Quality of Buc-eyes gas station fuel?

[Dave Hess]

My neighbor used to drive a tanker truck. He told me depending on where he was delivering that day determined what additives would be added to the load before he left.

Yes. It’s blended and loaded off the rack into tanker.

Watch the trucker delivering fuel on YouTube, his channel is called Life On 18 Wheels.
His name is Mike and has excellent content. I subscribe to his channel.
Him and his dog Bella crisscross the country and he also delivers motor oil, hydraulic oil, specialty lubes that get lab tested by the customer before he is allowed to unload product into storage tanks.

 

[javacontour]

Of course commodities have variations where they can meet the specification but can also be tested to be slightly different. But it's "good enough" that base fuel of the same commodity grade goes right into the same storage tanks to be commingled.

Certainly around where I live, I can't be sure that all the fuel comes from the same tank, as there are are just way too many fuel terminals around here. But it shouldn't matter since the base fuel is highly regulated. I guess there's a misconception that getting caught for cheating is rare, so maybe they have an incentive to cheat. But the consequences for getting caught could be severe.

I'm pretty sure there are people who just want to believe that the premium price they're paying for some brands means more than just a detergent additive.

Perhaps we are missing one another.

A fuel terminal in California is going to have a different base fuel compared to one in Nebraska.

The US is just too big (and the EPA has it's fingers in it) to have ONE fuel formula.


That's my point. The base fuel in TX (Home of Buc-ees) is likely different from the base in CA or NB or even AL.

They all meet the Federal additives standards. But that's not the only standards they must meet. There are requirements for added oxygenates, RVP requirements determine the blend of the various HC's that go into fuels, to deal with evaporative emissions, and so on.

That's what I was going on about.


There isn't one nationwide gasoline. Gasoline is more complex than that as the regions where it is used provide different challenges and requirements.

 

[y_p_w]

Perhaps we are missing one another.

A fuel terminal in California is going to have a different base fuel compared to one in Nebraska.

The US is just too big (and the EPA has it's fingers in it) to have ONE fuel formula.


That's my point. The base fuel in TX (Home of Buc-ees) is likely different from the base in CA or NB or even AL.

They all meet the Federal additives standards. But that's not the only standards they must meet. There are requirements for added oxygenates, RVP requirements determine the blend of the various HC's that go into fuels, to deal with evaporative emissions, and so on.

That's what I was going on about.


There isn't one nationwide gasoline. Gasoline is more complex than that as the regions where it is used provide different challenges and requirements.

Yeah. I get that. But the fuel sold in a particular region is likely to be of the same commodity grade, yet there are a lot of people who are convinced that the base fuel that they get at maybe a Shell station is superior to that at an independent across the street.

 

[nomas]

Way back before I retired from the power company I was doing some maintenance in a substation that was located inside of a tank farm . I had to interact with the control room operators for various reasons . We had some interesting conversations about how they operate . He said the different companies used many of the same pipelines and everybody's raw products got mixed at some point in the process . There were some similarities to how the electrical grid functions . They had control centers that coordinated the schedule of who was going to go online and pump whatever product and the tank farms had X number of minutes to get their valves open and the pumps spun up . If you didn't make it you would get kicked out of the que and somebody else would get the call . It was pretty neat to watch . I also saw them run a " Pig " through the pipeline and heard the telltale squeal .

 

[billt460]

Good news Chris, a new Buc-ee's is being built on the west side of Phoenix so only 337 miles!

We've been by a few in our travels but they didn't match our schedule and I'm not interested enough in a mega convenience store to just stop.

It's going to go up on the corner of I-10 & Bullard Ave. in Goodyear. If and when I get back to Phoenix I will definitely stop there and check it out.

 

[y_p_w]

Way back before I retired from the power company I was doing some maintenance in a substation that was located inside of a tank farm . I had to interact with the control room operators for various reasons . We had some interesting conversations about how they operate . He said the different companies used many of the same pipelines and everybody's raw products got mixed at some point in the process . There were some similarities to how the electrical grid functions . They had control centers that coordinated the schedule of who was going to go online and pump whatever product and the tank farms had X number of minutes to get their valves open and the pumps spun up . If you didn't make it you would get kicked out of the que and somebody else would get the call . It was pretty neat to watch . I also saw them run a " Pig " through the pipeline and heard the telltale squeal .

It might be a little bit different in that electricity is a very different medium. The electrons that go in aren't the same electrons that go out. Electrons get "pushed" into a sea of electrons. I suppose it might be closer to water inputs into a river and water extraction.

Still - there's this huge hangup about getting the absolute best, and willing to pay for it. However, the fuel sellers seem to be satisfied to buy commodities and sell them as their own. And as you noted, this stuff gets mixed up without anyone really caring other than the consumer who thinks this might be false advertising.

 

[nomas]

It might be a little bit different in that electricity is a very different medium. The electrons that go in aren't the same electrons that go out. Electrons get "pushed" into a sea of electrons. I suppose it might be closer to water inputs into a river and water extraction.

Still - there's this huge hangup about getting the absolute best, and willing to pay for it. However, the fuel sellers seem to be satisfied to buy commodities and sell them as their own. And as you noted, this stuff gets mixed up without anyone really caring other than the consumer who thinks this might be false advertising.

Wow , you took that way too seriously . The similarity I was referring to was the " Pool " of electricity and the regional control entities that control the grid operations .

 

[y_p_w]

Wow , you took that way too seriously . The similarity I was referring to was the " Pool " of electricity and the regional control entities that control the grid operations .

It is possible to segregate deliveries and insist that fuel going in is the same as the fuel going out to the customer. But that costs more and there's typically not much to be gained from that level of control.

 

[billt460]

With 120+ gas pumps, there are going to be plenty of delivery tankers going in and out of the joint.

 

[97prizm]

I see, Murphys is good gas anyway.

Maybe the Murphys near me waters their gas down. My car always runs rougher if I fill up there.

 

[billt460]

Maybe the Murphys near me waters their gas down. My car always runs rougher if I fill up there.

What do you think they're "watering it down" with?

 

[97prizm]

What do you think they're "watering it down" with?

Not sure. I know a few gas stations in Ft. Collins years ago were caught putting 85 in the 91 tanks. Maybe it's the one murphys near me. I always get mid grade.

 

[nomas]

Not sure. I know a few gas stations in Ft. Collins years ago were caught putting 85 in the 91 tanks. Maybe it's the one murphys near me. I always get mid grade.

I often see pickup trucks with some State Agency logo on it that has some kind of weird looking equipment in the back set up at gas stations testing the gasoline .

 

[4WD]

Of course commodities have variations where they can meet the specification but can also be tested to be slightly different. But it's "good enough" that base fuel of the same commodity grade goes right into the same storage tanks to be commingled.

Certainly around where I live, I can't be sure that all the fuel comes from the same tank, as there are are just way too many fuel terminals around here. But it shouldn't matter since the base fuel is highly regulated. I guess there's a misconception that getting caught for cheating is rare, so maybe they have an incentive to cheat. But the consequences for getting caught could be severe.

I'm pretty sure there are people who just want to believe that the premium price they're paying for some brands means more than just a detergent additive.

I’m sure there are some who don’t believe you …

 

[4WD]

I often see pickup trucks with some State Agency logo on it that has some kind of weird looking equipment in the back set up at gas stations testing the gasoline .

There is weights & measures as well - Exxon also samples for markers that their additives were used …