Costco gas is now Top Tier

Guy I talked to at a Costco say they have a tanker come by every day. I go in the morning on the way to work. No lines. Weekend = hellno. It's probably 20-30 cents cheaper per gal for me

 

Imagine that you are filling mini-van or truck that need mucho gallons than Prius or other hybrids
20-30 cents/gallon is money saver by assuming you(shared) are geting items from Costco too.

my wife Sienna 2011 needs ~15 gallons to fill-up

 

I'm a Coscto fanatic, and use their gas almost exclusively. The only exception is when my tank is very low, and there is either no Costco nearby or no time to alter my route to accommodate a Coscto visit.

From my experience, the lines for gas at Costco are shortest when the the warehouse is closed. I think most Costco stations open around 7 AM and close around 9PM while warehouse hours are usually 10 AM - 8:30 PM (on weekdays). If your work hours are circa the typical 8-5 and Coscto is not too far out of your way, stopping on your way to work is a good idea. Also, temperatures will tend to be cooler in the morning, causing the gas to be more dense, thereby producing a (very marginally) lower cost per gallon. Weekends are the worst in terms of lines.

The hoses at Costco are long, so you can pull up to a pump on the passenger side of the car and easily route the hose around your car without a problem (it helps to pull up a bit further than you normally would, so the hose can be routed around the back of the car rather than over the roof/hatchback). Most cars are fueled from the driver side, so the passenger side pumps tend to have slightly shorter lines.

While waiting for a pump, I will often copy down my mileage from the previous fill-up (I always use the "trip B" odometer for this purpose) along with the main odometer reading, ambient temperature, and the MFD reported MPG. Since the Prius's ICE will shut off while I'm stopped, I don't feel bad about wasting gas & creating needless emissions while I wait my turn to pump.

 

Don't get me wrong. I love Costco. I shop there all the time with my fiancé. I just wish they'd take more than just American Express. I have a United Mileage Plus Visa card that I use exclusively for gas and because of that, I cannot pump gas there because I like getting miles. Since they're know certified as Top Tier station, I might just go and suck it up and use my AMEX card.

 

I used to work for a Petro-Canada service station in the 80s as a kid and even back they sometimes hired private carriers (ie, the tanker had the carrier's name on it vs. a big Petro Can logo) that visited more than one chain, and the only difference was the big bottle of additive that they dumped in the tank before or after fill: I don't know how they do it now, but back in the day, the tanker would show up and fill the tanks, then the driver would pull out a plastic bottle marked Petro Can and dump it into the premium tank (which in those days, was the only one that got the detergent package).. So just because the tanker pulls into multiple stations does *NOT* mean that they all get the same detergent/additive package: this is often proprietary to the specific oil company, and added during fill, whereas it just makes economic sense for all the players to pool the "raw" gasoline for transport..

 

Having worked in the fuel business years ago I can tell you that it would be highly unusual for a tanker to drop fuel at one location and then another before heading back to the terminal for a refill. One, gas is purchased by the load, which is 9000 gallons. Each full length tanker holds 9000 gallons of gas OR 7500 gallons of diesel, or a combination of the two. Tankers actually multiple compartments to allow for a mixture of 87, 91 and/or diesel. If the station manager has a standing order for loads of gas and sales have not been brisk enough, a tanker may not be able to drop all its fuel and will be sent to another station or customer, but that is somewhat infrequent.

In San Diego we have no refineries and get all of our gasoline and diesel from the pipeline that originates in Los Angeles. Everyone in San Diego, regardless of where they purchase, uses the same fuel.

 

Costco's magazine article discussing the change stated they add the additives when the fuel is delivered.

 

...but, which delivery: into the delivery truck or into the Costco tank?