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HEATED FUEL DISCUSSIONS * USA - Not getting what you pay for at the pump
"When you don't get a real gallon of fuel, that's when it hurts my wallet... You notice when you fill up, then park overnight and the gauge reads less than full in the morning," said SamBattaglia and independent trucker Phoenix,AZ,USA -The Arizona Republic, by Ryan Randazzo -Aug. 31, 2007: -- Each time drivers fill their fuel tanks in Arizona's simmering summers, they likely see $1 or more evaporate. Because gasoline expands in the heat, that's the estimated dollar amount of energy they purchase but they never receive... Nobody serves hotter gas than stations in the Arizona desert, and after more than a year of discussion, debate over the issue is beginning to boil... Fuel experts have known for decades that gas expands when heated, and that trait can benefit or harm buyers and sellers when not calculated into transactions. The current debate flaredin 2002 when the Missouri-based Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association representing truckers got involved. OOIDA began investigating the mileage variances in diesel fuel when truckers suspected fraud... The group found that temperature accounted for the different mileage truckers were experiencing, even though diesel doesn't expand as much as gasoline when heated. Their research and subsequent news coverage prompted dozens of class-action lawsuits on behalf of independent truck drivers and motorists, all of which are being consolidated in Kansas... Among the 38 cases with more than 150 plaintiffs and defendants is James Anliker, owner of Jim's Trucking Inc. in Tolleson. He and another Arizona motorist, Christopher Payne, filed their suit in May on behalf of everyone who has bought fuel warmer than 60 degrees in the state from the nine defendants, including Exxon Mobil, Shell, Flying J and Chevron... The complaint also alleges the companies pay taxes on the amount of fuel they purchase at the industry standard of 60 degrees and could collect more taxes than they remit on the fuel when it is sold hotter and, therefore, "obtain a tax windfall at the expense of the consumers"... But truckers say they see the impact, even though major trucking companies such as Phoenix-based Swift Transportation have stayed out of the fray... "When you don't get a real gallon of fuel, that's when it hurts my wallet," independent driver Sam Battaglia of Louisville, Ky., said recently after putting $170 worth of diesel into his International 9900 near Nashville. "You notice when you fill up, then park overnight and the gauge reads less than full in the morning," said Battaglia, a member of the independent-truckers group pushing for temperature compensation... (Photo by Jack Kurtz/The Arizona Republic -Michael Balderrama, of Phoenix, buys gas at QuikTrip. When gas heats up, it takes up more space but doesn't provide any more energy. That means there is less energy in a tank full of 105-degree gas than the same tank filled with 70-degree gas)
* ‘Hot fuel’ compensation a hot topic at Chicago meeting
Chicago,Ill,USA -Land Line Magazine (Grain Valley,MO) -August 31, 2007: -- Automatic temperature compensation devices for retail pumps would not be nearly as expensive or difficult to implement as oil companies and fuel retailers have led their colleagues to believe, according to information presented at a subcommittee meeting of National Conference on Weights and Measures... OOIDA Foundation Project Leader John Siebert attended the meeting of the Automatic Temperature Compensation Subcommittee Aug. 27-29 in Chicago. He and others presented information to representatives from state and regional weights and measures groups, the American Petroleum Institute, fuel marketers, pump manufacturers and consumer advocate groups... The topic of the meeting was automatic temperature compensation for retail fuel pumps – something that would standardize the way fuel is sold to consumers and potentially lead to the end of “hot fuel”... Hot fuel refers to retail gasoline or diesel sold above 60 degrees, a standard used by oil companies and retailers during wholesale transactions to account for temperature fluctuations... At the retail level, fuel is currently sold without compensation for temperature, expansion or contraction. Some people believe oil companies and fuel retailers have been ripping off consumers with hot fuel to the tune of more than $2.3 billion per year...
Labels: heated fuel debate
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