When you go to a gas station in an urban area, you will probably never see a large commercial truck except for maybe the fuel truck that delivers fuel to the gas station. You see trucks on the road every day, but what stations are they going to? The answer is commercial fuel stations.
What Is A Commercial Fuel Station?
A commercial fuel station is a station that is specifically made for commercial vehicles such as box trucks, semi-trucks, cranes, etc.. Most commercial fuel stations in California are a part of one of two networks, CFN (commercial fueling network) or Pac Pride (Pacific Pride). Anyone with a CFN fuel card can get fuel at CFN commercial fuel stations and anyone with a Pac Pride fuel card can get fuel at Pac Pride commercial fuel stations.
How Are Commercial Stations Different Than Retail Gas Stations?
Size
A typical retail gas station in an urban area has no room for an 18-wheeler. However, commercial fuel stations are built much larger with turnabouts to accommodate the largest trucks, which help drivers get in and out of stations with ease.
Unattended
Commercial fuel stations are often unattended meaning that there is no station attendant, convenience store, fast food restaurant, etc.. This is beneficial to drivers because they can get fuel and get back on the road without battling retail store traffic.
Types of Fuel
Majority of retail gas stations have only gas pumps and maybe one lonely diesel island in the back corner of the station. On the other hand, commercial stations have more diesel pumps than gas pumps. Some commercial fuel stations even carry red dyed diesel, diesel exhaust fluid, and novelty fuels such as race gas.
Dual Pumps
Most commercial fuel stations have dual pumps so that drivers can fill both fuel tanks at once. This is important because drivers don’t have to fill one tank then pull the truck around and fill the other tank, which enables drivers to get fuel in less than half the time.
Payment Options
Retail gas stations take credit, debit, and cash while most commercial fuel stations only accept fleet cards. For example, most CFN commercial stations only accept the CFN fleet fuel card.
