At what point will the $$$ of Diesel Fuel really

[SBall]

Yep remember it well,don't know how much it helped though. How about the odd/even rationing? the "C" stickers? Long lines around the block? Fights breaking out in line,running out of gas in line? If I recall this 65mph speed limit has only been back 10-12 yrs.

Other than the rationing efforts with an artificially low price that we tried back in the 70's, or allowing the price to seek a natural equilibrium through supply and demand, we don't have many other ways to deal with this problem. Maybe someone should start a poll here on the TDR to vote on which method you would rather see implemented. Rationing of fuel with an "acceptable" price, or allowing the price float as per supply/demand. Both methods serve to reduce demand, but through a different process.

KnightR is right to recognize the positive effects on fuel economy that driving 55 provides. When I try this, I feel like I'm at the bottom of the food chain and about to get rear-ended, especially when I'm in my Miata. (I feel safer at 55 on the interstate when I'm in my dually, but I'm sucking more energy in the process).

All these folks that are driving on the interstates like like they're late for a Nascar meeting, must not feel the price pinch yet. That's all I can figure.

Great dialog guys!

 

[PLevesque]

You can get those european diesel cars. The VW jetta TDI blows the others out of the water when it comes to economy. We got the wife an '06 in March and it already has over 10k on it. It got 52 mpg on a trip this summer. They talk about hybrids for big $. What for?

 

[JWendt]

If your not running bio by now you should be! Just a thought... .

I would love to run Bio but around here B20 Costs more than plain old #2 let alone what they want for anything higher.

 

[catoiler]

You can get those european diesel cars. The VW jetta TDI blows the others out of the water when it comes to economy. We got the wife an '06 in March and it already has over 10k on it. It got 52 mpg on a trip this summer. They talk about hybrids for big $. What for?

This is what I am talking about! My kids 00 bug gets 48-53 all day long but the neighbors hybird gets 36 and he is happy as all get out and thinks he is king of the mpg wars!! Why won't the powers that be in california let them in new??

 

[duckcarvr]

It was $3. 60 in Mt. Vernon Wa. today. the news said it may hit $100 a barrel and $4. 00 at the pumps. I can drive my truck or not but what about the guys that make their living from diesel trucks. its got to hurt! robert

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

The price of diesel got to me about a year and a half ago. That is when I went from solely driving the CTD to picking up a Subaru wagon, aka "The Beater Wagon". I use the beater to run into town and short term road trips. I use the truck for hauling firewood, hunting, serious snow, trail towing, and camper road trips. Last year I put only 2K on the truck and 24K on the beater wagon. I look at it as 24K I didn't have to put on the truck. It has been a bit of an adjustment since I've always driven pickups and SUV, e. g. Willys Wagon or LandRover Defender.



I plan on having the 98 "holy grail" for a long time to come. (but given my track record I'll dump a bunch of money into it and sell it in a couple of years (PS: I don't care for the new smilies as much as the old ones, i. e. the new colors ) This way I save a lot of unnecessary miles on the truck. Of course the truck gets the garage and the beater gets to grapple with the elements. Actually, this truck reminds me of my wife; a bit old and gray around the edges, but when you get on it... she can really romp. :-laf A REAL KEEPER

 

[BigPapa]

If you go here:



This Week In Petroleum Distillate Section



it looks to me that, compared to 1 year ago, demand is down, stocks are up, production is up, imports are up(slightly), and price is WAY up. Something just don't jive.



Scott

 

[DavidGardner]

The price per gallon at a Chevron station today in Raymond Washington was 3. 79. 9 per gallon. I will not get rid of my 95 12 valve but I am not driving it unless I need to haul something. We are paying 2. 87 gal for reg unleaded at Costco. :{

 

[mymtnhauler]

Next time you get fuel take a close look at the little sign on the pump. Notice what the fed and the state gets per gallon. #@$%! (the sate tax will be different for every sate but the fed is the same) They get that per gallon no mater what the price of oil is, or the price of wholesale fuel is, or the price at the pump! Sure the refiners are making record profits, but there share of the pump price is far less than what the government is raking in, and they want too raise the tax to stop us from driving! Our alustrious governor vetoed the biodiesel tax exemption in our sate!#@$%!

As for those that think we bought these trucks to tow our toys around, I sure wish I had the money to buy the toys to haul with my trucks! We use them to try too make a living and it's getting harder to do!!!!!!!!!!! We have no other vehicles but our too trucks, so we have to drive them nomatter what we do, personal or business!

 

[CSnyder]

My biggest complaint isn't so much the cost of the #2, its the quality of what they are selling. THIS NEW ULSD IS GARBAGE



We are paying more money for a inferior product! We may as well all use kero...

Amen! As a diesel shop I will confirm this statement. ULSD is taking its toll on all fuel related parts since its introduction. VP's arent lasting nearly as long, injectors are going south and making trucks run like crap, aftermarket pumps and guages are blowing out diaphrams, fuel gelling is at its worst in colder climates, MPG's are going down, etc etc.



The only way anything will change is if we as US citizens take action by contacting our congressman and senators.

 

[DZink24]

FWIW- During the spring and summer of 2006, pre-ULSD, my overhead readout on my console would read between 18-19+ mpg consistently between fillups (about 600+ miles) as it sits today, I struggle to keep it above 17. Actually, I am lying. I cannot keep it above 17, it sits at 16. 4 right now. Whether or not the readout is accurate isn't the point here, (although mine seems to be very close) the point is this fuel is without question costing the trucking industry hundreds of MILLIONS of $$ (dare I say Billions???) in additional fuel costs on top of what they would have already been paying which, of course are passed on to the end consumer, which of course makes me, and the hundreds of thousands of other people who make a living driving truck look like the bad guy in the eyes of Americans who don't know any better.



It is a darn good thing I picked up my truck when I did, 'cause if I knew then how bad it would be... .



I still wouldn't ever go back to a gasser P/U though... . ethanol is just as bad as ULSD. My Neon in 2005 would easy get me 38 mpg. Now, I struggle for 33. .

 

[DBentley]

Mabey I can trade the cummins for a hemi.

Just kidding. But if dodge would put a straight 6 gas or a small v8 gas with cast iorn block and heads in the 2500 and 3500 I may be interested in 8 or 10years when its time to trade

 

[EEdmondson]

IMHO: Diesel engines are about 30% more efficient than gas... if diesel fuel is priced equal to or lower than gas it would create a demand for diesel cars like the VW TDI... if people start buying diesels (like in Europe), the demand for fuel would drop and oil companies would make less money. So they keep diesel high and discourage people from buying diesel and keep making record profits.



Also, until we get corporations out of the government, we will continue to have the best government money can buy. You can write your congressman and senator all you want but they won't listen unless you put $millions in their pockets. "Of the people, by the people and for the people" yea, right.

 

[FATCAT]

IMHO: Also, until we get corporations out of the government, we will continue to have the best government money can buy. You can write your congressman and senator all you want but they won't listen unless you put $millions in their pockets. "Of the people, by the people and for the people" yea, right.

Your observation is why the Founders put the most important right in the Bill of Rights ... the 2nd Amendment. Fuel costs aside, look at all the other underhanded, double dealing, freedom limiting/eroding actions they take. Much of the beauracracy needs a "Mussolini'ing".

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

I am a Conservative and so was President Nixon supposed to be. But the IDIOT took us off the Gold Standard and the value of our Dollar has gone down at a steady pace since then. Foreigners no longer respect the Dollar, it is only paper. It takes many more Dollars to buy everything, not just Fuel. I clearly remember paying 19. 9 per Gal for Diesel and Regular gas in 1966. You could buy a Semi tractor for less than 1/3 as much as a pick up truck costs today. When I came home from serving in Korea in Jan. 1952 I went down town a bought a brand new 51 Chevrolet for $1,500. That does not make a good down payment now. Now you spend around 20 times as much, $30,000 or more. I can't see into the future but it looks like the day will come when all we will have is the streets and no vehicles to drive. The streets will become a market place where you will be trying to trade 5 chickens for one pig. There will be no money that is worth anything. Gold coin may be the only medium of exchange. There will be only two classes of people, the extremely wealthy (that caused the problem) and the extremely poor. It isn't just around the corner but if people don't get smart and vote the Fascist in our Government out of office and restore our Government to what it used to be and still should be this horrible trend will continue. The ACLU and other Atheist should have no say so in our society. We need to put GOD back in our schools and everywhere else. 86% believe in GOD the other 14% can go fly a Kite or a Prayer Rug.

 

[catoiler]

On being politically correct

Did you know they changed the name of the fire that started in Agua Dulce in Buckwheat Canyon from the "Buckwheat" fire to the "buckweed" fire because certain groups of people complained that it was racist???

what has the world come to when the natural dis-honesty of politicians is to be desireable to the plain truth? politically correct simply means that you should distort the truth or outright lie rather than say something that might hinder your chances at getting elected. peoples lives are at stake and all these people can do is quibble over the perception of using the actual name of the place where a fire started!!! I'm disgusted!

 

[PGAdams]

The Most Accurate Statement - IMHO

Why is it that they are posting the highest profits in history and yet their equipment is so out dated? Hell if I had that much money all would be state of art! Oh yeh forgot about the ceo and their multi milion dollar bonus!!

Catoiler - Good comment



it only took 32 posts to get the truest statment mentioned,,,,Billions of dollars/quarterly, CEO's/ golden parachutes (retirement pkg's) and bonus pkgs.

And the Oil companies have re-invested profits to minimize the impact?

 

[AlaskaDog]

I'll keep driving my 3/4 ton until I'm an old fart with no family, even if diesels goes to $10 a gallon. Why? Because of how poorly the vast majority of this country drives and how little our legal system does do enforce traffic rules. Don't get me wrong, I love our Dodge, but I'm a Porsche nut since birth. Having owned several, I regularly got 30+ mpg and they went like a 'scalded cat, but people in this country have absolutely no conscience once they get in a car and this puts my family at great risk.



I have been driving for 30 years now and never once been at fault or caused an accident, but I have been hit repeatedly by incompetent morons that had no business in a vehicle. It is one thing when you are by yourself and all you have to worry about is you, but load your loved ones aboard and this changes drastically.



Yeah, I hate the fact that this truck only gets 16 in the city and 22 on the highway but it'll take one hell of a punch before we get seriously hurt. I added huge Buckstop bumpers, side steps and a suspension lift to help out. Oh yeah, I get told off by a local "greenie" to which I responded, "I'll get a little gas sipper when you and your buddies hang up and drive".



I moved so that my commute is only 6 miles and no freeway but I still encounter pissant drivers on a daily basis who's sole goal is to save the 2 seconds off their commute by cutting right in front of me, running that stop sign/light, yacking on that cell phone or smoking that joint.



I guarantee you that once again, some moron will back into me at the light because they decided they were in the wrong lane (3 times now) run head on into me by driving 35 miles an hour on black ice in the opposite lane of traffic on a 15 mph curve (once) t-bone me because the laws don't apply to them (twice) plow into the back of me (while stopped) at 60 mph because they had no license, were illegal aliens and stole the truck, plow into my legally parked vehicle (twice) because they "never look when I back up" sideswipe (twice) me because they're "late for work and didn't see" me. I understand that even though my Dodge is about as hard to see as bright red barn, I'll still get hit.



Yes, I now drive a vehicle that uses twice the fuel and takes up twice the space as that old 356, 914 and 911. I also know that when the next moron plows into me, unless she's driving an 18 wheeler, my family stands one heck of a better chance of making it through the impact unscathed! To me this is worth $5. 00 and more a gallon. Until this country gets serious about driver's education, driving under the influence, legal accountability and enforcing traffic laws, no pissant Sierra Clubber is going to touch that tank sitting in my driveway.



Do I feel guilty about sitting level to the average econobox's roof line? Heck no! Because I've met the average econobox driver and the last thing they care about is the safety of my family or following even the most basic traffic law. They're "late for work", "had an important call" and "never look when I back up"!

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

As much as the other comments in this thread, *I* would like to know at what $$$ point the big oil, futures trader, and "anything goes in Capitalism" guys would start crossing over to the dark side with the rest of us complainers.



And of those still supporting the above at ANY consumer fuel price, I'd want to know their financial situation and where it comes from - it sure seems that only the relatively wealthy and/or those with close $$$ ties one way or another to the oil business would continue to cheer for where we are and where it seems we're headed...

 

[tgordon]

Just last week here in WI they "deregulated" gas prices. Use to be the statin owner had to mark-up the price per gallon a certain amount or they were breaking the law. It got challanged in court and struck down, scarry they even made such a stupid old law.



IMHO I understand why they are poating record profits, they are having record sales, but at the same time if CEO's etc is making record salaries I question it. That also does not explain why ther eis such a discrpancy is the price of dieselvs. gasoline. But until free market takes over and somebody with a pair begins to refine and resale the fuel who is going to stop them. The citizens in this country are more than happy to go out and buy the "biggest and best" of crap while shopping at Wally World an dcomplaining about the price of food. In the mean time nobody has the guts to actually go out an down a business any more. What percentage of gas stations in your area are owned by imigrants, where I was in MI I would say 90%+. The owner has the most at stake and stands to make the most but everybody just wants to work for sombody else and not deal with it.





oh-yeah, and look at what it costs to run for a political office now. Nobody just gets elected anymore, they buy their way in with the fancy ads an danalists telling them where to go and what to do. No wounder only the rich get elected. Besides, would you want someone who has gone bankrupt personally 3 or 4 times spending your taxes? Oh wait sorry, anything has got to be better than the monkeys that are currently spending them:-laf



Enough of my soap box.