Small gas gas stations that nobody buys fuel at?
- Thread starter The motor guy
- Start date
Above-ground tanks ?? Can't say I've ever seen that at a gas station. Have only seen it at the smaller, mom-and-pop fuel "suppliers".
I know a lot of people that couldn't even tell you what they pay for a gallon of gas. As long as their card completes the purchase they never look.
I didn't think the Amish would use fuel? I know Mennonites use it for farming.
Yep, that’s why they are mainly in rural areas. You need space for them, so land needs to be cheap enough not to bother digging a hole. I’ll take a few pics. They are all over in rural BC.
Might make a difference if the station is sitting on bedrock. Some places aren't very easy to dig a hole
I have heard of a system like this several years ago. Back then it was something that you could pay extra for, like a fuel system cleaner/detergent boost kind of thing.
It isn't legal for gasoline to leave a terminal without the required additive at the required (EPA mandated) concentration. It's been this way in all of the 28 years I worked in the business, and in every state I've ever worked in.
So, this is down to 3 things. It's either a scam, or marketing ploy. Or it could be an additional charge for something not mandated by the EPA.
Ask them how often they calibrate their additive injection system (also mandated by EPA) and you may get your answer really fast.
I don't think it's that complicated (it's # 3 in your example). The fuel they get from the terminal meets (at least) the minimum EPA requirements and Costco doesn't have to do anything further and they're still in full compliance. What they do is the same thing that terminals do for "Top Tier" stations, stations that claim to have better detergents, additives, etc except those stations have it added by the terminal. Costco adds it at each station. I guess one advantage of this is they can buy their fuel from anyone and get the lowest-cost, "basic" fuel.
Three examples within about a mile of where I live:
An older Mom'n'Pop Citgo station -- hardly even anyone at the pumps.
An Oceanic station almost directly across from the Citgo -- not much action on the pumps, but their garage seems to get a fair amount of business.
A very sketchy BP station that prices their fuel consistently 10-15 cents/gallon above all the surrounding stations. The few time I've seen tank trucks there, it's as if they just park there for days. Never seen a filling operation take place yet. Lots of commercial vehicles use the station as a parking lot, but you hardly ever see a human around. Not sure how they stay in business.
Contrast these with the 7-Eleven/Mobil on the way out of our development that often has cars streaming out of it, lined up to the main road...or the Sheetz about a mile away with a similar situation. Can't say there isn't any demand in the area.
An older Mom'n'Pop Citgo station -- hardly even anyone at the pumps.
An Oceanic station almost directly across from the Citgo -- not much action on the pumps, but their garage seems to get a fair amount of business.
A very sketchy BP station that prices their fuel consistently 10-15 cents/gallon above all the surrounding stations. The few time I've seen tank trucks there, it's as if they just park there for days. Never seen a filling operation take place yet. Lots of commercial vehicles use the station as a parking lot, but you hardly ever see a human around. Not sure how they stay in business.
Contrast these with the 7-Eleven/Mobil on the way out of our development that often has cars streaming out of it, lined up to the main road...or the Sheetz about a mile away with a similar situation. Can't say there isn't any demand in the area.
Which is fine, but if they are buying the additive, they should be making a profit on it, don't you think?
Depends on the particular community. Some have decided to farm with powered tractors.
You should see some of the debates they have about using power tools. I saw a report on a trade show that was just for selling tools to the Amish. Most seems to be OK with using pneumatic tools where they would rent tanks of compressed air to power them.
It's illegal to sell fuel at retail that doesn't have a minimum detergent additive concentration set by federal regulations, and enforced by the EPA. It's not necessarily required that it leave the terminal with detergent. Costco has a fairly unique system where they have tanks (some above ground) that contain the additive (Lubrizol 9888) that they had custom made for them. They meter it when it's delivered. Someone posted an additive chart for Chevron stations to use if they had to add it during delivery.
Generally speaking, they can't own tools but they can use someone else's. They also can't have electricity in their homes but their barns or garages are considered okay.
Yes, that too.
Makes perfect sense.
Nah - they buy and own these tools. They're not just using them on a worksite for someone else. But I get it that many Amish are going out to work for other people and they would be expected to use gasoline or electric powered tools. I've even heard of a few who work as managers at a site where they're expected to use computers. However, they seem to debate how much is too much in a way that would affect them. The pneumatic tools are one thing, but maybe also generators so they don't need to rely on an electric grid.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/tools/a13077/how-the-amish-use-power-tools-15171374/
Their relationship with technology is rather convoluted. They've always been free to seek help from the outside world that's using modern technology. They've obviously using things that were made using the technologies that they won't use themselves. It's hard for anyone to understand except themselves.
I heard that it was unadditized but then added at the station, but I looked up the regs. The exceptions are rather limited.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-U/part-1090/subpart-C/section-1090.260
§ 1090.260 Gasoline deposit control standards.
§ 1090.260 Gasoline deposit control standards.
(a) Except as specified in subpart G of this part, all gasoline that is sold, offered for sale, dispensed, supplied, offered for supply, or transported to the ultimate consumer for use in motor vehicles or in any off-road engines, or that is transported to a gasoline retailer or WPC must be treated with a detergent that meets the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section at a rate at least as high as the detergent's LAC over the VAR period.
And this seems to indicate that it's to boost the level.
Costco has added tanks and piping at most of our gas stations, to increase the amount of detergent additive in our gasoline.
From what I understand , the Amish farmers can use an implement that uses an engine for the mechanism but it cannot use one for the travel .
Those stations in most places have gone out of business.