Motorists: We’re Being Cheated with “Hot Fuel”
EmailA group of motorists and truck drivers say Americans are being cheated out of billions of dollars by gas stations selling "hot fuel," gasoline that expands under high temperatures but provides no greater bang for the buck.
The allegation is contained in a lawsuit filed against 17 oil and gas companies operating stations in seven of the country’s warmest states, including Florida, Arizona, Texas and California.
The current standard, agreed on by regulators and the industry, is that each gallon of gasoline should be sold at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. If gasoline heats above this temperature, it expands by volume but not by energy content, meaning consumers would be getting less energy per gallon. An investigation by the Kansas City Star estimated that hot fuel costs consumers $2.3 billion a year.
Many of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are independent truck drivers, who say they have been hit especially hard by hot fuel costs. "We joined this lawsuit because it’s hard enough to make a living out here," said Becky Rushing, co-operator of a trucking firm. According to Rushing, "We see truck drivers every day who have to give up their trucks and get off the road without these oil companies taking advantage of us." The lawsuit names 17 oil and gas companies and seeks monetary restitution as well as the installation of temperature-adjusted fuel pumps by retailers.
Without commenting on the lawsuit, John Bisney of the American Petroleum Institute said the current system is fair because "motorists get a gallon regardless of the temperature outside." Bisney said it would also be prohibitively expensive for the industry to install temperature-adjusted fuel pumps. It would cost up to $12 thousand to retrofit older pumps, he said.
However, the oil and gas industry has supported installing temperature-adjusted fuel pumps in Canada, where cold temperatures mean more energy per gallon for consumers. The industry has backed legislation that would make such technology mandatory at gas stations.
According to Joan Claybrooke, head of the consumer group Public Citizen, "Automobile travel and small truck traffic will be heavy during this holiday season. This lawsuit comes at a particularly appropriate time to expose a system that has been quietly picking money from the pockets of citizens throughout this country."
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It sounds like when I was a kid in Ohio. One oil company said they had a form of anti-freeze in their blend. The only problem was it didn’t prevent fuel line freeze up. It cut your fuel milleage by 10%. Sounds like a re-run
Posted by: John Williamson | December 15, 2006, 5:08 pm 5:08 pm
How come these issues were not highlighted all these while? Consumers have the right to demand…
Posted by: Alfred Chew | December 16, 2006, 11:00 am 11:00 am
That’s pretty funny. The gas companies are in favor of temperature adjusted fuel pumps where it’s cold but not where it’s hot. Coincidence? Never trust ANY corporations. They’ll lie right through their teeth at any time it is profitable to do so.
Posted by: Rod M | December 17, 2006, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
What a shock! Oil companies say it’s too expensive to retrofit pumps in the warmer climates, while requiring that Canadian pumps be retrofitted because it eats into their profit margins.
This from the same industry that took out ads when regular was $3 a gallon helpfully “explaining” the cost of a dollar’s worth of gasoline but nowhere mentioning record profits. Costs of refining and shipping were illustrated while Gulfstream jets and vacation homes in the Hamptons for senior executives were not.
If it weren’t for Dim Son in the White House these guys would be in very hot water…but now it’s just business as usual, with consumers taking the hit.
Posted by: Andre Ferrer | December 17, 2006, 5:33 pm 5:33 pm
Corporations cheat, lie and steal. Then someone acts like it’s a surprise. They have a lawsuit, and when it’s over, some lawyers make money and the companies raise prices to “pay for the lawsuit” (plus about a gazillion dollars each to their top executives and stockholders).
We could go with a solution from “Communist Manafesto”, and suggest that working people revolt. Unfortunately, the working people usually turn out to be just as greedy and incompetent as the last set of dorks, so that usually backfires. (China is doing OK, but most other attempts at installing socialized economics by force resulted in even worse systems than those being replaced. Many have already collapsed under the weight of their own stupidity.)
The other solution is to just live with being cheated until a few rich people get all the money, and everyone else is back in the Stone Age. Economists call this a “recession”. It happens faster during something called a “Bull Market”, which is a period of time when people believe the bull that their governments and corporations put out.
Truth hurts.
Posted by: Ron Losey | December 17, 2006, 11:26 pm 11:26 pm
what a rip-off
Posted by: Mark Avery | December 18, 2006, 3:59 am 3:59 am
I know this smacks the face of capitalism but the sad fact is some things would be better off nationalized, that is, taken over by the government. Nationalizing the oil industry and banking would be a good thing for our country. If the profit were taken out of the finanicial industry we would all be able to get 3% home loans. Building would boom, all the necessary supplies for building houses would boom, everybody who wanted a job would have one. The same thing would happen if we nationalized the oil industry. Gas would be cheaper and the price would not spike. Cheaper gas would also mean more commerce because people wouldn’t worry about shipping or vacation travel. Sometimes it makes sense to do things at the top rather than allow greedy rich people run the show.
Posted by: Howard Taylor | December 18, 2006, 10:37 am 10:37 am
Would be nice to see this story carried on the primetime news hours..as long as 75% of the population is in the dark, they win.
Posted by: Brooks barrow | December 18, 2006, 12:04 pm 12:04 pm
what a rip off, but where is the outrage, none,
because people like to get ripped off.
Posted by: rr | December 18, 2006, 4:21 pm 4:21 pm
I think this story just highlights the way cooporations think. I don’t see nationalizing coorporations as the way to go. I see having a government that regulates as the way to go. If you start digging it is amazing what these oil companies pay for.
Posted by: Mycah | December 18, 2006, 10:22 pm 10:22 pm
Talk about “hot” gasoline! When I was a kid in Ohio in the way, way back when(I’m not telling exactly when, there was a brand called “Tank Car Gasoline.”
The gas station consisted of an old railroad tank car posioned on a rail siding where a main road or highway ran beside it. Now, imagine the sun beating down on the silver painted tank caa full of gas! Did I Say air? It’s a no wonder it was the cheapest gas in town.
Oldtimer Bill
Posted by: Bill Smith | December 18, 2006, 11:33 pm 11:33 pm
I guess ripoofs have been there since Christ was a corporal….but it doesnt make any less disgusting
Obviously regulators could be much more diligent (they know what to look for)but Bush is soft on Oil companies in addition to illegal immigrants
Posted by: Major | December 18, 2006, 11:35 pm 11:35 pm
I had no idea that fuel companies were doing this but it all makes sense now. Sometimes I would fill up and the mileage would reach 330 miles on a tank of gas and at other times it would only reach 260. Seventy miles and I didn’t understand why. I hope they win this lawsuit against these companies, because in reality this is a dishonest practice, hence FRAUD.
Posted by: MZZG6 | December 19, 2006, 1:21 am 1:21 am
Here is a way to help roll over this rip-off to your advantage. It’s the same principle of this story, only applied to your car. Heat the cold gas stored in your tank right before it goes into the engine to burn. Do this by unhooking the line & putting a coiled extension line on the end, then wrap that around something in your engine that always runs hot, thereby sending more vapors ready to burn than just cold gas from your tank. It improves mileage by up to 50%. It works. This “secret” idea was about to patented by a local gas station/race car owner way back when gas was 36.9, but was quickly bought out by “big oil” & hushed up.
Posted by: Frank | December 19, 2006, 5:07 am 5:07 am
I guess the sun tax is at work again!
It is somewhat moronic to complain about how something costs more from one area to the next, it simply is what it is. I guess I should file a lawsuit against everyone who is charging more for a house on the coast, when the cost of the materials is the same as my place in the flyover zone.
Of course the corporations play the game, like we would not if we were in the same situation! If you don’t like it, just fill your tank with vegetable oil and thumb your nose at every gas station you pass. Of course you have to deal with the craving for fries all the time….
Posted by: Wayne | December 19, 2006, 9:26 am 9:26 am
People are sheep!! As long as they have some grass under their nose thier happy.
Posted by: Tim | December 19, 2006, 9:41 am 9:41 am
I seem to remember an attorney who was disbarred for lying to a grand jury, obstructing justice, and kept his job. It was Bill Clinton. And you liberals think he was a GOD. How quickly you turn on a man in uniform. At least this guy wore one, and didn’t sneak off to smoke pot while others went to war. Now, this guy is a total dirt bag and deserves to spend the rest of his days pounding rocks, but the uneven application of criticism from the left further highlights the hypocracy that has become the staple of their ideology.
Posted by: eric | December 19, 2006, 9:41 am 9:41 am
You’ve got to be kidding!
Yes, the corporation will require temp adjusted pumps when it helps their bottom line. DUH!
People complain about corporations and profits; but then demand better returns on their IRA’s. Hello??? Where do you think that that money comes from. No conspiracy in my mind, just good capitalism.
BTW, nationalizing so “everyone that wants a job can have one” is silly. Unemployment is so low now, that everyone that wants a job HAS one. The only people on unemployment now, are there until their severance runs dry, then they’ll get a job. And to want low interest for homes? We are at historically average interest rates. Go back to lame-brain Carter for 21, YES, 21% interest rates; now you complain about 9? Quit reading and./or stop using your credit cards. That’s where your money is being wasted.
Oh, but that would require seeing that the problem is in the mirror.
Truth hurts.
Posted by: pw | December 19, 2006, 10:24 am 10:24 am
Most fluids expand when hot and contract when cold. The fact that gasoline expands due to the ground heating up isn’t the gas companies’ fault.
What IS their fault is their failure to inform people about the effect of this phenomenon on your pocketbook. Obviously they are aware of it, since they want to keep Canadians from reaping the benefit of relatively condensed gasoline, while at the same time claiming it too expensive to keep people in warmer climates from being ripped off by less-dense fuel.
Until/unless something is done about the problem, if you live in a warm climate then try to buy your gasoline earlier in the day to reduce the effect of the “hot gas” phenomenon.
Posted by: jmadd | December 19, 2006, 10:36 am 10:36 am
While this is outrageous (an not at all surprising), I am at a loss to find a suitable solution.
The problem with Howards’ idea is that in order to maintain ANY industry, there HAS to be profit. Just to keep up with maintenace, structural upgrades and investing in technology. So, the government would also have to make a profit or we would face a huge tax hike at some point to fix the industry.
This would leave our elected leaders in a position to manage profit and loss. Take a look at our deficit and tell me that still sounds like a good idea!
Posted by: Dave d | December 19, 2006, 12:46 pm 12:46 pm
Most places in the USA endure something called the change of seasons, so you are going to get the benefit of cold gas in the winter and endure hot gas in the summer. There is usually no long-term rip-off in either direction.
In many places in Canada, the average ground temperature never gets hot enough for hot gas so it makes sense that the companies would want to reduce their year-round losses there.
Gasoline is usually less expensive in the south to begin with because the refineries and ports are there so the extra expense of year-round hot gas is not as impactful.
Posted by: Zane | December 19, 2006, 2:20 pm 2:20 pm
“Unemployment is so low now, that everyone that wants a job HAS one.”
The vast majority of jobs in any USA newspaper classified ad section have a starting salary under $10.00 and the vast majority of housing averages around $600.00 a month. With taxes an average person has to work nearly two forty hour work weeks just to pay rent, another week just to pay for electricity, natural gas and gas, another week to pay every other bill, and roughly 26 hours of overtime each week to purchase food, medication, home cleaning supplies, etc.
Oil is also a national security risk, we are now financing the efforts of those that wish to destroy us. The current This administration seems bent on tying the War on Drugs with the War on Terroism. I’ve got news for you Oil is our most addictive drug and we need to start throwing people in jail for abusing it.
Posted by: Muddle | December 19, 2006, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm
Hot gas or not, your picture shows a man talking on his cell phone while refueling his car. This is definitely not a good idea as it can cause (and has caused, in the past) an explosion when the phone rings and gasoline fumes linger in the air. Most pumps, nowadays, carry warning signs pointing towards this potential danger. In some states it is even illegal to use a cell phone in the immedaite vicinity of a filling pump.
Posted by: Ed | December 20, 2006, 1:50 pm 1:50 pm
What is he driving? A Buick? Anyway…screw the oil companies, we need the public to realize that oil is EXTREMELY over priced. There is so much oil available there is no reason it should even be above 1.25
Posted by: GT | December 21, 2006, 1:41 pm 1:41 pm
Ed, Don’t’ you watch Myth Busters? They busted that myth. Do we know if it is his car? The majority of pump fires are created by static electricity, caused by not touching metal (grounding yourself)prior to touching the fuel nozzle. “Hot Gas” I need more information prior to buying in on this. It all looks good on paper however has any private testing firms ever tested this phenomenon? Myth Buster should look into this.
Posted by: Todd | December 21, 2006, 2:18 pm 2:18 pm
With a name like Ron Losey – what do you expect when a loser believes in Howard Zinn’s “Peoples’ History of the US”. A long, broken line of whining socialists that we have all long forgotten – except for the murdering anarcho-socialists that is – started WWI. And who can forget the National Socialists (nazis) in WWII.
Posted by: CK | December 21, 2006, 2:44 pm 2:44 pm
A gallon of gas at 60 degrees occupies 231 cubic inches. At 90 degrees, that same gas occupies 235 cubic inches – a difference of 1.7 percent. So when you spend $2.25 for a gallon of gas, you’re only getting $2.21′s worth of energy. Mad yet? Me neither. And remember, the physics works in your favor when you fill up in the winter. Not much of a scam, is it?
If journalists REALLY want to do consumers a service, they should go after Canon, Epson, Lexmark, etc, who charge outrageous amounts for printer cartridges. I’m sick of being robbed by Big Ink and their oligopoly.
Posted by: FluidDynamicsGuy | December 21, 2006, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
Yeah, FDG! And while they are at it, let’s get Big Water. How in good conscience can they charge more for “Dasani” when all it is is the water in Coke WITHOUT THE FLAVOR OR SUGAR!!! I AM OUTRAGED! WE DEMAND JUSTICE! And I think the tiny little breath mints may have a scam going, too….they seem pretty pricey for what you get. Hmmm….. Maybe some of these whiners should see what gasoline costs are elsewhere in the world (with no increase in standard of living due to the outrageous taxes, and no more equality, so get over it).
Posted by: Monty | December 21, 2006, 5:13 pm 5:13 pm
tell it like it is! Big gas/oil has taken lessons from Bill Gates. Yes Bill! they see nothing wrong with making Billion’s in “NET” profit from the working folks of this country. And like “BILL” , the working folks think that the people in high places will protect them from such flagrant rip offs. Not so true , for this reason..the American public are so gullible they will follow/ believe most any thing they are told by the same people they think will protect them . you say that the price of gas needs to be compared to other places…OK do so , but remember to look close at what they make for a pay check every week also and do they have the scam of insurance to put up with also, which is directly linked to medical cost?
Or how about the hypocrites that are so against smokers that they fail to realize that once all smokers are gone …”who gets to pay for the medical cost now? (which BTW , are skyrocketing based on you got it smokers!). did you even care how much you paid for that last box/bucket of pop cor in the theater? did it ever occur to you that you could have bought 25lbs for the same money and that it is now the MOST expensive treat you can eat while watching a movie?
look around you and you will see the gas companies aren’t doing any thing that others haven’t done or are doing. Till the AMERICAN PUBLIC stands up and says no more ..it WILL continue!
Posted by: master | December 23, 2006, 9:13 am 9:13 am
Nationalize the oil industry and others? Corporations are greedy and can not be trusted? Are you kidding me, or what have you folks been drinking?! Government run essential services like fuel, and other energies? I think this was tried by the Soviet Union, and they continually failed to meet demand at any price. Like to go back to 1973 with two block long lines for gas and in some cases closed gas stations of certain days and even/odd numbered car plates to purchase gas on certain days. These messes all came about because of government intervention in the energy business. Who will do the R and D and the speculative drilling for oil and who will produce the oil drilling and refining equipment, and who will the thousands upon thousands of unionized employees work for if the industry is nationalized? Government has never shown any ability to do a better job of allocation of resources and keeping costs low, than private industry. Au Contraire, Government waste is rampant in almost everything government does. If you liked the $300 hammers, and $20,000 toilets and $1000 toilet seats the government routinely has paid for, then you will definitely like the $10 per gallon gas that will eventually come our way, if the government takes over. The gas at the pump will be low, maybe, but the actual cost in government paid subsidies and other government payments to keep the pump price low, will far outstrip current prices.
KEEP IN MIND THE GOVERNMENT IS SPENDING YOUR MONEY NOT MONEY THAT THE POLITICIANS EARNED ON THEIR OWN TO SPEND ON THE SUBSIDIES AND OTHER HIDDEN COSTS OF GOVERNMENT RUN ENTERPRISES. Please spare me any more of your communistic/socialistic nonsense about nationalizing anything. Government subsidizes the growing of tobacco so that farmers who grow the crop in the south will not be hurt, and then government requires warning labels on tobacco products that warn us all that smoking will kill us, and then government files lawsuits against tobacco companies because of health problems caused by smoking, and then government raises payroll taxes to pay for health care for the people who use tobacco products and suffer the consequences of the medical problems tobacco use causes. Why does’nt government just make tobacco illegal, or just take over that industry? Because taxes on tobacco are huge and are a free pot for the government politicians to spend on their pet projects that will insure they get reelected.
AND YOU WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO RUN THE OIL INDUSTRY? I repeat, what have you folks been smoking?
Posted by: jerry vogler | January 8, 2007, 12:01 pm 12:01 pm
I live in the Kansas City area and The Star has continued to “update” the good citizens of KC on this atrocity ever few months until the article finally gathered legs outside of the metropolitan area. Not sure about the rest of the country but most gasoline storage tanks in the Midwest are underground and the temperature remains fairly constant year-round. I guess the use of the word “hot” is relative.
Posted by: Jay Whitlock | January 8, 2007, 4:11 pm 4:11 pm
Just remember the US government spends $6.5 Billion every year supporting ethanol. An E85 blend gets 40% less miles per gallon and only cost 15% less nationwide despite the subsides. Let’s elimiate ethanol subsides at the same time we eliminate hot fuel. Always remember that the government can’t manage anything better than the average consumer. You and I both know that I would rather have a really hot gallon of gasoline than anything blended with ethanol.
Posted by: Steve Wotovich | June 11, 2007, 12:16 pm 12:16 pm
I’m so sick of this crap.I’m sick of being cheated and lie to and we know the folks at the white house don’t have to deal with it . They just take vacation when the weather gets to hot like a month.Oil industry people better injoy live on earth , because they’re going to end up some were really hot at the end .
Posted by: Christina White | July 25, 2007, 6:20 pm 6:20 pm
I suggest that everyone only buys $10.00 worth of gasoline at any gasoline station!!! If everyone does this it will drive these stations goofy. And I think that is what should be done daily. Just move on down to another gas station. Make these stations feel upset. They deserve this type of treatment. I makes it look like gasoline is going down!!!
Posted by: Bob | March 28, 2008, 5:43 pm 5:43 pm