The company relied on the expertise of a staff of experienced billing agents, account managers and administrative specialists whose primary tools were one giant customer database built on Microsoft Access, Exchange email and the anachronistic but effective use of paper invoices delivered via fax or snail mail.This process was effective until Irene made it clear that if power went out in the main office Diesel Direct wouldn’t be able to send out that fast flurry of invoices every day. And without that, their cash-flow situation would be greatly impacted very quickly.Their clients, fleet managers for distribution companies, understand quickly how Diesel Direct can save them money by letting them trade a few extra cents per gallon of fuel for the FTE cost of having their own people handle the fuelling and maintenance and reporting, plus the cost of having the truck off the road while they’re doing it. Diesel Direct’s services allow them to skip most of that. The model doesn’t require a lot of technology, but Diesel Direct can’t accomplish anything if its minimal IT infrastructure is offline for any length of time.