Six refiners agree to pay $21.6M to settle a class-action complaint that they were charging...

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alfdrake Comments (4)
 
Being from Phoenix AZ area, I know what hot fuel can cost, that is why I fill up early in the morning.
Now, how does one get their name of the class-action settlement?
19 Jun 2012, 03:24 PM Reply Like

youngman442002 Comments (4972)
 
LOL..so now they are going to have to refigerate gas stations...lol...hot air is less dense...so planes can´t carry as much too....who can we sue.....I want some
19 Jun 2012, 03:27 PM Reply Like

Terry330 Comments (836)
 
I can't believe big oil companies will shortchange Americans.
19 Jun 2012, 03:30 PM Reply Like

kcicciarelli Comments (3)
 
Do you honestly think these oil companies are the only ones who charged "normal prices" for hot-air expanded fuel? ALL the oil companies are guilty. Gasoline prices vary by pennies between gas stations, so I didn't see any break in cost. This suit has been going on for five years and would cost these oil companies a lot more than their settlement offer if they continued fighting it. Now, maybe their stock will improve.
19 Jun 2012, 05:26 PM Reply Like

FleetUSA3226 Comments (346)
 
Pennies. I bet the cost of the lawyers on both sides was more than the settlement.
19 Jun 2012, 03:32 PM Reply Like

retired358 Comments (33)
 
I assume they settled due to lawyer costs getting high.

Fuel is stored in tanks underground. As such, the fuel remains at relatively the same temperature day and night (feel the filling nozzle on a warm day after filling your tank - it will be cool).

If what is claimed were true, would not those in cold climates in the winter be getting more fuel than they paid for...should they give money back?
19 Jun 2012, 03:58 PM Reply Like

raycer911 Comments (2)
 
I certainly agree with your analysis about the near-constant fuel temperature in the underground tanks; however, the pumps for customers measure only volume, not mass, and the station charges retail customers based upon what they had to pay for the product from the typically warmer, uninsulated tankers that filled their underground tanks (at least in my Southwestern experience). In a way, the retailer gas station takes the risk of selling denser (cooler after being in underground storage tanks) gasoline than it bought at a less-dense (warmer) condition. Gas stations in typically colder climates might be considering the flip side of that equation. I think that if they are smart, the final price will be built into their profit margins, although probably not at a quantitatively sophisticated level -- I bet they just "ball-park" it.
19 Jun 2012, 11:48 PM Reply Like

retired358 Comments (33)
 
The amount of fuel that a service station "pays for" is measured at the refinery when the tank truck is filled. The gasoline comes from large storage tanks and the temperature of the fuel is considered when the metering pumps are set. If one wishes to see the actual change in volume between night and day temperatures in the area in which one lives, take a small amount of gasoline and put it in a plastic container (clear is best) and mark the side at night and then in the day time (note, measure with the top removed or lose so that the expansion of the gas does not distort the shape of the container).
20 Jun 2012, 11:10 AM Reply Like

timddeb Comments (134)
 
the coolnessof the nozzle is surely due to evaporation causing the temp drop. The fule will get warm from the pipes after the tank and before the metering device. I agree however that this was a lawyers junket.
19 Jun 2012, 04:37 PM Reply Like

retired358 Comments (33)
 
Not enough gasoline will evaporate to cool the nozzle (try putting some gasoline in a can and see if it gets cold - it will not). The nozzle cools because the gasoline from the storage tank is cool (the temperature of the gasoline in the storage tank will far outweigh any evaporation).
19 Jun 2012, 07:43 PM Reply Like

timddeb Comments (134)
 
take the top off
20 Jun 2012, 01:02 PM Reply Like

retired358 Comments (33)
 
Yes, obviously the top should be off (little evaporation can occur with the top on).

However, the amount of evaporative cooling that occurs when filling one's tank is minimal and insignificant vs. the amount of cooling provided by the cooler gasoline flowing in the hose/nozzle from the cooler storage tank.

And, one must understand that the metering of gasoline into one's vehicle is done in the "box" well before the hose and filling nozzle - so, any warming/evaporation there will not impact the measurement of fuel being delivered.

Again, this is much about very little...just a way for lawyers to make a lot of money from corporations and the "class" they incorrectly claim to be helping. It is informative to read the settlements in class actions...the lawyers often get most of the money and the "class" often gets very little (in this case, some posting of temperature impacts at the pump at Valero stations).

The fact is that, in many class action lawsuits, the public is, in effect, funding the lavish homes, cars, ranches and high living style of many lawyers. When a company "settles," if it remains in business, it has to pay for these lawyers fees - and, this often results in the public paying more through slightly higher prices. My view is that it is a legalized form of extortion.
22 Jun 2012, 12:27 PM Reply Like

ivdivision Comments (2)
 
..what B$!!!!..... the legal system is insane in this country.... loser pay would end this !!!!!
19 Jun 2012, 05:07 PM Reply Like

raycer911 Comments (2)
 
Race car driver and team owner Roger Penske realized this energy/volume relationship over 40 years ago, and had his race cars fueled with chilled gasoline and also utilized an insulated ice-filled "fuel chiller" in the engine compartment to combat high underhood temperatures. It essentially allowed him to put more BTUs in the same gas tank, which could be applied either to more power or greater range, whichever tactic he chose. The practice was eventually outlawed by the sanctioning bodies, but was only one of dozens of his creative approaches to racing, and he proudly embraced the "Unfair Advantage" mantle his competitors credited him with (and copied as soon as they figured out what he was doing!)
19 Jun 2012, 05:25 PM Reply Like

hwood007 Comments (822)
 
How is it then that the lawyers won this case?
19 Jun 2012, 09:19 PM Reply Like

retired358 Comments (33)
 
In many large or class action cases, the lawyers do not actually win the case...they "settle," which is really what they want in the first place...they get their fees and the "class" gets very little.
20 Jun 2012, 11:13 AM Reply Like

youngman442002 Comments (4972)
 
Lawyers can not change the laws of Physics.....but they will try
21 Jun 2012, 08:39 AM Reply Like