Conventional oil vs synthetic oil question

[DarkBlack]

Really ??? I have nothing to gain from the sale of synthetics... I use to run synthetics in my race car...all synthetics aren't created equal either... Don't kid yourself... top of the line synthetics are way ahead of Dino.. Period !

???
Did I say anything about you?

 

[kenmac]

???
Did I say anything about you?

Did I say U said anything about me ??? I can't find the post where I said U said anything about me. I'm still looking for the posters you are talking about... U know ,, the posters that have something to gain from the sale of synthetics

 

[Copperhead]

I wouldn't expect lube oil to come down very much since most of the cost goes into the non crude related additive package followed by the base stock refinement cost. If there is a decrease I would expect it to be very modest.

One thing that many folks are generally unaware of is the transportation bottleneck that is keeping many products at their price levels, or even rising. There was so much trucking capacity weened out of the system during the economic downturn, that now when there are more products to move, there just isn't enough trucks to meet all the demand. And in the last few years, the plethora of regulations that have streamed out of D.C. has really cramped the situation. One could purchase more trucks, but where are you going to get the drivers? There is a substantially smaller pool of available drivers. And destined to get worse.

This leads to one thing for certain. If you want me to show up and haul your load at the same price I did it for just 6 months ago, I will not show up. Anyone who wants my truck to show up is going to have to pay a higher freight rate. Sorry folks. It is the situation it is. I go where the money is for one, and I can even be selective on the customers I will haul for. The best customers get the best rate (still higher than before) and the truck. The mediocre customer is going to have to ante up if they want to play in the game. The lousy customer, no rate is good enough yet for me to even consider hauling for them. I have even recently pulled away from a customer without their load just because of the way they treated me when I showed up. There is a lot of freight around that I do not have to put up with idiots.

 

[ovrszd]

I also doubt it will, Tom.

On a related note: I asked a knowledgeable friend of mine why haven't diesel prices come down like gasoline......

Even though the U.S. refineries make more diesel than gasoline (see: U.S. Number and Capacity of Petroleum Refineries ), we use more diesel than we make ("Refineries in the United States produced an average of about 12 gallons of diesel fuel and 19 gallons of gasoline from one barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil in 2013." ); .....so apparently the reason the price of diesel is held up in the U.S. - is due to its supply vs. demand ratio.

BarnieTrk :confused2:

I ain't buying that one Barnie.

Buddy of mine owns a small truck company. Hauls produce out of the San Luis Valley into Texas. Beer back. He gets a fuel subsidy from the government, $500 per load. He isn't worried about diesel fuel prices. The owners of the freight he hauls aren't worried. The government isn't worried. Only people worried, or I should say, only people that should be worried are us consumers. If you buy a retail product today a part of the cost is to cover the fuel subsidy. Obviously us consumers don't care because we've been paying it so long we don't even realize it..... :confused3:

 

[TheGoose]

The ecoboost is getting the synthetic treatment on the next oil change. I picked up some Mobil one. Going to give it a whirl.

 

[Copperhead]

Well, unless it is a government load, the fuel "subsidy" going to the truck is not from the government. It is from either the shipper or the receiver. Government only pays a fuel surcharge on their own loads. And that is what it really is called... a fuel surcharge. It is calculated differently by different folks and the formula calculation is agreed to by both parties. Government does not pay fuel surcharge on private entity interstate commerce.

But on a side note, diesel has come down in price right along with gasoline. Just not for the general consumer. I have filled the truck all this last week at a cost of $1.83 a gallon for diesel. I get a discount off the cash pump price, so basically paying the rack invoice price for fuel. La Salle, IL for instance, the cash price right now as I write this is $2.90 a gallon for diesel. I get $1.07 a gallon discount, for a actual cost of $1.83 a gallon. I average 7 mpg with the truck. Fuel surcharge to the truck is 35 cents a mile right now. So, for every gallon of fuel I use at $1.83 a gallon, I get a fuel surcharge of $2.45. So, essentially, instead of my fuel costing me, I actually net 62 cents a gallon.

 

[ovrszd]

Well, unless it is a government load, the fuel "subsidy" going to the truck is not from the government. It is from either the shipper or the receiver. Government only pays a fuel surcharge on their own loads. And that is what it really is called... a fuel surcharge. It is calculated differently by different folks and the formula calculation is agreed to by both parties. Government does not pay fuel surcharge on private entity interstate commerce.

But on a side note, diesel has come down in price right along with gasoline. Just not for the general consumer. I have filled the truck all this last week at a cost of $1.83 a gallon for diesel. I get a discount off the cash pump price, so basically paying the rack invoice price for fuel. La Salle, IL for instance, the cash price right now as I write this is $2.90 a gallon for diesel. I get $1.07 a gallon discount, for a actual cost of $1.83 a gallon. I average 7 mpg with the truck. Fuel surcharge to the truck is 35 cents a mile right now. So, for every gallon of fuel I use at $1.83 a gallon, I get a fuel surcharge of $2.45. So, essentially, instead of my fuel costing me, I actually net 62 cents a gallon.

Thanks for the clarity involving the subsidy. So in the end, the consumer is paying it thru the product retail price?? And it sounds like the consumer is also paying for your 62 cents a gallon net profit?? So the surcharge more than pays for your fuel costs?? Wouldn't fuel be one of, if not THE major cost per mile to run your truck?? Are your haul rates reduced to makeup for the surcharge the consumer is paying you?? Or does it ultimately mean a profit addition to your business?? Lastly, I wonder what would happen to diesel fuel prices if the fuel surcharge was eliminated?? And in the end, would that possibly mean a reduction in retail cost of products?

 

[davesl708]

Thanks for the clarity involving the subsidy. So in the end, the consumer is paying it thru the product retail price?? And it sounds like the consumer is also paying for your 62 cents a gallon net profit?? So the surcharge more than pays for your fuel costs?? Wouldn't fuel be one of, if not THE major cost per mile to run your truck?? Are your haul rates reduced to makeup for the surcharge the consumer is paying you?? Or does it ultimately mean a profit addition to your business?? Lastly, I wonder what would happen to diesel fuel prices if the fuel surcharge was eliminated?? And in the end, would that possibly mean a reduction in retail cost of products?

Consumers pay for everything. All taxes, benefits, cost of goods sold, All cost to produce and sell anything includes all the taxes, materials, fuel, employee benefits and warranty are included in the prices we pay.

Surcharges should be going down with the price declines. The surcharge is used during times of rapid price changes to help in bidding jobs for future deliveries. If no surcharge the bid would be on the current price and when actual delivery takes place the price paid for the fuel at that time could be much higher.

 

[Copperhead]

That would be correct. In the final analysis, the consumer is the one paying for everything. Every time some politician sells the idea of gouging those mean and nasty big corporations, it just raises the prices for everyone when they buy that good or service. And they may not deal with the end consumer directly, but they deal with other business' that do, so that downstream business gets hit for the additional cost, which in turn, passes it on down the chain. When government piles on the regulations, again, any costs associated with it just get passed on to the consumer. The government loves this. They can pile on taxes on everyone, actual taxes or regulatory costs, and get business's to collect it for them, all under the guise of making those corporations "pay their fair share" so that they look like they care for the "little guy". Pure Machiavellian 101.

 

[Buggs67]

That would be correct. In the final analysis, the consumer is the one paying for everything. Every time some politician sells the idea of gouging those mean and nasty big corporations, it just raises the prices for everyone when they buy that good or service. And they may not deal with the end consumer directly, but they deal with other business' that do, so that downstream business gets hit for the additional cost, which in turn, passes it on down the chain. When government piles on the regulations, again, any costs associated with it just get passed on to the consumer. The government loves this. They can pile on taxes on everyone, actual taxes or regulatory costs, and get business's to collect it for them, all under the guise of making those corporations "pay their fair share" so that they look like they care for the "little guy". Pure Machiavellian 101.

And the ironic part is this "pass through tax" (if I might call it that) is a bigger burden on people who spend a larger portion of their income, which is the middle class and lower economic classes. So it's regressive.