Gas Delivery Startups Want to Fill Up Your Car Anywhere, But It Might Not Be Legal (bloomberg.com)

Eric Newcomer, reporting for Bloomberg: A new crop of startups are trying to make gas stations obsolete. Tap an app, and they'll bring the gas to you, filling up your car while you're at work or at home. Filld, WeFuel, Yoshi, Purple and Booster Fuels have started operating in a few cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia. But officials in some of those cities say that driving around in a pickup truck with hundreds of gallons of gasoline might not be safe. "It is not permitted," said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a spokesman for the San Francisco fire department, adding that if San Francisco residents see any companies fueling vehicles in the city, they should call the fire department. "We haven't talked to them. I don't know about that. It's news to me," said Nick Alexander, co-founder of Yoshi. "You can never ask for permission because no one will give it," said Chris Aubuchon, the chief executive officer at Filld. The Los Angeles Fire Department said it's drafting a policy around gasoline delivery. "Our current fire code does not allow this process; however, we are exploring a way this could be allowed with some restrictions," said Capt. Daniel Curry, a spokesman for the city's fire department.

Comments

What they mean is..

[cyn1c77]

What they say:

"Our current fire code does not allow this process; however, we are exploring a way this could be allowed with some restrictions," said Capt. Daniel Curry

What they mean:

"We will soon let you know how much we are going to tax your new business opportunity!"

Re:What they mean is..

[LWATCDR]

There is the question of vapor leaking. Unburned hydrocarbons aka gas fumes contribute to smog. They are rather nasty. That is the reason that cars since the 1960s have had carbon canisters and PCV valves. They were some of the first population controls and made a huge improvement in emissions for almost no cost or impact on performance. In areas with air quality problems gas pumps will often have a capture device that will capture the gas fumes when you fill up your car.
I am sure that they are mandatory in California.

Re:What they mean is..

[FireballX301]

Regulations are an attempt to avoid tragedy of the commons/race to the bottom type scenarios. Why buy expensive ass properly sealed and insulated tanker trucks when I can just toss cheap plastic jerry cans into the back of a shitty toyota pickup, just like Ethiopia? For the three weeks the guy with jerry cans does business before a 'tragic accident' occurs, he can significantly undercut the guy who's doing things cleanly and safely, and once things do go boom, the guy who did things right eats the bill while the guy who cheaps out either escapes to the Cayman islands or gets cooked by his own gasoline.

For every honest businessman who wants to do good by their customers, there's a bunch of shady assholes looking to make a quick buck, and no amount of pretending the bad actors don't exist will actually make them disappear.

Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, but with Web 3.0, you don't ask for permission or worry about regulations, and do whatever you want, no matter how harmful. It's the Eric Cartman school of business, and it seems to be very popular these days.

Translation

[PvtVoid]

"You can never ask for permission because no one will give it"

Translation:

"We are fully aware that our business model violates multiple safety and environmental laws. But we're an app, so fuck you."

Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster

[rsborg]

Sure, but with Web 3.0, you don't ask for permission or worry about regulations, and do whatever you want, no matter how harmful.
It's the Eric Cartman school of business, and it seems to be very popular these days.

It's the "Uber guide to evading pesky governmental regulation" approach - you just buy "activists" and lobby local governments to keep the hounds at bay until your service gains critical mass and can't be legislated away.
http://www.politico.com/story/...

Does corruption by any other name stink as strongly?

Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster

[rubycodez]

Glad you asked, the normal shutoff failed at a pump I was using and gasoline started spilling onto the ground, and it was newer pump without the manual shutoff level. Finally saw kill switch for the whole island of pumps....four gallons plus on the ground. Guy running station saw the mess and killed ALL the pumps and fire department came. Fun times.

You have no idea how the tanker trucks are restricted and designed, do you? The "basic standards" completely prohibit what this company is doing, you can't carry and deliver liquid fuel in *anything* you please, nor to *anywhere* you please, check your state laws your state fire marshal would arrest your ass!