HeyBub wrote:
nick hull wrote:
Nuts. I'd bet that the generator would be paid for by windfall sales
if they were the only station open in town.
When the tanks are empty there are no more sales, the normal markup is
too small to make up the cost of generation unless they can refill
their tanks multiple times.


But the gasoline wholesalers and the people who drive the delivery trucks
would be, I would think, more than eager to replinish the tanks.
....

If they saw a major revenue source going untapped, I'm sure they would
have already done so.

The problem from the distributor's side is it simply is too frequent an
event for the installation and maintenance costs to make it a worthwhile
investment based on their expected ROI. They get far more adding
another shelf of Twinkies or the like.

As for delivery for refill, in a really serious disaster there really is
little likelihood they could get the trucks in plus high likelihood the
tank filling stations are underwater so opening them would simply
further contaminate the storage tanks or do so if weren't already.

The retail outlets simply are designed or equipped for severe
exigencies. Not that there shouldn't be some that are, but currently
they're not and as long as it's driving around looking for the cheapest
outlet by a fraction of a penny, it's not going to change unless it is
done by an emergency preparedness directive.

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