RunninLean

Not sure how much this helps but the logic seems sound. Sorry if this might be a repost.

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon.

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that a ll service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rat e , some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely th e gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.





Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

oilfield-trash

Great tips.

I see you work for Kinder Morgan. I've deleivered a bunch of skid mounted meter runs for you guys. All of them them coming out of Pickett Measurement in Corpus Christi. All of them are baby blue.

bentwings

Well we stopped at the friendly ?? Super America and while filling up the guy in front of us filled his truck then when the pump shut off, tipped the hose up to get the last drop, then he pops the hood and goes over and takes the window wash container hanging on the pump off it's hook and dumps the whole thing in his washer tank. wth?? Now I'm a tightwad but this guy really takes the cake.

Timmay2

ROFL on the window washer!! Haha.. Its what $1 a gallon? You could even dillute it if you wanted to.. That takes the cake.. Man thats funny!!!

lobes1985

i dont think the morning fill up really matters because the tanks are burried deep enough that the temp will not change that much.

19Fury69

it says temperature corrected to 15 degrees on all the pumps here