SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - If you have been waiting for an oil delivery that hasn’t come, you’re not alone. Western Mass News has received complaints from viewers that local oil companies are too busy to refill their tanks. We turned to a local energy company to get answers about what’s causing the backlog.

We spoke with a representative Noonan Energy on Wednesday, they told us this is definitely the busy season. They recommend if you’re not on an auto-refill system, make sure you reach out when you’re at about a quarter tank of oil. That way you’re guaranteed a delivery on time.

It’s New Year’s Eve. And for some western Mass families, they’ll be ringing in 2026 in a cold home. We had a handful of viewers reached out to us this week after running out of oil to heat their homes and hitting a roadblock with a backlog in deliveries.

“It’s one less delivery day. And on a typical day in the wintertime, we may be making somewhere between 200 and 250 deliveries,” Western Mass News spoke with Tim Noonan of Noonan Energy on Wednesday to find out what’s causing the delays and what you can do if you’re running low.

“Don’t procrastinate. Try not to let your oil tank get below a quarter. That way, even if you can’t get a delivery today, a quarter, even in real cold weather, will last you three or four days,” Noonan said.

Noonan Energy has been a household name in western Massachusetts since the 1800s, first for ice deliveries, then moving toward the heating industry in the late 1920’s. Those decades have given Tim a bird’s eye view of the industry. When we spoke, Noonan told us he and his staff are definitely busy. but as a larger company, they have more trucks and more drivers than most of the area oil companies.

If you get energy from one of the smaller local brands, it’s important to keep in mind even the big companies are working on overdrive this holiday season. that’s why Noonan encourages all customers, no matter where they get your oil from, to be proactive.

“Some of them, a lot of people called last fall and got all set up, but then there are people who don’t even realize that they have oil heat if they just moved into it. And then they find out when they run out of oil and things are getting cold and then they,” Noonan said.

If you do find yourself in this situation, Noonan said you have options, but they’re limited, “They can add diesel fuel to it. They have to have a clean can, not one that had gasoline in it before, and pour that right in the fill pipe. But then most of the time when you run out of oil, you have to prime it. and not everybody can do that. Our drivers do it and we have service techs that do it. but the average person, if they’ve never changed oil before, would have a hard time, even if they did go on YouTube and try to find something on the internet. There are instructions, but it’s still not easy.”

The moral of the story, be proactive and book your oil deliveries ahead of time. Noonan suggested being on an auto-delivery program. if you can’t, make sure your oil tank never gets below a quarter full. if you’re running low right now, call your oil company today.

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