Pilot vs TA fuel
- Thread starter fortwayne
- Start date
Many others seem to get better MPG with TA fuel. We do, but not that big a difference. We tend to use TA more than any other due to the discount. It can be quite good.
We quit using Pilot Fuel about four years ago. We used Pilot fuel only because the rebate that we got from them as being leased on with FedEx Custom Critical. Their fuel is junk and has water in it that caused us to replace injectors a lot. We changed to T/A fuel and our fuel mileage when up and we haven't replaced Injectors as much. We pay the fuel and tell our drivers if you buy fuel at Pilot they are paying for it, so they don't buy it there.
Maybe TA keeps their tanks in the ground cleaner IDK. Our fleet of ten trucks uses TA and Petro fuel only if we can. The heat transferred receipts is another reason we don't go there. Come tax time the one year we opened up our receipts to add them up for the year, they was black. We had to get reports from Com Data on all of the fuel we bought that year. The showers are nasty and the restrooms are always dirty.
LisaLouHoo
Expert Expediter
I don't know except perhaps there is something within their processing or handling of the product. My baby, Hidalgo, gets colic from certain brands of fuel but yet is happy as a clam with others. I put Pilot gas in him ONE time. Five miles down the road an IP message popped up: "I thought you loved me, mommy!" Gas mileage bit, rough idle. No more Pilot for my little guy.
"Bruises fade and bones will mend-but a psyche can be ruined FOREVER" : LisaLouHoo, c. 2008
"Bruises fade and bones will mend-but a psyche can be ruined FOREVER" : LisaLouHoo, c. 2008
well as Turtle has told us many times before...the TA fuel is a 45 cetane whereas the Pilot/J is just barely if a minimum of 40 cetane...that is your MPG's in a nut shell...
Monty
Expert Expediter
My experience with Pilot seems to be different than the rest of you.
While still driving the semi, I would fill at a TA or Petro and then go PAY for a shower at Pilot.
Today, in the Sprinter, I fuel almost excusively at Pilot and Flying J, and have had zero issues with them. My only "complaint" is they are usually a few cents higher in price.
And I fuel at the car islands .... it is so much easier to fill the Sprinter there ... at the truck islands, I have manully fill it, making sure I don't splash fuel all over the van and myself.
While still driving the semi, I would fill at a TA or Petro and then go PAY for a shower at Pilot.
Today, in the Sprinter, I fuel almost excusively at Pilot and Flying J, and have had zero issues with them. My only "complaint" is they are usually a few cents higher in price.
And I fuel at the car islands .... it is so much easier to fill the Sprinter there ... at the truck islands, I have manully fill it, making sure I don't splash fuel all over the van and myself.
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Yup, Pilot and Flying J (especially the J's that got their fuel from the J refinery in SLC) tend to be 40-44 cetane, and the TA tends to be at least 45, usually closer to 50 (which is CARB cetane, and what the cetane level is in Europe and most of Canada). Higher cetane gives you more of a complete burn in the cylinders, which means less fuel used, and fewer deposits left behind. If you fuel at the Pilot Flying J and have fuel injection, using Power Service with cetane boost is something to be strongly considered, especially if you are in a Sprinter, which is designed for the 50 cetane fuel of Europe.
YMMV
YMMV
I don;t understand?...the TA/Petro I find is always a few cents higher then Pilot/J....on a price to price issue NOT including any discount plans one may have...
