I'm good on gas for a while, but my area on gas buddy looks like this as of 20:15 today.
Colonial Pipeline stopping all operations due to cyberattack
- Thread starter y_p_w
- Start date
- Status
Run on the bank is a human nature, we all try to out run each other in the apocalyptic world. Without some sort of order control from a gov or some organization (kingpins), chaos happen.
We have always been animals, just hiding it until the veil of anonymity makes us feel "safe" from public shaming.
We have always been animals, just hiding it until the veil of anonymity makes us feel "safe" from public shaming.
It's still going to be a mess to get back to normal. I wonder how many alternate transportation plans get cut. I know with rail deliveries it's not possible to cancel because someone is responsible for each railcar.
Not necessarily how it works. All the gas stations I deliver to are dispatched "as needed" and always have been.
Sounds about right. I mean - isn't a gas station obligated to take the entire delivery? I mean - what would happen if there was some scheduled delivery for a specific time and in the meantime there wasn't enough sales of fuel to leave enough room in the storage tanks for the delivery?
In Vancouver, Canada, they have jet fuel pipelined from product storage tanks at the Parkland refinery in Burnaby and also have a receiving dock to receive fuel barges containing jet fuel barged in from the Cherry Point refinery in Washington State where it is sent by a short pipeline to the airport fuel depot. There are also B-trains of jet fuel driven across the border to the Vancouver Airport fuel depot. Ironically a lot of crude for Cherry Point comes from the Trans Mountain pipeline that originates in Edmonton, and delivers to both Vancouver (at Burnaby) and to Washington State from a connection at Abbotsford. Pretty diverse.
I hope there is a decimal in the wrong place there.
Happens a lot more than you can imagine. A large fuel carrier that services large chain gas stations has dispatchers that sit and monitor their customers' fuel inventory via internet and dispatch the loads accordingly. Smaller carriers and independent stations may order theirs by phone or email.
Dispatch works on sales history and forecasting/projecting. They miss the forecast often. Example, weather for instance can be spontaneous. If a station is averaging 1000 gallons per hour, ideally, dispatch will attempt to figure out a window of when a certain station can hold an entire load.
(Freight rates are based on the tanker being at max legal capacity. For most tanker trucks using a day cab tractor and 9200 gallon tanker trailer...the legal weight (80,000lbs) is about 8800 gallons for a straight load of gasoline and 7600 gallons for a straight load of diesel. Typically a load isn't sent to a site until their tanks have room for the entire load.)
So if I'm dispatched up to 10 hours in advance (based on average sales) to take 8800 gallons of regular 87E10 to a store, but some rain/storm comes through...it kills gas sales and the store may only have room for 6000 gallons by the time I get there. A retain-diversion has to be written up so they know how to charge the account. Then dispatch has to find a home for the 2800 gallons that wouldn't fit.
Most big chains DO NOT like paying for a full load when I can't deliver a full load.
Last edited:
So where does it go? I was under the impression that most tankers have fuel that's already been treated with a branded or generic additive. It doesn't sound like the fuel depot is likely to take it back like it might be possible to redeposit withdrawn cash at a bank.
You mention independents. I've been to a place that claims to have the oldest dual gravity fed gas pumps in the United States. It's the Kings Canyon Lodge at Giant Sequoia National Monument (in Sequoia National Forest). They have to pump it to fill up a graduated glass cylinder, and then it drops via gravity. Must be a pain to keep track of how much is left, and it's a long way for any delivery.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
True … I like to consider myself very self sufficient and well stocked with equipment and supplies … but that is only a “bridge” that lasts a few days … Very few of us are able to go a even week without the next “purchase” …
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Alright boys … are we going to need a beer summit? You two buy the beer and I will moderate for free
I am impressed with the JIT commentary and knowledge.
The goal of JIT is to pass inventory carrying costs down to your supplier. Even better if you can just purchase pre-assembled, fully tested sub-assembiles based on your spec! Let them have the risk...
Heck, let's just get our suppliers to do final assembly and process qualification at the end customer! Talk about cost savings!
Forecasting your business is critical to JIT and business success in general.
I love statistical forecasting...
The goal of JIT is to pass inventory carrying costs down to your supplier. Even better if you can just purchase pre-assembled, fully tested sub-assembiles based on your spec! Let them have the risk...
Heck, let's just get our suppliers to do final assembly and process qualification at the end customer! Talk about cost savings!
Forecasting your business is critical to JIT and business success in general.
I love statistical forecasting...
wemay
Site Donor 2023
Yup, narrow minded piler on's
I've worked in a company who JIT all the risk of carrying inventories (mandate 90 days) of parts to the contractor who makes just $25 including cost ($14 after) to build something that cost $800 with $600 of inventories. They were trying to treat me all sorts of good stuff during business trips (Top Quality Sushi / Sashimi, Real Kobe Beef, etc etc) every night during business trip to see if I can leak info on how much inventories they need to keep and when should they start buying parts.
One of our VP was telling us in internal meetings that they want to get those sucker contractors hooked on the profit for our big volume, reel them in. Then the contractor's rep told us he just talked to the company's president and when he heard how much we were ordering per month (50k units) he almost choked because the amount of labor, service, and risk all involved means that $14 x 50k units will become -$4 x 50k units, and he was about to call it quit on the deal.
I think they got their Kobe beef and Sushi / Sashimi money worth. I basically saved them about $200 x 50k units of inventory price decline lost when I told them the latest forecast so they won't need to lose their shorts holding the bags. (We didn't lose anything either, our purchasing department was incompetent at working with vendors and everything including the realistic forecast were classified for no reason).
I suspect the auto industries were shooting themselves the same way (backfired with JIT) except they forgot how hot the school from home and work from home market is for computer chips.
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2020
- Messages
- 452
The general public will NEVER know the truth, like with so many other events.
If the original load is loaded for an (example) Exxon branded Circle K and I have a retain, dispatch has to find a different Circle K that is branded the same....ideally one within 30 min driving time...to take the remainder to. Once I load fuel for Circle K, they own it...one if their stores has to receive it. I cannot take it to another customer.So where does it go? I was under the impression that most tankers have fuel that's already been treated with a branded or generic additive. It doesn't sound like the fuel depot is likely to take it back like it might be possible to redeposit withdrawn cash at a bank.
You mention independents. I've been to a place that claims to have the oldest dual gravity fed gas pumps in the United States. It's the Kings Canyon Lodge at Giant Sequoia National Monument (in Sequoia National Forest). They have to pump it to fill up a graduated glass cylinder, and then it drops via gravity. Must be a pain to keep track of how much is left, and it's a long way for any delivery.
This is what dispatch sees from their computer. This is a local Circle K store here that I just screenshot:
Yes, I can see the fuel inventory for every corporate Circle K in the country.
The topic of jet fuel was brought up earlier. There's dedicated tankers that haul jet fuel exclusively into air ports. I'm not aware of any of the airports here that have their own pipeline.
I suspect some car makers are doing better than others. Some have a cooperative relationship with their suppliers and kept the orders coming, even if smaller. (I'm thinking Toyota here who doesn't seem to be in the same trouble with respect to chips compared to other car makers.)
If one has a cooperative relationship with suppliers, I'd think this sort of thing would go much better for all parties involved.
- Status
Similar threads
