Fuel quality

All fuel comes from the same supplier in the region you're buying fuel. Now different stations sometimes have different additive packages added as its pumped into the truck but thats mainly for gasoline. All the fuels come out of the same million gallon storage tanks. About the only thing the big chains offer is fresh fuel as they sell a higher volume of fuel then the smaller chains.

 

Some areas do have multiple sources of fuel. But you'd have to know which pipeline that station buys its fuel from, and know the specs on both fuels to even know if one has a higher BTU content per gallon.

About the best you can hope for is that you might notice that certain regions supplied by certain refineries offer less miles per gallon than gallon than other regions supplied by a different refinery. But there are so many other variables to miles per gallon, the variation in the fuel itself is sometimes lost in the 'noise'.

 

The only difference between stations I could think of would maybe be the amount of sediment in their tanks or amount of water in the fuel, which would definitely affect it, but that's going to be an individual station problem, not a brand.

 

i actually worked for an onsite diesel fuel company, that now fuels our trucks!

yes, the mom and pop places usually buy the basic diesel fuel, and in winter time, they pay for a winterized fuel.

the bigger places buy the same basic diesel fuel, but also buy an additives mixture/package as well, to either boost cetane levels or enhance weatherizing the fuel. this all adds to the overall costs..the mom and pop will sell cheaper, and it IS fresh fuel all the time, as they too have thier regular customer base...thier fuel does not sit long in the underground tanks..like some would have you believe.

what you have to watch for is the bigger places warming up thier fuels while in the ground. this makes the fuel expand, and you actually get cheated out of some fuel, over the mom and pop places, that do not have fuel warmers..

i think either OOIDA or Overdrive did a story about this.

as for fuel mileage, your results will vary, depending on your right foot, but as in gasoline, the higher the octane, the better burning efficiency the gasoline does. same as diesel.....basic diesel, over higher cetane diesel.....

Typical values. Generally, diesel engines operate well with a CN from 48 to 50. Fuels with lower cetane number have longer ignition delays, requiring more time for the fuel combustion process to be completed. Hence, higher speed diesel engines operate more effectively with higher cetane number fuels.

Cetane number - Wikipedia

 

I would agree regarding how fresh fuel would be. As said above mom and pops would have their regular customers and moreover would have smaller storage tanks that would make them get fuel deliveries quite often. Gas station that would have to sit on the fuel wouldn't stay in business for to long.

 

The biggest difference is the amount of #### in the bottom of the tanks, some places are worse than others and there's usually not much rhyme or reason why.

 

Another factor is biodiesel. It adds lubricity which is good for older engines but contains less energy so fuel milage goes down. I run Pacific Northwest WA OR ID MT the state of Oregon mandates biodiesel in fuel sold there. The amount of biodiesel varies based on supply it is anywhere from 5 % to 20 %. When I buy straight diesel in Washington state I get better mpg and feel more power in the mountains. I have 2016 KW T680 Paccar 500 horsepower pulling 100000 lb. loads 4 axle truck 4 axle trailer