Beware of ethanol in Loves Truck Stop gas!

[RideOn]

Love's buys their fuel from the nearest source, they do not have their own refineries, so I suspect there would be variations from one area to the next.

But I agree it pays to read the labels, otherwise you just don't know.

[RideOn]

So the ethanol thing is pretty common. I have a good friend that hauls fuel for a living. [...] It was pretty interesting. He also told me some places the gas is all premium. He made it a point to tell me that he doesn’t have “chambers” in his truck for different grades of fuels. Idk

I had a job driving a tanker for a couple of years, but all I hauled was Jet-A, so there is no need to divide the tank into compartments. A compartment is used to separate different fuels - regular from premium, gas from diesel. These tankers are typically used for delivery to the retail operation, like Love's.

You can see how many compartments a tanker has by counting the number of hook-up points (liquid valves) it has underneath. In my case, there was only one hook-up because it drained the entire tank. Compartmented tankers can have 3 or 4. Without compartments, tank trailers normally will have baffles built in to limit the amount and speed of liquid flow within the tank. These are big sheets of welded-in aluminum or stainless with holes cut in them.

The situation also depends on the refinery. Some have separate loading facilities for regular vs premium vs diesel vs aviation gas vs jet. (BTW, avgas runs about 120 to 140 octane.) Some don't output so many different products. It depends on what markets they target.

For food grade products, for example milk, the tank has no dividers or baffles. With a load of whole milk, a baffled tanker would make it into butter during the trip. Food grade tanks often have a glass lining to make it easier to wash them out for the next load.

So it might look simple but as usual there's a little more to it.

[Valkrocket]

I found it interesting that the two members who saw the E15 were in Nebraska and Iowa.......right in the heart of "corn country." I'll be checking the Loves in my area to see if it has made it this far east.