So why am I writing about QT? Two reasons. The first is service. The employees are awesome. I watched a guy\u00a0emptying\u00a0trash cans today literally running from one to the next.\u00a0The folks working the register are nearly always working two customers at a time.\u00a0Inside the place is spotless. They also seem to be genuinely friendly.<\/p>\n But since I’m supposed to be writing about cars, I need to point out\u00a0there is an automotive reason\u00a0buy gas at QT. Like the old Hebrew National kosher hot dog\u00a0commercial used to say, they\u00a0answer to a higher standard.\u00a0QT’s gas meets something called the Top Tier <\/a>standard. \u00a0Top Tier was established back in\u00a02004 by BMW, GM, Honda and Toyota. Volkswagen and Audi jumped on board in 2007. Top Tier gas basically contains a higher detergent level than is required by the EPA. According to the manufacturers, Top Tier gas does a better job of keeping carbon deposits from building up inside your engine. The goal is to make your engine last longer. You can buy it at a variety of gas stations ranging from Chevron to Shell.<\/p>\n This higher detergent level is controversial. Some folks say it’s nothing more than a marketing ploy by the manufacturers and the gas companies selling fuel that meets the standards. One argument says all you’d have to do is use a fuel system cleaning additive at about 100,000 to get the same result.<\/p>\n Now I’ve always been a believer that gas is gas. They all have to meet the same basic standards. I’m not enough of an engineer to have a clue as to whether Top Tier is going to make any difference at all. But if I can pay the same price (or less) to get Top Tier fuel, and have friendly staff with a clean, modern place to buy it, I’m in. If it really does make a difference, then I’m in a win-win situation. If it doesn’t, then I can at least sleep the peace of the ignorant and pretend I’m making a difference for the engine that’s working so hard every time I stomp the throttle.<\/p>\n That’s why I’m a QT kind of guy.<\/p>\n Check out an article from Harvard Business School <\/a>on how Quik Trip’s investment in its employees is paying off.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i2.cdn.turner.com\/money\/.element\/img\/1.0\/sections\/mag\/fortune\/bestcompanies\/2011\/snapshots\/quiktrip.jpg?resize=272%2C204\" "\\"Quiktrip\\"")
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