For those of you not familiar with OOIDA , they are a sue happy organization for owner/operators . They generally like to sue ATA members for contract disputes but they now decided to file a class action suit against WalMart and some pantries over "hot " diesel fuel . If you buy diesel at WalMart and want to be part of the OOIDA suit , check out their website at OOIDA.com . They claim they will pay for time and travel expenses to spend 2 days testifying in court . I think it's a bunch of BS myself but maybe you'd want to check it out . O.K. , I couldn't find anything about this at the OOIDA site . I got the info at expeditorsonline.com , General Discussion , topic 4887 OOIDA Members .

 

What does "hot" fuel mean???

 

maybe like the woman who spilled coffe on her umm, ahh, you know.

 

You know how fuel expands when hot . Ever see a full tank start dripping from the overflow after being filled in hot weather ? Well , some fuel locations heat the fuel to 100 degrees or more in cold weather . You think you fill up but when it cools you end up with less than a full tank . Go to OOIDA.com and put hot fuel in search OOIDA . A ton of info there .

 

nice!! what a scam, i thought the pumps where regulated by law so they "temp" the fuel and then correct the flow for a set temp??

 

Really , it doesn't make sense to me . WalMart sells at discount prices and how much would you lose buying 20 or 30 gallons . The strange thing is when OOIDA started this hot fuel thing in spring 2005 they named Flying J as a real culprit . I was hauling RV's at the time and almost always fueled at Flying J . I started fueling at Pilot instead of Flying J and my mileage improved 2 MPG . BUT OOIDA backed off from Flying J and removed all mention of them from their articles . If you regularly fuel at WalMart , the Pantry or Texaco east of the Mississippi , you might just keep an eye on mileage then try fueling somewhere else ( not Flying J ) for a while and see if there is a noticeable difference . You might even put a thermometer on the fuel nozzles at different locations when fueling .

 

A few states do require temp adjustments but most claim they don't have the manpower to bother with checking calibrations .

 

I buy my fuel at Walmart and never noticed warm or hot fuel.

MikeyB

 

Sounds like a good reason to add a new gauge to your dash...Tank Temp! Just kidding. Anybody know how much expansion you can get out of 100 degree fuel versus say maybe 50 degree in 20 gals.

 

The Pumps are regulated in Canada to +15 degrees C (59f) I think it would cost Wal Mart or any one else more money to heat the fuel than they would make of of the scam. I got hot fuel once in West Memphis Arkansas but the ambiant temp was 102f at the time. You could feel the nozzle was a little warm.
Jim O

 

You are correct. My understanding is they aren't heating the fuel but rather are using pumps that don't automatically calibrate for the fuel temp.

 

I agree it it's likely they are heating their tanks . It doesn't make sense OOIDA makes no major truck stops part of their suit . Many of them use a high volume of fuel and have tankers steadily hauling keeping the tanks full . I don't know how warm fuel is coming right from a tank farm or refinery but fuel bought at these locations would likely be warmer than fuel at a smaller location that isn't fueled as frequently . I also wonder if certain additives would cause the temperature of the fuel to rise .