Hot Fuel

[Ramair-WS6]

A STAR WATCHDOG REPORT | Drivers aren’t getting what they pay for
Hot fuel for you, cold cash for big oil
When gasoline gets hot, it expands. But U.S. fuel pumps don’t adjust for the bigger volume, and it’s costing American consumers about $2.3 billion a year.

SUFFOLK, Va. | Lesley “Lucky” Duke’s mood darkens with every drop of diesel that flows into his 2005 Freightliner big rig.

The 52-year-old independent trucker from Hertford, N.C., has just dropped off a load of potatoes and now is topping off his tank on a sweltering summer day.

He whips out a thermometer and takes the temperature of the $2.80-per-gallon fuel gushing into his truck’s tanks. The thermometer hits 80. Then 90. Finally, it stops at 93 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Hot” fuel is costing him the price of a good lunch today, Duke reckons, and as much as $700 a year.

It gnaws at him. Duke, you see, is one of the few Americans who realize that fuel is often sold at temperatures much hotter than the government standard of 60 degrees. It’s a standard agreed to nearly a century ago by the industry and regulators, but virtually unknown to the average consumer.

But you should understand it too — because collectively it’s costing us billions of dollars a year. An investigation by The Kansas City Star has found that at recent prices U.S. consumers are spending about $2.3 billion more for gasoline and diesel this year than they otherwise would if fuel pumps were adjusted to account for expansion of hot fuel.

It works this way.

As a liquid, gasoline expands and contracts depending on temperature. At the 60-degree standard, the 231-cubic-inch American gallon puts out a certain amount of energy. But that same amount of gas expands to more than 235 cubic inches at 90 degrees, even though consumers still only get 231 cubic inches at the pump.

Put simply, every degree over the 60-degree standard diminishes the energy a 231-cubic-inch gallon delivers to the nation’s fleet of cars, trucks, boats, buses and heavy equipment — and forces drivers to consume more and pay more for fuel.

It is basic physics that, depending on the temperature, can amount to just a few cents per gallon. But it adds up to big money — coming straight out of consumers’ pockets and going right to the bottom line of major oil companies and other fuel retailers in the energy pipeline.

Moreover, it’s perfectly legal, because even though your local filling station measures out your gas as if it were stored at 60 degrees, no law requires retailers to adjust the pump to reflect the expansion of hot fuel.

In other words, no law ensures you get what you pay for.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/15370193.htm

Related links:

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/15991253.htm
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/15990998.htm
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/15370193.htm
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/15370194.htm
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/15377737.htm
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/15385204.htm
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/15392840.htm
http://www.kansascity.com/multimedia..._fuel/pump.pdf
http://www.kansascity.com/multimedia...fuel/cover.pdf
http://www.kansascity.com/multimedia...t_fuel/map.pdf
http://www.kansascity.com/multimedia...el/receipt.pdf


I know this news is old but it is something that all drivers should be complaining about to the Federal Government.