A lot of you may have seen this and I don't know the truth behind it, but it can't hurt to put it out there for all.

I've been in petroleum pipeline business for about 31 years, currently working for the Kinder-Morgan Pipeline here in San Jose, CA. We deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period from the pipe line; one day it's diesel, the next day it's jet fuel and gasoline. We have 34 storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons. Here are some tricks to help you get your money's worth:

1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afte rnoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline,diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallon gage is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.

2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.

3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating 'roof'membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)

4. If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting,thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your money. Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump'

good info I'll give it a shot.

Very interesting, I have never seen this information anywhere.

Thanks!

There is no such thing as a good forward. :-/

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp

Snopes isn't doing their homework.  Number 1 is known throughout the industry.  Oil companies get to adjust their prices based on the temperature that the fuel is purchased at but the end consumers do not.  There has been a lot of newspaper and television coverage about this and how it can be unfair to the consumer.  Here is one that was in the Kansas City Star recently.

http://www.kansascity.com/128/story/38816.html

Snopes isn't doing their homework. Number 1 is known throughout the industry. Oil companies get to adjust their prices based on the temperature that the fuel is purchased at but the end consumers do not. There has been a lot of newspaper and television coverage about this and how it can be unfair to the consumer.

The gasoline companies are selling fuel to the customer by the gallon, not the BTU like natural gas.  If a customer thinks that one retailer's gas is too warm, he has the choice to go to aother retailer.

No one controls the retail price of gasoline.  Retailers can sell it for whatever they want as long as the customer will pay it.  If the government requires them to retrofit their pumps to adjust for temperature, that cost will just be passed on to all of us.  Would they adjust the price up if the temperature goes below 60 degrees?

There is no such thing as a good forward. :-/

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp

Snopes isn't saying that this forward is untrue.  They are saying that they are still researching it.

My feeling is that everything in it is probably true, but would not effect the actual cost of filling up significantly.

I leave all this stuff to the younger guys, because I don't care. See my little gator dancing, does it look like he cares either. ;D

Snopes isn't doing their homework.  Number 1 is known throughout the industry.  Oil companies get to adjust their prices based on the temperature that the fuel is purchased at but the end consumers do not.  There has been a lot of newspaper and television coverage about this and how it can be unfair to the consumer.

The gasoline companies are selling fuel to the customer by the gallon, not the BTU like natural gas.  If a customer thinks that one retailer's gas is too warm, he has the choice to go to aother retailer.

No one controls the retail price of gasoline.  Retailers can sell it for whatever they want as long as the customer will pay it.  If the government requires them to retrofit their pumps to adjust for temperature, that cost will just be passed on to all of us.  Would they adjust the price up if the temperature goes below 60 degrees?

Please read the complete article.  I believe it answers your question.  You'll notice the companies didn't think it cost too much to adjust for temperature in Canada where they would have lost money.  Only in the U.S. where they make money off of warmer fuel do they say it will cost too much to retrofit the pumps.  I have no problem with them adjusting all fuel to the 60 degree standard.