Wait... didn't you know changing your oil every 5k IS a scam?
Top Tier Gas a scam?
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For most stations, it's mixed into the tanker at the terminal.
Actually I found Visionworks in person cheaper than using their online store (eyeconic).
Costco? Only if you have forever to wait in line.TT in my area is the cheapest gas i can get so it's a win, win
Oops .. hahaha.Wait... didn't you know changing your oil every 5k IS a scam?
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Sunoco in Oxford PA and Exxon- 3 miles away. Rural area and never a wait.
Costco is like 25 miles away and I'm not a fan
Just a simple question:
Why would a terminal or refiner do that?
Added complexity. Added billing issues. Different pricing. Added equipment failures. Added inventory problems. Added errors from the driver perspective. What if an unbranded station wanted TT level detergent in an unbranded fuel? What is the driver supposed to hit at the terminal then? What card is he supposed to use?
Why… would they just not sell a single product and use economy of scale?
Think about things when you’re moving billions of gallons. When you’re moving millions of gallons a day. Things have to be simple at large volumes. It’s already complex enough with a gas station having 5+ products at times. Even if they’re in line blended at the pump sometimes.
Complexity adds cost. Now add that to the literal hundreds of millions of gallons a day of product sold all across America. From hundreds of terminals, at thousands of gas stations, hauled by a thousands of different companies.
Again, am I saying top tier is a scam? Well, it depends on your definition of a scam.
Top tier is marketing. If you think marketing is a scam, then it is. Otherwise, it’s just marketing.
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Having re-read this - whats the difference between unbranded Husky, unbranded Citgo, unbranded BP, etc.? Aren't they all the same - just base level unbranded gas from whatever refinery wherever?
Patman
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The Costco near my girlfriend’s house is never a long wait for me. Even when I go there on a Saturday at 4:00 I usually pull right up to an empty pump. The longest I’ve ever waited was still less than 5 minutes
Regular and Premium are the only two that really exist. So you get an 84-86 octane regular. And a 90-91 octane. Add 10% ethanol, about, and you get ~87 octane, 10% ethanol. And then your 93e10 off the premium. Mix the 2 together and you get mid grade.
Mid grade is primarily in line blended.
To get your 88, you add more ethanol.
So you have very limited need for tankage and pipeline capacity. Two types of gasoline, two types of diesel - assuming they even have #1 fuel, which they don’t in some regions.
So you may even have only 3 base products at a rack.
Is this why non-ethanol fuel at QT is 90 octane instead of 93 octane for premium with "up to 10% ethanol"?
If I cut a deal with say, Husky. And I buy 300,000 barrels / 12.6 million gallons. I will have X amount of product a day to pull. Whether it’s a 30 / 60 / 90 day contract for the product, right?
Well, that’s guaranteed product for me. They’re going to have that product there for me. And I’m going to have a special price on husky (or insert brand) fuel.
Now, ABC co is just buying Rack (wholesale) unbranded fuel. They’ll get pricing every day from a terminal, and different products they can pull from that terminal. The terminal may be owned by the pipeline company as well. So the buckeye pipeline has buckeye terminals. The colonial pipeline has colonial terminals. Kinder Morgan. Etc.
So, ABC co pulls up to the Buckeye terminal. Today, Citgo’s price (made up) is $1.71 for 87e10. BP’s price is $1.73 for 87e10, huskys price is 1.69 for 87e10.
They can just buy the lowest on the rack. Where let’s say my special price is Rack price minus 3 cents. Because I committed to 300k barrels.
The price changes every day. And those are just the refineries dumping into the pipeline.
Husky may run out of allocation. So you may need to end up buying Citgo or BP. Or ABC co doesn’t have any allocation left with Husky because I bought it all. Or maybe they have a deal with Citgo because they bought barrels and it’s rack minus 5 cents.
You can win and lose on buying barrels. You can win and lose on just buying wholesale rack. But anymore, having allocation is a big thing.
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To muddy things up some more. When you’re buying through a terminal company like Buckeye or colonial. You really have no idea whose product you’re getting. You’re just allocated product at the terminal and that company is billing you.
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Thank you for the detailed response. Very informative!
Now… think about all the Shell stations you see.
And think about where there’s a Shell refinery in the U.S….
Yes, I understand upstream, and some of midstream, but not much of downstream at least past the refinery - so you filled in lots of blanks.
I knew the gasoline is a commodity that more or less comes from whatever refinery / importer is convenient. How that got dealt out was still a bit of a mystery - until now. Thank you!
Top Tier is blended at the terminals where the fuel tanker loads up. Find the Top Tier stations listed in your area and choose the station with the highest sales volume; the fuel will be fresher that way. Yes, Top Tier is superior to non-top tier fuels, but these companies have to pay a price for the Top Tier badging. Most "discount" gas stations find the cheapest gas available when ordering a tanker to come deliver fuel. They don't always use the same supplier.
https://stationfinder.toptiergas.com/
https://stationfinder.toptiergas.com/
Anyone remember the username of the tanker driver in N. Georgia? He had a long thread about his experience at the terminal.
They used to be TT.
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