Diesel fuel quality?
 

Is there a particular brand of fuel that is better or worse than another? Chevron, Texaco, Maverick, Conoco, 7-11, etc... How does one determine the cetane rating if it is not posted on the pump? What about the old tale of never filling up when the tanker truck is unloading? Just wondering.

I can't speak to which brand is better than the next, but the thing I usually make sure of, is that I only use stations that are frequented by other diesel drivers, because this means the fuel turnover rate is higher, and therefore the fuel is always relatively fresh. Truck stops being the best option due to high volume of fuel sales.

The old wives tale you refer to makes sense to me and I will avoid filling up at a station if the tanker is currently there.

Also, some smaller stations like 7-11, Beaver, Pioneer (remember I am Canadian) buy their fuel from the larger refineries such as Exxon, Shell, etc. so it is the same fuel as the brand names.

As for cetane rating, I always use an additive (Powerservice DieselKleen) to boost it so the rating is less critical for me.

I always use a major like Chevron, Exxon and the like. I feel more comfortable with the majors. As far as filling up when a tanker is unloading. My brother-in-law works for Suncrest who distributes fuel to stations in the south and he told me to never fill up at that time, because all the sediment and water is pushed to the top where the pump does it sucking and all this junk takes at least 30-60 minutes to settle back down. Just what I'm told and that's what I do.

I haven't found a "good" brand or a "bad" brand. Make sure you use high-volume stations that sell lots of fuel. Ones

The answer is "not enough." I treat every tank with Power Service fuel additive. Grey bottle for summer, spring, and fall. White bottle for winter. This product increases cetane and lubricity, which will protect your fuel system if the fuel at the pump hasn't been properly treated.

It also increases fuel economy and decreases the frequency of regen cycles.

I stick with the major busy fuel stations and so far Shell.
I just started using the motorcraft cetane stuff three tanks ago and only every other tank (so two times total). I haven't noticed any results but I'm sure it's doing what it is supposed to do.

Epic, I'm all about trying to support the local companies. Around us, You have Sinclair, Chevron, Philips and Maverick with refineries in NSL. As well as a couple smaller independant refineries. Almost all of the fuel we can purchase comes from Oil wells in Utah and is refined locally. Sinclair is a Utah company and Maverick is from Afton Wyoming. So I lean to supporting them.

I've got numerous friends in that business. The president of Sinclair Pipeline is a neighbor, other friends work for Chevrons pipeline. 60% of the fuel produced in Utah is shipped out of state over those pipelines. So we are fortunate. Our fuel is locally produced and formulated for our region. And is probably as fresh as is possible, unless it has sat in the gas stations tanks for a while. In other words none of what you can buy locally here in Utah was produced in a foreign refinery and then shipped in a tanker to our market.

Talking to a friend who owns a chain of gas stations, He complains about some of his competitors getting oil from independant refineries that buy the high sulfur crude. In the past he said their fuel was cheaper because of the raw crude used. But with todays Ultra Low Sulfur standards, I suspect even the Gypsy refineries have to meet that standard.

I've got friends who swear they get better mpg using Chevron. Personally I just have not seen it.

Thanks all for the comments. They pretty much go along with what one would think is common sense. Good to hear others drive past a station that is filling its tanks and it's not just me. Although you have to believe the stuff that goes in the tanks is pretty clean and filtered.

I have a friend from the Call family out of Afton. We were neighbors for several years and he told me a great deal about running a large chain of convenience stores. Most people don't know that there is very little profit in selling gas alone because the commodity is so competitive. There are different grades of gas (and I'm assuming diesel fuel also) for sale at the refineries.

This particular chain buys what is called "first run" and "end run" gas which is cheaper than the "sweet run" distillate. There is a point in time (temperature) during the refining of the crude oil where the by-product switches from say, gasoline to diesel. This is when the product is neither pure gas nor diesel and cannot be sold as such without further refining. Some companies buy this less-pure product at a lower price and therefore can sell at a lower price and still manage a small profit margin. When I asked him if he has any problems with using it in his cars, he said he has no problem running it in his company car. But as for his wife's expensive Volvo, he told her to fill-up at Chevron. lol. That's pretty telling.

There is a big Chevron station near my house that I always use for gassers and Chevron fuel seems to be the best stuff out there (IMO) but they don't have diesel at this station. I was convinced of this with my old '02 Explorer where something in the engine would clatter when accelerating but when I used Chevron tank after tank, this noise would almost go away. A '98 explorer I still have has a similar experience. So that's my story about Chevron; they do something right.

The Chevron station that does carry diesel is a pain to get to and I don't know if they have that many diesel customers. The Shell station I use is a distance too but I can avoid the city driving to get to it and it's near my office.

We don't have Sunoco, Chevron, etc. around here.

We have Speedway/Marathon, BP, and then the Mom and Pops type places.

I use all of them and I haven't noticed a difference. I have been running the Motorcraft additive since new.

For my gassers I use shell (diesel not available) and have noticed a difference. They have the best gas IMO.

same here the only differences ended up being the prices.

Speaking of prices, why is diesel 20 to 30 cents more per gallon than unleaded gas? Isn't easier to refine and with the economy as bad as it is, the trucking industry has slowed and the consumption should be down (at least according to my trucker brother).

thats one thing I could never figure out, but I blame all the VW drivers on that. it was cheaper at one time.

Diesel is more exspensive simply because of supply and demand. Think about all of the semi trucks, the delivery trucks, trains, generators farming equipment and all the other things that use diesel. Now think of the poor mileage or consumption rate they have.
'Until the 6.7." Supply Demand! It is simple.

I wish I could remember where I saw the article, but the use of diesel was 1/3 higher than that of gasoline.

Fuel prices bumped up around here about $.20 $.30 just recently. At least a part of that might be explained by the switch from summer blend to winter blend. Number one diesel is nearly identical to kerosene and more highly refined. Mixing some of that with the number two summer blend just makes it more expensive overall.

I don't think the ratio of semi truck, delivery trucks, trains, generators, farming equipment, etc. to gas powered vehicles has changed that much in the last ten years. I can remember not that far back when diesel was cheaper than regular gas, sometimes quite a lot cheaper.

I think the price of gas and diesel is manipulated and has nothing to do with supply and demand. Recall a couple years ago when gas almost hit $4 and Exxon made the most profit (that's profit, after expenses, taxes, bla blah) of any corporation in the history of the universe. OK then, rant over and standing by for incoming on this. :-X10