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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.

56 of 460 comments (clear)

  1. I can see this as an environmental disaster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Gas stations have environmental controls to keep fuel from leaking into the environment...

    1. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And we don't have to have a fair meter or even hazmat endorsement

    3. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sure, but when is the last time you saw anyone spill any significant quantity of gas while filling their car at a gas station? Maybe a drop or two here or there. And I don't recall seeing any magical method at gas stations to collect gas runoff or evaporated gas. For that matter, it's fairly obvious that a lot more unburned gasoline evaporates into the atmosphere directly out of the tailpipe of the car than from the filling area of the gas station. So it really isn't a big deal if one or two drops spill in a parking lot versus the concrete slab at the filling station.

      So, the big question for a gas station is if the tank and the underground plumbing leaks. This happens all the time. Many, many gas stations are significantly contaminated. The equivalent for that in gas fillup services is if the tank and hose leak on the delivery vehicle. As it happens, standards exist already for this sort of thing, since fuel delivery, to gas stations, and as fuel oil (diesel) to homes, is already a thing.

      Basically, there isn't a rational reason to object to this as long as some basic standards are followed.

    4. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by rsborg · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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?

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    5. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by danbert8 · · Score: 2

      Umm, I've seen the automatic shutoffs fail and people dribble a few gallons down the side of their car. Most gas stations have an oil/water separator to catch the bulk of oil from leaving the site via runoff though they aren't perfect. They also have spill kits of absorbents if there is a mishap. Additionally, many urban areas do have stage 2 recovery of vapors from fueling. You can see the rubber hose that fits around the fill nozzle.

      --
      Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
    6. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by rubycodez · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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!

    7. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by unrtst · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sure, but with Web 3.0, you don't ask for permission or worry about regulations, ...

      How is this not something that already has regulations? Sure, this may be happening at greater volumes, but AAA and tow trucks and the lot have been delivering gas for ages! On the larger end of the scale, tankers have been doing it for ages to gas stations. So, any regulation they add regarding this in particular will have to say "hauling more than N gallons of gas, and less than N (or some class/certification thing to exclude tankers)".

      I doubt it's carte-blance illegal today. Heck, just drive a big truck w/ two normal tanks, and pump from one of them. Plenty of large pickups have backup tanks, and that should fulfill all the on-the-road safety rules already. Where's the problem?

    8. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by bws111 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Have you ever actually BEEN to a gas station? Did you ever wonder 'why is that concrete slab there'? The whole area is usually asphalt, but where the pumps (and where the tanker delivers) is concrete. And that concrete usually has a pattern of grooves around the perimeter. Do you think that is just a nice design they all happened to like? The concrete is there for three reasons: prevent spills (which DO happen) from seeping into the ground, keep spills in one place (the grooves) so it can be properly cleaned up, and because gasoline is incredibly damaging to asphalt.

      When you are done looking at the ground, look up. See all those nozzles sticking out of the canopy? More fancy design? No. Automatic fire suppression. Can you think of any reason THAT might be a good idea?

      Yes, gas station leaks do sometimes happen. And who is responsible when they do? The property owner. Just think of how happy parking lot owners are going to be when some jackass not only damages the lot with a spill, but leaves them with contaminated property THEY are responsible for. No sane parking lot owner would ever allow something stupid like this in their lot.

      And where did you get the idiotic idea that unburned fuel comes out the tailpipe? That stuff you see dripping is water, not fuel. If unburned fuel is coming out something is seriously wrong, and an overheated converter and possible vehicle fire are coming shortly.

    9. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Correct. If some of these outfits start conflagrations causing millions of dollars of damage and a few deaths they'll be sued out of business, or people will switch to their competitors that don't destroy their vehicles and homes and kill their pets loved ones.

      That's the magic of the MARKET. No need for regulations which inevitably lead to death panels and mandatory gay marriage.
      --
      roman_mir

    10. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by Higaran · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have a fleet of 20 semi-truck, and I keep an old tanker in my yard, I call various fuel companies and they will come and fill my tanker with 3000 gallons, no problem. I've been getting fuel this way for over 10 years now, so I don't see this as much different, as long as they guy making the delivery is trained properly then there shouldn't be an issue. Yes I've had stuff happen, like one time when they were filling his hose decided to pop and spilled maybe 20-30 gallons of fuel before he could shut the pump off, they carry enough pads and blocker bags to clean up small messes, or hold back a big mess long enough for someone to come and clean it up properly.

    11. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Heck, just drive a big truck w/ two normal tanks, and pump from one of them.

      Yeah, those are proper tanks. Competent mechanics carry fuel in proper jerry-cans.

      This service isn't going to be like that. It's going to be retards on mopeds carrying the fuel in old wine bottles in a rucksack.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    12. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by bughunter · · Score: 2

      The actual model being used is "we require stationary gas retailers to be licensed, regulated, and inspected and are applying the same standard to mobile refueling."

      FTA: 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. “It’s just one of these things that nobody has really thought about before—kind of like how Uber popped up out of nowhere.” But he said it’s not a gray area: “All I can tell you at this time is it’s not allowed as per our current fire code.”

      Not "government tyranny" but government just doing its damn job.

      --
      I can see the fnords!
    13. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Informative

      The actual model being used is "we require stationary gas retailers to be licensed, regulated, and inspected and are applying the same standard to mobile refueling."

      One is legally regulated (already in place) the other is "oh shit, that is something current laws don't account for" retroactive regulation for something that isn't stationary.

      From your quoted article

      “Our current fire code does not allow this process; however, we are exploring a way this could be allowed with some restrictions,”

      Which is utter bullshit. Take a look here (hint, already legal) http://www.transferflow.com/fu...

      With a Transfer Flow refueling tank, you don’t have to guess! Our refueling tanks are Department of Transportation (DOT) legal to carry and transfer gas, diesel, ethanol, methanol, kerosene and jet fuel in all 50 U.S. states. Having a DOT legal refueling tank from Transfer Flow means you won’t get red tagged and fined by your Highway Patrol for carrying an illegal fuel tank in the bed of your truck. Click here to see our Special Permit from the Department of Transportation.

      Good luck preventing that which already exists, simply because it disrupts existing markets.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    14. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by Wycliffe · · Score: 2

      However, they aren't going to be taking a tanker truck into a random parking lot, they are going to take a light truck. Yes you could devise some regulations around such a fuel carrier, but I don't think that's what these startups are currently doing.

      Tow trucks have been doing this for years and they use standard 5 gallon cans. The only difference I see is that we're now talking 20+ gallons at a time versus 5-10 gallons. Even then, there is a lawn mowing service that frequents the gas station near my house and has a row of five gallon cans on the back of his truck. He easily has 35+ gallons. Many semi trucks have 4 tanks that each hold more than 100 gallons each and they also sell tanks for pickups for farmers to take gas home. Basically, all this is already being done in multiple forms. Some like the farmer taking 500 gallons back to his farm might be a gray area but others like th semi truck with 500 gallons of gas in his 4 tanks is definitely already legal. Semis obviously can't go into certain areas because of their weight but the tanks themselve should be 100% legal. As far as I know there are no restrictions on the size of a vehicle's gas tanks. There possibly are but if so it would definitely have to be in the 200+ gallon range to accommodate large trucks.

    15. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by KGIII · · Score: 2

      I have two legal in-ground diesel tanks up at my home. Even above ground storage gets pretty well regulated but in-ground was a job and a half. The EPA doesn't take kindly to it even if you're by the book and an accident happens. I actually carry extra insurance just for that and the installation itself is insured by the installers for something like 12 more years. Hell, I don't even store much - just 2000 gallons. I understand the regulation gets even more strict with gasoline.

      Err... In case you're curious as to why I'd have that much diesel, my home is in very rural, North Western, Maine. I basically consider and treat any mains electricity as backup these days. The longest they've gone without power, in that area and since I've been there, was 14 nights and 13 days. I like my creature comforts too much to not have a generator. Well, two generators.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    16. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      Well, the other option is to go down the "Its not legal until we say it is"

      That's a really disengenuous argument. Its legal to cart around any old crap in your car unless it's regulated because it's unsafe.

      The reason regulations exist around transportation of petrol is because emperically it has been discovered to be rather unsafe if not done properly. Which is why regulations now exist.

      Of course, "something bad might happen

      Bad things did happen.

      therefore we must regulate it into oblivion" arguments come out

      It's not regulated into oblivion. If you run out of fuel, the AA (or AAA) can still come out with a can and fill you up.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    17. Re:I can see this as an environmental disaster by godefroi · · Score: 3, Informative

      Legal to carry does not mean legal to distribute commercially. You'll need additional permits in each state to do that, and I bet they don't have them.

      --
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  2. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia did it first! by t4eXanadu · · Score: 4, Funny

    When I read the headline, I immediately thought of this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  3. What they mean is.. by cyn1c77 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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!"

    1. Re:What they mean is.. by FireballX301 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Call me a statist all you like, but I am 100% for regulation of the equivalent of gas tanker trucks meandering neighborhoods and commercial parks topping off people's cars, and having taxes on that service in order to fund the regulation, because I don't want to see some 20-something communications major driving around every day with a U-Haul full of jerry cans tied down with bungee cords. I say this even though I am 100% behind having the service available, because I'd find it amazingly useful.

      The alternative is letting it go unregulated, watching some fly by night operation have their delivery driver explode along with all his cargo, the execs of the company 'vanishing', a media shitstorm, and the industry being literally banned.

    2. Re:What they mean is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The regulation on gasoline tanker trucks is not purely for state and local profit (probably negligible to that end), it is primarily about the fact that they are carrying thousands of gallons of a moderately incendiary liquid with a tendency to evaporate into a moderately explosive vapor in normal atmospheric conditions.

      A pickup truck with a bunch of gas cans rattling around in the back definitely needs some examination and consideration.
      Judging from the picture, they are at least compliant enough to include the internationally mandated 1203 placards (since they're responsible enough to have one on the side, I assume that they aren't so idiotic to not have one on the back where it is legally enforced).

    3. Re:What they mean is.. by Luthair · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even if its not a bunch of jerry cans as the other guy suggests, there is some engineering to a big tank not only for crashes & spillage but simply to avoid the fluid acting like a battering ram when the vehicle brakes.

    4. Re:What they mean is.. by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 3

      Call me a statist all you like, but I am 100% for regulation of the equivalent of gas tanker trucks meandering neighborhoods and commercial parks topping off people's cars, and having taxes on that service in order to fund the regulation, because I don't want to see some 20-something communications major driving around every day with a U-Haul full of jerry cans tied down with bungee cords. I say this even though I am 100% behind having the service available, because I'd find it amazingly useful.

      While I also think it is useful some regulation is clearly needed. One problem I see is how do you overcome someone else's stupidity? For example, people know you don't smoke near a gas pump, but someone walking around the corner with a lit cigarette could easily and unknowingly flick it near where you have gas fumes; so some sort of vapor capture system is a must. In addition, the fuel storage and handling equipment must have some minimum safety standard to meet to be used. Portable fuel trucks exist and are in use at airports everywhere so the design standards are already known and just need to be applied to a new use. Driver training, as you point out, is critical as well. This idea could be a lot more disruptive than people anticipated...

      --
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    5. Re:What they mean is.. by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    6. Re:What they mean is.. by FireballX301 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

    7. Re:What they mean is.. by Orgasmatron · · Score: 2

      You were never a teen-aged boy, were you?

      Cigarettes make absolutely lousy ignition sources. You can flick lit cigarettes into a bucket of gasoline all day without ever getting a flame. You can use a puddle of gasoline to put your cigarette out if you want to. People used to smoke and even light their cigarettes while filling the car, even more so before the vapor blocking (and then vapor capturing) hoods on the nozzles.

      Static discharge is a much bigger danger, and even that isn't very dangerous.

      People fill their cars from portable gas cans every day and no one notices. Farmers, road crews and construction workers fill their equipment from bulk tanks every day, and they don't blow up. Start looking at work trucks on the highway near you. Some of those things just behind the cab that look like toolboxes are actually fuel carriers, and a good chunk of those carriers are full of gasoline.

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    8. Re:What they mean is.. by safetyinnumbers · · Score: 4, Funny

      You were never a teen-aged boy, were you?
      Cigarettes make absolutely lousy ignition sources.

      Well you clearly never watch any action movies, do you?

    9. Re: What they mean is.. by kwbauer · · Score: 2

      So they are safe in Colorado because no cell phone has ever caused a fire at a gas station.

  4. Re:Linux Foundation job interview question by chaboud · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yoga?

  5. FillD? by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm going to start a competitor named FillDD. The two D's are for a "double-dose of pumpin".

    1. Re:FillD? by zlives · · Score: 2

      i would use that service... repeatedly.

    2. Re:FillD? by Motherfucking+Shit · · Score: 2

      Congratulations, the Web 3.0 Upgrayedd achievement has been unlocked!

      --
      "BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
  6. Re:Could work by chaboud · · Score: 2

    They don't typically whip out a hose and start pouring out pints, though.

  7. The big problem by hackertourist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    with pumping gasoline is the spillage. In the Netherlands, all gas stations are required to have non-porous paving to make sure spills don't end up in the ground.

    The other problem is that it's inefficient. Instead of people filling up at the next station they come across, some guy has to drive everywhere to fill up one customer at a time.

    1. Re:The big problem by npslider · · Score: 2

      They could take orders in large batches and then use some kind of car density per square block algorithm to dispatch a fuel vehicle to once it is cost efficient to do so.

      Or... they could just camp out at the large mega-mart parking lots, allow you to see the sign and submit your fuel order from your phone!

      If only they could be trusted to fuel the car without my presence. Gas locks are there for a reason...

    2. Re:The big problem by whoever57 · · Score: 2

      consider without the service every car must drive X distance in order to get fuel,

      Not really. I almost always find a gas station along my route, so the excess distance is less than 100 yards.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  8. Make gas stations obsolete? by damn_registrars · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A new crop of startups are trying to make gas stations obsolete.

    Where then are they getting the gas from? If we're talking about pickup truck beds full of (large containers of) gasoline I would expect they are still filling them at gas stations. They are then just up-charging the people who are paying for it for their own cars. The gas stations are still selling just as much gas, and in fact might do better as this process could involve more consumption.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:Make gas stations obsolete? by sparty · · Score: 2

      Those differences are usually tax-related. Once you drive across the border into the higher-cost jurisdiction, you're going to be responsible for collecting the appropriate taxes from the end user (and selling the fuel without collecting the taxes is probably going to land you in a wee bit of trouble, because few things irritate the government more than failing to provide the piece of the pie you are mandated to).

  9. Badly written article by gurps_npc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Look, OBVIOUSLY it is possible to get permission to legally drive a vehicle around full of gasoline. That's how the gasoline stations get their gasoline. They usually need special tested equipment designed to carry hazardous liquids - and the license to drive said equipment.

    It is also obviously legal to fill a car with gasoline at places other than gas stations - people that run out of gas do this all the time using a one gallon container.

    There would have to be a specific law prohibiting this particular job.

    Also this business is a STUPID idea. There is always a premium for delivery and for the premium for a delivery of a hazardous liquid should be so high as to make this a financially stupid idea. Gasoline stations are plentiful, on roads, normal people never run out of it and don't need the minor time savings of delivery.

    --
    excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
  10. Translation by PvtVoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "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."

  11. Re:Where's the 'app!' guy when we need him? by NotDrWho · · Score: 2

    There are the guys you're looking for:

    https://flavorwire.files.wordp...

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  12. uber drivers as well? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do you realy want to be in a uber that is also a tanker truck?

  13. Re:Forget about security by PvtVoid · · Score: 5, Informative

    Granted, I can see startups trying to put a plastic water tank on the back of a pickup and call it the same thing

    Ding! From TFA:

    Purple has a fleet of about 80 cars driving around Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County and Seattle with up to a half-dozen five-gallon gas canisters in the trunk.

    Are they fucking insane?

  14. Re:I've had this for years... by JoeMerchant · · Score: 2

    I think the fire department's problem is with Nick and Chris sending their cousin out in an old pickup truck loaded with 40 5 gallon cans in the bed and e-mailing them delivery instructions which they read on their cellphone while driving this firebomb around the city. I doubt there are any ordinances (yet) against carrying an excess of gasoline containers in a vehicle, but the thing they are drafting may come up with some kind of language attempting to describe how to transport additional gasoline safely.

    In reality, 2nd gas tanks used to be an option on a lot of pickup trucks, and I can't imagine the department being to say anything at all about buying one of these trucks and driving it around. Now, dispensing gasoline from one vehicle to another in a non-filling station environment, that's an ordinance waiting to happen.

    Come to think of it, I know more than one guy with a diesel tank on the back of his pickup truck that he uses to deliver fuel to construction equipment in the field. Diesel is quite a bit safer - and maybe this is the market opportunity, sell mobile diesel to all those Jetta owners out there, after all - diesel is harder to find in the first place.

  15. much does it cost to get drivers with CDL hazmat by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    much does it cost to get drivers with an CDL with hazmat and full insurance vs some uber where they don't even have the CDL and the insurance has time gaps.

  16. well then there arent many other options by nimbius · · Score: 2

    driving around in a pickup truck with hundreds of gallons of gasoline might not be safe.

    Look im checking my blindspots at every intersection and im using my goddamn blinkers at every single turn so I dont understand what more you want from me. Christ. you sound just like my wife when I was shoveling cheap chinese fireworks into the passenger seat. It was a good idea 5 redbulls ago, and its gonna be an even better idea for an internet app 5 more from now.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
  17. Electric Envy by Comboman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The only reason this craziness exists is because some entitled twit sees his workmate with a Telsa charging his car at work and thinks, "hey, why should he get to charge his car at work and not me?".

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
  18. Re:Could work by dgatwood · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They don't typically whip out a hose and start pouring out pints, though.

    Tow trucks do this all the time. In some places, the police do, too. It's hard to come up with a clear reason why one truck carrying twenty properly filled, properly made gas cans is that much less safe than twenty trucks carrying one.

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  19. Regulation straw-man alert by rsborg · · Score: 3, Informative

    We already have a national disaster waiting to happen.

    Millions of untrained laypersons fuel their vehicles, and often other people's vehicles, unlicensed and unregulated.

    Hate to disrupt your bubble, but that shit is all regulated to hell. It's on specific property, and those facilities have to get inspected frequently.
    So yeah, it is regulated... already.

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  20. Re:Where's the 'app!' guy when we need him? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    We hold these Apps to be self-evident, that all Apps are created equal, that they are endowed by their Compiler with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Apps, Appity and the pursuit of Appiness.

  21. Re:Forget about security by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

    Are they fucking insane?

    They are planning to increase profits by also providing delivery of fertilizer and det cord.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  22. Re:We've already got that. . . by BasilBrush · · Score: 2

    It's got to be the stupidest time to set up a gas delivery business. Just as gas powered cars are going to be obsoleted. OK, they're not obsolete yet - but it's hardly a new business model that has a future.

  23. Re:Could work by Firethorn · · Score: 2

    It's hard to come up with a clear reason why one truck carrying twenty properly filled, properly made gas cans is that much less safe than twenty trucks carrying one.

    It's not hard at all to me. It's simple enough.
    1. Even properly made gas cans can leak.
    2. The probability of a gas can leaking increases the more of them you have
    3. Gasoline ignites only at specific stoichiometric ratios
    4. A single gas can is unlikely to reach the stoichiometric ratio, much less over a significant area
    5. Multiple gas cans in a single vehicle are much more likely to reach that ratio, and over a larger area as well.
    6. A 10 gallon fuel fire is bad enough, a 200 gallon fuel fire is quite another. Note, I'm not including the vehicle's fuel tank because, on consideration, it's generally pretty well protected.
    7. In an auto accident, vehicle gas tanks are generally not penetrated or ignited.
    8. All bets are off for canisters stacked up in the back of a pickup. See #6 about having drastically more gasoline spread around.

    Honestly enough, plenty of farmers and such have permanently mounted fuel tanks in the back of their truck, with a pump even. Go with that.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
  24. Re:We've already got that. . . by Tintivilus · · Score: 2

    It's got to be the stupidest time to set up a gas delivery business. Just as gas powered cars are going to be obsoleted. OK, they're not obsolete yet - but it's hardly a new business model that has a future.

    Actually, this business model makes a lot more sense in an environment without a gas station on every corner -- people are much likely to pay a delivery fee for something they can't pick up conveniently themselves. If anything, I'd say they're jumping the gun on gasoline being a niche product.

  25. Re:Forget about security by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 2

    For anyone who doesn't quite understand the insanity of keeping gas cans in your trunk, gasoline vapor is significantly denser than air, and will collect in low places, including the trunk of your car, and by extension the cabin as well, as it is usually not completely closed off.

    That's why you should never fill a gas can while it's sitting in your trunk or in the bed of a pickup. Always put it on the ground when filling it, then place it back in the trunk or bed, to prevent spilled vapor from collecting.

    People are generally way too thoughtless in their handling of gasoline. Usually there isn't a problem with just one gas can, even in the trunk of a car. But when you have 20 or 30 gallons divided over multiple cans, that's a whole new situation. Do you really thing the average Independent Fuel Delivery Contractor is going to put every individual can on the ground and fill them up separately? Hell no.

    --
    Eat the rich.