There is always someone selling diesel a few cents cheaper. Sometimes it is a real margin decision and the product is fine. Often it is not, and the difference shows up three months later in a workshop invoice rather than on the fuel account, which is why it is so easy to miss.
Contaminated or off-spec diesel does its damage slowly. Filters block sooner. Injectors foul and spray unevenly, so combustion gets dirtier and consumption creeps up. A truck that used to do a route on a known quantity of fuel starts needing more, and nobody connects it back to the supplier who was a little cheaper.
The price you see is not the price you pay
The arithmetic is not close. A set of injectors on a modern engine costs more than the entire saving on a year of discounted fuel, and that is before the days the vehicle is off the road. Add the fuel efficiency you lose while the engine is running badly and the discount has been negative for a long time.
Ask where the product came from and ask for the paperwork. Any legitimate supplier can tell you the depot and show you a delivery note that matches the load. Look at the fuel itself: clean diesel is clear and bright, not hazy. Haze means water. Keep a sample jar from each delivery for a month and you will spot a bad load before your engines do.
Fuel is the only thing on a site that is consumed by every machine you own. It is a strange place to look for a discount.Global Energies Africa
How to check what you are buying
We buy from established depots, we move product on our own trucks and we seal every load at loading. That is not a premium service, it is the minimum standard, and it is what the price per litre is actually for.
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