bodiebill

His cost of transportation must have been sky high. Selling prices are dictated by costs and competition
Not in the board room.
It is incredible that the average American has such a marginal knowledge about our Free Enterprise system
.

Comphoto

Being in the gas station business with my father,; the rules are this : address; if your business has an address such as Main Street ;you are charged a higher per gallon price. Even though the main drive was 50 feet away it was a state route number which ment they got a lower per gallon price.(2) the tanker is filled and delivered on the day of delivery( even though you are required to call in 3 days earlier;it is the price that day. (3) company franchises get a discount rather than giving it to the independents.(4)I believe the allowed profit per gallon is now .12 cents . I'm going back to 1985 profit prices. You would have to check state and federal profit margins to see if the owner is compliant with the law. Yes, there is a maximum profit according to federal law. ( based upon 1985 federal mandates following the Arab imposed gas embargo.)Since there are no more manual price per gallon setting;the likely hood of taping numbers over the actual numbers is not very possible.Yes some operators did this;but it was owners that had chains ; such as just discount gas services stations father than independent service stations

L

14kphotog Loc: Marietta, Ohio

NO gas station could pay for electric to run the pumps and pay 1 attendant on 3-4 cents a gallon. easy to figure out for minimum wage. Wholesale gas distributors must sell to all stations at the same price. My daughter bought gas and oil for a fleet of 1500 cars and trucks for many years and always knew the wholesale price hour by hour.

Comphoto

They got a bulk discount because of the number of vehicles

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

[quote=jerryc41]Most car makers recommend using Top Tier gas. It has a p[articular additive package. The Honda dealer and several local mechanics recommend filling up with non-ethanol gas once a month, like Stewart's premium.

https://www.pure-gas.org/[/quote]

Premium gasoline in only needed in the few top tier autos that require it. There are no special additives in premium, simply an octane improver (normally isooctane). If the car doesn't need it, and most do not, it is a waste of money to use it. The only difference in performance of high octane is that it burns a little slower in higher compression ratio engines. Other additives such a stability, rust protection etc are present in all blends mostly to protect the oil company's storage equipment and things like fast water drop out in tanks.

d2b2 Loc: Catonsville, Maryland, USA

I sell businesses for a living, and used to sell quite a few gas stations. I don't know exactly how they do it at the distributors' level, but the stations themselves literally walk outside in some cases and watch each other. One of the stations owners I represented would stand at the side of his building and hold up several fingers on one or both hands, then hold up another set. If the current price was $2.25 he wanted to change the pricing to $2.29, he would hold up one hand with two fingers and then hold up both hands for a total of nine fingers. The station owner across the street would either nod or shake his head and hold up his own pricing.

The difference is with some of the super stations now - WaWa, Sheetz and Royal Farm Stores in the US Mid-Altantic states. They don't play with the other station owners because I think their pricing is based upon the companies buying gasoline futures contracts. If they are competing with those stores, the other station owners will just watch the signs posted by the super stores and react as quickly as they can. Then they go out of business...

DEBJENROB Loc: DELRAY BEACH FL

In New Jersey .... gas stations can change prices once a day .... also the spot market changes by the minute

tinwhistle

I retired 11 years ago from a heavy hauling career of thirty years, the last 10 years hauling petroleum products: gasoline and diesel fuel, etc. Some of the things I've read on this thread are somewhat close to fact, most are not. Petroleum is traded on the commodities market daily. The selling price will fluctuate maddingly throughout the day. Tens of thousands of barrels of gasoline change hands during the day, at different price, keeping in mind the difference may only be penny's per barrel but we're talking many thousands of barrels. Add storage fees, pipeline fees, etc. and at the end of the trading day you will have the final price for a gallon of gas that the day trader purchased that day. That number is the price he will place on his purchase that day with his mark up. In my location the final selling price for a gallon of gasoline that moves through the terminal is posted at 4 PM. The individual distributor has his eye on those fluctuations all day and can guess pretty close to what will happen to the final rack price. If the rack price increases he will send every truck he has at his disposal into the terminal to load before 4PM. If the rack price goes down he will hold every truck 'til after 4 PM. Here in Wisconsin, USA there is a minimum mark up law. Basically stating that the individual seller has to charge a minimum amount per gallon over his purchase price. In theory that prevents the "big guy" from running the "little guy" out of business. Take that for what it's worth. No matter how you look at it the petroleum business is cut throat and the only way to compete is to keep an eye on you competition and stay competitive. People will drive miles out of their way to save 2cnts a gallon. That's 20 cents on a 10 gallon purchase. I've never been able to figure that out.

fantom Loc: Colorado

Someone already mentioned politicians.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Amen.

People will raised Hades over a station making a few cents per gallon and never make a peep over the gubmint making many times that.

hj Loc: Florida

I don't believe that. A station could have had a delivery yesterday at a very attractive price, but today when all the other stations raise their price 20 cents on the gallon, so did the station that got their tanks filled at a low price. Someone else here said, the price is determined by what a tanker would charge for a new delivery on any given day. If that cost shoots up, so does their retail price even though their underground tanks are filled with cheap gasoline. Here in central Florida about a week ago retail shot up from $2.39 to $2.59 overnight. All stations increased by the same amount even though they may have received a cheap delivery the day before. AND then like someone else said the price rose by .20 per gallon over night but trickles lower after a few days to $2.58 and a couple days later to $2.57.

d2b2 Loc: Catonsville, Maryland, USA

It varies by location, but the average "pool margin", which is the difference between what the Distributor charges the Station Operator and what we pay at the pump is 10 cents, in Maryland. The vast majority of the profit is earned by the Distributor, the Oil Company (Exxon, Shell, etc.) and the Landlord, which is normally the Oil Company. The Oil Company will either own the property or lease it, then sub-lease it to the Station Operator or Dealer, as they are known. The leases are such that the Dealer pays virtually all he earns at the pump in Rent. Anything he profits from is through the Convenience Store, the ATM, the Lottery, Vacuum, Air pumps and such. It used to be a good business; but within the past ten years, for the most part it sucks, as they say in technical terms!

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Actually it depends on the cost of the next delivery.

dwermske

Does anyone really think that Exxon, Shell, Mobil or Chevron or any other gas station actually uses the gas produced by their brand name? Give me a break, they all buy from central distributors that are all supplied by the major refiners. The final mix, by brand, is made when the distributor fills any specific order. Prices are fixed by these distributors based on location (distance from distribution point), state (CA & NY highest) and season (summer lower than winter). Oh yes, it also depends on the fluctuating price per barrel. The price of natural gas also figures into the price because it is used in the refining process. The major refiners obtain and refine the oil and sell it to the distributers who sell it to the stations who sell it to you. Each one has to make a profit to stay in business. That profit margin is usually determined by the companies board of directors/stockholders and station owners. The stuff is not free.

hj Loc: Florida

If there's not big money to made why is there a gas station on every street corner (slight exaggeration) and more being built every day? Same with drug stores and banks.