Hmm, okay. In my neck of the woods, the independents buy from wherever gas is cheapest, but the major chains always seem to use their own trucks, at least from what I can see ...
In Florida, the majors have eliminated their own trucks and are all on common carriers. Out of Tampa, BP was the last holdout, and they were only running one truck until their 30 year man finally retired. When he retired, they switched over too. I think Chevron still has their own at Port Everglades. Sad state of economics- it is cheaper to contract to the common carriers than to pay for your own employees. It is good to work for the big boys- pay is great, benefits are good, and so on. Not so much so at the common carriers.
The gas itself can come from anywhere. Marathon/Ashland has one of the largest loading terminals in Tampa and I have delivered from Marathon to BPs, Texacos, Shells, Citgos (Citgoes?), and so on, even though BP, Citgo, and Shell also have terminals in Tampa. EVERYONE goes where it is cheapest, and it is not necessarily cheaper from yourself for some reason.
Sorry about taking us down a rathole in the thread.......
