Fuel for Thought 'Friggin’ crooks'

[chillout]

“Friggin’ crooks”. “Too much bio in their fuel”. “Outdated and overpriced”.

If you are an owner operator and have spent any length of time on the road, you probably recognize the above sentiments. You can probably even tell which truck stop, or travel center as they are calling themselves these days, that each one references.

“Friggin crooks”, most drivers will recognize as a Pilot/Flying J description and while many remember or have learned why the chain earned the title, is it still relevant?

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[DollarSign]

Here I go about BioBlend Fuel! I HATE that crap! I drive a MB Sprinter Van and can't run no more than 5% BioBlend. It's hard to find a truckstop that has pure diesel. I know St8 and T/T can't do this but I go to a Shell, BP, Exxon ect to get my fuel "local gas stations " My van runs great and it should help with the DEF system. I also dont use the DEF in the back. I can tell if BioBlend is in the fuel, it runs sluggish.

The reason these truckstop are using BioBlend is they are getting a kickback from the government and the truckstop's are making $$$ off of it. I talk to a PFJ fuel guy and he told me that in TN PFJ is supposed to be going to pure diesel in the whole state. PFJ has done the math and to them it's not worth the extra stops and time and $$$ just to put BioBlend into the tanks. Always do the right thing first and you won't have to worry! We never should have went with BioBlend and Ethanol Blend fuel! He told me that Shell is the top rated fuel on the market.

As far as the old dated building's I can understand that, but it cost a ton to buy the land and build the building and get it running. Now PFJ used other people's money "stealing" to grow and get bigger. PFJ has been caught several times doing things wrong and they have a trust issues with me and should have one with everyone else. TA/Petro has done things right and haven't heard anything bad about them. They are a better truckstop all the way around!

 

[BigStickJr]

What he said.

 

[ntimevan]

Here I go about BioBlend Fuel! I HATE that crap! I drive a MB Sprinter Van and can't run no more than 5% BioBlend. It's hard to find a truckstop that has pure diesel. I know St8 and T/T can't do this but I go to a Shell, BP, Exxon ect to get my fuel "local gas stations " My van runs great and it should help with the DEF system. I also dont use the DEF in the back. I can tell if BioBlend is in the fuel, it runs sluggish.

The reason these truckstop are using BioBlend is they are getting a kickback from the government and the truckstop's are making $$$ off of it. I talk to a PFJ fuel guy and he told me that in TN PFJ is supposed to be going to pure diesel in the whole state. PFJ has done the math and to them it's not worth the extra stops and time and $$$ just to put BioBlend into the tanks. Always do the right thing first and you won't have to worry! We never should have went with BioBlend and Ethanol Blend fuel! He told me that Shell is the top rated fuel on the market.

As far as the old dated building's I can understand that, but it cost a ton to buy the land and build the building and get it running. Now PFJ used other people's money "stealing" to grow and get bigger. PFJ has been caught several times doing things wrong and they have a trust issues with me and should have one with everyone else. TA/Petro has done things right and haven't heard anything bad about them. They are a better truckstop all the way around!

Lol , easy on the Caffeine this morning.
I am a gas purchaser so i have no (dog in fight) views on Def or Bioblend .
But i always use the Ethanol blended gas , better mpg , burns cleaner. Also supports the Corn Industry, farm boy here .
Now ,personally i don't care for the Old School TA truckstops . When i drove Straight truck years ago , TA fuel islands , bathrooms always the Dirtiest.
Before the Merger , Pilot truckstops were just a notch up from TA.

Big Gap here ...

Now the next Level ..
Petro truckstops , cleaner , inside and out , staff friendly, great parking. Only negative to me , i never liked most of their inside truckstop setups , restaurant nice , driver lounge & movie room always seemed small and uncomfortable, fuel desk / convenience store set up terrible.
Old School Flying J / before merger always seemed setup better , cleaner , friendly, and purchasing fuel or gas seemed easier . I like the 2 seperate halves inside the truckstops. Restaurant/bathrooms...

Truckers lounge , laundry ,showers , bathrooms.
all seperated by fuel desks , deli display , convenience store , just more open ,less congestion..

But Then Came Mergers ....
None of the Truckstops are really good anymore ... they are all looking at the Convenience Store setups with 35 to 40 % markups. Truck Drivers /Hot Shotters / Expediters are not their primary targets anymore ..

Again just my thoughts and observations...

Sent from my SM-G955U using EO Forums mobile app

 

[Greg]

Here I go about BioBlend Fuel! I HATE that crap! I drive a MB Sprinter Van and can't run no more than 5% BioBlend. It's hard to find a truckstop that has pure diesel. I know St8 and T/T can't do this but I go to a Shell, BP, Exxon ect to get my fuel "local gas stations " My van runs great and it should help with the DEF system. I also dont use the DEF in the back. I can tell if BioBlend is in the fuel, it runs sluggish.

The reason these truckstop are using BioBlend is they are getting a kickback from the government and the truckstop's are making $$$ off of it. I talk to a PFJ fuel guy and he told me that in TN PFJ is supposed to be going to pure diesel in the whole state. PFJ has done the math and to them it's not worth the extra stops and time and $$$ just to put BioBlend into the tanks. Always do the right thing first and you won't have to worry! We never should have went with BioBlend and Ethanol Blend fuel! He told me that Shell is the top rated fuel on the market.

As far as the old dated building's I can understand that, but it cost a ton to buy the land and build the building and get it running. Now PFJ used other people's money "stealing" to grow and get bigger. PFJ has been caught several times doing things wrong and they have a trust issues with me and should have one with everyone else. TA/Petro has done things right and haven't heard anything bad about them. They are a better truckstop all the way around!

It sounds like you found what fuels work best with your equipment, but I can tell you that the biofuels of today are very different from years ago, at least as far as Class 7 or Class 8 truck engines are concerned. The smaller diesels in the vans may not run as well on it, but you would know better than I on that.
As for the choice of truck stops, I've been out here for a lot of years and the TA's have always seemed to be subpar to others, where keeping up to date is concerned, but they have been making improvements in the last few years. Petro was/is usually nicer than the TA, IMO.

 

[Greg]

Lol , easy on the Caffeine this morning.
I am a gas purchaser so i have no (dog in fight) views on Def or Bioblend .
But i always use the Ethanol blended gas , better mpg , burns cleaner. Also supports the Corn Industry, farm boy here .
Now ,personally i don't care for the Old School TA truckstops . When i drove Straight truck years ago , TA fuel islands , bathrooms always the Dirtiest.
Before the Merger , Pilot truckstops were just a notch up from TA.

Big Gap here ...

Now the next Level ..
Petro truckstops , cleaner , inside and out , staff friendly, great parking. Only negative to me , i never liked most of their inside truckstop setups , restaurant nice , driver lounge & movie room always seemed small and uncomfortable, fuel desk / convenience store set up terrible.
Old School Flying J / before merger always seemed setup better , cleaner , friendly, and purchasing fuel or gas seemed easier . I like the 2 seperate halves inside the truckstops. Restaurant/bathrooms...

Truckers lounge , laundry ,showers , bathrooms.
all seperated by fuel desks , deli display , convenience store , just more open ,less congestion..

But Then Came Mergers ....
None of the Truckstops are really good anymore ... they are all looking at the Convenience Store setups with 35 to 40 % markups. Truck Drivers /Hot Shotters / Expediters are not their primary targets anymore ..

Again just my thoughts and observations...

Sent from my SM-G955U using EO Forums mobile app

What he said.

 

[DollarSign]

Here I go about BioBlend Fuel! I HATE that crap! I drive a MB Sprinter Van and can't run no more than 5% BioBlend. It's hard to find a truckstop that has pure diesel. I know St8 and T/T can't do this but I go to a Shell, BP, Exxon ect to get my fuel "local gas stations " My van runs great and it should help with the DEF system. I also dont use the DEF in the back. I can tell if BioBlend is in the fuel, it runs sluggish.

The reason these truckstop are using BioBlend is they are getting a kickback from the government and the truckstop's are making $$$ off of it. I talk to a PFJ fuel guy and he told me that in TN PFJ is supposed to be going to pure diesel in the whole state. PFJ has done the math and to them it's not worth the extra stops and time and $$$ just to put BioBlend into the tanks. Always do the right thing first and you won't have to worry! We never should have went with BioBlend and Ethanol Blend fuel! He told me that Shell is the top rated fuel on the market.

As far as the old dated building's I can understand that, but it cost a ton to buy the land and build the building and get it running. Now PFJ used other people's money "stealing" to grow and get bigger. PFJ has been caught several times doing things wrong and they have a trust issues with me and should have one with everyone else. TA/Petro has done things right and haven't heard anything bad about them. They are a better truckstop all the way around!

It sounds like you found what fuels work best with your equipment, but I can tell you that the biofuels of today are very different from years ago, at least as far as Class 7 or Class 8 truck engines are concerned. The smaller diesels in the vans may not run as well on it, but you would know better than I on that.
As for the choice of truck stops, I've been out here for a lot of years and the TA's have always seemed to be subpar to others, where keeping up to date is concerned, but they have been making improvements in the last few years. Petro was/is usually nicer than the TA, IMO.

As far as BioBlend Diesel goes, I've heard from several people that there mpg is lower than when pure diesel. A Sprinter is supposed to have no more than 5% BioBlend . PFJ had to get different fuel filter in there tractor cause there high BioBlend count was clogging there filters.

OVM has said that Canadian diesel fuel is better than American fuel. There's is 50 cetane and pure diesel at all locations to ours is 40 cetane. Also he stop using truckstop fuel and he started using Speedway fuel ect. Hope he chimes in!

Year's ago I talk to Nick and Jenny and they told me that they get better fuel mileage with TA/Petro than PFJ fuel. I think TA/Petro uses less BioBlend in there fuel. Can't remember if they were in a Sprinter or Str8. Greg, I would like to see you change your fuel filter and run pure diesel and I bet you would see and feel a difference.

Ntimevan, as far as Ethanol Blend in gas, yes i can see it burns cleaner cause it gets hotter cause of the corn. But I can't see or agree that you get better fuel mileage. Something has to be altered to get the mpg up. Maybe more transmission and or Rear end gear change.

 

[Greg]

DollarSign , I'm not arguing that bio is as good or better than pure diesel, all I am saying is today's blends of biofuel is much better than before. I remember the days before biofuels. I remember getting my best MPG from the Petro in Hammond, LA. This was before the TA/Petro merger and before biodiesel and with an older truck/engine than I currently have.
I have had no issues with fuels from any of the big 3 chains, but I do know of a few drivers that had issues at SELECT locations of each of the big 3. It could be more related to the local fuels blended at that time for that location, but who's to say. One was the Kingston Springs, TN Petro. I have fueled there many times without issue, but I know a driver that swears the fuel there clogged their fuel filters on the engine and APU. Maybe it did, maybe it was something else or maybe it was the fuel that was recently delivered there and was all sold and replaced before I fueled there again.