is conservative. It reflects the low end of a 3-cycle dealership. Most rooftops we audit run higher.
The labour cost depends on who is doing the runs. At most Ontario dealerships, it rotates across three roles:
| Role | Loaded Cost (Ontario, 2026) | What You Lose When They Fuel |
|---|---|---|
| Lot porter / detailer | $20–$25/hr | Lot prep, vehicle staging, detail backlog |
| Salesperson | $30–$45/hr (loaded) | Customer face time on the floor |
| Service advisor / lot manager | $40–$55/hr (loaded) | Customer service work, throughput |
Using a blended midpoint of $28/hour across the rotating roles, a dealership burning 24 hours per month on fueling spends:
That is the labour line only. It does not count:
The visible $8,000 per rooftop per year is the cost line that justifies the conversation. The invisible costs are why dealers who switch never go back.
The mechanics, end-to-end:
Step 1: Lot survey and cadence. We map your lot (front-line, recon, indoor showroom, used corral) and confirm how many vehicles fuel daily. Most dealerships set a cadence of daily, every-other-day, or three-times-weekly visits depending on volume.
Step 2: Pre-opening or after-hours delivery. Our TSSA-certified delivery technicians arrive before the doors open (typically 6:30 to 8:00 AM) and fuel every vehicle on the schedule in place. No keys exchanged. No vehicles moved. The salesperson who would have been pumping gas at 9:15 AM is on the floor at 9:00 AM with the customer.
Step 3: Per-VIN logging and one monthly invoice. Every fill is recorded by VIN, stall position, and litre count. Your bookkeeper gets one consolidated invoice per month instead of 60 to 100 receipts. For dealer groups, parent-account billing rolls multiple rooftops into one statement.
First delivery happens within five business days of contract signing. Most dealerships are fully transitioned off in-house fueling within 30 days.
Mobile fuel delivery is not a new product in Ontario. The big names — 4Refuel, fueldelivery.ca — have been around for years. But none of them deliver regular gasoline to car dealerships.
The national operators are diesel-only fleet plays. Their trucks, contracts, and customer-acquisition pipelines are built around large corporate fleets running diesel-class equipment: long-haul transport, construction, mining, logistics. Regular gasoline delivered to a dealership lot is outside their product. They will not quote it. If you have called them and been told "we don't service automotive retail," that is why.
Refuel Mobile is the only operator in Ontario delivering regular gasoline (87, 89, and 91 octane) directly to dealership inventory. We also deliver diesel for your service-bay loaners, dealer-trade tow vehicles, and any commercial work trucks on the property. Mixed-fuel dealerships get gas and diesel on the same visit, billed against the same account.
If you have looked into mobile fueling before and been told it is not available for cars, you were not lied to. You were just told the answer the diesel-only operators give. The answer changes when you ask the right vendor.
The example below reflects a typical mid-volume Ontario new-car franchise dealership and is composed from common Refuel Mobile customer outcomes. Specific dealership names and figures vary.
The GM contracted Refuel Mobile for daily 7:00 AM wheel-to-wheel delivery, regular gasoline only (the service bay handled its own diesel). First delivery 4 business days after signed agreement. Full transition in 21 days.
| Outcome | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Staff hours/month on fueling | 28 | 0 |
| Rooftop labour cost recovered | — | ~$2,350/quarter |
| Vehicles unavailable mid-day for fueling | 1–2 at all times | 0 |
| Per-receipt reimbursement processing | ~80/month | 1 monthly invoice |
| "Be backs" lost while salesperson off floor | Tracked anecdotally | None reported |
| Salesperson floor-hours recovered | — | ~12 hours/month |
The recovered labour figure is the part the GM put in the report to ownership. The recovered floor-hours is the part the GM cared about.
Wheel-to-wheel mobile fuel delivery typically wins for:
It does not always win for:
For most Ontario dealerships running daily test-drive and customer-delivery volume, the math is clear and the setup is fast.
If you run a dealership in the GTA, London, Hamilton, Barrie, Kitchener, or surrounding Ontario markets, request a quote and we will run the math against your actual lot size.
A better way to get fuel.
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