Ten thousand gallons of gas would almost be enough fuel to drive a car the 2, 600 miles around the world.
Most people don’t buy gas in such a massive quantity but the University of Kansas does.
Two 10,000-gallon tanks are buried in West Campus near the Facilities Operations garage, one for unleaded fuel the other for diesel.
The University fills the unleaded tank every eight to 10 days, said Steve Green, associate director of business operations for the Department of Facilities Operations.
The bill for the last refill was $17,500, an average of $1.75 a gallon.
“We keep cost down by buying our gas from Kansas fuel dealers,” Green said.
Gas is bought in bulk so the University doesn’t exceed budget, even if gas costs soar, he said.
The University bought 140,000 gallons worth of gas in 2004.
All University vehicles use fuel from the tanks — all but KU on Wheels.
The University bus system purchases its fuel through the Lawrence Bus Company, 837 Pennsylvania St., Blake Huff, transportation coordinator for KU on Wheels.
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“We try to keep cost low by contracting fuel from the bus company,” Huff said. “However, when costs goes up for them, they pass it along to us.”
In the two weeks the buses ran this past December, KU on Wheels paid $1.65 a gallon in diesel. At that price the organization was saving nearly 40 cents a gallon.
Every month fuel prices are higher than the contracted price, KU on Wheels pays for the difference, Huff said. Last December the difference for two weeks came to more than $2,000 dollars difference.
Buses fill daily and buy about six to seven thousand gallons of gas every two weeks, Huff said.
“Our costs haven't really gone up too much, but we do have to make up the difference,” Huff said. “We are buying it from another company and they have to recoup expenses for the difference in price.”
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