Stories when filling up at "gasoline station"

jason_

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Location
michigan
TDI
2015 s wagon dsg
Just curious in how many lifetimes did you use a million gallons of fuel?:confused:
Assuming you're in your early 50's that would be 550 gallons per week.:eek:
Not sure. I just made up a number. Wasn't worth my time to accurately calculate for the reason of the post.

Although growing up I did pump alot into the equipment, easily killing 300 gallon a day if everyone jumped on something and ran it hard and non stop.

Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk
 

scooperhsd

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Location
Kansas City KS
TDI
NB, 2000, RED(5 Speed conversion) 2015 Golf SE
A trailer towed by a semi truck holds about 7-8000 gallons of liguid. Since certain liquids are more dense than others, the trucker has to be certain not to exceed the 80K pound gross weight limit, thus carrying something like water a "full load" is only about 6000 gallons.
 

ZippyNH

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2015
Location
Southern NH
TDI
2015 JETTA TDI SE
A trailer towed by a semi truck holds about 7-8000 gallons of liguid. Since certain liquids are more dense than others, the trucker has to be certain not to exceed the 80K pound gross weight limit, thus carrying something like water a "full load" is only about 6000 gallons.
And in soome areas 110k gross vehicle weight is allowed for fuel tanker to reduce the number of trucks...
And the tankers usually have a number of smaller tanks...
So they might have 75% gasoline (split in octane levels) and a Small tank for d2....
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
A trailer towed by a semi truck holds about 7-8000 gallons of liguid. Since certain liquids are more dense than others, the trucker has to be certain not to exceed the 80K pound gross weight limit, thus carrying something like water a "full load" is only about 6000 gallons.
Most of the tanker loads we ship are 40,000 pounds in the US and 60,000 in Canada. That works to 5,000 gallons and 7,500 gallons of a product that is about half water. That also leaves some head room in the tanker to help with weight distribution and shifting and also any expansion or contraction of the load. It would be rare to ever see a tanker filled to the brim. Even fire trucks are never filled to full capacity for safety reasons.
 

zaostar2

New member
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Location
indiana
TDI
2015 Passat TDI post recall.
New member here. Filled up my 2015 Passat this week for the first time this week. Had the look from a guy filling his Dodge Cummins next to me. He asked if I knew that's Diesel I'm putting in my car. Just had to chuckle and tell him I was aware of it. I figured he should have known the nozzle should not fit if it was a gas car.
 

eli

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2002
Location
I-95
TDI
2017 Cruze stickshift 2019 Terrain
With my 017 cruze diesel with 27000 miles, so far 3 or 4 fuel-station people have exited from their cash-register post to yell a warning to me, HEY THATS DIESEL !

That is not much of a story, except that it probably doesn't happen so much for folks with VW TDIs lately...
 

n1das

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Location
Nashua, NH, USA
TDI
2014 BMW 535xd ///M-Sport, 2012 BMW X5 Xdrive35d, former 3x TDI owner
With my 017 cruze diesel with 27000 miles, so far 3 or 4 fuel-station people have exited from their cash-register post to yell a warning to me, HEY THATS DIESEL !

That is not much of a story, except that it probably doesn't happen so much for folks with VW TDIs lately...
Hey eli, long time no chat!

I've almost had that happen to me a couple of time with my 535d at the diesel pump. People hardly notice when I'm filling my X5 35d. The 535d at the diesel pump has always gotten a few weird looks from people. I've also had a few random conversations at the diesel pump with the 535d.
:)
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
I've had more interesting conversations at the pump with my '78 Scout II than I even did pumping diesel into a little hatchback. It's almost like driving an aircooled and having everyone talk about the one they used to have.

Sorry, no better stories from me than that right now. And I'll get plenty more stops at the gas station. Running joke is there isn't a gas pump the 345 can pass without filling up...

Jason
 

scooperhsd

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Location
Kansas City KS
TDI
NB, 2000, RED(5 Speed conversion) 2015 Golf SE
Hey - I use that one talking about my 1998 Honda Valkyrie (GL1500C) - only gets 35 MPG with a 5.3 gallon (including reserve) tank...
 

eli

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2002
Location
I-95
TDI
2017 Cruze stickshift 2019 Terrain
hello n1David ! I haven't seen you driving around lately or at the diesel pump. I'd be driving a BMW diesel too if they brought a one with stickshift to USA. Friend just bought the X3 M40i which is gasser but has torque like a diesel. toddler grandson #1 is awake so i'm offline until approximately tomorrow. He is already accustomed to his mom's 2018 cruze diesel stickshift as well as my 2017. Also seems to approve of chevy SS >400 ftlbs of torque and loud exhaust (his carseat is forward-facing as of a few days ago.)
cheers...
/e
ps - maybe time to pick up one of the last porsche cayenne diesels now that they are discontinued.
pps - should there be a secret-society-of-chevy-cruze-owners thread here on tdiclub?
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
After 18+ years of ownership, I finally had someone come out and ask if I knew it was diesel I was pumping into my car. First time ever. I told the clerk that my neighbor used this stuff and got great mileage and so I thought I'd try it. She didn't laugh, smile, nor even smirk. She claimed, "It happens all the time."

Cheers,

PH
 
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~TDIguy~

Veteran Member
Joined
May 4, 2017
Location
Romulus Ny
TDI
2005 Jetta Sedan
LOL Power Hound! Good logic. Several weeks ago i pulled in at the diesel bar of a fuel station with my jetta, and started filling up. Just then one of the employees walked past on his way home, he stopped, looked, and said, is that thing diesel!? Im like yep, you bet! I said its pretty cool, get 35-40 just beating around, and got plenty of power and torque to boot! (ive got a stage 4 malone) Then hes like "well my Spark, that thing gets 27 so thats really good too..." and went and climbed into his chevy. Im thinking you poor guy.........
 

06bluebeetletdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Location
Middlesex, NC
TDI
'14 Passat TDI SEL and '13 Beetle TDI
Took a jetta tdi to the gas station, pull into the diesel pump, look up and see a boom truck behind me, cruise around to the other side of the pump. Get out, guy with the truck says thanks for moving, he made a comment about gas, then looks at the car and says wait, that’s a Volkswagen, is it a diesel? Yes, you’re pretty smart to drive one of those. Yeah, i have 2 in my garage (passat tdi and beetle tdi).

A few days later, take my beetle to a new gas station, load up my mobil fuel app, open the fuel door, realize it is a gas nozzle on a diesel pump and laugh. First time that’s happened to me in 110,000 miles of driving a newer diesel plus a bunch of fill-ups at work. Kind of wakes you up! Backed up to the pump behind that one and filled up with a diesel nozzle.
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
I stopped at a Casey's in a small town 50 miles southwest of the metro the other morning, just after sunrise. I fueled up for $2.829, about 30 cents cheaper than in the metro, then parked in front so I could get some coffee. Another Mk4 Golf TDI pulled in next to me, silver but completely covered with hoarfrost -- even the hood, so he couldn't have driven very far or the frost would have melted off the hood.

Just a quick glance and I called out "nice TDI" before he could reach the door. He said "Thanks" and I followed him inside. He said it had about 250k miles and I told him it was just a baby and that he should plan to keep it forever. I hope he does, whoever he is.
 

lovemybug

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Location
SE Wisconsin
TDI
2002 Red Beetle
A few days later, take my beetle to a new gas station, load up my mobil fuel app, open the fuel door, realize it is a gas nozzle on a diesel pump and laugh. First time that’s happened to me in 110,000 miles of driving a newer diesel plus a bunch of fill-ups at work. Kind of wakes you up! Backed up to the pump behind that one and filled up with a diesel nozzle.
That's one thing I like about my older, 2002, TDI. I can use any size nozzle with little problem. There have been a few times I've used the large truck nozzle by mistake.
 

romad

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
Prescott, AZ
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS Wagon "Cranberry"
That's one thing I like about my older, 2002, TDI. I can use any size nozzle with little problem. There have been a few times I've used the large truck nozzle by mistake.
Besides combo pumps for cars my station around the corner has a seperate island for casino buses. I never used it because it has the larger nozzles; recently because of the destruction of Paradise, there have been long lines at the auto pumps so I tried it. The nozzle fits ok but I have to remember the flow is higher.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
First time today I encountered options for diesel fuel:

Tractor fuel
Reefer fuel

I chose reefer because i thought tractor was off-road diesel. Apparently i got that backwards. Oh well at least its diesel.
 

251

TDI Owner/Operator
Joined
May 11, 2002
Location
NW IN
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL
Apparently Indiana has done away with the "Exempt" diesel fuel classification as the price on the sign now matches the pump price! :cool: Have personally verified this at a few different stations in NW Indiana and a local TDI friend of mine has done the same.

Not every station had the exempt classification (primarily was stations that did volume business with big trucks - mainly truck stops and stations located just off major highways) which makes it easier to compare prices now that one does not have to mentally add the extra 28 cents of tax to the exempt sign price to find the true cost per gallon.

Generally speaking though it is still cheaper to refuel in Michigan than Indiana as Michigan's diesel tax is lower since Indiana hiked up their fuel tax this past summer. I live/work close to the state line so popping up to Michigan does not take me out of the way. The difference can be much as 44 cents per gallon recently in my area! :eek:

As an aside over by Chicago fuel usually was more expensive over there too but with Indiana's fuel tax increase Illinois is usually cheaper than Indiana now - even in Chicagoland! Only thing is that Illinois fuel is 10% biodiesel while VW officially approves of 5% or less biodiesel content for those of us who have the common rail TDI engines.

Used to be Indiana was a better price than Michigan or Illinois for diesel fuel. I understand Indiana now has the second highest tax rate on diesel these days so things certainly have changed this year.
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
First time today I encountered options for diesel fuel:

Tractor fuel
Reefer fuel

I chose reefer because i thought tractor was off-road diesel. Apparently i got that backwards. Oh well at least its diesel.
I would assume that tractor fuel is for the semi tractor, while reefer fuel is for running the reefer unit on the trailer. Never really thought about it before.
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
Apparently Indiana has done away with the "Exempt" diesel fuel classification as the price on the sign now matches the pump price! :cool: Have personally verified this at a few different stations in NW Indiana and a local TDI friend of mine has done the same.

Not every station had the exempt classification (primarily was stations that did volume business with big trucks - mainly truck stops and stations located just off major highways) which makes it easier to compare prices now that one does not have to mentally add the extra 28 cents of tax to the exempt sign price to find the true cost per gallon.

Generally speaking though it is still cheaper to refuel in Michigan than Indiana as Michigan's diesel tax is lower since Indiana hiked up their fuel tax this past summer. I live/work close to the state line so popping up to Michigan does not take me out of the way. The difference can be much as 44 cents per gallon recently in my area! :eek:

As an aside over by Chicago fuel usually was more expensive over there too but with Indiana's fuel tax increase Illinois is usually cheaper than Indiana now - even in Chicagoland! Only thing is that Illinois fuel is 10% biodiesel while VW officially approves of 5% or less biodiesel content for those of us who have the common rail TDI engines.

Used to be Indiana was a better price than Michigan or Illinois for diesel fuel. I understand Indiana now has the second highest tax rate on diesel these days so things certainly have changed this year.
For my runs from NC to northern Indiana over the last four and a half years, I've always thought Indiana and Ohio had some of the highest priced fuel.
 

251

TDI Owner/Operator
Joined
May 11, 2002
Location
NW IN
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL
For my runs from NC to northern Indiana over the last four and a half years, I've always thought Indiana and Ohio had some of the highest priced fuel.
I make a few trips to the east coast every year. Ohio always has better fuel prices than West Virginia and Pennsylvania. New Jersey and Maryland are usually pretty good. New York depends on where one is - I actually got diesel on Long Island for the same price as New Jersey this past summer. North Carolina was pretty good too although I haven't gotten out there for the past two years.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
I would assume that tractor fuel is for the semi tractor, while reefer fuel is for running the reefer unit on the trailer. Never really thought about it before.
Yep apparently the only difference is tax as reefer is not taxed like "on-road" diesel is. I believe they used to dye the off-road diesel red, but there was no noticeable dye in this stuff.
 

Dwagen

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2018
Location
United States of America
TDI
2004 VW Jetta GLS TDI; 2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI
A few weeks ago, I pulled in a Sunoco station to fill up my TDI. There was a standard section for gasoline, and the diesel pumps were located on a separate string of pumps. There was a dude on the other side of the pumps filling up his generator with diesel while talking on the phone. I pulled up and tried putting the nozzle into the tank but it wouldn't fit. I was puzzled because I'd never had this problem before. The dude was laughing his head off. I looked at the nozzle and it was huge, I guess it was a truck nozzle. Didn't look pretty either, black goo was dripping around the handle. So I went to look at the other pumps, one of which I found with a smaller nozzle. The one beside it was off-road diesel, another fuel I've never heard of before until now. It was cheaper but I decided against using it. I don't like starting my car and turning it off in short periods of time (just me) so I put it in neutral and push my TDI back a couple pumps. Then I pumped in my diesel as usual. I don't know if he was laughing at the guy on the phone or me, but he was laughing quite a bit, so I was imagine I might've had at least partly to do with it.
 

Old Navy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 15, 2001
Location
Ozark Hill's in Missouri, USA
TDI
None now, .
I'm sure he was laughing at you, I would have been....:D

Also your fear of short start and stop is totally unfounded, because I'm sure you don't do it that often. Only thing it strains is the battery, but if good battery and you then head off on your trip even that's no big deal. :)

Only thing you risked was a heart attack or strained back. :rolleyes:

Off road diesel is died red and intended for farm tractors or to run generators on refrigerated trucks, things not driven down the highway. Don't get caught putting it in your car as it's a huge fine if caught. :eek:
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
In PA the off road stuff is dyed red and the on road (taxed) diesel is dyed greenish.Yes its a big fine if caught running the red (off road) diesel in an on road car or truck.



While I'm sure the big rigs get their tanks "dipped" at every inspection I've never yet heard of a diesel car being checked, although I'm sure that must happen.
 

kjclow

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 26, 2003
Location
Charlotte, NC
TDI
2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
IIRC, if caught with dyed fuel, they can look at your mileage and estimate usage over the previous 24 months. They will then charge you taxes for the fuel you should have consumed during that time frame, plus a penalty. In 19 years of driving VW diesels, I've never been checked. My previous neighbor that had a construction company had at least one of his trucks checked every month for over a year. Not sure he was ever caught but it makes you wonder why they were so hot after him.
 
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