Posted: August 1, 2026

Why Fuel Companies Don’t Publish Their Prices, and What to Ask Instead

If you’ve called around for propane or heating oil quotes, you’ve run into this. Nobody will just tell you a number. You get asked where you live, how big your tank is, how much you used last year, whether you own the tank. It feels evasive, and plenty of people online say so.

We’re one of the companies that does this. Here’s the honest explanation, and what to ask so you get a number you can actually use.

Why won’t a propane company give me a price over the phone?

Fuel dealers quote different prices to different customers because the cost of serving a household varies with usage, tank ownership, delivery type and location, and because wholesale fuel costs change daily. There is no single retail price to publish.

The variables that move a residential quote:

• Annual usage. A 900 gallon customer and a 250 gallon customer cost nearly the same to serve. Same tank, same inspections, same insurance, similar number of truck visits. Spread over a third as many gallons, the per gallon cost is dramatically different.
• Tank ownership. If you own your tank, the dealer isn’t carrying its purchase, maintenance and replacement cost.
• Automatic versus will call. Automatic delivery lets a dealer route trucks efficiently and fill several homes in one trip. Will call means unplanned trips.
• Where you are. Delivery density is real. A road with eleven customers costs less per stop than a road with one.
• Wholesale timing. The underlying commodity moves daily.

Is it a bad sign if a company won’t quote over the phone?

Not by itself. But a company that won’t tell you the price after gathering your information is a different matter. The information gathering is legitimate. The refusal to then commit to a number is not.

A fair process looks like this. They ask about your usage and setup, they quote you a specific price per gallon, and they tell you what else appears on the bill. If you get through all the questions and still can’t get a number, that’s your answer about how they operate.

What should I ask instead of “what’s your price?”

Ask for the price per gallon at your usage level, then ask for every recurring charge by name. Five questions:

1. Based on roughly [your gallons] a year and a [size] tank, what’s my price per gallon?
2. What do you charge per delivery, and what’s it called on the invoice?
3. Is there an annual tank lease or rental?
4. What’s your minimum use threshold in gallons, and what’s the fee below it?
5. What does a price protection plan cost to join: flat fee, per gallon, or both?

Question 4 is the one to press on. A number of companies disclose that a minimum use fee exists without ever publishing the usage level that triggers it. Ask for the threshold in gallons and ask for it in writing.

Does the quoted price stay the same all season?

Only if you’re on a fixed price or capped plan. Otherwise it moves with the market. A quote you get in August on a variable rate is a snapshot, not a commitment. If price certainty matters to you, that’s what protection plans are for, and they’re worth comparing on their own terms.

How Kimlin handles it

We quote based on your usage, tank arrangement and delivery type, and our representatives have room to work with you. That’s exactly why we can’t post one number that would be true for everybody.

What we do publish is everything that isn’t the fuel: our complete fee schedule with dollar amounts, at our schedule of fees. As far as we know we’re the only dealer in the Hudson Valley who does.

That’s the trade we’ve made. We can’t publish a price that would be honest for every household. We can publish every other charge, so that once you have your quote, there are no surprises left.

Ask us the five questions above. Then ask them of everyone else you call.