Furnace oil – The extraordinary cold hitting us this season is taking its toll on heating systems, especially those who heat with oil. Tanks are running out faster than usual, leaving many to deal with frigid temperatures and desperate to get oil delivered – and some have been waiting for days without a delivery truck in sight.
All over social media and in the news there have been reports of people not being able to get through to their oil companies and if they do, they are told that those who have completely run out of oil are getting priority – but yet many with empty takes have still been waiting for days.
Oil companies are struggling to deal with the influx of calls, finding themselves unprepared and overwhelmed with the demand. Ultramar has been pointed out by many in particular, as well as Norco Oil.
The Montreal Times tried getting through to both companies, but with no success after waiting on hold for over 30 minutes.
A dispatcher from Ultramar commented on several posts circulating on social media, saying they have trucks working almost 24 hours on 2 shifts per day trying to make deliveries, but ‘the cold snap caught a lot of people off guard especially people heating with a dual energy system’. He also cited Quebec’s ‘Bill 430’ – which regulates how many hours a truck driver is allowed to be working on the road.
The bill states, ‘No driving is allowed after the driver has accumulated 70 hours of on-duty time over a period of 7 consecutive days without having taken at least 24 consecutive hours of off-duty time’.
Even Sun Youth, who provides heating oil to economically disadvantaged families in emergency situations, is struggling to meet the requests coming in.
In the meantime, people are freezing while temperatures continue to drop at an alarming inside their homes.
Are you facing problems with getting heating oil? Let us know by e-mailing or calling!
514-457-7656
