No Winter Diesel???

I was talking to the friendly cashier at the truck stop that I fill up at (flying J) and I asked her out of curiosity when they switch over to summer diesel. she said that they haven't carried winter diesel for a while and that they dont have any additives in their diesel. This seemed really strange to me - it seems that they would have a lot of issues with gelling in the cold ohio winters. It kinda concerns me. They sell ULSD in the non-tractor trailer pumps. Any thoughts?

Also, I was wondering if there are any chain stations that carry "better" fuel than the other. I know this is true for gassers, but is it also true for diesel? I pass a whole bunch of truck stops/gas stations on my commute, so I have pretty much have my pick of any chain offered in the ohio area.

Thanks

I believe she is mistaken. I think the fuel is winterized before it is delivered to the truck stop, so maybe she is ignorant of the additives/kerosene added to the fuel.

I prefer BP (Amoco Premier if I can get it), but I think any name brand pump with a high turnover will be fine.

As my own experience, cashiers know nothing about diesel, and they never care about it.
P.S. Salesman never think about what are they selling, just sell for sell.

thats what i thought...it makes me feel a little less bad about the funny look that i gave her and the "ummm...i am pretty sure it is winterized" comment. any idea when stations usually switch over? I am curious to see if i get a mileage bump

the switch back to "un-winterized" should be happening now. It's difficult to get this info from any pump jockey. I normally buy my fuel from a very involved mom & pop shop and they can't really tell me when the switch happens. Maybe someone familiar with terminal operations will pipe in here. (wny_pat? )

There are lot of ways to winterize diesel that she may not be aware of (at the refinery, at the terminal with additives, diesel #1 blending). And then some refineries put out diesel would good enough cold flow that nothing needs to change for winter.

The cashier said that??? Well, then it must be true...

Yuri.

Link977 said:

As my own experience, cashiers know nothing about diesel, and they never care about it.
P.S. Salesman never think about what are they selling, just sell for sell.

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Well said and very good info!
1. The cashier only knows what the cash register says. They don't even know what product goes in which tank fill. And don't even ask they anything about a vapor recovery gun.
2. Petroleum salesmen will sell products that the refinery does not have. After they sell it to somebody and are told there isn't any, they will sell it again.

In my over twenty years in the petroleum transportation field, I have seen it happen over and over again.

b4black said:

There are lot of ways to winterize diesel that she may not be aware of (at the refinery, at the terminal with additives, diesel #1 blending). And then some refineries put out diesel would good enough cold flow that nothing needs to change for winter.

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I would be surprised if there are any that put out a diesel that does not need winterization. More processing adds cost. I think GTL might not need it, but anything with a petroleum base is goign to wax.

Warm enough not an issue.

mechanicalbrew said:

any idea when stations usually switch over?

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Depends on where you are. Here in southern Minnesota, they start filling the tanks with winterized diesel around mid-October; mid-April is when they start filling with non-winterized diesel. In places where winter is a little less -- um, challenging -- the timetable likely is a little shorter.

mechanicalbrew said:

(snip) Also, I was wondering if there are any chain stations that carry "better" fuel than the other. (snip)

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__. Most of the fuel out there is pretty much the same old rotgut, but my subjective experience (and it's 100% subjective with no real testing data, but there it is) is that Flying J fuel gives me rougher starts, poorer idling, more smoke, and lower fuel mileage than other fuels. But it's usually the cheapest stuff around. I haven't used much since ULSD came in, but my limited experience says it seems to be similarly sub-par.