Some Tips For Filling Your Gas Tank to Save $$$

Friend of mine sent this great info:

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but in California and Washington State we are paying up to $3.50 per gallon at the moment. Here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground, the more dense the gasoline. When it gets warmer, gasoline expands, so when you buy in the afternoon or evening a gallon is not really a gallon.

When you're filling up, do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. look, Notice that the trigger has three (3) modes of delivery: low, middle, and high. In slow mode, you will be pumping at a lower speed, minimizing the vapors that are created as you pump. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return so that vapors are sucked back into the underground storage tank, so you're getting less worth for your money if you pump at the faster speeds.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. (Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof which provides zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation inside the tanks. Unlike at service stations, where I work [in the petroleum industry] every truck that we load is temperature-compensated so that every gallon is an exact gallon.

And one more thing: If there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up -- most likely the gasoline in the storage tanks is being stirred up while the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

And to get better gas mileage as you drive:

Keep your tires properly inflated.

Don't carry anything unnecessary in or on your vehicle -- in the trunk, seats, or car top carrier. Less weight = more miles per gallon.

Start and stop slowly; be a tortoise, not a hare.

Keep your car tuned up.

Next time you need to buy a vehicle, consider how much gas mileage the model gets that you're considering. Do you really "need" that gas guzzling SUV to get around? Unless you regularly transport six or more people at a time, probably not!

And if you have a SUV, consider starting a car pool for additional people where you work. That way you can share the ride, the road, and vehicle expenses and reduce the "footprint" you each make by driving separately.