Supermarket fuel, false economy..?

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oldwheels

Legendary Member
Location
Isle of Mull
Back in the 1960s ICI on teesside started selling petrol at their own petrol stations. It was straight from the cracking process, no fancy additives and it was cheap. My dad tried some in his Ford Anglia, and it pinked like mad. Refilled next time with Shell it ran without issues.

I suspect these days, while there may be a difference between brands it won't be by much. My Corolla hybrid shows no discernible difference in mpg using E5 or E10 from the same garage.

Cannot now remember what it was called but my old Commer ran happily on the cheapest petrol until the early 1970's when it was discontinued as more modern vehicles required a more expensive mix. Cars of the 1960's varied as some would run on cheap petrol but most would not. The Ford Anglia with the sloping back window as you suggest would not take cheap petrol. I also tried that but had to change due to pinking.
 

oldwheels

Legendary Member
Location
Isle of Mull
Ex lorry driver here! The livery on tankers and other HGV'S quite often has no bearing on who the operator is. Big companies will sub contract their delivery operations to the likes of Hoyer (stands for Hand Over Your Employment Rights in the industry!), Stobart, DHL, Norbert Dentressangle etc.. Part of the contract might require that vehicles are painted in the customer's livery, but there might be a small sticker placed inconspicuously saying "operated by DHL" or whoever.

I know that Sainsbury's RDC at East Kilbride is/was operated by DHL. You would never know it by looking at their lorries. Similarly, Morrison's at Bellshill was a Norbert Dentressangle operation. Stobart and Tesco are also bed buddies, as are Hoyer and Shell tankers.

NB... Compartments in tankers are required for reasons other than separating types of fuel. Imagine if the tank was just one big unit with no separation. First time the driver hit the brakes with a load of fuel weighing 20+ tonnes all of it moving forwards at 50 mph? The result would not be pretty!

Not quite relevant to your post but my tanker driver pal was bombing down to Prestwick airport at night with a full load of aviation fuel when he noticed a light behind him. Suddenly realised one of his rear wheels was alight so pulled unthinking into the first empty space which he suddenly realised was a petrol station:ohmy:. Fast exit and managed to get the blaze out by the roadside before the FB arrived.
 

Gunk

Guru
Location
Oxford
Ex lorry driver here! The livery on tankers and other HGV'S quite often has no bearing on who the operator is. Big companies will sub contract their delivery operations to the likes of Hoyer (stands for Hand Over Your Employment Rights in the industry!), Stobart, DHL, Norbert Dentressangle etc.. Part of the contract might require that vehicles are painted in the customer's livery, but there might be a small sticker placed inconspicuously saying "operated by DHL" or whoever.

I know that Sainsbury's RDC at East Kilbride is/was operated by DHL. You would never know it by looking at their lorries. Similarly, Morrison's at Bellshill was a Norbert Dentressangle operation. Stobart and Tesco are also bed buddies, as are Hoyer and Shell tankers.

NB... Compartments in tankers are required for reasons other than separating types of fuel. Imagine if the tank was just one big unit with no separation. First time the driver hit the brakes with a load of fuel weighing 20+ tonnes all of it moving forwards at 50 mph? The result would not be pretty!

How nice to have some proper facts for a change instead of Internet forum “opinion pretending to be facts” thanks for the insight @Brandane
 

Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
How nice to have some proper facts for a change instead of Internet forum “opinion pretending to be facts” thanks for the insight @Brandane

Awww shucks; thanks :smile:.
I only know these things having driven HGV's with an assortment of liveries, and a confusing array of operators.
e.g. As previously posted, DHL operate vehicles for some Sainsbury's RDC's. But DHL themselves sub contract some of their transport operations (air freight to my knowledge) to other companies. A trip to the roads around Heathrow will show you DHL liveried lorries being operated by Saints transport (who I used to work for). The "STS" number plates are one giveaway!
 
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gbb

Squire
Location
Peterborough
Cannot now remember what it was called but my old Commer ran happily on the cheapest petrol until the early 1970's when it was discontinued as more modern vehicles required a more expensive mix. Cars of the 1960's varied as some would run on cheap petrol but most would not. The Ford Anglia with the sloping back window as you suggest would not take cheap petrol. I also tried that but had to change due to pinking.
I suspect a combination of differing standards and quality in both fuels and engine design possibly gave rise to those kind of things.
Not quite relevant to your post but my tanker driver pal was bombing down to Prestwick airport at night with a full load of aviation fuel when he noticed a light behind him. Suddenly realised one of his rear wheels was alight so pulled unthinking into the first empty space which he suddenly realised was a petrol station:ohmy:. Fast exit and managed to get the blaze out by the roadside before the FB arrived.
That I can visualise. I once stood at the side of the A46 near Nottingham one night, mid 1970s trying to hitch a lift. A tanker (flour type) hurtled by... an utter shower of sparks flying yards behind it, like a firework display)

Supermarket fuel...I always had a dislike of it, usually based on speculation (which may or may not be true...who knows) but since prices went so high, I've just used the cheapest E10 in my 2018 Mazda...through the summer, I've had very good fuel economy so no complaints.
 
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