Diesel Fuel Delivery

[dweller]

Diesel fuel delivery types

You have to be careful of what you're getting--"bunker fuel" or "heating oil fuel" etc. Usually at a marina fuel dock, you're getting treated fuel (like with Valvtek) that's generally better for your engine. We got bunker fuel once, very cheap, and the engines didn't like it and smoked and stunk. We were glad to burn it off.

 

[Mikemenard]

Great idea,unless you are at a Marina that refuses to let a truck come in ,which would impact(actually kill)their own sales dock at double the price.

 

[Ross Macdonald]

We regularly get fuel delivered to our boat when we stop in Newport Beach, California. Hill's Marine Service has done this for years. They have a vessel called the Tanker and they have a competent crew that runs the vessel. Been doing this for years in NB. Great service and great people run Hill's Marine fuel dock. There is a small surcharge for delivery but well worth it for the convenience. Ross

 

[psneeld]

You have to be careful of what you're getting--"bunker fuel" or "heating oil fuel" etc. Usually at a marina fuel dock, you're getting treated fuel (like with Valvtek) that's generally better for your engine. We got bunker fuel once, very cheap, and the engines didn't like it and smoked and stunk. We were glad to burn it off.

Yes it is necessary to ask.


In many places in the Northeast, home heating oil and marine diesel is essentially the same...but ask.


Most marinas I have been to DO NOT have Valvetech and are getting their fuel from distributers that add red dye to home heating oil. Same truck delivers to homes, gas stations and marinas.


I seriously doubt you got "bunker fuel" from a US distributer and ran it in your recreational diesel engines. I never have heard of home heating oil, diesel fuel for boats/trucks refered to as bunker...only the latter described fuel for big commercial or military ships.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_oil



Number 2 fuel oil is a distillate home heating oil.[9] This fuel is sometimes known as Bunker A. Trucks and some cars use similar diesel fuel with a cetane number limit describing the ignition quality of the fuel. Both are typically obtained from the light gas oil cut. Gas oil refers to the original use of this fraction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – the gas oil cut was used as an enriching agent for carburetted water gas manufacture.[8


Pitch black and thick as molasses, “bunker” fuel is made from the dregs of the refining process. It's also loaded with sulfur — the chemical that, when burned, produces noxious gases and fine particles that can harm human health and the environment, especially along highly trafficked areas.

 

[Chrisjs]

We bought fuel delivered by truck in Ft. Lauderdale and in Warren, RI when we were on private docks. At larger marinas, even when not selling diesel fuel, it seemed the liability coupled with logistics of getting boat close enough to the fuel truck eliminated the option. Instead we purchased several hundred gallons at a time from the fuel barge in New Bedford. Last time in Lauderdale we did the same thing a couple of times. Easy and less costly.

 

[TowLou]

I do not see why not as long as where you can get road access the truck can deliver you the fuel. Look up home heating oil delivery company's. Home heating oil now is off road ULSD which is dyed diesel. Same fuel you get at the docks.

 

[BandB]

When home in Fort Lauderdale, nearly all our fuel is by delivery. There are many competitive suppliers including Port Consolidated, Anchor, Luk, Shoreline, and Peterson. They deliver to our home and to where we have slips. Some marinas do charge small surcharges for fuel delivery if they don't have tanks. Peterson also has barges.

When cruising, we normally purchase at marinas where we stay, but we have purchased a good bit from trucks. We've done so from Washington state to Boston and also done so in other countries. One thing you'll find in some areas where there is no apparent fuel availability that there's a commercial dock and fuel companies that will deliver to it. Now that Hoppie's is gone, there's an area on the Mississippi where that's what you can do.

Many fuel trucks have arrangements with specific marinas.

On top of the price advantage, fuel trucks normally have equal or better quality and the ease and speed of filling is an advantage over many marinas.

 

[Southern Boater]

We used to coordinate with our marina neighbors to meet minimum delivery quantities and quantity discounts. The sail boaters with tiny tanks really appreciated us giving them the heads up when we ordered fuel from the trucks so that they could piggy back on our delivery.

We use fuel truck deliveries everytime with our commercial boats, and co-ordinating other boats is convenient for all parties.
However the fuel truck operators cringe when the sailboaters line up with their tiny tanks and their even tinier fuel venting hoses, trickling in the diesel at a super slow rate, making the fuel loading a long drawn out process.

 

[BandB]

We use fuel truck deliveries everytime with our commercial boats, and co-ordinating other boats is convenient for all parties.
However the fuel truck operators cringe when the sailboaters line up with their tiny tanks and their even tinier fuel venting hoses, trickling in the diesel at a super slow rate, making the fuel loading a long drawn out process.

Here, most would not deliver to them and the few who would tack on a nice surcharge for it.

 

[rgano]

I used to pull the trawler over a couple of doors to a neighbor's pier to give the truck access, but when I traded down to this smaller boat, the truck driver and I agreed I would never be able to take enough fuel to make it worth his while. Nowadays, I just get off-road diesel from a nearby gas station pumped into my 30-gallon wheeled tank. Then the pickup is backed up to the pier and the tank rolled out of the truck via a six-foot AL ramp. Takes about 10 minutes to pump into the boat via a hand-cranked pump. Sometimes marina fuel is competitive with the off-road price at the gas station. I check first.

 

[jgwinks]

In California, that practice is basically illegal. There are plenty of sellers that routinely deliver to above and below ground fuel storage tanks used for backup generators, etc., but they cannot dispense to a floating boat.

As I understand it there's a federal license or certification required to deliver over water. The service we use has one driver with that license so we always get the same guy. I don't think the license is hard to get, just another hoop to jump through, and truck drivers have enough hoops already.

 

[jgwinks]

Great idea,unless you are at a Marina that refuses to let a truck come in ,which would impact(actually kill)their own sales dock at double the price.

One time we were in a marina as transient and saw the truck come to fill the marina's tank. A little later a hundred something footer came in and fueled, and an hour after that the truck was back. The big boat must have taken the whole tank, and the marina would have been better off letting them fill direct from the truck. Probably had to turn a few customers away before the truck returned. Actually I know the guys on the big boat, they normally do fuel direct at their home dock.

 

[Ski in NC]

There is a very small marina near me here in NC where they bought an old oil delivery truck and have it parked on the wharf. Need fuel, we got fuel. When truck gets low they drive it to the fuel depot, fill it, and return. Absolves them of 90% of the regulatory crap and expense that comes with having permanent tanks and pumps.

Pure friggin' genius.

 

[Barrie]

Bought from a truck in Canada, then the company got slapped by government environmental agency. Bought again from a truck in New York. Same thing. they got slapped down. No more deliveries to boats. Bought from a Frist Nations Reservation. Turned out to be home heating fuel. Saved big and the boat was very, very happy. So was my wallet.