Gas Saving Tips and some insider info.
Once again the headlines are filled with news about rising fuel costs and it's impact on Jane and Joe citizen but very little is mentioned about the small service business owner. We, who have to drive to all of our job sites since customers don't traditionally bring their dirt to our office are faced with higher fuel costs and complaints from the staff who are also driving to those job sites.
It's vicious cycle that is not going to get better anytime soon. Here are some tips to help you reduce waste. It wouldn't hurt to put these tips in your next employee newsletter either!
Avoid idling your engine for more than 2 minutes, this includes running into the quickie mart for a micro-burrito and or at train crossings. It takes less gas to restart your vehicle than idling beyond 2 minutes wastes.
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.
I thought it might be interesting for you to
know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.
These companies import Middle Eastern oil:
Shell.......................... 205,742,000
barrels
Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000
barrels
Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco...........................62,231,000
barrels
Citgo gas is from South America, from a
Dictator who hates Americans. If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel
Here are some large companies that do not
import Middle Eastern oil:
Sunoco.................0 barrels
Conoco.................0 barrels
Sinclair..................0 barrels
B P/Phillips............0 barrels
Hess......................0 barrels
ARC0....................0 barrels
If you go to Sunoco.com, you will get a list
of the station locations near you.
All of this information is available from
the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing.
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