Tips on Pumping Gas
I don’t normally pass along things that circulate the Inter-Tubes via e-mail, but this is pretty interesting information – if it is all true. I have no idea where it originated, but a family member sent it to me. I’d be curious if anyone could actually vet this info and prove / disprove it’s validity.
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 , CA 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 all 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. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, 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 the 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.
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Good tips, everything you mentioned seems to make sense. Although, as one of the posters said the gas storage tanks might be far enough underground to not be affected much by the outside temperature.
You have been paying out the nose for years upon years. We have every right to complain about a 500% increase in cost when our incomes have not adjusted to this HUGE increase. So while we overall pay less than you do, you have not see a 500% increase.
You are correct on the temperature of underground storage tanks. Virtually no difference in temperatures from summer to winter.
In California, there are vapor capture systems. There are two lines attached to the nozzle. Not sure if any other states have vapor capture systems.
Fuel storage tanks (the large tanks you see at refineries) have floating roofs. Gas tanks don’t. I think this is either urban legand or a worker with a little knowledge that became dangerous.
This is an urban legend!
See http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp
That may be true for city dwellers but for anyone living in rural areas a car is a must.
It clearly does make a difference what offer people are paying. If transport companies overheads go up, then chances are that prices will rise somewhere else within the distribution chain, ultimately stopping with consumers….like me and YOU !
A floating ‘roof’ in an underground tank? I call crapola. Even a tank MANUFACTURER shows no such thing:
http://ustast.com/gasoline-dispensing.jpg
Just a load of hooey, most of this. Park your car, ride a bike if you don’t want to pay for gas. Otherwise, be quiet. And I could give a flying fart what they’re paying anywhere else. If they’re not buying MY gas, then the point is useless to me.
@HeBeGB: Read the article properly before shooting your mouse off.
Wow, apart from the very last suggestion, I don’t believe a single thing in this article.
Let’s see…gas tanks are buried some twenty feet under ground. On the coldest winter day the temp at 20 feet might be 50 degrees or so. On the hottest day of the year the temp might be at…about 50 degrees too. Yeah, that’s why they say to bury posts at least three feet, because after that, ground doesn’t freeze and every foot down the temp becomes even more stable. I’d be surprised if the temp increased 1/100th of a degree in 24 hours once you get down to ten feet or more. Nonsense.
Re vapour return via black rubber around the nozzle??? Is he kidding? It’s an anti-splash guard, nothing more than that. They cannot bring vapours back into the station’s pump!!! It would require another hose, plus…it would require a vacuum to suck the vapours back to the tank, plus…it would cause moist air to be sucked back to the buried tank on damp days. Such garbagio…
Re internal floating roof in your tank…huh? I’ve literally removed and cleaned gas tanks from my cars and I’ve never heard of such a thing. What would be the point? Manufacturers putting in extra weight and extra cost to avoid some vapours coming out when you open your gas tank lid? In fact, the concept of the extra material in the tank would likely result in more surface area for gas to cling to and therefore vapourize! More garbagio….
Yeah, I agree with the last comment. This does happen.
LOL…Plus pushing then you have to push the car to the gas station which is hard on the back too :-)
Well Snopes is looking into it to validate this post. However, I know my husband tells me not to wait until you are completely empty to refill…it’s not good for the engine.
Gas is l under $3 per gallon in California. If you take a close look at the fine print on the pump you will see sales tax plus a state and federal taxes of $0.18 each you see 20% of the price is tax at the station. If you subtract out all the taxes built in by the refiners, shippers, drillers, explorers, etc, gas itself is probably about $0.50 per gallon. :D
To add insult to injury, while petrol is higher in European countries, they have mass transit in place to help shuttle folks from one place to another. Our city grids and designs (and sprawl) don’t lend well to mass transit. We integrated (or ARE, rather) a light rail here which will fail as terribly as it failed in other cities. Done more for politics than logic =(
Not sure about in the US, but in Canada it says on each gas pump “Volume has been temperature corrected to 15C ” (~ 59F)
So when the temperature of the storage tanks is 15C you are getting the most accurate measure by volume of gas pumped. In the warmer summer temperatures we get a little ‘ripped off’ but during the winter we get may get a little extra. I’m not sure why it’s 15C or if its the same for allprovinces but I think it’s the law for the notice to be on the pump.
Not sure about the other tips, but I will definitly try them out.
@donncha o caoimh: thanks for understanding.
@John: I think this article is quite interesting, also related to motoring. I digged it on digg today: HERE
@John: It’s true, everybody’s complaining about the relative price change. Doesn’t change the fact that when I listen to my american friends complaining, i’m the one who gets upset. BTW it’s not only gas, but many other things are waaaay cheaper in the US, especially now when your dollar’s plummeting.
@lena: I guess public transport is quite ok compared to other countries. Only one underground line in one city in Poland hurts… underground’s brilliant. Nevertheless, I’d rather be stuck in my own car listening to my favourite cds than to be stuck in the same jam in a bus or a tram…
BTW. I live in Warsaw and public transport i likely to be shitty in small towns too
True, but the average consumer isn’t buying 100 gallons every day.
€1.17/lt here in Ireland for petrol. That’s about $6.50/US gallon. Bloody expensive. If it costs the same in Poland they must really feel the pinch. Wages there are nowhere near as high as they are in the US or Ireland.
No, public transport sucks in Ireland. Everyone needs a car. I wonder why petrol is so expensive when the Dollar is so weak?
yeah, adam. How’s public transportation in Poland, pretty good, huh,. well, not here, in US. In a lot of towns there are no alternatives, you have to own a vehicle, so yeah, it sucks
I wonder how much that would mean to the average consumer over a year…
I doubt it is that much but would be interesting to get numbers :)
Kim:)
Hot fuel is starting to be a big issue for truckers. There is a difference above 60 degrees. Google hot fuel or hot diesel. In Canada retailers can adjust for temperatures, but not in the States yet.
I also wonder if these are true or not….but I guess it can’t hurt to do them either way huh?
Oh, and to Adam…other people still have expensive gas when you compare it to their paychecks!
Yeah, you’re right Adam… the worst I’ve seen in the US was in Hawaii where gas is now $4 a gallon, but this pales in comparison to Europe, Asia, etc. However, I imagine that everyone is increasingly upset by the relative increasing prices in their own locale. ;-)
John
Hi,
hehehe You Americans really think that $3,50 per gallon is much? Damn it, after doing a little maths, it turned out that I’m paying $6,5/gallon in Poland for E95 petrol… So please please don’t tell me you have expensive gas.
The tips are true as far as I’m concerned, I’ve read about this before.
Regards,
Adam
Hm those are some good tips even though I’ve heard some contradicting arguments for some (such as the temperature argument since the tanks are so far underground so as to not be affected by the day’s temperature, etc). But anything helps because gas is costly, indeed.