Gasoline Hoarding Near Downtown Detroit

[DetroitDad]

After work today, I attempted to stop by the Mobile Station on Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit. I was shocked to find a line up of cars waiting to fuel up. Gas was only $3.49 [[cash), so I thought maybe it was some sort of anomaly based on area events. So, I decided to drive my old two door compact over to the Mobile on Warren and Trumble, only to find a slightly shorter line. Upon reaching the pump, I got out, paid, and started the pump. While standing there, I noticed that a large amount of the other customers were not just filling up their cars, but were also filling up red plastic gas cans. On top of this, it appeared that several of the pumps were either not working, or out of gas. There did not appear to be any damage to the pumps.

I am somewhat alarmed by this development. This was not during rush hour. Doing a search of gas prices in our Metro, it does appear that many suburbs and areas of the city are five to ten cents higher.

[Gannon]

This is merely wisdom...when pricing goes up and will continue to do so, it is in your best interest to get as much as you can afford NOW, since it will only be more expensive the next time you need it.

Why be alarmed at other's actions like this, D'Dad?! You should have been applauding them for their foresight.


I will be buying gas every time I have the dollars in my pocket from now on...better in MY tank at today's prices than in the ground waiting for the next increase.


There was a BP on Jefferson, between downtown and GP today at only 3.35...hurry!

[English]

I filled up @ $3.42 cash at 10 Mile & Middlebelt [[near relatives); that station always has relatively cheap gas. At times like these, I always try to fill up when it's getting near 1/2 tank [[something that I was brought up to do anyway). Also trying to remember to make sure I've got enough cash on me to catch the lower prices.

Wish I'd known about that BP. DetroitGasPrices.com is a great site to catch deals, or so I hear. The East Side always seems a little cheaper than the West...

[DetroitDad]

Understood, but wouldn't it end up just driving the prices further? If this was a country capable of cooperating, we would self ration. This is the benefit of a few at the expense of the many.

[lilpup]

If you have a flex fuel vehicle start watching E-85 ethanol prices. We're approaching the range where E-85 becomes a better deal.

[Meddle]

If this was a country capable of cooperating, we would self ration. This is the benefit of a few at the expense of the many.

Which country do you live in?

The one I live in is full of greedy, self-centered SOBs.

[ScienceFair]

why not just go to the sunoco at woodward and palmer?
usually cheaper and less busy than the mobile.

[JBMcB]

Understood, but wouldn't it end up just driving the prices further? If this was a country capable of cooperating, we would self ration. This is the benefit of a few at the expense of the many.

Short term, it would drive the prices up. Then, as demand falls from people using their cache of gasoline instead of buying at the pump, the upward pressure would diminish and gas prices would settle where they would otherwise be. Overall you're probably going to pay the same.

[ResurgetCineribus]

What is the point of this? So you can put off buying gas again for two weeks instead of one? I feel like I am missing something.

[Gannon]

You're only thinking in static terms, Resurg.

When prices are climbing steadily, NOT due to demand [[which I've never seen proven makes any form of dent in gasoline pricing anyways!) but rather from world events that will most certainly restrict supply...

...it is WAY smarter to get what you can, while you can, at TODAY'S pricing. As long as the product is stable enough to store in the quantities you can afford to legally hold...and with gasoline there are curious storage laws that seem designed for safety but can be construed as merely keeping us at the mercy of the oil companies.


I cannot see how this does anything but move the overall demand curve forward in time a bit, and protects us against this inflation.

Most of you are not old enough to remember when gas first made that big jump in the seventies during the oil crisis...I barely am...but WAS working at a gas station in the late 70s when we had to first figure out how to put a third significant digit up on the pole when the price went over 99.9 cents per gallon!


Cheers

[fryar]

Might be that the Mobil stations are known to adjust their prices on Tuesdays, or something like that. If you have few resources, it might be worth your time to try to beat that deadline.

[jackie5275]

When prices are climbing steadily, NOT due to demand [[which I've never seen proven makes any form of dent in gasoline pricing anyways!) but rather from world events that will most certainly restrict supply...
...it is WAY smarter to get what you can, while you can, at TODAY'S pricing. As long as the product is stable enough to store in the quantities you can afford to legally hold...and with gasoline there are curious storage laws that seem designed for safety but can be construed as merely keeping us at the mercy of the oil companies.

I personally think the prices are being driven up by speculators, just as they were a few years ago when we saw $4+/gal.
Theoretically, yeah, it's smarter to buy what you can before the prices go up again, tomorrow, but as you point out storage can be a problem for the avg citizen. The largest size gas can the general public can buy is 5 gallons. The avg car fuel tank capacity is 15-20 gals. You'd have to have 3-4, 5 gallon gas cans sitting around your garage waiting to be poured. Multiply that by the number of cars you have. I have 3 vehicles with gas tanks of 17, 17, & 12 gallons respectively. This totals 46 gallons of gas. Even if I was using 5 gallon gas cans, I'd have to have 10 of them in my garage to store the 46 gallons. It's not that practical to transport from the gasoline station or to store.

[Al Publican]

Where are folks going to store containers of gasoline? As a retired Detroit fire inspector, I suggest that it is foolish to store quantities of gasoline, even if you do so inside or outside of a garage. For one, you'll end up slopping gasoline around as you pour it in to your car. You will also subject your backyard to theft and/or vandalism.

Another concern is that you could compromise insurance coverage on your home by storing a hazardous material [[that's what gasoline is) in an unapproved manner on your premises. That or be suspected of arson if a fire breaks out.

I think someone on this thread mentioned concerns about "static electricity" ignition of gasoline. Though not likely, it could happen. In short, don't try to save a few hundred dollars in the course of a year by presenting a fire hazard by storing gasoline over five or ten gallons. And don't keep gasoline in your home or in the trunk of your car.

[Mr. Houdini]

I'm going to sell bootlegged gas that I brew from my own still, er, refinery. I'll be a millionaire.

[DetroitPetanque]

While I understand that filling up a 5 gallon gas can will save you a buck or two, I think there are better methods for saving money. The main one is: don't drive around needlessly. By keeping a surplus of goods in the house you don't need to drive to the stores [[and waste gasoline) as much. Also, combining multiple errands in one drive instead of getting into the car and driving back and forth from home to the store in many separate trips. Also, keeping your speed down gets you better gas mileage, and for driving on the highway - "drafting" [[driving behind trucks serving as a windbreak) can get you better mileage. Unless you plan on stockpiling 100 gallons of extra gasoline at home [[about $20-30 savings), I don't see the value. Driving a 4-cylinder, lighter vehicle can also do wonders. If you don't use a truck except for hauling your friend's fridge every other year [[rent a truck) - then drive something light.

[Gannon]

Absolutely!

I did not advocate buying MORE than your own vehicle can hold...and possibly one five-gallon can.

I remember John Denver getting into HUGE trouble when he installed a 500-gallon tank on his property in Colorago during the first gasoline crisis. That is when I learned about the limits of residential storage...not even mentioning the dangers as Al Publican says above.


I was only agreeing with putting whatever cash you have into a full tank as often as possible because tomorrow it would only be more expensive, if we remained on this upward trend...which I fully expect.


That would be all we need...a few garage-fulls of poorly vented containers suddenly causing a vapor collection when the temperatures increase...same person would spark up a cigarette and launch themselves to kingdom come. Not to mention that if you don't USE the fuel reasonably quickly it will go bad. There is what...a two-year limitation on untreated gas stabiity in even sealed enclosures?! Sure, you can put in some bucky-ball chemical stabilizer, if you know where to get it in quantity, but I'm not tellin'! LOL. [[the stuff you can buy at retail is much weaker...)


So yeah, I laugh whenever I see those apocalyptic movies that are staged supposedly many, many years after the population die-off...like Legend. That Mustang would be chugging on dead gasoline, unless the good scientist had the ability to fire up the refinery himself!


But in a time of continually increasing prices on anything and everything, it is in your best interest to get rid of your cash and turn it into useable commodities as soon as possible. They will only be more expensive tomorrow.

We are at the precipice of the hyper-inflation many of us warned about when the Fed started printing money to 'cure' the troubles caused by those felonius bankers, who've never been prosecuted for their crimes against the economy.


Sincerely,
John

[BagAJellyDonuts]

Which country do you live in?

The one I live in is full of greedy, self-centered SOBs.

I went to Catholic schools. In the morning we went to mass and were taught about how to live. Later in the day were taught how to screw everybody else over because that's what "smart" people do.

[Jimaz]

I ... WAS working at a gas station in the late 70s when we had to first figure out how to put a third significant digit up on the pole when the price went over 99.9 cents per gallon!

Not to mention that same problem with the pump displays themselves. They used to have two mechanical wheels, one per digit. There was no third wheel!

Sounds like a case for scientific notation!

Attachment 9004

[Gannon]

Jimaz,

Actually, one of my universal wake-up calls was when Glenn Laviolette, the owner of the Mobil station where I worked at W. Warren just west of Wyoming, opened up the pumps and showed me the third digit wheel...and all we had to do was pop out a perforated cover over that hole...and that was in 10th grade...fall of 1978.

Funny thing, after all these years I just connected with him again...through his son, who is now working with a client/friend of mine, Paul Eisenstein of the Detroit Bureau. You'll hear Paul once and again on NPR or WDET local, covering the car business. Once I saw that last name on Facebook, I just HAD to ask...what a blast from the past!


Cheers

[Gannon]

Does anyone else think it ridiculous that they keep that tradition of 9/10ths of a cent on all the gasoline pricing?! WTF is THAT all about?!

[Gannon]

Scientific notation...LOL...I just caught that. Never call me quick on the uptake.