SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549
                             ----------------------

                                   FORM 8 - K


             Current Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15 (d) of the
                         Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)                July 24, 2003
                                                                -------------

                         Commission File Number: 1-14222

                         SUBURBAN PROPANE PARTNERS, L.P.
                         -------------------------------
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


        Delaware                                             22-3410353
        --------                                             ----------
(State or other jurisdiction                              (I.R.S. Employer
       of incorporation)                                 Identification No.)

                                240 Route 10 West
                              Whippany, N.J. 07981
                                 (973) 887-5300
                              --------------------
               (Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including
        area code, of registrant's principal executive offices)





                                                                    Page 1
                                                   Exhibit Index on Page 4





ITEM 7.  FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS

(c)  Exhibits.   A copy of the Press  Release has been furnished as Exhibit 99.1
                 to this Current Report.


ITEM 9.  REGULATION FD DISCLOSURE

The following  information,  which is intended to be furnished  under Item 12 of
Form 8-K,  "Disclosure  of Results of Operations  and Financial  Condition,"  is
instead  being  furnished  under  this  Item  9  of  Form  8-K,  "Regulation  FD
Disclosure,"  in accordance  with the  Securities  and Exchange  Commission  SEC
Release No. 33-8216.  This  information,  including the exhibit attached hereto,
shall not be  deemed  "filed"  for  purposes  of  Section  18 of the  Securities
Exchange Act of 1934,  as amended  (the  "Exchange  Act"),  or  incorporated  by
reference in any filing under the  Securities  Act of 1933,  as amended,  or the
Exchange Act,  except as shall be expressly  set forth by specific  reference in
such a filing.

On July 24, 2003,  Suburban Propane  Partners,  L.P. issued a press release (the
"Press Release")  describing our Fiscal 2003 Third Quarter Financial Results and
Distribution  Declaration.  A copy of the Press  Release has been  furnished  as
Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report.

Within the Press Release,  we reference  certain  non-GAAP  financial  measures;
including  earnings  before  interest,   taxes,  depreciation  and  amortization
("EBITDA").  Additionally,  we  discuss  EBITDA,  net  income and net income per
Common  Unit  excluding  the impact of  unrealized  (non-cash)  gains and losses
attributable to the mark-to-market  activity on derivative  instruments recorded
in accordance  with  Statement of Financial  Accounting  Standards No. 133 ("FAS
133").

We provide these non-GAAP financial measures because we believe that they assist
the investment community in properly assessing our liquidity on a year-over-year
basis. In addition,  we believe that these non-GAAP  financial  measures provide
useful  information  to  investors  and  industry  analysts  to  facilitate  the
comparison  of cash flows between  reporting  periods for purposes of evaluating
our  ability  to meet  our debt  service  obligations  and to pay our  quarterly
distributions.  Moreover,  our senior note  agreements and our revolving  credit
agreement  require us to use EBITDA in  calculating  our  leverage  and interest
coverage ratios.  A reconciliation  of EBITDA to cash flow provided by operating
activities  (the most comparable GAAP measure) is presented in the Press Release
furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this current report.


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                                   SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

                                       SUBURBAN PROPANE PARTNERS, L.P.

July 24, 2003                          By:  /s/  Janice G. Meola
                                            -----------------------
                                            Name:  Janice G. Meola
                                            Title: General Counsel & Secretary
















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                                    EXHIBITS


Exhibit No.                           Exhibit
-----------                           -------

99.1                                  Press Release dated July 24, 2003