Any one work at a Terminal/ @ the rack??

[thatguy]

I have a question for anyone that works at a large fuel terminal where gasoline is loaded into tractor trailer tankers at the rack

I know gasoline if fungible until it goes across the 'rack' and the proprietary additives are added to make the gasoline 'branded' for a specific company (exxon, citgo, shell etc)..

How much additives are in an 8,500 gallon tank trailer?

BTW - this is a work related question, not something I lay awake at night thinking up.. lol

 

[Iowachild]

I work for a refinery whose loading rack averages around 2 million gallons per day of gasoline, ULSD, home heating oil and K-1 kerosene. I also happen to do the testing, maintenance and calibration of all the additive injection systems. I'm not sure exactly what you are asking but can tell you the following. All gasoline is required to have an Intake Valve Deposit (IVD) additive. There is a minimum amount that varies by type and brand of the additive and all of the additives are set at a rate which exceeds the minimum amount. I am given the amounts by the quality control people. I can say at our facility we have Exxon/Mobil, BP and Equiva (FKA Shell) and a generic gasoline additives, but all are referred to as IVD additives. As I said the amount varies but runs between 0.1 gal per 1000 gallons of gas up to around 0.3 gal per 100 gallons of gasoline.
Around 20 years ago prior to Exxon merging with Mobil, and prior to IVD additive, the Exxon rep that used to come in on bi-monthly checks told me they used their additive as a "chemical finger-print". The purpose was to catch franchise owners buying off brand gasoline and selling it at Exxon branded franchises. Whether or not any company still uses their particular IVD for that purpose I do not know.
Hope that answers your question.

 

[lopezian]

That is why I love this forum. Maybe everybody else already knows how gasoline distribution works, but I just learned something new.

 

[mrutkaus]

Thanks for the photo. I have this mental image of sparkling new BP/Exxon etc trucks pulling thru for their gas, and dusty, old, rusty tankers pulling up to get the cheaper stuff!

Mike

 

[DieselPower]

You might be supprised just how shiney the trucks are that deliver to no name gas stations. In the Carroll County and Baltimore County Maryland area CIF is a very large fuel delivery company. I see their trucks delivering at Exxon, BP, Chevron and a bunch more. In fact the only trucks I ever see in my area that are actually marked by the company are Sheetz and Hess, everyone else used common carriers.

 

[Iowachild]

Thanks for the photo. I have this mental image of sparkling new BP/Exxon etc trucks pulling thru for their gas, and dusty, old, rusty tankers pulling up to get the cheaper stuff!

Mike

The majority of the trucks are in very good to excellent shape. Actually most of the "major" brands are pulling out of our refinery on the exchange program. They get it from us here and we get it from them somewhere else.

You might be supprised just how shiney the trucks are that deliver to no name gas stations. In the Carroll County and Baltimore County Maryland area CIF is a very large fuel delivery company. I see their trucks delivering at Exxon, BP, Chevron and a bunch more. In fact the only trucks I ever see in my area that are actually marked by the company are Sheetz and Hess, everyone else used common carriers.

Sheetz is a big customer of ours and really the only outfit with trucks painted up in company motifs. There are three or more large carriers and lots of independent guys hauling most of the product.

BTW DieselPower my wife's brother lives just south of Fairfield near the Carroll Valley Resort.

 

[DieselPower]

Iowachild - I probably pass your wife's brother on the road every now and then. Small world isn't it.

 

[Iowachild]

Iowachild - I probably pass your wife's brother on the road every now and then. Small world isn't it.

And the internet and forums like this make it smaller! There is a fellow who posts here on TBN that lives less than a 1/2 mile from my mom's house in Iowa!

 

[cp1969]

I work for a refinery whose loading rack averages around 2 million gallons per day of gasoline, ULSD, home heating oil and K-1 kerosene. I also happen to do the testing, maintenance and calibration of all the additive injection systems. I'm not sure exactly what you are asking but can tell you the following. All gasoline is required to have an Intake Valve Deposit (IVD) additive. There is a minimum amount that varies by type and brand of the additive and all of the additives are set at a rate which exceeds the minimum amount. I am given the amounts by the quality control people. I can say at our facility we have Exxon/Mobil, BP and Equiva (FKA Shell) and a generic gasoline additives, but all are referred to as IVD additives. As I said the amount varies but runs between 0.1 gal per 1000 gallons of gas up to around 0.3 gal per 100 gallons of gasoline.
Around 20 years ago prior to Exxon merging with Mobil, and prior to IVD additive, the Exxon rep that used to come in on bi-monthly checks told me they used their additive as a "chemical finger-print". The purpose was to catch franchise owners buying off brand gasoline and selling it at Exxon branded franchises. Whether or not any company still uses their particular IVD for that purpose I do not know.
Hope that answers your question.

What diesel additives do you have at your rack?

 

[MadReferee]

Around 20 years ago prior to Exxon merging with Mobil, and prior to IVD additive, the Exxon rep that used to come in on bi-monthly checks told me they used their additive as a "chemical finger-print". The purpose was to catch franchise owners buying off brand gasoline and selling it at Exxon branded franchises. Whether or not any company still uses their particular IVD for that purpose I do not know.

When I owned my station back in 1996-98 I sold Citgo. About every 6 months or so the Citgo rep came by and purchased several pints of fuel to take back for testing. He told me that they could tell by the additives whether or not I was pumping Citgo or some other brand. He also said that besides the normal additives there was a tracer dye added and that each brand had a different type of dye.

The real reason they were doing this is financial. Back then unbranded gas had an at the rack price of 10 cents a gallon less than branded. There were several dealers I know that got caught selling unbranded fuel in a branded station.