I think we got more problems than just high gas prices

[friesman]

It looks like we have an petroleum industry intent on ripping the consumer off. According to a local newspaper article on the weekend 1 in 10 gas pumps were measuring wrong, and 85 % of those WERE IN THE VENDORS FAVOUR. How does such an imbalance happen if the industry doesnt know about it.

Here's a link to the article (I hope this works)http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/features/hosedatthepumps/story.html?id=e28c1895-89cc-49b7-88bf-484aa73c86dc

 

From what I gather its worse my locale than anywhere else in Canada but it is a nationwide issue. We need to step up the inspections!

 

Brian

[SilvrT]

crikey!!!

 

Price at the pump yesterday was $1.347 ... that's about $6.11 / Canadian gallon !! (or $5.09 / US Gallon) (if my math is right?)

 

It costs me more now to fill my lawnmower that it used to cost to fill up the scoot a few years back.

[mini-muffin]

They've been reporting a similar problem down here. Seems the numbers start moving before any gas gets pumped.

 

Margaret

[Nighthawk II]

Well, as for the #s starting before the gas, the reason is that the customer before them is turning off the pump then draining the hose. There's actually about quart left in the hose after the handle is released. All you have to do is to replace the handle back into the holder to turn off the pump then remove the handle put it back in the filler neck and squeeze the handle until the hose is empty. I've had this happen a lot to me.

[GigaWhiskey]

When I was about 16, low on money and needed gas, I used to do that. Go into a closed gas station and let the rest of the gas in the lines flow into the tank.

[Nighthawk II]

The kids with 4 wheelers do it every night. They hit every station in town. I usually try to wait later in the day and I watch the person ahead of me to see if they drain it or not.

[SilvrT]

When I was about 16, low on money and needed gas, I used to do that. Go into a closed gas station and let the rest of the gas in the lines flow into the tank.

didn't ya like the taste of gas?

 

I was a master at syphoning LOL and I was Juicy Fruit gum's biggest customer LOL

Edited May 12, 2008 by SilvrT

[GigaWhiskey]

didn't ya like the taste of gas?

 

I was a master at syphoning LOL and Juicy Fruit gum was my biggest customer LOL

 

 

Nope, I had a preference for Scotch back then.

[1BigDog]

I drain my hose every time.........

[SilvrT]

I drain my hose every time.........

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

[KingSizer]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

What he said

[juggler]

Here in MN the pumps are regularly tested and certified. If you have a suspicion that a pump is off all you have to do is report it to the state and they will send someone out to test the pump.

 

If you really want to read about the gas and food prices you should read what I wrote about it.

 

http://www.wilgeno.com

 

Whether you like what I wrote of not don't complain about it on here. Don likes to keep the politics to a minimum.

[treeman]

if you want to check the pump, take 10 times the cost on 10 gales of gas

 

3.85

x 10 gales

-----------

$ 38.50 --- stop the pump at 10 gales then check the pump $$$$ if its 39/ 40 its off

[juggler]

if you want to check the pump, take 10 times the cost on 10 gales of gas

 

3.85

x 10 gales

-----------

$ 38.50 --- stop the pump at 10 gales then check the pump $$$$ if its 39/ 40 its off

 

But to be real accurate you need a calibrated container to pump the gas into so you can be sure you actually got the ten gallons the pumps claims you got. There's more than one way the pump can be incorrect. Trust me on that I grew up in my Dad's gas station. We had to have our pumps calibrated all the time. Plus we had to keep daily log of all the gas pumped and balance that to the amount of gas we bought from our supplier. Dad had stacks of note books filed with this data. It protected us from fines and it protected us from having a pump pump too much gas.

[Pilot]

What are you people complaining about? Poor Exxon/Mobil reported they only made around $9 BILLION in profit this past QUARTER....I don't see how these POOR Bas%#$d's can make any headway.

[RustyRecycledToy]

This is nothing new. It's been an ongoing problem for years. More than once I've had to ask an attendant how the h*** is it possible that I was able to pump more than 5 gallons into the 4.3 gallon tank on my HD. Complaining to the attendant will get you nowhere. they 'just work there'. Call the state bureau that certifies the pumps are accurate. They will eventually send someone out, but you still aint getting your money back.

 

If the pumps were off enough to charge for at least .7 gallons on such a small purchase, i feel sorry for the folks that roll up to fill their 44gal behemoth.

[TEW47]

I saw a report on tv that said Exon/Mobile profit margin for the last quater was 8%. There is enough coal ( for making syn. gas) in Montana to last two hundred years, but the evironmentalist won't let them use it. Germany did this in WW2. There is one factory that does make syn gas and the military uses it. Remember befor the 2006 elections the Demoncrats leadership said we were not paying enough for gas that we should need to be paying more for gas, Guess they got their wish. Now they don't remember saing that.

 

tew47

[Condor]

Years ago when I had my '87 F250 Diesel I was putting a ton of miles on it per year. I knew exactly how much fuel it took at 200 miles. Always 13 to 13.3 gallons at all the major truck stops. When I needed to tank up locally I'd go to a station that had a decent price and was close by. I noticed that the truck started taking 15.2 to 15.6 gallons. MOF one time I really ran the main tank down and it took more fuel than the tank held. 22 gallons in a 19 gallon tank. I told the owner he was pouring short gallons, and to get the pump re calibrated. Didn't happen. Called the Dept of Weights and Measures and reported the problem. Amazingly.... the next time I stopped in the tank took 13.2 gallons at 200 miles..... These newer pumps can be manipulated to pour short after being accurate for the first 5 gallons. There was a big flap about it locally a few years back. The inspector would check the first one or two gallons out of the pump and everything checked out OK. The pump got it's sticker, and kept right on sticking it to everyone.

[friesman]

Yesterday after all the stuff had hit the fan in the newspapers up here about all the gas pumps selling a short liter (quart for our US bros), the Feds made a big announcement that they have upped the fines to 10,000 bucks and will do a surpise inspection of every gas pump "at least" once a year.

"At least once a year" testing isnt often enough to keep track of companies that seem to have a track record for ripping off the consumer. It seems to me that we need to keep a lot closer eyes on this industry than this.

Gee, can you say knee jerk reaction?

 

 

Brian

[Eugene]

Yesterday after all the stuff had hit the fan in the newspapers up here about all the gas pumps selling a short liter (quart for our US bros), the Feds made a big announcement that they have upped the fines to 10,000 bucks and will do a surpise inspection of every gas pump "at least" once a year.

"At least once a year" testing isnt often enough to keep track of companies that seem to have a track record for ripping off the consumer. It seems to me that we need to keep a lot closer eyes on this industry than this.

Gee, can you say knee jerk reaction?

 

 

Brian

 

Yeah sure - the surprise will be if they do anything - they get their pound of flesh through taxes on the gas so no big hurry there.

 

Cheers

 

Eugene

[Guest tx2sturgis]

And yall have not even mentioned 'hot fuel'...

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-04-hot-fuel_N.htm

 

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/02/hot_fuel.html

[a1bummer]

Didn't thieves get their hands cut off in the good old days?

[juggler]

Didn't thieves get their hands cut off in the good old days?

 

In most cases it is not even intentionally being a thief. Sometimes the pumps accuracy slips. This is normal and since most are only required to check once a year no one would really notice unless the pump was way off.

[GigaWhiskey]

And yall have not even mentioned 'hot fuel'...

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-04-hot-fuel_N.htm

 

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/02/hot_fuel.html

 

 

I started reading that. No wonder gas prices go UP for the summer!

[Condor]

Interesting artical, but... lemme jump in here and play devils advocate a minute. The fuel is pumped out of underground tanks that probably maintain a fairly constant temperature year round. So folks are suing big oil because of what? That the gas expands when it warms up and doesn't deliver as much energy per gallon?? In my thinking it probably does expand, but.... it also increases in volume, ergo more gallons. The energy, whether it's contained in a cold gallon, or in a hot gallon, remains constant. Folks that pump fuel in the AM's because they think they're getting more bang for their buck, aren't, as long as the fuel temp in the underground tanks remains the same throughout the day. The volume of fuel that the vehicle tank might hold might be more in the AM's, but the energy payload stays the same as the gas warms up and expands during the day or contracts at night. I guess it would be more accurate to describe the fuel fill up, not in gallons, but in BTU's. The fuel delivery system of the vehicle doesn't give a darn what the temp is, it just delivers what's needed to maintain a the speed required by the operator, and that's controlled by the gas pedal. Low energy gallon = more pedal. High energy gallon = less pedal. I think these hot gallon law suits are another 'pie in the sky' effort contrived by some class action lawyer's get rich scheme....