Saving on fuel

Then you DEFINITELY do not want your own tanks. WAY too expensive to meet the environmental requirements. Delivery costs for small amounts will be at least equal to the markup at a "wholesale" pump. Checking GOOGLE, I find ALL KINDS of Key-Lock fuel locations in Canada and the UK, as well as Europe - but NONE in the USA???????

A wholesale fleet fuel card that will save you something like 3% is the only AMERICAN solution I could come up with. Check your local Exxon/Mobil or Shell distributor for more information (try RS Fuels for Shell in the greater Chicago area)

Reply to
clare
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I've seen the unmanned key-lock stations in the US, not sure if/how they differ from those elsewhere. Either way there isn't a lot of money to be saved unless you are a big fuel consumer. I suspect with Iggy's fuel consumption the savings might pay for the annual holiday party and not much more.

Reply to
Pete C.

Not sure on permits, I believe you would be ok as long as you have your hazmat endorsement and display the proper placcards.

Reply to
Pete C.

Wish I could say that--takes about $500 just to fill the tractor once...and that's w/o the road tax. :(

We use a local distributor but the only real difference is that don't pay road tax on off-road diesel.

More significant would be to save the taxes off the off-road fuel such as for the forklift, etc., but I suspect their use isn't really that significant volume.

For no more than that since retail markups average only about 15 cents nationwide I doubt you'll save much. But, as another says if there is a local fleet service facility around it can't hurt to check.

Reply to
dpb

When I was in Zambia in the 70s I knew a guy who drove a Morris Minor 1000 around town, and had a 5 ton Morris Diesel lorry (truck) as well. To drive from Livingstone to Lusaka he put the Minor on the back of the truck and carried it up - the diesel fuel was cheaper to the point it was cheaper to drive the big truck than the Minor - but he hated driving the truck in the city, so took the Minor for scooting around.

Not a big enough difference in fuel costs here between diesel and gasoline to make THAT work!!!!!

Reply to
clare

At many your card account determines if you pay tax or not - so you can buy taxed or untaxed - and the fuel is NOT dyed, so it is legal for on-road use.

Reply to
clare

Every farmer and construction and oil company around here has those tanks in the back of their pickup trucks

And no...they really cant be removed easily once they are bolted in. Nor should they be.

Iggy should just flog a $500 pickup for dump runs and to carry the fuel tank(s).

Unless he can find a "service truck" really really cheap.

Something along the lines of :

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They are indeed out there. A truck with bins on the sides, fuel tanks and hoses etc. Id be surprised if he couldnt find one at an auction as they are of limited use to the general public and since construction has died....they should be out there fairly cheaply.

Gunner

Reply to
Gunner

Hey Clare,

Down here in SW Ontario, I use a close-by Petro-Can Card Lock where they have 4 diesel pumps and a diesel "Farm Dye" pump, and two 87 octane gasoline pumps. I get billed once a month, and the price per litre varies widely over any month based on the days price, but is always at least 5 cents per litre less than the local gas stations. And it is "open" 24/7, which is a biggy to me.

I drive anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 KM per year, so that 5 cents helps quite a bit.

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario.

Reply to
Brian Lawson

A friend with a Diesel Toyota Surf (Japanese market right hand drive Forerunner) buys most of his diesel from a co-op card lock - about 7 to 9 cents less than the "retail" pumps in town.

Reply to
clare

I went there today, it is a regular Marathon gas station.

Reply to
Ignoramus21219

It feels like tax cheating of the kind where it is possible to get caught. I am very cautious about that sort of thing.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus21219

Under 120 gallons does not require any placarding.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus21219

We have a party about every couple of months.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus21219

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I bought a couple of trucks recently. A Chevy 3500 truck with snow plow for $400 and a big International flatbed for $500.

The above mentioned snow plow sold for $400, and the engine from the International for $1700.

We cut up the rest for scrap.

And I do not need any more vehicles, registrations are expensive.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus21219

Good luck. Unless you are buying 2-3000 gallons at a time you won't get any discounts. You also won't find people to deliver fuel and fill the vehicles directly. Federal law prohibits it.

As for the "I would, frankly, prefer to avoid getting permits and registered tanks. Read this however you wish." part. Do it legally or pay the price if you get caught. Fines for illegal storage start around $10.000 and can go up VERY fast.

A local shop got nailed for using an old farm tank for storage of 250 gallons of diesel for his tow vehicles. DEC got wind of it, brought in a crews and combed the place over. The fine for the fuel was 30K and the rest of the stuff (employees without comp. storage of used oil in illegal containers plus a couple others ended up with a $430,000 fine

+45 days in jail!
Reply to
Steve W.

It is not cheating if you are registered to buy the gas, keep accurate records, and pay the applicable road taxes. Some carriers, for example, buy all their gas in one state, but do commercial carrying in

4 states. They need to log all their miles in each state, and submit the applicable tax to each state they drive in.
Reply to
clare

No it does not. It is done by MANY companies

Correct

OUCH!!!!

Reply to
clare

The best way to do it is look at

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and find the cheapest fuel prices in your immediate area, and shop there. That can save you 25c to 50c a gallon, which ain't chicken feed.

You have the truck with the auxiliary tank in the bed, that means you can go a long time between fill-ups, or come back and transfer the fuel into the Semi a little at a time.

Or bank a few 5-gallon Blitz Cans of each flavor for emergency supplies, and keep them in a "Flammable Liquids" storage locker. The Fire Department should allow that in an Industrial environment.

The "Fuel Delivery" services that come in with a tanker and fill up all the trucks at your yard overnight is NOT cheaper, you pay a good chunk more for the convenience - Not to mention that you don't do nearly enough driving to make it worth their time, they usually have

200 trucks in a yard they fill.

But compared to every employee with a truck losing a half-hour of productive time every time they go to a gas station - and if there's three guys in that crew you have three times 0.5 of Lost Time, the added fee for fuel delivery is a bargain.

GTE had their own underground fuel tanks and pump AND a small Fuel Tanker (2,000 gallon range) at each yard - the Garage assigned someone to go around and fill all the trucks every night that had a cone out in the back, and they could check the oil and tires at the same time - and if the local underground fuel tank at the yard ran dry they could go fill it up elsewhere and bring a supply back... You don't have that scale, or need that expense.

What might work out for you is to get a few small above ground tanks for Diesel and Regular Unleaded. Either the double-wall and insulated "Fire-Guard" or the double-wall and concrete encased "Con-Vault" - but the City/County permitting is usually a nightmare.

And don't even THINK about going with underground fuel tanks, even if you go the full legal double-wall tank with the monitors and everything - besides the nightmare of getting the permits, your Liability Insurance carrier will have kittens.

If the tank is on a small trailer that falls under the DOT rules and not the local fire codes... Make two - one Unleaded and one Diesel, with little Tuthill dispensing pumps on them.

Just keep your mouth shut, and build a little fenced in enclosure around back for parking the two little fuel trailers - away from the building, away from any trees or power lines, and with clearance from the rear fence. A diked one-piece reinforced concrete slab with an integral cast 6" high curb all around (and a ramp to back the trailers in) to contain spills and a 2" drain valve at the lower end to let the water flow out manually after it rains or snows - but hold the fuel if something leaks.

Put privacy slats in the 8' fence around it, and a big extinguisher inside the gate - and another big one at the back door of the shop where you can get to it. And no power wiring in or near the trailer enclosure that isn't Explosion-proof with the conduit seals and Class

1 Division 1 light fixtures and outlets for the battery chargers.

The trailer fuel pumps should be 12V and have a deep-cycle RV battery on board each trailer. Heck, the amount you'll use them, put a large (regulated!) solar panel on top of each trailer, that should be enough juice to keep the batteries charged and topped off without any

120V power necessary at all.

Either way, when you go fill up your truck at the local Cheap Gas station you also fill the 100-gallon transfer tank in the bed, and then you transfer that to the appropriate on-site small tank as needed

- after adding a dose of Stabilizer. That will cover the usage of the forklifts and generators and such - and give you a supply for when the Apocalypse arrives.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman (munged human readable)

sorry, late to the party.

I have a couple 1000 gal tanks. I have fuel delivered. Savings is about $0.30 per gallon. Plus, I buy up when the price is down - will top the tanks next week - to save even more.

I think most farmers do the same.

karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

This is off-road diesel? If so that won't help Iggy for his on-road use.

Reply to
Pete C.

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