Do you ever buy non top tier gas when top tier is available?

[J_mo]

I own a shell station on a major interstate.
shell fuel does not come from ABC bulk tank with detergent pack added at rack.
chevron does.
shell fills their own tank at the farm through a pipeline, and the detergent pack is blended in already. The driver pulls 87, or 91. Shell is very hands on about their quality control.
89 is blended on site at the station a 50-50 mix of 87 and 91.

 

[y_p_w]

I own a shell station on a major interstate.
shell fuel does not come from ABC bulk tank with detergent pack added at rack.
chevron does.
shell fills their own tank at the farm through a pipeline, and the detergent pack is blended in already. The driver pulls 87, or 91. Shell is very hands on about their quality control.
89 is blended on site at the station a 50-50 mix of 87 and 91.

I'm just looking at the reality of the commodity fuel market, and I'm not sure exactly what a segregated pipeline delivery is supposed to achieve. Shell no longer does any refining in California and as far as I know none of their existing refineries in the US makes California RFG. And even if one did, it wouldn't make much sense to transport it across the country. So obviously they have to buy it on the commodity market. I know Shell has distribution facilities including pipeline operations in Southern California, but I'm not sure how they plan to use that to get fuel across the state.

I'm located near the Chevron Richmond refinery.

Some years ago I talked to a driver delivering fuel to a Shell station and asked about mid-grade. He pointed to the seam in the tank where I could see they had separate compartments. He said this delivery included 89 octane in a separate tank and not a blend.

 

[GoldDot40]

I own a shell station on a major interstate.
shell fuel does not come from ABC bulk tank with detergent pack added at rack.
chevron does.
shell fills their own tank at the farm through a pipeline, and the detergent pack is blended in already. The driver pulls 87, or 91. Shell is very hands on about their quality control.
89 is blended on site at the station a 50-50 mix of 87 and 91.

It's obviously not like that everywhere. I load, haul, and deliver Shell gas fairly regularly. Our local terminal has several additive tanks with their brand contents labeled on them. Shell has one....as well as BP, ExxonMobil, Marathon, ConocoPhillips, etc. When I pull for a Shell branded store...Motiva is the supplier account I select in the system. The additive is mixed as it's loaded here.

 

[Zee09]

I use TT mostly
I'm not going to dump a brand name TT gas for 2 cents.
That would save me less than 26 cents on my Hybrid...
I'm cheap but not that cheap.

 

[J_mo]

I'm just looking at the reality of the commodity fuel market, and I'm not sure exactly what a segregated pipeline delivery is supposed to achieve. Shell no longer does any refining in California and as far as I know none of their existing refineries in the US makes California RFG. And even if one did, it wouldn't make much sense to transport it across the country. So obviously they have to buy it on the commodity market. I know Shell has distribution facilities including pipeline operations in Southern California, but I'm not sure how they plan to use that to get fuel across the state.

I'm located near the Chevron Richmond refinery.

Some years ago I talked to a driver delivering fuel to a Shell station and asked about mid-grade. He pointed to the seam in the tank where I could see they had separate compartments. He said this delivery included 89 octane in a separate tank and not a blend.

That is the old school way. No one these days has an 89 compartment. They have blenders.
Sounds like we are relatively in the same area, I have a station on HWY 80 outside of Sacramento. Our fuel is pulled from the west sac facility. Shell has their own tanks, additives already blended. They are not added at the “rack”
Our fuel is trucked exclusively by a shell contracted company, I’ve owned the site for 10 years or so and have met many many drivers that I chat with frequently. I’ve toured the tank farm with shell. Shell operates a stellar business. I don’t say this because I am a branded site. I had the option to rebrand and I stuck with them, I will as long as I’m in the business. They are the only ones I know of that have their fuel loaded this way. Costco has their own in ground tanks that blend additive for them.

 

[J_mo]

It's obviously not like that everywhere. I load, haul, and deliver Shell gas fairly regularly. Our local terminal has several additive tanks with their brand contents labeled on them. Shell has one....as well as BP, ExxonMobil, Marathon, ConocoPhillips, etc. When I pull for a Shell branded store...Motiva is the supplier account I select in the system. The additive is mixed as it's loaded here.

I’m guessing you’re in Texas. Motiva is a joint venture between shell and aramco. Well, it was I believe but is no longer as shell sold their interest.

 

[GoldDot40]

I’m guessing you’re in Texas.

No...Georgia. I pull product from terminals all throughout the Southeast. There are several cities that have terminals that distribute multiple suppliers/brands of fuel. Then there are some cities where certain brands have their own terminal. In Doraville, GA (north of Atlanta), Motiva has 2 standalone terminals. Other brands also have their own such as Marathon, Citgo, Chevron and a few others. All of these tank farms are fed with the 2 major pipelines coming from the Gulf....Colonial and Plantation. They supply nearly all of the Southeast and lower East Coast south of Virginia.

 

[hemitruck]

Op, no, I always use top teir.

 

[Chris142]

I buy wherever is cheapest

 

[y_p_w]

No...Georgia. I pull product from terminals all throughout the Southeast. There are several cities that have terminals that distribute multiple suppliers/brands of fuel. Then there are some cities where certain brands have their own terminal. In Doraville, GA (north of Atlanta), Motiva has 2 standalone terminals. Other brands also have their own such as Marathon, Citgo, Chevron and a few others. All of these tank farms are fed with the 2 major pipelines coming from the Gulf....Colonial and Plantation. They supply nearly all of the Southeast and lower East Coast south of Virginia.

Around here it's mostly Kinder Morgan. There are bunch of fuel terminals, but one centralized location is in Richmond, California with about 4. It's kind of an ideal location near a tanker dock, the Chevron Richmond refinery, rail, etc. I think it's Chevron, Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan, and TransMontaigne (bought from Plains All-American). I think Chevron mostly supplies its own terminal, but who knows what happens when there's a shortage or it goes down for maintenance. There's a test siren that goes off ever Wednesday at 11 AM and it carries for miles.

 

[y_p_w]

That is the old school way. No one these days has an 89 compartment. They have blenders.
Sounds like we are relatively in the same area, I have a station on HWY 80 outside of Sacramento. Our fuel is pulled from the west sac facility. Shell has their own tanks, additives already blended. They are not added at the “rack”
Our fuel is trucked exclusively by a shell contracted company, I’ve owned the site for 10 years or so and have met many many drivers that I chat with frequently. I’ve toured the tank farm with shell. Shell operates a stellar business. I don’t say this because I am a branded site. I had the option to rebrand and I stuck with them, I will as long as I’m in the business. They are the only ones I know of that have their fuel loaded this way. Costco has their own in ground tanks that blend additive for them.

I'm in the Bay Area and I live pretty close to several refineries and fuel depots in Richmond. I see the Phillips 66 refinery in Rodeo pretty often driving on I-80. And I used to drive by the Shell (was Equilon at one time) refinery in Martinez that they recently sold to PBF.

I don't necessarily doubt anything you claim, but as a practical matter I don't quite understand what the point would be to go through all that trouble given that it's still just a commodity fuel regardless of how they treat the delivery.

 

[GoldDot40]

Around here it's mostly Kinder Morgan. There are bunch of fuel terminals, but one centralized location is in Richmond, California with about 4. It's kind of an ideal location near a tanker dock, the Chevron Richmond refinery, rail, etc. I think it's Chevron, Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan, and TransMontaigne (bought from Plains All-American). I think Chevron mostly supplies its own terminal, but who knows what happens when there's a shortage or it goes down for maintenance. There's a test siren that goes off ever Wednesday at 11 AM and it carries for miles.

I can pull from Kinder Morgan in 6 different regions. I also have credentials for TransMontaigne, Megellan, Buckeye, and Vecenergy terminals. What's strange is that I can get BP from KM in Athens, GA...but if I go to Spartanburg, SC...I have to get it from TransMontaigne. Product lists vary from region to region.

 

[y_p_w]

I can pull from Kinder Morgan in 6 different regions. I also have credentials for TransMontaigne, Megellan, Buckeye, and Vecenergy terminals. What's strange is that I can get BP from KM in Athens, GA...but if I go to Spartanburg, SC...I have to get it from TransMontaigne. Product lists vary from region to region.

I'm pretty someone figures out the logistics of all this to allow all the deliveries going in/out to balance. But in the end it sounds like you get dispatched wherever you're needed.

 

[odie]

Top Tier gas is disappearing . Nearest is 15 miles away .

 

[GoldDot40]

But in the end it sounds like you get dispatched wherever you're needed.

I used to go wherever I was needed for the 1st company I hauled for. We had terminals all over the Southeast...and they paid a guarantee of $400/day to work out of town if/when you were needed. Unfortunately, when the pandemic first came and everybody was staying at home, gasoline went to a very slow crawl in this area for several weeks. I was one of the unlucky ones to get laid off.

Now, I'm with a local hauler that works M-F and no holidays. We deliver to both government and private agencies with on-site fuel tanks/pumps...and we also have several independent gas stations, most of which are unbranded. The only 2 branded stores we have are both Citgo retailers.

 

[wdn]

I almost never buy Top Tier gasoline, I get mine at Sam's Club 95% of the time. On occasion I will buy Mobil.

Sam's gasoline is $1.84 a gallon here. Most of the other gas stations charge $2.09 a gallon that's a 25¢ per gallon savings. I use Lucas UCL at every fill up that only costs 3¢ to treat a gallon of gas.

 

[opus1]

For the fleet, whatever's cheapest. Usually Speedway. Never had any issues.

For the lawnmower/snowthrower, only TT. When I bought my first house, I bought a new mower and at the same time, my Dad finally replaced his. Same Tecumseh engines. He used gas from the station near his house, non-TT, but the closest one to my house was TT. Within 2 years, his mower had some carb issues, while mine like a top all the way until I finally had to scrap it for rust issues. Maybe it's anecdotal, but that experience is why I use only TT gas for my smaller, more sensitive engines...

 

[JT20]

That is the old school way. No one these days has an 89 compartment. They have blenders.
Sounds like we are relatively in the same area, I have a station on HWY 80 outside of Sacramento. Our fuel is pulled from the west sac facility. Shell has their own tanks, additives already blended. They are not added at the “rack”
Our fuel is trucked exclusively by a shell contracted company, I’ve owned the site for 10 years or so and have met many many drivers that I chat with frequently. I’ve toured the tank farm with shell. Shell operates a stellar business. I don’t say this because I am a branded site. I had the option to rebrand and I stuck with them, I will as long as I’m in the business. They are the only ones I know of that have their fuel loaded this way. Costco has their own in ground tanks that blend additive for them.

That's how Sunoco was.

Go to BP somewhere.. it is really "JTK Petroleum" or sometimes "Island transport." Whatever tanker.

Sunoco, it is their own..

 

[JT20]

I used to go wherever I was needed for the 1st company I hauled for. We had terminals all over the Southeast...and they paid a guarantee of $400/day to work out of town if/when you were needed. Unfortunately, when the pandemic first came and everybody was staying at home, gasoline went to a very slow crawl in this area for several weeks. I was one of the unlucky ones to get laid off.

Now, I'm with a local hauler that works M-F and no holidays. We deliver to both government and private agencies with on-site fuel tanks/pumps...and we also have several independent gas stations, most of which are unbranded. The only 2 branded stores we have are both Citgo retailers.

Sounds like my Uncle. Has (relatively) steady work, delivers Off-Road Diesel to construction sites in PA. Surely, more locations than that. Says he works as much as he can in the spring, summer, fall so that he can take it easy in the winter.. contracted Landstar or Landmark truck...

As to me.. okay, so, on my way from work, there are two stations. One is a Petroleum 19 (no name) the other is a Quick check. The Petroleum 19 is $2.09 a gallon.

The Quick check is $2.35..

Right across the street...

Seeing as how these are both "No name gas" to me.. $2.09 it is. All day long. (and they open up at 6AM or 7AM. So what. I went on lunch break today.)

And our local 7-11 has pumps, straight up says "Unbranded Gas." Now, perhaps I am irregular, but, with Federal minimum detergency levels for Gas to be called Gas, I'm fine with that. I use a steady diet of additives in the car, which I believe achieve cleaning, so I do believe I am coming out ahead.

$2.09 vs $2.35 is serious coin, even though my commute is only 25 miles each way now... That's the cheapest station around, next is $2.15 now.. gas seems to be on the rise.

It's coming, folks. You really think gas is gonnaa stay low with that's on the horizon.. do you...

 

[ctechbob]

I usually pay no attention to TT. I generally fill up at one of the Racetrack stations around here. Or Quicktrip. Depends on where I get the best cashback out of Get Upside.