Kip’s Comments - January 25, 2025

Questions From the Gas Station

Notice the price per gallon we paid today in Ankeny for Super Unleaded gasoline. The price we paid ($2.569 per gallon) is .53 per gallon less than local stations for the same grade of gasoline. Why is there such a significant price difference?

When this question has been asked in the past by others on social media, the answer has been “transport costs.” OK - let’s discuss this explanation.

According to this website (https://thetruckhow.com/how-much-fuel-does-a-fuel-tanker-carry/), the typical tanker carries between 5,000 to 11,000 gallons of product. For the sake of numbers, let’s do calculations based on 8,000 gallons.

A .53 difference calculates to $4,240 for that load of gasoline to be transported. I will not attempt to insinuate that I am a trucker or know much about trucking costs, but I would be surprised if it costs $4,240 to transport 8,000 gallons of fuel from Ankeny to the Bremer County area.

Further, if consumers are paying more for the hauling fee, wouldn’t it be expected that the further we are from the hub (let’s use Des Moines/Ankeny since that is where cheap gas tends to be) the more - incrementally - that we should be paying. Or, the less we should be paying if we are closer. Yet, that is not the case. Is the price difference the hauling fee or not? If it is, how come all of the stations seem to have nearly the same price - regardless of their location?

These are questions I have after saving .53 per gallon.

While I am asking questions about gasoline and prices and gas stations, how come some stations cannot seem to keep receipt paper in their pumps? The idea of pay at the pump is to save me a trip inside. Why does it seem to be so difficult to make receipts available at the pump at some stations?

OK - Those are my questions for the day.