I am just wondering if anyone knows of a site that says which places are selling non-ULSD in an area, specifically Portland, Oregon. I have searched the web and can't find anything and am pretty sure that someone here will know.
As usual, thanks in advance...
If you're in an area where there are few, if any, pumps that are "marked" LSD (vs. ULSD) then you will probably get mostly ULSD fuel from the rare pump that still has the LSD sticker.
The ULSD requirements are incremental and the sticker only indicates the max sulfur content. It's perfectly OK for them to put ULSD in the tanks that feed pumps marked LSD. Many stations have gotten one or more tanks down to ULSD levels to meet whatever requirements the area (or their companies) needs to be compliant then leave/left other tanks/pumps marked "LSD". That sticker doesn't mean you're getting "higher sulfur", it just means you're getting "less than 500ppm". Once they test the tank to sub 15ppm they will simply change the stickers to ULSD. It's all about the distribution/refineries in your area and what they can get "cheapest". Now that several stages of the national requirements have passed, ULSD from one distributor might be cheaper than LSD from another (or the same, for that matter). To top it off, I believe ULSD is a little lighter than LSD which increases the volume a tanker can carry... which saves a little more cost as well. After talking to a FJ tanker driver one day I was surprised to find out that they hit their weight limits well before the tanker is full. Not rocket science... not a conspiracy either... but not something any of the suppliers like to talk about much either.
I was using Flying J's website to locate LSD whenever practical but have more or less given up. Unless you are familiar with what is being produced and distributed in your area you have no way to know what you're actually getting... only that it's at or below the posted sulfur content. As far as I can tell, most of the northwest and California refineries have more or less changed over "production" to ULSD and are probably just waiting for their "big" tanks to "flush/dilute" down to sub 15ppm. Then they'll simply change what they call it...
Sorry if this is bad news... yet another example of even "well read" consumers remaining well... uninformed. It's the supply infrastructure (refineries and dist. network) that keeps the "market" (meaning "you, me and in most cases, even the retailer") uninformed. We all hear/talk about $/barrel and $/gallon but rarely discuss or hear about the trillions of dollars/year spent in between... on an ancient, outdated, and vulnerable system that still manages to create the worlds highest profits every single day. Marginally political and off-topic but what the hell... makes me mad. In some cases I would wait/pay 10-20 cents more for LSD in say, Wyoming or Pennsylvania vs. Indiana or another "Low Price" state. It really sucked when I realized it was probably a big waste of time and money. Nuff said.
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