Taxable diesel cheaper than non-tax?

[D33r3 6r33N]

I just got back from the filling station, they were about to close so I asked the lady to turn on the off road pump and I gave her my card. I saw the price on the pump was $3.92 and I thought to myself that the recent downturn in the price of gasoline obviously didn't affect the price of diesel fuel.
I filled my can and went back to the window. I asked the lady just for curiosity what the price of taxable diesel was, she said $3.89. What? She said that the government sets the price of both diesels and that they let them drop the price of the taxable but not the off road.
Am I just dense or did I get hosed for .15 cents? I don't understand how or why the non-taxed would be more expensive than the on road.

 

[brucew44guns]

Diesel here is about 3.79 right now for trucks, at a co-op station I live near in Kansas. I paid 3.339 for dyed diesel last week. I think you got hosed.

 

[edlegault]

My sister and BIL own a country store with a gas/diesel station. Their hardest job is pricing fuel. When a new load comes in at a higher price they try to hold down the retail price until the old inventory in the tanks is gone, then they raise their retail prices accordingly. When the wholesale price drops it is another story. The deal is a station won't just drop the price of the fuel, when they just received new fuel priced cheaper than the old until all of the old higher-priced fuel is sold. Who wants to sell fuel for less than they paid for it? With prices jumping up and down all the time it is a nightmare job. :confused2:

In this case, they could very well have just gotten a load of taxable fuel at a cheaper price and dropped the sale price, but they still have an inventory of the off-road, non-taxable fuel still in their tank(s) at a higher wholesale price.

 

[grsthegreat]

dude you got hosed.....

or gassed


I save $0.30 per gallon for off road and it goes up and down the same as on road.

its the same fuel cept the dye thats added AT THE STATION. However we do not pay road taxes on it, but do get an added sales tax if its NON farm related (and they do check if i have a farm).

 

[Gary Fowler]

I think you got hosed also. The tax alone would be 30 cents per gallon or more and the price of the fuel is not regulated by the government just the tax so what the attendant said makes no sense. They likely just hadnt got in a new batch of offroad and it was still priced at the last depot run price.
I know our bulk supplier sells his at what it cost him + markup till the new load comes in. Depending on when he has to bulk up, he may catch a high swing and then his bulk prices might be higher than pump prices till he sells out. That happened recently when he bought high on gasoline and his price was 20cents per gallon higher than anywhere in town at the pumps.

It looks like most service stations fluctuate their price with the World market rate daily or more often than that in some cases. It seems that it all works out in the long run of average pricing. If you buy low and it goes up, you sell at the higher price and make your profit, if it goes down you lose a little on that tanker load but it should all average out especially if you watch the pricing and buy only on the downswing. We do that with bulk buys on the farm and last time we go it at 3.68 but still higher than some places now but less than the 3.99 it was for the previous month. You just cant out guess the speculators who control our pump prices. World wide price of crude oil has nothing to do with our final price at the pump, it is all controlled by Wall Street speculator who are not going to loose money on their purchases.

 

[Ken45101]

I agree, it is going to be priced according to their price when they bought the shipment (and/or competitive prices). Since off road moves at a much slower pace than on road diesel, the price may lag. If on road prices are dropping, then it may be cheaper than off road. It's not a rip off, it's reality.

I just noticed when I filled up my pickup Wednesday that this station had off road a dime cheaper. The stations that have off road around here are very scarce, I only know of three within 25 miles.

I now get my off road delivered. I assume they have a higher volume and of course mix the dye in themselves. Since I buy 200 gallons at a time, it's a lot less hassle than loading the tank and taking it a station.

If you are worried about the couple of cents, then pay closer attention before you start pumping

Ken

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have paid the same or even slightly more to have off road delivered to my house versus the price at the pump for regular on road diesel at local stations. Its a convenience thing for me.

Chris

 

[D33r3 6r33N]

I didn't think about the fact that they may have "expensive" fuel in the tank. But you think you would let your price of fuel roll with the market. You know if they purchase cheap fuel and the market goes up they raise it right along with it.

 

[grsthegreat]

I didn't think about the fact that they may have "expensive" fuel in the tank. But you think you would let your price of fuel roll with the market. You know if they purchase cheap fuel and the market goes up they raise it right along with it.

thing is, if they had cheaper fuel in the tank, and the price goes up, they RAISE the price of their cheaper fuel as its sold (even though it was purchased at a lower price). Funny they wont lower the price the same way.

 

[varmint]

Not the same situation, but I "pre-buy" my home heating oil, which is dyed diesel, or so they tell me. We negotiate a price for however much I think I will need, and I give them the money in the fall. Sometimes, they win, but I believe more often than not I win, as my price throughout the winter is usually lower than the cash price. Last winter, it was $3.49 gal. I usually have them give me about 10 gal. in my yellow diesel containers. Where I live, there isn't much competition for diesel fuel, period. Suburbia- trucks are just passing through, and don't stop for fuel. Farming is pretty much gone or greatly reduced.