Good gas tips!

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 afternoon 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 gallonage 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 i s 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 vapors , 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'.