Fuel Tanker Driver Here

Status
Not open for further replies.
Same here … each company has an additive package … and you see less and less trucks with brand names …

… when US production was rock bottom … many ocean bound tankers of base gasoline came this way …
 
Originally Posted by Char Baby
Can you deliver across state lines?
Yes. I frequently load from a terminal in N Augusta, SC which is right on the state line with GA. When I load it, I have to specify which state it is going to and it HAS to be delivered to the state that's on the manifest. I have pulled product from South Caroline to Georgia and North Carolina
How does the ethanol get added to the gasoline?Different terminals use different methods. The ones I frequently load at, the ethanol is loaded, then the CBOB (base product). For instance, if I preset the loading system that I want 1000 gallons of 87 octane, the loading system automatically will load 100 gallons of pure ethanol. Once that's done, the system stops briefly and restarts. It then begins loading the 84 octane base product and additive package. Adding ethanol to the base 84 octane base product bumps the final product to 87 octane.
Is what you're saying in regards to brand specific gas being delivered to those stations, vary from state to state?
Not that I am aware of. I deliver to 3 different states and the laws are the same. The brand on the delivery manifest MUST match the brand on the store.
Do the cleaning additives in gasolines, get added at the station from different delivery systems or is it in the gas that you deliver?

Do the stations get their cleaning additives delivered from your tanker or from another supplier?
The additive package is injected during the loading process when it is put on the truck. No has stations that I am aware of add anything to the tanks when we leave. We ensure it hasn't been tampered with, because we use a "tamper seal" zip tie on the coupling cap...under the color-coded lids you see on the surface. Not all carriers do this, but we do.
 
Originally Posted by demarpaint
Originally Posted by GoldDot40
@ ECUPirate

None whatsoever. Example, my trailer has 5 compartments. I can legally haul 8850 gallons of gasoline to keep my total weight < 80,000 lbs.

I have been dispatched to deliver 5000 gallons of Marathon to one store and 3850 gallons of ExxonMobil to another. At the time of loading, I decide how to split up the 5000 gal of Marathon to load it. Usually takes up 3 compartments. When that product is loaded...I log out of the loading system and log back in to start a new transaction for the different brand. The other 2 compartments is where I split up the 3850 gal of EM gas.

I mark the compartments on my paperwork so I don't forget what product is loaded where. When I get to the Marathon destination, I know that I need to unload just those 3 specific compartments at that store. The other brand product goes to the other store.

State agencies are very strict about selling whatever brand is displayed on the sign or canopy above the pumps. If they get audited, and the delivery manifest shows a different brand than what the store is advertising....it's BIG trouble for the store owner AS WELL AS the fuel carrier.

Just so I fully understand this, is the gas where your tanker is filled coming from different tanks, for those different stations you are delivering to? Not every brand refines their own fuel, some buy it from others and put their own labeling on it. In other words XOM might be selling fuel to the no name mom pop station down the road. Very interesting, thanks.

All base product in the pipeline and holding tanks at the terminals are the same. They become what they are during the loading process when the additive package is injected.
 
Originally Posted by RayCJ

I'm dying to know... Is Mid-Grade gas mixed when the tanker picks it up or do the local stations mix regular and premium at the pump?

Much thanks for answering the questions we all want to know!


Ray

Nowadays, most stations do blend at the pump. It's far more economical to maintain less underground storage tanks. However I can get mid-grade at the terminal for a station that has a dedicated tank and does not blend at the pump. It is blended during loading on the truck.

Just for example, For E10 Mid-grade blended at the time of loading, it is broken down as follows assuming the system is preset to load 1000 gallons of gasoline.

84 octane CBOB = 593 gallons
90 octane CBOB = 306 gallons
Ethanol = 101 gallons (10% mixture)
Equals 1000 gallons 89 octane gasoline.
 
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Thanks for the info.What about the smaller brands. Can they take delivery of some of that Marathon or Exxon Mobil gasoline?

Independent stations often have a branded marquee. That's what they are selling. If a store doesn't have a specified brand, it gets "soup of the day". Basically a non-branded product that is distributed through one of the big brands.

For instance, I can get BP branded and BP unbranded. Marathon branded or Marathon unbranded. ExxonMobil branded or ExxonMobil unbranded, etc etc etc. We CANNOT deliver unbranded product to a branded store and vice-versa.

The difference between branded vs unbranded is the quality level of the additive package used. Nearly all branded gas falls under Top Tier requirements. Unbranded product gets more generic additives...but still distributed by a big name supplier. Even still, with all the EPA regulations, even unbranded gasoline has to meet the standards to be sold.
 
Worth the read👇

Branded Fuel

Basically a service station with a brand sign is not only required by law to sell only that brand of fuel (think truth in advertising), they're contractually obligated. There are exceptions like in times of low supply. But if the signage says Chevron or 76, you're gonna get 76 or Chevron fuel. 76 for example advertises on it's website that it has some of the highest levels of detergents, over 3.5x the levels of the EPA mandated minimum. Dispensing any fuel that does not meet 76's advertised claim would be fraud/false advertising.

Additionally, IIRC - Top Tier certifies each brand at their respective branded service station...to comply with TT requirements, that the station must sell only that branded fuel that has previously been certified as TT. Again if that service station were to dispense anything other than that TT fuel, it would not only be not in compliance with TT but guilty of misleading consumers since TT signage is a selling point. That could probably get that service station in a lot of trouble with Weights and Measurements as well as your state's AG.

The downside to being a branded station is your locked in to selling the potentially more expensive fuel while the unbranded station across the street is free to sell the cheapest fuel it can get it's hands on.
 
Originally Posted by walterjay
Are you privy to the mixing process. Which brand do you consider best.

Not really. There aren't any secrets to be told. It's mostly just a lot of "I heard it's done this way or that way", and then it's often misunderstood or explained incorrectly when information moves along from person to person.

I'll be honest, I really don't have an opinion on what's best. However, the guys who run the terminal say that Motiva (Shell) has the best additive package...if there has to be a "best". In reality, anything labeled Top Tier has to meet a minimum standard which makes the quality across the spectrum pretty close.

What do I run in my personal vehicle you may ask? Most of the time, I buy from Kroger. It's convenient and saves me money. Gotta love those fuel points.
 
Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Worth the read👇

Branded Fuel

Basically a service station with a brand sign is not only required by law to sell only that brand of fuel (think truth in advertising), they're contractually obligated. There are exceptions like in times of low supply. But if the signage says Chevron or 76, you're gonna get 76 or Chevron fuel. 76 for example advertises on it's website that it has some of the highest levels of detergents, over 3.5x the levels of the EPA mandated minimum. Dispensing any fuel that does not meet 76's advertised claim would be fraud/false advertising.

Additionally, IIRC - Top Tier certifies each brand at their respective branded service station...to comply with TT requirements, that the station must sell only that branded fuel that has previously been certified as TT. Again if that service station were to dispense anything other than that TT fuel, it would not only be not in compliance with TT but guilty of misleading consumers since TT signage is a selling point. That could probably get that service station in a lot of trouble with Weights and Measurements as well as your state's AG.

The downside to being a branded station is your locked in to selling the potentially more expensive fuel while the unbranded station across the street is free to sell the cheapest fuel it can get it's hands on.

Correct.
 
Sorry OP.. after finishing my last post I see that I just stated what you had said just minutes before me.

And fwiw, thanks for adding your first hand knowledge on this topic. ðŸ‘
 
Originally Posted by GoldDot40
Originally Posted by walterjay
Are you privy to the mixing process. Which brand do you consider best.

Not really. There aren't any secrets to be told. It's mostly just a lot of "I heard it's done this way or that way", and then it's often misunderstood or explained incorrectly when information moves along from person to person.

I'll be honest, I really don't have an opinion on what's best. However, the guys who run the terminal say that Motiva (Shell) has the best additive package...if there has to be a "best". In reality, anything labeled Top Tier has to meet a minimum standard which makes the quality across the spectrum pretty close.

What do I run in my personal vehicle you may ask? Most of the time, I buy from Kroger. It's convenient and saves me money. Gotta love those fuel points.

That's actually the principle selling point of TT. That the consumer can be assured that the gas they're getting meets a higher standard than the EPA minimum. Now within the TT ecosystem, you'll find brands that go even further than TT requirements, like 76 as I mentioned. Their website says their fuel is 3.5x EPA and 1.5x the TT mandate.

Fwiw, I use Chevron and 76 almost exclusively mainly because of the two companies long history in CA where I grew up, I'm unabashedly loyal to them. That said, I have no qualms buying another TT brand (Costco, ARCO) if the other two aren't an option. I know if it says TT I'm getting some of the best fuel I can for my vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by eljefino
Talk "spot" deliveries... if you head out with 3500 gallons but the station only "takes" 2600 do you have a friendly place to get rid of the rest?

Or are logistics so good now that this almost never happens?

Almost all stores today have their inventory monitored via internet. Dispatchers sit and watch inventory all day long, then create and order to send to the driver to load and deliver.

Sending too much product is rare, but does happen. So if I get to a store that has been dispatched too much...let's say 500 gallons won't fit...I take a tank reading before I deliver....for 2 reasons.

1st, I determine the exact level of what's already in the tank. That way I know for sure whether all of my load will fit. 2nd, I test for water. Basically put a paste on the end of the stick. If it changes color...we know there is water intrusion. The pumps get shut down until it's figured out in this case.

Back to too much product. If I determine I have 500 gallons that won't fit, I will offload my biggest compartments. The smallest compartment is 1000 gallons. I will not break that compartment. I simply call dispatch and tell them I need a home for 1000 gallons of "XXXXX" branded gasoline. They will look in the system and find a branded store (hopefully close by) that I divert the retained product to. All of this HAS to be approved on the dispatch side of things. I cannot take product wherever I want.
 
Originally Posted by Audios
So you be hauling around 3k gallons of no name cheapo regular, and also 3k gallons of the better EM regular product?
Yes, my tanker has 5 compartments. So I could haul 5 totally different brands if needed.
Can you shed any light as to the rumors that the no name stations can only sell fuel older than 30 days or do they just have less additives?
An unbranded store can sell gas a "fresh" as any other. Almost all grocery stores that have sell fuel are unbranded....the same product that Stop-N-Shop down the road sells. Some of these grocery stores sells an enormous amount of fuel.
Also, any clarification to rumors to additives in diesel?
Ive been seeing a good jump with Sunoco, but cant find any answers as to their blends.
Diesel does have some additives injected into it, but for the most part diesel is diesel....regardless of brand.
 
How does your terminal handle additives? Is there an above ground storage tank for each additive "brand"? In your 6,000 gallon delivery to Marathon, that might call for only 3 to 10 gallons of additive by the loading system.

Gasoline and diesel additives are a big business. Lubrizol has many customers for product and it is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Infineum is jointly owned by XOM and Shell so I assume both Exxon/Mobil and Shell would get an Infineum addtive. Chevron owns Oronite, so an Oronite additive should be in Chevron/Texaco fuel. Once you get below the majors, I can see the terminal wholesaling RUG with a standard additive package from, say, Lubrizol or Afton to all of the independents in the area.

Savannah is not on a pipeline and everything comes in by ship to Colonial Oil (not the same as Colonial Pipeline) and is wholesaled out from their tank farm. The only difference in product for this market, from branded to the most obscure, is the additive package added at the terminal.
 
GoldDot40,

How accurate is the octane the consumer gets at the pump ?

Is there an acceptable + / - percentage of accuracy ?

Welcome to BITOG.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted by GoldDot40
Independent stations often have a branded marquee. That's what they are selling. If a store doesn't have a specified brand, it gets "soup of the day". Basically a non-branded product that is distributed through one of the big brands.

Marathon branded or Marathon unbranded.

Around here, all Marathon-branded stations are privately-owned and I presume they license the Marathon name. What you're saying is they absolutely are selling Marathon fuel though. This is in Ohio, by the way. I know you mentioned state agencies, regulations, etc previously so it might vary and if you don't know Ohio's rules, well, I understand. On the topic of Marathon, they are supposed to be a Top Tier brand but no Marathon station I've ran across (a dozen or so ?) have TT stickers on their pumps. To be frank, the majority of Marathon stations aren't the nicest looking places so I have only purchased fuel at them minimal times.
 
Originally Posted by GoldDot40
What do I run in my personal vehicle you may ask? Most of the time, I buy from Kroger. It's convenient and saves me money. Gotta love those fuel points.

A lot of people critique store-branded gasoline like Kroger, Murphy, Sam's Club as being low quality but generally speaking, what fuel do they get ? Personally I can't see a company like Kroger, Sam's Club, etc risking their reputation on cheap, poor quality fuel. They also sell, as you said in another post, a lot of fuel.That's definitely the case around here too with Sam's being the busiest, with a line of cars most of the day.
 
So the cheaper store brand/smaller stations fuels are just selling the base gasoline as it comes from the fuel terminal with no additional additives?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Ed_Flecko
Is fuel system corrosion a real concern with modern vehicles?
Replies
7
Views
2K
joekingcorvette
Jackson_Slugger
The Solar Eclipse & The Path to Totality
3 4 5
Replies
94
Views
3K
4WD
F
Mobil 1 1.9k miles / 2020 48k miles Rav4 - Fuel Dilution
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
kschachn
RDY4WAR
  • Locked
Homebrew "Race Fuel"
Replies
8
Views
3K
thastinger
T
Can a fuel additive clean piston rings?
2 3 4
Replies
61
Views
39K
grammatoncleric
Back
Top