FAST vs MPC Comparison

Fastenal began as an industrial retailer, expanding its product portfolio from nuts and bolts to cutting tools, safety equipment, and janitorial supplies. It transitioned into a distributor by building out a dense network of branches close to its business customers. Once a customer becomes large enough, Fastenal installs vending machines and its own personnel on-site. Today, these on-site locations exceed Fastenal's branch count and remain the firm's main focus for expansion. Fastenal acts as a one-stop outsourcing partner for its industrial customers, offering value-added services along with a wide breadth of maintenance, repair, and operations supplies.

Marathon Petroleum is a leading integrated downstream and midstream energy company that operates 13 refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States with an aggregate crude oil refining capacity of 3.0 million barrels per day. The company is one of the largest producers of renewable diesel in the U.S.; its Dickinson, North Dakota facility has the capacity to produce 184 million gallons per year, and its Martinez, California, joint venture facility (a 50/50 partnership with Neste) reached its full capacity of 730 million gallons per year in late 2024. Marathon also owns the general partner and approximately 64% of MPLX LP, a large-cap master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure and logistics assets.