Small gas gas stations that nobody buys fuel at?

[ATex7239]

I stay away from those places. There are two in my town. Both are no name gas and pretty run down. Wouldn’t shock me if it’s a cover for a drug house.

I’m ok with non-TT fuel, but the place needs to be well kept. Not interested in water in my tank and catching a fresh case of scabies from cashier.

 

[JohnnyG]

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.

I doubt that. There needs to be a record or BOL generated.
And I think it was me that posted the hand additizing chart for tanker trucks....back when it was legal to do so.

 

[tmorris1]

I stay away from those places. There are two in my town. Both are no name gas and pretty run down. Wouldn’t shock me if it’s a cover for a drug house.

I’m ok with non-TT fuel, but the place needs to be well kept. Not interested in water in my tank and catching a fresh case of scabies from cashier.

Let me guess... A smoke and vape shop in it too that sells water pipes, etc?

 

[ATex7239]

Let me guess... A smoke and vape shop in it too that sells water pipes, etc?

Not sure. Clearly selling something to keep the lights on.

 

[y_p_w]

I doubt that. There needs to be a record or BOL generated.
And I think it was me that posted the hand additizing chart for tanker trucks....back when it was legal to do so.

I already posted that I found the federal regulation that specifies that it has to be transported with at least LAC levels, and that Costco says that their in-station system boosts the amount of additive.

Still - I'm not sure what the deal is when additives are mixed and matched without any kind of testing. They're probably just getting the generic additive at the rack and I'm not sure how it would blend. I've heard of oil additives sometimes having weird interactions, including a lab testing guy at one of the major oil companies saying that some 5W-30 motors oils when mixed together would measure as maybe a 10W-40 because of additive interaction. Would it be better or worse to mix and match. But heck - we do that all the time with bottled additives.

 

[Hall]

Not sure. Clearly selling something to keep the lights on.

Everything I've seen, read, and heard is that no place is keeping their lights on from gasoline sales. There's a reason any place that's still open sells soda, snacks, coffee, cigarettes, beer, etc. That's where they make their money.

 

[y_p_w]

Everything I've seen, read, and heard is that no place is keeping their lights on from gasoline sales. There's a reason any place that's still open sells soda, snacks, coffee, cigarettes, beer, etc. That's where they make their money.

I've seen at least one gas station that only has pay at the pump except for 8 hours with an attendant in the convenience store. I still see quite a few that are old style - either with tiny convenience stores or only a booth where there's very limited stuff that they sell. One with a tiny convenience store also has an old garage area (one bay) that's only used by a Smog Check guy. And he's constantly asking people not to block the entrance to the garage.

 

[JohnnyG]

I already posted that I found the federal regulation that specifies that it has to be transported with at least LAC levels, and that Costco says that their in-station system boosts the amount of additive.

I've already agreed and stated as much that the fuel must meet additive requirements when it leaves the terminal.
The point I'm trying to make is that this Costco thing is unverifiable in every way, making it mostly marketing IMO.
They don't tell you exactly what it is, nor how much, nor when it is pumped in, nor what impact it is supposed to have on your engine.

 

[mrsilv04]

Locally, we had a privately-owned chain (they had 3 stations). The most frustrating part was that *they* somehow dicated the local gas prices.

The owner of these three gas stations would do something like bump her (yes, her) head or stub her toe... and then she would raise the price of gas by 30 cents a gallon. Within a few hours, everyone else (including the large chain stations) would follow along.

Never so glad to see the old hag sell out and retire.

 

[y_p_w]

I've already agreed and stated as much that the fuel must meet additive requirements when it leaves the terminal.
The point I'm trying to make is that this Costco thing is unverifiable in every way, making it mostly marketing IMO.
They don't tell you exactly what it is, nor how much, nor when it is pumped in, nor what impact it is supposed to have on your engine.

I don't know. They've applied for and received Top Tier approval, which means they've pledged that there will be their chosen additive in a concentration at least that which they provided for testing. Top Tier makes no requirement of where the additive is inserted in the process.

But they do tell you the trade name, who makes it, when it's pumped in, and how it's been tested. At least they have in publicly available documents. They no longer say it, but I remember an older document that noted that the then "Clean Power" detergent additive was UltraZol 9888 from Lubrizol, which may have been a custom additive made for them. It's kind of odd because there is no UltraZol 9888 on the EPA website, but there is a "Lubrizol 9888". Not sure about the discrepancy.

The document from that 2013 presentation shows how they do it. They've got a keypad to enter the volume of fuel delivered and it's supposed to meter the detergent additive. I've looked around at some stations and they definitely have the lavender colored hatch in every station. Some even have above ground tanks for the detergent, and that's been verified. About 8 years ago I found a permit application Costco had in North Carolina where they described their setup including additive-only tanks and a metering system for that additive, specifying a 1:2700 ratio of additive to gasoline.

We talked about it years ago, although a lot of the links are dead. I'm not sure what you think they need to do to prove that they're actually doing what they say they're doing. Certainly if they're not providing additive in the 5x EPA LAC that they claim, it could be fraud. Or they could be in violation of their Top Tier licensing agreement.

 

[Intelligent Molecule]

The small independent stations are long gone around my area. The cheapest gas is at the very high volume places. The absolute cheapest is from the regional grocery store chain Woodman's. No one beats their prices and they must be pumping an amazing amount of fuel.

 

[y_p_w]

It's kind of weird how this works. In my area I've seen many branded gas stations that go independent. And it's easy to tell because they didn't really change much other than change the sign, but the color scheme screams out the former franchise status. Kind of like a used police car that had its police lights, antennas, and agency markings removed, but it's easy to tell.

Also really strange because I've seen one that was a Chevron station, went independent, and re-upped as a Chevron station. Another was a 76 station, went independent for a couple of years, and is now a combination Valero/Circle K/Burger King.

 

[jake wells]

I didn't think the Amish would use fuel? I know Mennonites use it for farming.

The Amish / Mennonites use either kerosene or white gas here for lighting and or cooking.

 

[JohnnyG]

I don't know. They've applied for and received Top Tier approval, which means they've pledged that there will be their chosen additive in a concentration at least that which they provided for testing. Top Tier makes no requirement of where the additive is inserted in the process.

But they do tell you the trade name, who makes it, when it's pumped in, and how it's been tested. At least they have in publicly available documents. They no longer say it, but I remember an older document that noted that the then "Clean Power" detergent additive was UltraZol 9888 from Lubrizol, which may have been a custom additive made for them. It's kind of odd because there is no UltraZol 9888 on the EPA website, but there is a "Lubrizol 9888". Not sure about the discrepancy.

The document from that 2013 presentation shows how they do it. They've got a keypad to enter the volume of fuel delivered and it's supposed to meter the detergent additive. I've looked around at some stations and they definitely have the lavender colored hatch in every station. Some even have above ground tanks for the detergent, and that's been verified. About 8 years ago I found a permit application Costco had in North Carolina where they described their setup including additive-only tanks and a metering system for that additive, specifying a 1:2700 ratio of additive to gasoline.

We talked about it years ago, although a lot of the links are dead. I'm not sure what you think they need to do to prove that they're actually doing what they say they're doing. Certainly if they're not providing additive in the 5x EPA LAC that they claim, it could be fraud. Or they could be in violation of their Top Tier licensing agreement.

Well, you're absolutely right. I don't know why I was so opposed to the idea, but I believe they are doing what they think is best for the business, and the customer. You really can't ask much more from a company than that, especially these days.

 

[y_p_w]

Well, you're absolutely right. I don't know why I was so opposed to the idea, but I believe they are doing what they think is best for the business, and the customer. You really can't ask much more from a company than that, especially these days.

I know I made an assumption (many of us did) that Costco didn't have any additive added at the rack because they had that injection system at the gas station. However, they're pretty good at treating customers right. I'm sure that anyone who wants to can go to the attendant and ask how it works.

However, if there's any business that would be the least likely to cheat its customers, it would be Costco. Unlike maybe some smaller gas stations where truckers have talked about them asking to fake a bill of lading to do stuff like deliver regular to put into premium tanks. I know that as common carriers, the trucker might have to face liability for helping in that kind of fraud.

 

[hank2]

I often buy gas at about the last non convenience store station left. It's a combo repair garage, tire dealer, heating oil dealer and gas station. Two attendants to pump your gas if you like. E0 available, Sunoco otherwise. Also, K1 kerosene and off-road diesel. It has the lowest gas prices in a large area and does a good volume.

 

[Snagglefoot]

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.

Here is a shot of a local gas station with an above ground tank, compartilized for regular, premium and diesel. That’s the diesel pump close to the tank.

 

[The motor guy]

Got one of them that sells 93 octane for about 70 cents less but the pumps are ancient and very few people buy gas there. I don't either.

Why do they sell for less? It's the same with the gas station down the street. I think it's because they have the same load of fuel from a month or two ago when prices were lower. The price is higher now

 

[Johnmpb]

I’m missing the question part of this thread. It reads more like a journal entry.

Dear diary

 

[WeyounDS9]

I always pick a large busy gas station to buy fuel from because I know it's fresh. There is a small station at the end of the street that actually has cheaper proces than any other station. It looks older than the big chain stations. I just rarely see anyone pumping fuel

I always make a point of supporting small business and will generally buy from the smallest station that has the price/fuel I need.