Diesel Quality?

This is only theoretical, as there are fuel filters.

Also, I used to be a fuel farm manager at an airport. They are supposed to shut the tank down one hour for every foot of fuel in the tank after taking in a load. Airplane fuel depots have numerous filters, one after the other. But for a truck, the filters in the ground should catch any contaminants. If they don't shut the tank down an hour for every foot of fuel in the tank, then its all a moot point. Just fuel and go.

By the way, airplane fueling depots are known as "fuel farms" in the aviation industry.

 

When the pumps flowing very slowly, that’s a red flag for low fuel level in the stations tank. Sometimes it means vapor lock in the stations fuel lines, (usually only in summertime). May also be plugged fuel filter on their fuel Pump. Maybe a combination of all three. Fuel filter on their pump catches most of the water. Usually only a problem on old Stations with old tanks. Maybe after a big rain storm. Filling while Tankers are dropping fuel can stir up trash that ends up in your tanks. Regardless even with pure clean fuel, and perfect conditions. Diesel naturally gets water in it. It forms as condensation in the tanks, above the fuel level, and drips into the fuel. The advice to keep tanks full is sound. Especially in winter, mainly because it can freeze. A good additive is helpful to get rid of any water sitting at the bottom of tanks, or gets added while fueling. Also why it’s advised to not run tanks low, especially in winter because it can freeze. Summertime it just clogs the filter. Look inside a fuel tank in winter time. If you can see the sides above the fuel level, you’ll see the frozen condensation ice crystals. Once the fuels warmed up, it thaws out, ends up at the bottom of the tank. It stays separate. except for any picked up by the tube, while it’s in suspension, on its way to the bottom. Unless there’s a lot of it, and you run tanks real low, it will stay on the bottom. Any picked up while in suspension gets filtered by the Trucks filters. Only way to get rid of it from the bottom of the Tank is with an additive like Power Source or Pffe. Pour it in tanks immediately before fueling.

 

Filters don’t catch everything. Look at Cummins and all they’re injector problems, they’re fleet guard brand of filters specifically required on many of their engines, They’ve spent a lot of money on it. Still have problems. I don’t really adhere to the sound advice. I very often run my tanks low, year round. Always able to swap filters if needed. I do use water dispensers, usually one small bottle of Pffe in each tank, at least every 3rd or 4th fill, mostly in winter. My Trucks old. Little bit of water won’t hurt it. New Trucks high pressure fuel systems are hyper sensitive to contaminants. They even frown on pre filling spin on filters, worried about dirty fuel.

 

Bio Diesel is bad. Higher cloud point, and Less efficient. Fouls injectors, hurts mpg’s , cause more algae. Less lubricity. Pretty much everything about it is inferior to straight No.2.

 

I'm pretty sure the pumps have filters. I've seen some pumps with the covers off and they look like they have spin on filters. Maybe not all do though.

 

I slept on my trailer with my pillow there in Aug of 06, my AC went out and they would not fix it on the road.
So, two weeks of Carlsbad Caverns with salt loads (tarped) all over TX, AZ and back It was cooler at night to sleep outside.
Then on third week, I got a load from Houston to WI, via AR, when I cleaned their truck out and quit.

 

As a gas hauler, I load Walmart, shell, marathon, pilot, etc…
The base is identical across the board regardless of whose name is on it.
The differences are in the additives they put in and how clean the receiving tanks are kept and maintained.
Here’s where things get interesting.
Anti foaming agents, clean burn additives, etc are where the price differences come in to play. Rack operator told me they received a load of 7800 gallons of some additives that cost over 100k. he also said a little drop will do ya well….a little goes a long way.
Given they sell around a million gallons a day from that rack, it makes sense.
Walmart diesel the same as pilot diesel is the same as loves or TA.
Clean tanks are the biggest culprit of major issues next to cross drops.
Dirty tanks are horrible.
Major truck stops maintain their systems meticulously. So does Walmart, race track, circle k, and other big names.
Smaller stores that don’t move much are dangerous. Water, algae, dirt, etc are lethal to motors. There’s3 filters the fuel passes through to get to the nozzle filling your truck. At the rack when we load it, one in the main feed line to the pumps, and another inside the pump body. stuff only gets past them all is they’re neglected.
Most Walmart’s sell multiple truckloads of fuel daily. Truck stops do too. Drop your trailer and use Walmart to save money if you like. Tough to wrangle a van through there.
Which ones to avoid? Small mom and pop places that sell half a truck a week.
They don’t sell a lot and it’s relatively expensive for them to have tanks cleaned or fixed. They might sell 400 gallons a day total, where a truck stop sells 2500 gallons an hour. That’s a truckload every 3 hours and 15 minutes. 2 trucks dedicated to keeping that store supplied all day long. That store likely has 4 or 5 30000 gallon tanks set on keep them full with the carriers.
Try keeping up with that when you have a 3 hour turn to load and deliver…

 

This is good information. Is it the same even for the 4 wheeler side? I ask since diesel and gasoline are different and I wonder if gasoline is filtered out the same way.

 

I like Benzonia. Spent time at the vacation trailer park there.

 

Yes, it’s pretty much identical.
With gas, water is the worst.
Tank fill ports and vapor ports are often neglected at the remote stores that don’t sell much.
Case in point…store in a rural area has their drops located in a low spot where runoff drains across them. They neglect inspecting their spill wells where the ports are located, ignore what we tell them about replacing gaskets and caps that are broken. So, over the past 2 years, I’ve pumped their tanks out 4 times.
It costs them about 7500 each time… 2 drivers, 4 hours, pump out fees, tank tech for a day, system shut down completely so no sales at all, and we block the whole side of the parking lot so no inside sales either.