Tips for Drivers

another email from my friend

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TIPS FOR DRIVERS

I've been in petroleum pipeline business for about 31 years,
currently working for the Kinder-Morgan Pipeline here in San Jose, CA. We
deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period from the pipe line; one
day it's diesel, the next day it's jet fuel and gasoline. We have 34
storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons. Here are
some tricks to help you get your money's worth:

1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still
cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried
below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it
gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in
the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the
petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel
(gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are
significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature- compensated so that
the indicated gallonage is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in
temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have
temperature compensation at their pumps.

2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to
buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being
stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that
dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.

3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more
gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates
rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an
internal floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and
the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation. )

4. If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery
settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the
trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the
slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses
at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor
recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the
high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being
sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your
money. Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump'

Protect yourself from abusive MMDA officers

an email galing sa friend ko... just wanna share it with you guys

Protect yourself from abusive MMDA officers

This is a MUST read especially during this Christmas Season. Protect
yourselves especially against abusive MMDA
officers. Have your drivers read this too.

Best also to PRINT AND KEEP A COPY OF THIS E-MAIL IN YOUR CAR FOR FUTURE
REFERENCE.

TOOLS AGAINST MMDA OFFICERS

I just reached my limit last weekend, and decided to take action against
the abusive MMDA enforcers. I basically
called up the MMDA head office and inquired from the Personnel Officer,
Antonio Pagulayan, to clarify their
policies. Here is what I got.

If any of these abuses seem familiar to you, Mr. Pagulayan has asked that
you call either the MMDA hotline (136) or
call the METRO BASE at 0920 9389861 or 0920 9389875 and ask for an
Inspectorate. They will send inspectors to the
place where these MMDA officers are extorting, even while you are
arguing out of your apprehension.

1.MMDA officers are not allowed to group together in order to apprehend.
They are not even allowed to stand
together in groups of 2 or more. The only time they are allowed to work
together is for special operations (probably
when they apprehend groups of buses for smoke belching)

2. Swerving IS NOT a traffic violation. Moving one lane to the left or
right is not swerving, no matter where on
the road you do it. And it is even less of a violation when you do it
with a signal. Swerving is defined as
shifting 2 or more lanes very quickly. So you can argue your way out of
this, and call the Metro Base for help.

3. Sadly, using the yellow lane is a traffic violation and will get you a
ticket. However, buses are really not
allowed to go out of the yellow lane, so if you see selective apprehension
of private cars only, you may complain.

4. MMDA has confirmed that your license MAY NOT BE CONFISCATED at a
traffic apprehension. The only time they can do
so is if you are part of an accident, or it is your third violation and
you have not settled your fines yet. They
are only allowed to give you a ticket, which you can contest. He
recommends actually receiving the ticket in some
instances, so that you can report the officer who did it.

5. Also, you are free to ask any of these officers for their "mission
order", which is written by their supervisor.
If they apprehend you for a violation that is not in their mission order
for the day, you can report them and they
will receive disciplinary action.

So go out and fight for your rights if and when the occasion arises!