I think Jim means there's no chance of a tanker truck fire if the is no tanker truck present. Although, there is always the non-zero possibility of tanker truck losing control and crashing into the station. It's all about risk management and we all make those decisions many times every day.
Gas tanker truck at station when you go...
- Thread starter sharpmoney
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In regards to tanks containing water, 99.99% of stores have an inventory monitoring system where they can see how much fuel is in their tanks. The most common system is Veeder Root. Most of these are connected to the internet and monitored by a dispatcher...who sends the fuel as needed. Some independent stores just monitor their own readings and order their fuel over the phone or email.
These monitoring systems have a probe inserted into the tank which extends all the way to the bottom and are equipped with a water sensor. It will show this on the screen or inventory printout inside the store.
A tanker driver who's doing their job correctly will get an inventory reading printout AND put a stick in the tank to record the inventory before the fuel drop is made. 3 reasons we do this.
First is to cover our @$$. The beginning vs ending will reflect that we delivered the amount we billed them for.
Second is to make sure the delivery will fit. Hard to drop 9000 gallons of reg UL when they only have room for 8000.
Thirds is to check for water. Any water will show up on the store's Veeder Root report. But we also use water paste on the end of our stick that will indicate any presence of water. If we detect ANY amount of water, we're not allowed to drop fuel and must call our dispatch office immediately. An investigation has to be done to determine the source of the water intrusion.
Of course not every tanker driver is going to do their job 100% by the book, but the majority do.
Pump filters: I've been at stores while the maintenance guy was changing filters in the pumps. The filters I've seen were long with a lot of filter media area inside. They said these filter down to 40 microns...as good as most OE automotive fuel filters. What their filter fails to catch, certainly your vehicle's filter would.
These monitoring systems have a probe inserted into the tank which extends all the way to the bottom and are equipped with a water sensor. It will show this on the screen or inventory printout inside the store.
A tanker driver who's doing their job correctly will get an inventory reading printout AND put a stick in the tank to record the inventory before the fuel drop is made. 3 reasons we do this.
First is to cover our @$$. The beginning vs ending will reflect that we delivered the amount we billed them for.
Second is to make sure the delivery will fit. Hard to drop 9000 gallons of reg UL when they only have room for 8000.
Thirds is to check for water. Any water will show up on the store's Veeder Root report. But we also use water paste on the end of our stick that will indicate any presence of water. If we detect ANY amount of water, we're not allowed to drop fuel and must call our dispatch office immediately. An investigation has to be done to determine the source of the water intrusion.
Of course not every tanker driver is going to do their job 100% by the book, but the majority do.
Pump filters: I've been at stores while the maintenance guy was changing filters in the pumps. The filters I've seen were long with a lot of filter media area inside. They said these filter down to 40 microns...as good as most OE automotive fuel filters. What their filter fails to catch, certainly your vehicle's filter would.
I'll bet everything I own I could search, find and post WAY more videos of gas station fires due to stupidity of the customers or vehicle fires with no fuel truck in sight.
Without even watching the videos you posted, I'd also wager the cause of those fires were due to the driver not properly using their vapor recovery equipment. When you follow the rules, the risk of a fire is near zero.
Well yeah. I've seen various things that give an impression that gas stations are dangerous. Like the scene in RoboCop of the shootout at a gas station. Or as seen in Jack Ryan of a shootout at a gas station in France. Even the gasoline fight in Zoolander where it all ignites when someone uses a lighter to light a smoke.
But yeah it seems like there's the chance that a mistake is made and when there's that amount of fuel spilled it can be like when a pipeline was tapped to steal gasoline.
I was wondering if it's legal to sell something treated like that, or if it somehow needs to be pumped out.
I saw this:
https://cim-tek.com/index.php/hydroburn/gasoline
https://www.cim-tek.com/products/hydroburn/hydroburnpsr
They claim that the fuel can then be used rather than pumped out, but I'm rather wary if there's somehow water in the fuel being delivered to the customer, even if it is somehow emulsified by the treatment. I mean - is there any kind of regulation that allows for this to be sold without going through a refinery?
I can’t say for sure if can be legally sold today. Like I said this was 25+ years ago so the rules I’m sure were different.
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Personally I won't get gas if the tanker is there. Heard my entire 61 yrs that it stirs up the "crud", in the bottom
of the tank they are unloading into and you then pump it into your tank.
By the next day I assume the "crud", has settled back to the bottom, and will get it then unless I filled up
the day before somewhere else.
of the tank they are unloading into and you then pump it into your tank.
By the next day I assume the "crud", has settled back to the bottom, and will get it then unless I filled up
the day before somewhere else.
Again - every gas station these days will use filters.
A busy station will get multiple deliveries a day. The crud should be pretty well diluted.
Yeah, I hate it when people die in those freak gasoline fight accidents.
In 25 years of driving the thought of this has never once crossed my mind
You're stirring up anything that has settled? I pass when the truck is delivering. They don't maintain the inside of the tank in any way that I've heard of. I delivered gas a long time ago. Something that I was shown is how Citgos had a burner going out back for what I think was for vapors. (scary looking) a big flame on the edge of the gas station, outback. You dump the fuel and stand in a cloud of vapors while reading the warning sign about breathing in Benzene fumes.
I don't fill up when the tanker is at the station only because I don't want to deal with the logistics of maneuvering around the tanker, the pump islands, other cars, etc. Has nothing to do with the actual fuel dump into the underground tanks.
Also I hate going to the gas station, just because most people among the general public are so incredibly stupid and gas stations are usually crowded and busy in my area. So every time I fill up, I also bring all of my fuel jugs so I can stay away as long as possible. In my mind, this reduces the chances of me needing to fill up while a tanker is at the station, simply due to my fewer visits overall. Maybe not real...
Also I hate going to the gas station, just because most people among the general public are so incredibly stupid and gas stations are usually crowded and busy in my area. So every time I fill up, I also bring all of my fuel jugs so I can stay away as long as possible. In my mind, this reduces the chances of me needing to fill up while a tanker is at the station, simply due to my fewer visits overall. Maybe not real...
If you ever fuel up at a Buc-ee’s the fuel tanker will be a mile away, out of sight, out of mind.
So how does that work? Do they use a pipeline? I've heard of airports that get deliveries through pipelines (heard about it during the Colonial Pipeline fiasco) but eventually a tanker takes the fuel to aircraft.
So gas is no good when the tanker is there, but perfectly fine 5 minutes before the tanker arrives. Assuming you believe such nonsense.
The rationale is of contaminants in the tank somehow getting disturbed. That may actually be true, but then it ignores that the fuel delivered by gas pumps is required to be filtered. Gasoline is filtered at every step - at the fuel depot going into the large storage tanks, as it's delivered into the tanker, and at the pump.
Strangely enough, Circle K has a video showing how to replace a spin-on filter. There's only one filter, so obviously this is after the selection of the fuel type. They show a certain amount of fuel that remains in the filter. So it's going to be primed with whatever the last customer pumped.
As long as it well mixed by the time the tanker arrives at the gas station, I wouldn't worry about it. With the notable exception of gas stations that deliver additives at the time of fuel delivery. Costco and some others might deliver additives into the tanks, then the fuel delivery splash blends. That might require some time before it's uniformly blended. I wouldn't necessarily worry about slightly different fuel of the same general type not being uniform as long as the additive is uniformly distributed, as it will eventually blend and it's not too bad as long as it's all blended properly with additives. I would worry about additive levels being inadequate either because it might be pumping fuel from a section of the tank that's short of the additive, or if excessive additive was pumped out earlier while it was still being delivered and the additive level is lower than the specification.
It was actually a joke really, since Buc-ee’s fuel stations are so big. They are so big in fact that you can be pumping gas and not even see the tanker truck because you are so far away from it.
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