StarOilCo

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Star Oilco Diesel Fuel Quality Assurance 1024 574 Star Oilco

Star Oilco Diesel Fuel Quality Assurance

 

Diesel Fuel Tank Cleaner

 

  • Diesel Fuel Is Often A Company’s Largest Expense. Unfortunately, there is very little control over its quality.
  • Fuel Quality Has Declined over the last 25 years…
  • Engine manufacturers have tightened the tolerances for fuel
  • Newer tier 4 engines starting from 2008 need cleaner fuel

 

“Over the last two decades, the cetane number and the API gravity, the basic measures of crude oil quality have declined.”

—Society of Automotive Engineers, (SAE) Bulletin 872243

 

 

Cetane number is actually a measure of a fuel’s ignition delay. This is the time period between the start of injection and start of combustion (ignition) of the fuel. In a particular diesel engine, higher cetane fuels will have shorter ignition delay periods than lower cetane fuels.

So what is a typical API gravity for diesel fuel? The classic book “Petroleum Refinery Engineering” by W.L. Nelson (4th ed., McGraw-Hill, 1958) gives numbers ranging from about 25 to 40 (with “Grade 1-D” around 40 and “Grade 2-D” around 35). In a Web search using the keywords “diesel” and “API gravity” I found a couple of sites with specs for #2 diesel fuel; these had minimum values of 26 and 30 API gravity. So a reasonable guess would be that typical #2 diesel fuel would have an API gravity of about 35; I’ll let you plug that into the above formula to get the specific gravity.

The densities of petroleum products are traditionally (especially in the U.S.) expressed as “API Gravity” The API Gravity is related to the specific gravity by the equation: API = (141.5/SPGR) – 131.5, where the specific gravity is the density relative to that of water and everything is measured at a temperature of 60 degrees F.

MadSci Network © 1997, Washington University Medical School

“Diesel fuel quality has deteriorated for the past 20 years and is expected to continue this trend for the foreseeable future.”

American Society for Testing and Materials, (ASTM) Pub. # 10056

 

COMMON PROBLEMS WITH 21st CENTURY DIESEL FUEL IN THE PACIFIC NW

Fuel Quality Deterioration

industrial-townProblem 1

 

Problem 2

 

Problem 3

Problem 6a

 

 

Problem 4

 

Problem 4a

 

 

Problem 5

Problem 3b

Problem 6

The odds are stacked against the fleet owners

what can be done to help alleviate or control the problems?

you have questions, we have the solutions, call us to find out.

 CAll Today

If you have bulk fuel storage, the first step is testing your tank bottom and what is coming out of the nozzle.  Star Oilco can do a complementary  ASTM and ISO specification analysis of your diesel fuel.  If you are seeing recurring fuel system issue, the first step is to make sure your bulk storage isn’t the problem. We can help.

Tank Testing Form

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Bio-diesel and Feed-stock samples at REG
What Types of Feedstock Can Be Used To Make Biodiesel? 700 525 Star Oilco

What Types of Feedstock Can Be Used To Make Biodiesel?

To answer what feedstocks can be used to make biodiesel we need to first answer – What is Biodiesel?

Biodiesel is created through a process called transesterification.  Transecterification is when an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol is added to an oil or fat.  This creates methyl esters and glycerin.  Methyl esters is the scientific name of Biodiesel.  Because biodiesel needs a fat or an oil to start with, this fuel can can be created with any number of feedstocks.  If you would like to learn more about Biodiesel check out this for more questions about biodiesel.

According to the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy:

“A feedstock is defined as any renewable, biological material that can be used directly as a fuel, or converted to another form of fuel or energy product. Biomass feedstocks are the plant and algal materials used to derive fuels like ethanol, butanol, biodiesel, and other hydrocarbon fuels. Examples of biomass feedstocks include corn starch, sugarcane juice, crop residues  such as corn stover and sugarcane bagasse, purpose-grown grass crops, and woody plants. “

Renewable Energy Group (REG) performed a study in 2009 with the support of the Iowa Power Fund Board and the Iowa Office of Energy Independence that tested 36 individual feed-stocks.  Star Oilco will be spotlighting these feedstocks through our blog and our social media. The full report can be found on their site if you would like to read ahead or explore the results in more depth. We hope you find these as interesting as we did!

Bio-diesel and Feed-stock samples at REG

Above photo taken at REG headquarters in Ames, Iowa.

This first blog highlights the following 2 types of feed-stock:

Babussa Oil & Beef Tallow

Babassu Oil

Attalea speciosa

Babassu oil is extracted from the seeds of the babassu palm tree, Attalea speciosa, an evergreen tree growing to 30 m (98ft) by 20 m (65ft) at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone (UK) 10 and is not frost tender. The flowers are pollinated by bees and other insects. The tree is common in Brazil, Mexico, and Honduras; it grows well in areas typically cultivated for coconut or palm. The kernels contain 60-70% oil, appear transparent, and smell like walnuts. In its natural form the oil is liquid at 20-30°C (68 – 86°F). The seeds are edible and the oil is used in margarine, soaps, detergents, lamp oil and skin products. Oil extraction results in a cake containing 15-25% protein (depending on the shell content), which is a valuable feedstuff.

In February 2008, Babassu palm oil and coconut oil were blended with jet fuel to power a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 during a test flight from London’s Heathrow to Amsterdam.

Babassu oil is extracted from the seeds of the babassu palm treeBabassu Oil Chart

Beef Tallow

Tallow is a rendered form of the waste fats and greases from processing beef. Rendering is a process by which lipid material is separated from meat tissue and water under heat and pressure. Beef tallow is primarily made up of triglycerides and it is solid at room temperature. The B100 that is created from this source has a very high cloud point. “Cloud point is the temperature at which wax (paraffin) begins to separate when oil chilled to a low temperature, and it serves as an important indicator of practical performance in automotive applications in low temperatures.”  (Source)  The other uses for tallow include animal feed, soap, cooking and in the past, candles.

Beef Tallow Animal tissue is converted to tallow using rendering; a process by which lipid material is separated from meat tissue and water under heat and pressure.Beef Tallow Chart

 

Article 2 Feedstock : Borage Oil & Camelina Oil

Article 3 Feedstock : Algae Oil & Canola Oil.

Article 4 Feedstock : Castor Oil and Choice White Grease

Article 5 Feedstock : Coconut Oil and Coffee Oil

Article 6 Feedstock : Evening Primrose Oil and Fish Oil

Article 7 Feedstocks : Hemp Oil & High IV and Low IV Hepar

Article 8 Feedstocks : Jatropha Oil, Jojoba Oil, & Karania Oil

Article 9 Feedstocks : Lesquerella Oil & Linseed Oil

Article 10 Feedstocks – Moringa Oil & Neem Oil

Article 11 Feedstocks – Palm Oil & Perilla Seed Oil

Article 12 Feedstocks – Poultry Fat & Rice Bran Oil

Article 13 Feedstocks – Soybean Oil & Stillingia Oil

Article 14 Feedstocks – Sunflower Oil & Tung Oil

pacific-pride-cardlock-fueling-in-portland-oregon
Use Pacific Pride Cardlock to Fuel your Portland, Oregon Fleet 1024 593 Star Oilco

Use Pacific Pride Cardlock to Fuel your Portland, Oregon Fleet


Seize Control of Your Fuel Spending with Pacific Pride Cardlock

A Pacific Pride Cardlock Card gives you the ultimate control over when and where fuel is purchased. Plus, we guarantee the highest level of control by offering human support to make it easy for a small business. You have enough to manage and don’t need another website to log into! Know who bought what, when, and where — in real time — to better manage the buying decisions by your drivers.

Pacific Pride, CFN, WEX, Voyager and other fleet cards all have similar tools. But with Pacific Pride Cardlock, you’ll benefit from stand alone commercial fuel sites that are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

In Oregon, the minimum wage is rising and that means the retail price of fuel is rising to pay for those wages.  While other cards require you to wait in line and pay someone to fuel your vehicle in Oregon, Pacific Pride stand alone cardlock locations avoid that needless labor and allow your business to serve itself around the clock. Get out of fuel lines and save on your total cost of fuel.

Beyond the time and money savings of avoiding retail fuel lines, Pacific Pride cardlock also is far more secure to protect you from someone stealing fuel with your fleet card. Star Oilco’s Pacific Pride cardlock offering has a single simple tool for you: a human being on the other side helping make sure the total program is working. We help you grab control of every drop, dollar and driver.

We are your partner in Fleet Card and Cardlock Card success.

Star Oilco goes one step further than our competitors by keeping things simple and easy for you. This is done with the obvious human element and best practices that complete the full value that a secured fuel card offers.

Call us and have us take care of that for you. You tell us what you want, we’ll consult with you and you’ll get a working card program.

This is what we recommend for your non-management cards:

  1. Secure your fleet card to a vehicle (attached to the license plate on the bill or place the fleet card on the key ring of the vehicle).
  2. Designate your vehicle cards to only work in the state’s zip codes that you service during the times of day you operate as a business.
  3. Give each driver a unique and secret PIN attached to their name (so when they use a card, their name appears on the bill next to the transaction).
  4. Implement a “No Tolerance Fuel Theft Policy” with your Human Resource policy. Have every employee sign a contract with your business that they own their personal secret PIN and it is only for them to use. Star Oilco can provide a recommended policy for you to use. Then, if they share their PIN with someone else, they will be responsible for anything that happens. If theft is happening, it is a “No Tolerance” dismissal offense on the first occurrence.
  5. Use the e-receipts to see in real-time fuel purchases. An electronic receipt is emailed to your Controller or Dispatcher to watch for off-policy fuel usage in real time, which allows your Dispatch or Management to respond the same day to questionable decisions around fuel cards.

Now, imagine how this works for your business in practice.

You can set up restrictions by days of the week, hours of the day or even by zip codes. If your business does not operate on weekends, turn off the fuel cards during the times you do not operate. If your fleet is never on the road before 7am and is back at home by 7pm every night, set up those time restrictions to make it that much harder for fuel theft to occur. If you need to update this, change something, order cards, etc., just call our office and we take care of that update for you.

With our e-receipts, your Dispatch will get an email every time fuel is purchased. You will see where, what, when and with whom this occurs. You can reinforce your company fuel policies at the local level the same day — No more waiting for the bill to see if a driver did something that cost you money. By seizing control of your fuel, your drivers will also respond to your new level of control as well. By having control and transparency of what your drivers do, they will require less management as they know you are watching.

Often the most controllable expense related with fuel is the fuel that might slip through a business due to unethical employees or outside theft. Fuel slippage is the industry term for unauthorized fuel taking. With Pacific Pride cardlock fuel, you can take control over fuel purchases and avoid the loss up front with card controls. Contact Star Oilco for a total fuel security solution for your business.

Seize control with Star Oilco’s corporate fleet card solutions.

If you have further questions about Pacific Pride and control of your fleet fueling, call us at 503-283-1256 or contact us using the form below.

 

Contact Form

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Star Oilco is a proud Independent Franchisee of Pacific Pride

Pacific Pride Cardlock Fuel Security

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How to save money while fueling your fleet. 1024 572 Star Oilco

How to save money while fueling your fleet.

With recent high diesel and gas prices, saving money on fuel is a priority for many fleets.  Star Oilco is here to help you contain the hidden costs of fuel with our fleet card solutions. 

If you are a fleet manager or in charge of corporate fueling and you use retail gas stations, this article is designed to talk you out of it.

Every year, Star Oilco helps small businesses save labor and protect themselves from theft. It’s the little costs we don’t watch that can add up and really cost a business. We help businesses keep a complicated fuel bill easy to manage.  Be it moving to mobile-onsite fueling, a totally secure fleet card solution, or a combination of the two consolidated onto one bill Star Oilco is here to make things easy.

With wages and fuel costs rising together containing those costs is a priority for every fleet.  Both the labor cost sunk in fueling your own fleet as well as the actual cost of the fuel bought, many of our conversations are around how to structure a clear view of this.  We have solutions and can provide a clear view of your fuel costs via Star Oilco’s Keep it Simple Fuel Audit.

Usually the only time a fuel bill is really examined is after a record setting month for overtime, a huge jump up in the commodity cost of fuel, or a giant volume of fuel theft was discovered.  Essentially, when costs have ballooned out of what they should be that is when businesses dig in and pay attention.

If that describes your need, Star Oilco has a proven system to bring your fuel cards under control and return honest employees to the straight and narrow or document the thieves so you have red-handed proof.  If you are local to Oregon and Washington we can also combine this with the labor savings of wet-hose fueling of your fleet.

Whether it’s with a secured cardlock program or on-site fleet fueling at your business location we can make fuel secure, simple, and at a lower cost than retail. We do this by tailoring your fuel cards to your actual business needs.

If you don’t operate on weekends and after 9pm at night, we make sure the fuel cards that serve that part of the business are not usable during those times. We also attach the name of the person fueling to the bill so you don’t have to research or wonder–you always know who it is. Additionally, we can send an e-receipt to your dispatch the moment anyone buys fuel. This ensures you are managing fuel buying habits in real time, not at the end of the month after the bill arrives.  Also every transaction on your bill can show the name of the human being who got fuel to really shine a light on who is doing what.

At the end of every month most businesses are looking at their bottom line and considering how to control the expense side of the equation. With retail gas station fuel, it can be tricky trying to control cost. If you focus solely on the cost of fuel itself, savings can be allusive in the long run. In fact the greatest tragedies in business usually are the things you don’t see in any statistic, especially the price you pay up front versus over all. The two largest controllable fuel expenses we consistently see are labor and avoiding theft.

If you are curious after reading this, the first step with Star Oilco is a Keep it Simple Fuel Audit performed by our team. Call us if you want to audit your fuel process.

What’s in the price of a gallon of gas or diesel? At Star Oilco we Keep it Simple.

Keep it simple when looking at your bill. There are only a few things in the cost of a gallon of gas or diesel: the commodity cost of fuel, the taxes on fuel, and the margin of the person selling fuel to you. Regardless of where you buy or how high or low the cost, that is what influences your fuel cost. If they call it something else, it’s really marginal and you should negotiate as such. The commodity cost is about the same no matter what. Even the largest buyers in a market are only saving a few pennies and your price per gallon will not be influenced more than a few pennies by this. Taxes should be the same and are easy to verify on Google. Margin is all that’s left. So if you ask your vendor to provide you a cost plus basis it should be very doable. All businesses have cost including oil companies, but they should be able to clearly describe what it costs for them to deliver or supply a gallon of fuel to you.

The cheaper the retail price the longer the wait.

The cheaper the retail price the longer the wait.

Focus on your business’s labor, not on the price per gallon.

If you analyze it, usually your cost of labor to fill up your own vehicles costs more than what the local gas station makes selling you fuel. Add up your cost of labor and the vehicle and know that you are losing probably twenty minutes to a half hour to pull out of route, pull over, and fill up. If you are routing your drivers to save money on a retail street price, you are paying far more for your driver’s to chase savings than you will ever see in savings. The bigger the posted retail savings the longer the line your drivers will wait in as well, making it even more costly to your bottom line.

Remember that if a convenient excuse exists, some will use it. If the answer to why it took so long is consistently because they had to stop and get diesel. Fix that permanently with a fleet fueling company that provides on-site refueling.

Pride Advantage Sample Card

Prevent theft and keep honest people honest.  

As fuel prices jump from time to time, fuel theft takes off as well. For some people, stealing fuel for their personal vehicles can be almost irresistible. Make it very clear that you do not tolerate theft and that you can verify it clearly. With a “Zero Tolerance Fuel Theft Policy” you can get ahead of this eventuality and stop it long before it starts. There are thousands of stories of thousands of dollars in fuel stolen by seemingly good people. It always starts with one person doing it and influencing other employees to think it’s okay. Make sure it is clear that it is not only not-okay, but will be seen and punished. A few years ago a $2.4 Million theft occurred by an unsecured fleet card policy. Though the size of this theft is unbelievable, know if you aren’t tracking fuel purchases with a secret PIN that attaches the name of who did it to the fuel bill, you might be positioning yourself for the same exposure.

As you look at your month end P&L Statement, think about the bigger picture, the bigger costs in your business and that you can engineer systems that give you more control over these costs. Though Star Oilco accepts Voyager, WEX and Comdata cards, we are passionate and feel the Pacific Pride’s solutions are the best for a small business seeking to control their fuel purchase and knocking out theft. If you have questions about how to save on labor and stop theft before it starts, call Star Oilco for a tailored examination of how you buy fuel and how you can save money. We provide Pacific Pride and Fuel Management solutions nation wide in the United States. We can help you get your fuel under control.

Contact Star Oilco to save money on gas and diesel.

Star Oilco is a proud independent Franchisee of Pacific Pride

Pacific Pride Cardlock Fuel Security

 

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Why should my fleet use Pacific Pride fuel cards? 1024 683 Star Oilco

Why should my fleet use Pacific Pride fuel cards?
Star Oilco Pacific Pride corporate fuel card

Pacific Pride Fleet Fuel card by Star Oilco

 

A prospective customer asked recently:

“Why should I use a Pacific Pride fleet card over a gas station credit card?”

Here’s our answer:

There are many reasons to use a commercial cardlock solution for your fleet. The biggest reason why you should use Star Oilco for your cardlock needs is that we are a locally owned and operated business that will take the time to tailor a card program to your specific fleet’s needs by asking questions like:

  • What is the greatest risk of theft that we can secure against?
  • Where is the greatest opportunity for savings in how you fuel?

Fleet card sellers and the larger cardlock companies are often focused on making your needs fit their product. Star Oilco focuses on YOU.  That’s a big difference.

With Star Oilco, you don’t have to choose between price or convenience.

PRICE: Cardlock locations do not use a credit card satellite to run transactions. This means you’re saving 2% to 4% right off the bat by using Pacific Pride or CFN, because  cardlock operators taking are not charging you to run your bill through a Visa or other network. Plus, by pulling into a gas station to buy fuel, you’re often forced to pay $.10 a gallon more to use a Comdata, WEX, Voyager, Mastercard or Visa backed fleet card.

With Pacific Pride, you won’t face this charge because it’s on Fleetcor’s network. And by working with a local Pacific Pride franchisee who owns the location, you’ll benefit from their ability to offer additional savings at their location that are not available to anyone else. They own the fuel and therefore have ultimate control on saving you money.

CONVENIENCE: With convenience, comes risk. With Star Oilco’s modern cardlock offering, we can secure your risk and still enable several levels of convenience and access, dependent on your customized fleet need.

We keep things simple: What do you do and where do you do it?

24-7 Convenience with Easy to Access Fueling Facilities

Clean, well lit and large truck friendly cardlock facilities. Cardlock is made for business and if you are operating doubles and triples, we can work with your staff to map out the easy in-and-out high-flow diesel fueling options for your drivers.

Industry-Leading Card Security

We offer a wide range of solutions that allow you, as a fleet manager, to lock down and protect your fleet from theft. If you only operate in specific areas, we can turn off whatever cards you want to not operate outside of where you want your trucks. If you don’t operate after a certain time of day we can turn non-management cards off to guard against after-hours sales fuel theft.

Email Notification for Total Control

See fuel transactions in real time. When your drivers make a fuel purchase at Pacific Pride or other affiliate fueling locations, an email will notify you or your dispatch. If your drivers are following your processes and procedures for fuel procurement, it will be easy for you to immediately reinforce the rules instead of waiting for a bill. Better yet, if something is wrong with the fuel purchase (out of area/time/product), you will know immediately a problem has occurred and can respond accordingly.

Flexibility or Structured Control.  We offer both!

Whether you want your drivers to be able to get fuel and get on the road as fast as possible, or stay locked into a specific zip code of only the lowest-cost commercial cardlock locations, we can make that happen. And not only do we make it easy, we can shift gears quickly to stay ahead of your evolving business needs.

Total Accountability for Fuel Usage

Total accountability means added convenience for your controller, CPA and HR manager. Beyond designing simple security features, we can:

  • Align fuel usage with your vehicle license plates by providing a private PIN to your employees.
  • Track miles per gallon in the vehicles to confirm if the fuel actually went into that vehicle or not.
  • Customize billing to link employee names to card usage.

Bottom line: You will know which vehicle took what fuel and who the person was who fueled it. And when an unlikely fueling occurs, you will have evidence of the person who did it and that the vehicle’s mileage is off, providing proof if needed. Combine Pacific Pride’s total control with a “No Tolerance Fuel Theft Policy” for additional authority to fire fuel thieves under any state’s employment laws.

Simple and Accurate Fuel Management and Reporting

Star Oilco’s system enables easy reports anytime you want them. If you require a CSV file or other report for your operation, tax reports, budgeting or other business needs we are there for you to make this easy.

Commercial Diesel Pricing with Volume Discounts

Pacific Pride commercial cardlocks are priced from the wholesale market rate. Our price is straightforward and based a daily OPIS Wholesale Rack report from your local market.  Instead of retail posted price signs where the corner gas station is trying to get as much as they can, our diesel fuel is priced on a cost plus basis. This is far more transparent and will save you money compared to retail on diesel fuel. When prices are high, our prices are far more fair. When prices fall, we fall with the wholesale market from the OPIS Average the day the market starts moving down. Pacific Pride locations are also designed with high speed diesel pumps that save large trucks time.

Try Pacific Pride to see for yourself!

To sign up for Star Oilco’s Pacific Pride fleet card or ask questions:

Contact Form

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Star Oilco is an independent franchisee of Pacific Pride

cardlock-staroilco-portland-oregon
Why should my fleet use Pacific Pride cardlock? 1024 681 Star Oilco

Why should my fleet use Pacific Pride cardlock?
Star Oilco Pacific Pride corporate fuel card

Pacific Pride Fleet Fuel card by Star Oilco

 

A prospective customer asked this question recently in an email:
“Why should I use a Pacific Pride fleet card over a gas station credit card?”
Below is Star Oilco’s answer to their request.

There are many reasons why you should use a commercial cardlock solution for your fleet. The biggest reason why you should use Star Oilco for your cardlock needs is we are a locally owned and operated business that can take the time to tailor a card program to your specific fleet’s needs. Namely, what is the greatest risk of theft that we can secure against and where is the greatest opportunity for savings in how you fuel? Often with fleet card sellers and the larger cardlock companies, they are focused on making your needs fit their product. Star Oilco focuses on YOU.  That’s a big difference.

Star Oilco finds that usually customers are focused on one of two things.

Price or Convenience.

PRICE: Cardlock can provide both of these with far more security than any other fuel card solution. Simply put, Cardlock locations do not use a credit-card satellite to run the transactions. This means cardlock operators taking Pacific Pride or CFN are not charging you 2% to 4% on your bill to run it through a Visa or other network. When you pull into a gas station to buy fuel, often you will be forced to pay $.10 a gallon more to use a Comdata, WEX, Voyager, Mastercard, or Visa backed fleet card. With Pacific Pride, you do not face this charge as it’s on the Fleetcor’s network. When you swipe these fleet cards at a Pacific Pride location, this savings is immediate and off the top. Additionally by working with a local Pacific Pride franchisee who owns the location, they can offer further savings at their location not available to anyone else. They own the fuel and therefore have ultimate control on saving you money.

CONVENIENCE: With convenience, comes risk. To enable your business to not be slowed down by the need for fuel you risk allowing a bad actor to steal from you. With Star Oilco’s modern cardlock offering we can secure your risk and still enable several levels of convenience and access, dependent on your customized fleet need.

We focus on your needs in this way. We keep it simple and break it down into an easy process. What do you do and where do you do it?

24-7 Convenience with Easy to Access Fueling Facilities

Clean, well lit, and large truck friendly cardlock facilities. Cardlock is made for business and if you are operating doubles and triples, we can work with your staff to map out the easy in-and-out high-flow diesel fueling options for your drivers.

Industry Leading Card Security

We offer a wide range of solutions that allow you, as a fleet manager, to lock down and protect your fleet from theft. If you only operate in specific areas, we can turn off whatever cards you want to not operate outside of where you want your trucks. If you don’t operate after a certain time of day we can also turn non-management cards off to guard against this. Often small business fuel theft occurs after midnight. If you don’t operate at midnight let us secure your fleet from that risk. These are just a few of the security options we can provide you if needed.

Email Notification for Total Control

See fuel transactions in real time. When your drivers make a fuel purchase at Pacific Pride or other affiliate fueling locations, an email will reach you or your dispatch notifying you. If your drivers are following your processes and procedures for fuel procurement, it will be easy for you to immediately reinforce the rules instead of waiting for a bill. Better yet, if something is wrong with the fuel purchase (out of area/time/product) you will know immediately a problem has occurred and can respond accordingly.

Flexibility or Structured Control.  We offer both!

Whether you want your drivers to be able to get fuel and get on the road as fast as possible, or locked into a specific zip code of only the low cost commercial cardlock locations. We can make that happen. Often, management wants total flexibility for time, place and the availability of branded Premium unleaded. While at the same time wanting to lock down their fleet cards for time and place of use to only buy commercial cardlock regular unleaded at the most competitive price possible. We make that easy and can change this quickly for your evolving business needs.

Total Accountability for Fuel Usage

Convenience for your controller, CPA and HR manager. Beyond designing simple security features like this we can also line up fuel usage to line up with your vehicles license plate providing a private PIN to everyone of your employees. We can also track Miles Per Gallon in the vehicles as a way to confirm if the fuel actually went into that vehicle or not. When your employees use the card, their name appears on the bill. You will know what vehicle took what fuel and who was the person who fueled it. When an unlikely fueling occurs you will have evidence of the person who did it and that the vehicle’s mileage is off, providing proof if needed.  Combine Pacific Pride’s total control with a “No Tolerance Fuel Theft Policy” for additional authority to fire fuel thieves under any state’s employment laws.

Simple and Accurate Fuel Management and Reporting

Star Oilco’s system enables easy reports anytime you want them. If you require a CSV file or other report for your operation, tax reports, budgeting or other business needs we are there for you to make this easy.

Commercial Diesel Pricing with Volume Discounts

Pacific Pride commercial cardlocks are priced form the wholesale market rate.  Our price is straightforward and based a daily OPIS Wholesale Rack report from your local market.   Instead of retail posted price signs where the corner gas station is trying to get as much as they can our diesel fuel is priced on a cost plus basis.  This is far more transparent and will save you money compared to retail on diesel fuel.  When prices are high our prices are far more fair.  When prices fall we fall with the wholesale market from the OPIS Average the day the market starts moving down.  Pacific Pride locations are also designed with high speed diesel pumps that save large trucks time.

TRY PACIFIC PRIDE TO SEE FIRST HAND
If you have questions or want to sign up for Star Oilco’s Pacific Pride fleet card.

Just let us know, and we will follow up with you to get you started.

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Star Oilco is an independent franchisee of Pacific Pride

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Oregon Cardlock Safety Training 1024 683 Star Oilco

Oregon Cardlock Safety Training

Fueling your Car in Oregon

Safety training, a constant request from our customers.  Here’s an instructional video from the Oregon State Fire Marshall’s office for using commercial cardlock or self serve fueling safely.

Consider using this Oregon Fire Marshall Training for your driver’s Cardlock or Fleet Card training.

As anyone with a Pacific Pride, CFN, or Voyager gas card in Oregon knows, to use a un-staffed Cardlock location, the Oregon Fire Marshal requires safety training.

Typically it is just reading and signing a form. Many fleets provide this form to their employees as a training piece for refueling safety. But if you’re training in a group, nothing beats a video to get everyone engaged.

The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office has produced a training video to make it easier to on-board your team about using Cardlock fuel safely. This tool makes training those unfamiliar with cardlock a little easier and more professional.

If you have an Oregon fleet seeking to use Pacific Pride, CFN, or Voyager fuel cards for self serve commercial fuel, this training is required annually by your company in Oregon state. This handy training video is great for training your new employees on Commercial Cardlock.

If you have questions about using Pacific Pride Fuel Cards or other 24/7/365 stand-alone Cardlock locations give Star Oilco a call. We can get you set up and your drivers out of fuel lines. Save money and reduce the risk of fuel theft with Star Oilco’s fleet card program.

For more on using Commercial Cardlock in Oregon please read other posts below:

STOP FUEL THEFT WITH PACIFIC PRIDE CARDS

HOW TO AUDIT YOUR CURRENT FUEL BILL

WHAT DOES A BUSINESS NEED TO USE PACIFIC PRIDE OR CFN IN OREGON

Leave us a message to set up a Star Oilco Fleet Card account.

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Stop fuel theft with Pacific Pride fleet cards 512 440 Star Oilco

Stop fuel theft with Pacific Pride fleet cards

Fuel Cards that stop fuel theft with easy to use security controls.

The economy is hot right now and everyone is hiring.  Every fleet is experience more turn over in their driver pool than they want.  This can cost your business in more than just training expense and overtime.  Add in rising gas prices impacting your entry level employees and an unlocked fuel card is a huge temptation.  Remove the temptation of fuel theft and keep honest drivers honest with Star Oilco’s secure fleet card solution.

Get real time e-receipts when your employees buy fuel with your fleet card.

Having control and real time awareness of what is happening in your small business is a critical piece for growing a successful business. With Star Oilco’s Fleet Cards you can control your fuel cards by only turning them on in the zip codes or states you want to operate in. You can also shut the cards off for weekends and evenings so that when your business isn’t open either is the ability for a dishonest employee to steal fuel.  Our cards also offer real time e-receipts emailing you who is buying fuel where and when enabling your team to reinforce you fuel policies at the moment someone violates it.

In Pamona, California two men altered a van to steal thousands of gallons of gas with a stolen credit card.  Credit cards are not designed to secure a business or an individual from fuel theft. Pacific Pride fleet cards are. Especially for corporate or small business fueling.

Star Oilco’s Pacific Pride fuel cards can secure your small business from this kind of threat. Be it a special van altered with a giant tank or an employee fueling up his wife’s car while fueling his own company vehicle we can prevent the risk of huge theft.

Pacific Pride Fueling Network Provider

Use a fleet card that sets controls on the gallons that can be bought, time of day, and area of town a card can be used in.

How we do this is with the designed Pacific Pride system which limits your fleet cards to total gallons per transaction, number of transactions a day, time of day, and locations you would actually need fuel. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A gallon of restriction literally might be worth tens of thousands of dollars of possible theft. Call us for more information. 503-283-1256

Star Oilco is an Independent Franchisee of Pacific Pride. We are there to make commercial fueling simple for you.  For more information on preventing fuel theft, saving money on fuel, or simplifying your fuel management all you have to do is ask. We want to help.

For Star Oilco’s Whitepaper on stopping fuel theft please go to www.NoMoreFuelTheft.com page to download it.

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Star Oilco is a proud Independent Franchisee of Pacific Pride

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Star Oilco, Hydrotex, and Donaldson Filtration demonstrate Precision Fuel Management Program Works 1024 574 Star Oilco

Star Oilco, Hydrotex, and Donaldson Filtration demonstrate Precision Fuel Management Program Works

solid proof

09-18-2015 Recology Samples BEFORE Precision fuel management program

First sample taken 09-18-2015, lots of water and visible dirt in samples pulled from bulk tank. The company was having issues with equipment running rough, and they were spinning fuel filters way more than manufacturers recommended changes. We sat down with the plant supervisor and talked about diesel fuel quality testing. He was happy to hear his diesel fuel problems explained. It has nothing to do with diesel fuel quality by brand. All fuel vendors get the same fuel supplied to the Northwest.  The environment where this client is located has dust, dirt, and water in the air constantly due to the nature of the recycling processes with wood products. Our first goal was to sample the tank bottom and nozzle and share the results. As you can see from above, they had tons of water and dirt in the tank. So we set up to clean the bulk tank, polish the fuel with 1 micron filtration,  then install quality Donaldson clean & dry filtration including a 4 micron particulate filter, a water filter, and a desiccant breather trap to control the moisture that accumulates in most all bulk tanks. The client had dirty diesel fuel filters that were only 30 micron, letting all the damaging particles right into the equipment.

 

before

 

Numbers Meaningnumber meaning 1number meaning 2

second sample

COMPARE THE VISUAL AND DATA IMPROVEMENTS

Recology NP sample pic SECOND SAMPLE Precision Fuel Program 03-04-2016

The second round of samples after the tank was initially clean, the process is showing signs of improvement already.

The second round of samples after the tank was initially cleaned, and the remaining fuel was polished with 1 micron filtration. The process is showing signs of improvement after cleaning the tank. The Donaldson Filtration and Hydrotex PowerKleen additive was working on the contents of the tank, and the inside of the tank is being cleaned by the additive. The effects of water that was in the tank, and rust and corrosion showed signs of improvement on the second samples. Both water and rust will continue to be less in volume each time we sample, it is a continuous improvement program. Over time the water and rust goes away or is caught by the excellent Donaldson Clean & Dry filtration and what remains is attacked by the superior quality of Hydrotex PowerKleen additive!

 after

The most damaging particles and water, the ones between 4 and 8 microns,

are being filtered out of the fuel, the one’s we can’t see with the naked eye. Green Transfer After 04-20-20163rd sample

After 6 1/2 months on the Precision fuel management program the ISO count is well below the manufacturers specs for ANY of Recology's equipment. The water PPM if only 42 down from 89, well below ASTM standards. THESE NUMBERS DON'T LIE, THE PROGRAM WORKS!!!

After only 3 months on the Precision fuel management program the ISO count is well below the manufacturers specs for ANY of the customers equipment. The water PPM (Parts per million)  is now 42 down from 89, well below ASTM standards. THESE NUMBERS DON’T LIE, THE PROGRAM WORKS! To maintain this quality consistently the client only needs to change the filtration when the filtration gauges jump 10 PSI over normal flow rate. The Desiccant breather which controls moisture, has an indicator that turns RED from it’s original YELLOW to let you know it’s time to change.  The Hydrotex additive will continue to make the water drop out of the fuel, keep cleaning the rust and corrosion in the tank, and help with lubricity for the equipment that fuels from the tank.

Dont Wait until you see this

Another customer of ours was having issues with their previous fuel vendor, I approached the operations manager and let him know that we had a program that could turn their fuel issues around. He agreed to let me take bottom and nozzle samples from his tank, the results came back un-readable, meaning there was so much dirt and water that you could see it with the naked eye, (not good). All the damaging particles are between 2 and 8 microns. If you can see visible particles and water you know you are in trouble. We recommended our Precision fuel management program including cleaning the tank and using Donaldson Clean & Dry filtration along with Hydrotex PowerKleen additive and our Star Oilco Premium filtered diesel. Within 3 weeks the client saw results.

“The latest nozzle sample is looking very good, will continue to get down around 14/13/11”. In just one week after the second sample the water ppm has dropped to 52, which is well below the goal of 80 ppm. It dropped 20ppm after only one week of Hydrotex PowerKleen additive making the water drop out of the fuel.

The API gravity is down to 35.9, which means more BTU’s (heat transfer) meaning better gas mileage and horsepower. The fuel is burning clean and dry, like it is supposed to.

The client said, “We have not been spinning filters as often as we were in the past, we see an overall improvement in fuel quality since starting the Precision fuel program with Star Oilco.” Look at the before and after data below from the labDiesel Fuel Tank Testing and Cleaning Portland

 

Another satisfied Star Oilco Precision fuel management program customer!

If you suspect you have fuel issues because you’re seeing:

  1. Fuel filters plugging
  2.  Trucks and equipment are running rough
  3. Poor engine performance and fuel mileage below normal
  4. Fuel injector issues, pitting scaring or blown out tips

You may have issues with your bulk tank and filtration on the tank.

We can help you with a complementary lab sample test like you see above.

RULE OUT FUEL QUALITY AND BULK TANK FILTRATION ISSUES

Get with the program that works

                                                                 Get with the program that works

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What Are Diesel Soaps? Do Diesel Soaps Cause Some Diesel Engine Problems? 1024 585 Star Oilco

What Are Diesel Soaps? Do Diesel Soaps Cause Some Diesel Engine Problems?

Star Oilco answers: What are Diesel Soaps?

Cliff Burbrink, chemical technology specialist at Cummins Filtration, provides a layman’s definition of diesel soaps:

“Diesel soap is not very different chemically than the soap used to wash your hands. The main ingredient in a bar of soap is formed when lye reacts with fats or oils. Lye is sodium hydroxide.

Fats and oils contain fatty acids. When they react, they form sodium soaps. Diesel soaps are formed from acidic additives in the fuel [such as some corrosion inhibitors and lubricity improvers] reacting with trace amounts of sodium.”

 

Rick Chapman, Industry & OEM Liaison Manager, Innospec Fuel Specialties, adds that acids can be derived also from other sources:

“[Soaps] can also be formed from free fatty acids in biodiesel starting materials and carboxylic acids derived from oxidatively degraded fuel and/or biodiesel.”

 

From a layman’s point of view, then, the formation of diesel soaps is the result of metals, such as sodium, calcium and potassium (in the form of positively charged ions, or cations), reacting with various sources of acid in the fuel.

 

“When these two species [acidic compounds and cations (usually sodium)] come together, diesel soap can form,” says Chapman.

“There are a lot of other factors or variables that can play into it, of course, such as pH, solubility, mixing intensity and so forth—but this is the basis for it. Unfortunately, when these soaps form, assuming they are formed from additives, they make the corrosion inhibitor or lubricity improver inert, and the corrosion or lubricity protection provided by the additive is lost.”

 

 

 Diesel soaps

 

  1. Plug fuel filters
  2. Form injector deposits that lead to over-fueling
  3. Create Turbocharger problems
  4. Generate Oil dilution
  5. Cause Poor performance, and poor fuel economy

 

In a May 2013 report, “Case Study—Impact of Poor Diesel Fuel Quality on an Urban Fleet,” Cummins Filtration investigated problems with diesel engines in a New York City bus fleet.

Complaints ranged from an excessive number of turbocharger fault codes to smoke at start-up to fuel-injector failures. The investigation uncovered excessive soot deposits in the turbocharger, resulting from over-fueling, which was determined to be the result of fuel injectors sticking because of deposits that were “rich” in the metals of sodium and calcium.

Although injectors showed sign of scuffing—the result of hard particle contamination, which, says the report,

“is the greatest fuel quality concern for high-pressure/common-rail fuel systems, worldwide”

—investigators determined that scuffing was not the primary issue for the immediate problems the bus engines were exhibiting.

The culprits in this instance were “metal carboxylates” in the fuel, more commonly know as “diesel soaps.” The recommended fix for the problem was use of a fuel additive that could both clean the Injectors and minimize further deposits, coupled with much tighter filtration.

 

Another Bad Actor

 

 

 

Biofuel is manufactured by reacting a plant-derived fat or oil (usually soybeans in the United States) with an alcohol, using sodium hydroxide as a catalyst. An unwanted by-product of the process is glycerin.

Although most of the glycerin is washed out during the manufacturing process, regulations do allow 200 ppm to remain.

Biofuel usually is mixed with petroleum diesel in 5-, 10- or 20-percent concentrations to form biofuel blends, but even at these relatively low concentrations, enough glycerin remains to create filter-plugging problems when, under certain fuel moisture and temperatures conditions, it becomes a solid and drops out of solution.

To help counteract glycerin’s effects, Jim Peterson, sales manager for Donaldson’s Hydraulics and Clean Solutions Group, suggests these measures:

  • Filter fuel on the dispensing side of the bulk tank and use proper on-machine filters
  • Keep fuel dry with proper tank flushing and proper breathers
  • If possible, moderate the temperature of stored fuel above the glycerin dropout level
  • Turn over fuel as quickly as possible
  • Keep fuel infrastructure as free from particulate contamination as possible
  • Ask OEMs about using detergent additives to keep glycerin in solution, both in equipment and bulk storage

 

Filtration and Additives

 

 

 

As noted before, the contamination of diesel fuel with soaps is not as prevalent, at least in many fleets, as other sources of fuel contamination.

These other fuel contaminates include hard particulates, increased water in biofuel blends, rapid oxidation of such blends, microbial growth, so-called asphaltenes (compounds that can agglomerate into an oily sludge), acetic acid formation and glycerin.

Glycerin being an unwanted by-product of biofuel manufacturing. “There are so many inherent problems with diesel fuel today,” says Hydrotex’s Cummins, “that machine owners must take a holistic approach when attempting to resolve them.”

The best defense against diesel soaps (and for most other contaminants, as well) seems to be the use of premium filtration, like the “Donaldson clean & Dry kit which includes 4 micron particulate and water filters. The kit also incorporates a desiccant breather to absorb moisture.”

Donaldson Clean and Dry Filter kit

In addition, (tank intake, tank dispensing, and on-machine), good tank housekeeping, and a well-chosen additive package.

Additives might be included in “premium” diesel fuel offered by some jobbers, but solving a serious soap problem might require consultation with an additive supplier who can take a comprehensive, laboratory-assisted view of all the fuel-quality issues in a particular fleet.

But, the best efforts are no guarantee of complete success when dealing with diesel soaps.

“We’ve seen soap deposits form in engines that use our most effective filters—those proved to remove 99.9 percent of material 4 microns and larger and significant amounts of material smaller than 4 microns,”  says Cummins Filtration’s Burbrink.

“If soap particles don’t agglomerate before the filter, they can pass through it. When they hit the injectors, the heat can cause these particles to deposit on metal.”

 

Deposit control

 

 

 

“We have seen great success with some additives,” says Burbrink. “The use of good detergents has dropped the failure rate significantly in some applications. Unfortunately, we also have seen customers having issues even though they are using detergents.”

That said, a well-formulated additive package seems to be an integral part of the potential resolution of problems with diesel soaps.

A good, multi-functional package will contain corrosion inhibitors and lubricity improvers (some formulations use nonacid, non-reacting lubricity improvers), as well as a deposit-control agent that will assist in cleaning injectors and minimizing further deposits.

 

The Key

 

 

 

“The key to diminishing field issues is the use of a two-prong strategy,” says Innospec’s Chapman. “One, use an additive that provides the required lubricity but is resistant to reaction with metal hydroxides, and, two, use a deposit-control additive to ‘clean up’ and ‘keep clean’ any deposits that may form, regardless of the their source. Deposit-control additives are useful for reducing injector deposits, reducing filter plugging, and for carrying through trace amounts of water. In lower-dose rates, or at a ‘keep-clean’ level, they will put a protective coating on metal surfaces and not allow deposits to form—or will limit their formation.”

Hydrotex’s Cummins makes the point, too, that treatment rates for additives, a corrosion inhibitor, for example, might have to be adjusted to meet the conditions of a particular storage tank. Cummins also reminds machine owners that deposit-control additives might need time to work in certain situations: “Soap deposits can get very deep into the injectors, become sticky, and cause poor actuation of the pintle. A good additive package will help clean the injectors, but given the nature of the deposits, it’s usually not a quick fix. The process might require four or five tanks of treated fuel before improvement is noticed.”

Sunrock’s Dennis offers this suggestion to fellow fleet managers: “I would recommend that fleet managers, if they haven’t already done so, educate their fuel suppliers on the subject of upstream fuel-contamination issues and their effects on diesel engines.

Managers can use that opportunity to register their concerns about diesel soaps—for the purpose of promoting a partnership in utilizing countermeasures against diesel-fuel contamination. Their fleet reliability depends on it.”

 

 

To read more technical data on Diesel Soap click link below

SOAP AND GLYCERIN REMOVAL FROM BIODIESEL