I was recently looking at the long term fuel mileage I'm getting on my re-power and on a whim graphed the fuel cost. The beginning of this chart is August 2007 and ends November 2013. This charts the actual cost per gallon I paid for diesel.
On a side note I also averaged out my fuel usage for the past 50000+ miles and now have a cumulative fuel mileage on the new power train combination of 8.61 mpg. I have burned 5,862 gallons of diesel to drive 50,472 miles. In my prior update here: http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=17929 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=17929) I noted my cumulative mileage was 8.44. So - a little better now, but not the 9.0+ I was hoping for when I started.
Note: The mileage numbers on the x axis of the chart show the odometer miles since I purchased the bus in 2002. The re-power was done at 26,422.
I recall buying gasoline for fifteen cents a gallon back in 1961 in Long Beach Ca. Same price as a Micky D burger and then the local Richfield refinery blew up and after Richfield paid to repaint and replant several thousand homes in LB their gas prices shot to the unheard of price of twenty three cents a gallon. And as they say--the rest is history :'(
Back when i first started working i could buy 4 gallons of gas for every hour that i worked. (before taxes :) ) When i finished working i could buy 10 gallons of gas for every hour that i worked....even though gas had gone up by a multiple of 13. ;D
I look for fuel to bottom out at around 3 bucks a gal then the powers will add more taxes so when it goes up which it will we will be paying 6 bucks a gal for diesel
LOL I just got a 1.5 increase in the SS check guess what after they raised the medicare payment I netted $1.78 the games they play in DC
I remember writing a paper for one of my college classes (Business major - transportation), on the impact of the 1972 energy crisis on the bus company I worked for at the time. I recall that before the oil crisis, we paid 12.7 cents per gallon for diesel. I know that drivers in 1969 were being paid $2.00/hour, all straight time -- no overtime because of some interstate commerce loophole that (supposedly) exempted all from O/T premium pay.
A normal day for city drivers was 13 hours, 5 days/week. Some had lunchbreaks, I don't think everyone did. Saturday was the short day, only 10 hours.
Kind of wish I hadn't thrown out all my old college stuff when I ran out of storage room. I'd like to go back and re-read that paper now.
Arthur
Only I had forgotten what year it was. We were just kids. Our home in Lakewood was downwind. I do remember scrubbing our Chevy to get all the tar off it. We were too far away to have the house repainted. I can remember regular gas at $24.9 cents per gallon at the Beacon gas station. HB of CJ (old coot)
HB you are not as old as you think I remember when in school it cost me a $2.25 for 15 gals for the school week and the Gulf Pride Motor oil I used cost $.25 a quart and at those prices I had tough time paying for it I was always borrowing from granddad lol 3 bucks was 40 post holes with him
HB of CJ, I'll have to check Google but your post reminded me that there were two Signal Hill refineries that blew up. The one I remember now that I think about it was the Hancock refinery in 1958 or perhaps 1957. By 1961 I was able to drive and was pretty much out on my own so while I said Richfield I really meant Hancock. During the Hancock explosion I was living near the Los Coyotes Diagnal and Bellflower Blvd in LB. Funny how paths cross. Jack
I recall those days too, Clifford. I lived in Odessa.
Seems there was always a price war going on somewhere.
The stations then set their own price. In our town now, they are all exactly the same.
I also recall .09gal diesel in Wy in '72. But we then had to pay road tax.
Like most, I will take todays income and prices over those days.
IMO the good old days weren't quite as good as we remember them!
I'm 20 to 30 years younger than a lot of you. I remember gas hovered around $1.25 a gallon in the late 80s and early 90s. By the mid 90s or so gas was selling for 79 to 99 cents a gallon. I remember people complaining like crazy when gas got up to about to $1.20 or so in 2000. I didn't start driving until 1990 when I was 18. Nobody said too much about gas prices then because it was relatively cheap. My father could have certainly bought a lot more gas for his hourly wage in the 90s then he could today.
I didn't pay attention to diesel prices much before 2003. I bought a diesel pickup then and I remember paying $1.21 a gallon for diesel in Cheyenne, WY in September 2003. That was the least I have ever personally paid for diesel.
The big Long Beach--Signal Hill area refinery fire. We were just kids. Very young. Do remember easily climbing up on the roof of the house, (Carson & Woodruff) and seeing red flames. Also remember much fun soaping and scrubbing the tar off of Dad's nearly new 1956 Chevy 2 door 265 V8 "three on the tree".
I worked at a gas dock for pleasure boats at South Wind Marina just underneath the Commodore Heins, (SP?) vertical lift bridge between LA and Terminal Island. Also just East of the old Henry Ford draw bridge. If you bought 1000 gallons of #2 diesel, you paid $.0159 a gallon. I remember the rich marina owner complaining. This about 1965. HB of CJ (old coot)
The Marina is long gone. The shipping channel was widened and deepened and now is a big container sea going ship terminal. How time flies. :)
HB of CJ, at risk of further leading this thread astray, as kids we used to bike ride in (on?) Signal hill. I have two very distinct memories of those days. First, we thought it was fun to ride shopping carts down "Shell Hill"--and it was until I dumped and broke my arm. Ha Ha. The second was being attacked by ferral dogs--my buddy and I got pretty chewed up. I've never been quite the same about puches since. Oh well, that wasn't to be the last of the dog bites. Some Lester low crotch sicked his pit on me at work one day--left some interesting lumps on my right hand but the girls seem to love the story--go figger!
Where did you end up? I landed in Oxnard and doubt I could leave even if I wanted to. Ha Ha. Jack
All I can add is that in 1986, when we first bought the 4104, the cost of fuel was just not a consideration. If we wanted to go somewhere, we just filled it up and went. That is not the case today.
So why have gasoline price fallen and diesel is the same or goes up?
We export more diesel than we can refine and there is not that many American owned refinery's here any longer JMO
I remember my first 100.00$ tank of fuel.
have put over 400 in huggy lately.
and I don't let her get low either.
uncle ned
Prices started to increase in 1993 and they have increased every year and will drop for a while then here we go again you guys are dreaming if you think fuel will drop this time next year it will be 5 bucks or more
Quote from: luvrbus on December 16, 2013, 01:29:10 PM
Prices started to increase in 1993 and they have increased every year and will drop for a while then here we go again you guys are dreaming if you think fuel will drop this time next year it will be 5 bucks or more
I've lost track of how many times you have predicted that fuel will hit $5 or $6 now. It will happen some day, but I doubt it will happen in 2014 unless we have a major supply disruption.
Filling mine up in the morning, still remember when diesel was 79 cents a gallon not dollars :o.....George
Hang on Belfert if you did your home work you will find 2 major refinery's here have sold their entire 2014 production of diesel on the foreign market and how many times has the fuel reached the prediction I missed it once and payed a price with my units of fuel but it wasn't too bad I am still in the game lol
fwiw it was $3.02 today wholesale price I do hope it goes to below 3 bucks then I'll buy more
Quote from: luvrbus on December 16, 2013, 07:34:10 PM... fwiw it was $3.02 today wholesale price I do hope it goes to below 3 bucks then I'll buy more
I drove by a couple of places today with signs "Diesel $3.99" (in NC, land of the "we never saw a tax we didn't like" State Gummint) but paid $3.61 for a tank in VA. Buncha damned theives.
Quote from: uncle ned on December 16, 2013, 01:21:05 PM
I remember my first 100.00$ tank of fuel.
uncle ned
Sadly I can easily get £100 ($160) worth of fuel in my car, nevermind my bus. (And that's using standard-grade petrol, not premium-grade or diesel).
I remember the first time I used the 'truck pumps' at a filling-station for the first time, not long after I bought my bus. The previous customer's total was still showing on the pump display and it was over £3,000. That was a sobering experience I can tell you. I've never put more than a couple of hundred pounds-worth in the bus at any one time though, and in fact the bus doesn't cost any more to run in fuel terms than my (somewhat souped-up) Range Rover.
Jeremy
Fuel is going to be at world market prices here there is no stopping it, here every billion or so spent on the refinery because of regulations it is passed on to the consumer and if they can sell the product for more aboard then we are going to pay the same
Quote from: Jeremy on December 17, 2013, 04:09:41 AM... the bus doesn't cost any more to run in fuel terms than my (somewhat souped-up) Range Rover. Jeremy
I was somewhat stunned to find that running not-very-stripped shell of my bus was giving me 12 MPG US/14+ Imp. That's about the same as the consumption on the larger-model diesel "Hummer" of the early 2000's. Of course, it's no sports car and it won't tear up hills and -- of course -- the mileage will be lower with 600 pounds of gennie and 800 pounds of water and furniture built in but that was a real surprise. (About as big a surprise as finding that the weight was less than 18K pounds in that condition.)
But ... like every other male in the 60's, I was car-crazy and I used to roadracer motorcycles and I rapidly caught on to one of the True Facts of life -- if you're going to play, you're going to pay. So the cost of fuel is no surprise.
Quote from: luvrbus on December 16, 2013, 07:34:10 PM
Hang on Belfert if you did your home work you will find 2 major refinery's here have sold their entire 2014 production of diesel on the foreign market and how many times has the fuel reached the prediction I missed it once and payed a price with my units of fuel but it wasn't too bad I am still in the game lol
fwiw it was $3.02 today wholesale price I do hope it goes to below 3 bucks then I'll buy more
You have predicted multiple times that fuel would hit $5 or $6 a gallon and it has never been that high anywhere in the continental USA that I know of.
BS it is $4.65 in Needles today down from a week ago at Shell,Chevron and Mobil
Quote from: belfert on December 17, 2013, 06:35:55 AM
You have predicted multiple times that fuel would hit $5 or $6 a gallon and it has never been that high anywhere in the continental USA that I know of.
A few years ago after Katrina in the Knoxville and other areas of the country $5 fuel was cheap. The problem then was the hurricane compromised the distribution system so it was a supply and demand issue, but $5 and more fuel is not that far away.
Being in the Entertainer Coach Business the client pays for the fuel,It used to be and not that long ago that when you arrived at the pick-up the road manager would give you $500.00 cash for fuel and you went back to him to get more when that ran out usuall once a week,NOW you get $2,000.00 when you show up and usually have to go back mid-week and get more as I have put a $1,000.00 of fuel on board more than once at one time.It's Crazy!!!!
Robert
Just 10 years ago, I was paying $1.65 for Diesel.
With tax around $4.29 now in IN. KY under $4 Have long range 250 gal tank.. think I'm going to like 4stroke and changes I made to get couple extra mile per gal. Still got finger crossed on that. $3.79 for red stuff. $.10 discount-- with Loves fuel program/not good in Indiana. Being a busnut=priceless... Bob
On the 9th of Dec. we paid $3.88 a gallon in Crawfordville Fl.
3.59 in the big city of Smithville Tx. yesterday, Been that way for a few weeks. When they really get to ramping up these exports as Cliff says, look out! Thinking about drilling one in my backyard down here in Fayette County. Can you say Eagle Ford! ;D
Quote from: robertglines1 on December 20, 2013, 03:45:31 PMWith tax around $4.29 now in IN. ... Bob
Even with tax, that's nuts. With the Waw*Mott card discount, it's $3.67 for road diesel in eastern NC and NC has some of the highest fuel taxes in the South East US. I know -- it's because the petroleum companies and Waw*Mott have decided that they're going to be good to us and lose money on every gallon we buy! Yeah, right ... Or maybe they're just ripping you off in IN.
Guys you should hope diesel stays about the current price level it drops a lot in price the taxes will go up in hurry from the US government ,states,counties and any other taxing agencies around then when the prices increase you are going to be paying big bucks they are setting around like vultures on fence post ready to sweep down JMO
In case one has not noticed the price of fuel is down fuel prices were blamed for the increase in food and among other things the price of fuel is down are our costs up or down on everyday essentials like food,clothing and other items just asking
IMO
When price of fuel goes up. The price of everything goes up fast. When the price of fuel geos down. The price of everything either stays up or comes down very slowly. Wondering why?
John