LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — It’s estimated that nearly half of Americans will travel for a summer vacation this year. If your plans include hitting the road, that means stopping at the gas station.
A common piece of advice you may have heard when choosing where to stop for gas is to pass by a station if there’s a tanker truck onsite refueling supplies. But why is that?
When sediment from the bottom of the truck's tank gets stirred up by the motion, some of that sediment can get into your gas tank and potentially damage your car.
According to AAA, modern gas stations install filters in their gas pumps that are meant to clean the gas before it reaches the nozzle.
Fuel dispenser filter maker Petroclear added that filters work wonders but are not foolproof. Debris from the sediment can still enter the intake pipe that feeds the gas station's pumps.
In fact, some states require gas stations to use higher-quality filters that can catch finer particles.
The Arkansas Agriculture Department has laws and regulations on petroleum that can be found on the department's Plant Industries website under the Bureau of Standards.
Many gas pump manufacturers also require gas stations to use filters and will go as far as to void the pump's warranty if the gas station doesn't comply.
So we can verify that yes, even now, contaminants from sediment inside gas tankers can get into your gas tank, but filters have vastly improved just how much of that debris gets through.
AAA still said it's good practice to avoid a station if a fuel tanker is on-site, but not to worry much if you must stop to refuel, as the odds of damage to your car are far lower than they once were.