09 Oct 2005
Full-Serve Lingers in Self-Serve World

I take the new truck to a full serve only station in Thorntown, Joe's, but I only pay about $0.10 more per gallon than the local self-serve emporiums. Why, you might ask, do I do this when gas is such a vital component of my business? A couple of reasons, actually.

First off, Joe's a customer - two dozen every two weeks and the occasional steak or rump roast. It's a local business, not owned by some chain out of New York or Chicago. Profits made by Joe buy my eggs and beef. Secondly, Joe controls his sources of gas very carefully. This means the octane rating is consistent, and that there's no added ethanol. The latter has become very important to me - it seems as though all is not as rosy as some folks would have you believe with ethanol as a fuel additive.

To think that using ethanol (and to a lesser extent, soy based biodiesel) actually saves energy is fallacious: the modern farmer uses much petrol in plowing and harvesting the fields, and the production and distillation of alcohol from grain is also energy expensive.

But worse, alcohol is a much stronger solvent than straight gasoline, and sloshing some around in a tank not designed for such powerful chemicals can work rust and other debris (pieces of the tank lining) loose, clogging the fuel system. Because of the way the used truck I purchased had been stored, the gas tank was not exactly in premium condition. One fill up at the local self serve cost me a new gas filter.

So I'll keep taking it Joe's, as long as he's able to stay open.

Los Angeles Times - Like many motorists, Albert Menaster has watched with alarm as gasoline prices zoomed past $3 a gallon.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Home | 2 comments | permanent link