How we rank dealers

In this order, every time. Nothing on this list is about who the dealer is, and we publish it so you can check.

1. 1Lowest priceNot the lowest per-gallon rate — the actual total for the gallons you asked for, at the band you land in. A dealer with a great 300-gallon price and a poor 100-gallon price does not get to advertise the good one at you when you’re buying 100. Before you’ve said how much you want, we rank on the price of 100 gallons, which is every dealer’s minimum and the first row of every ladder on the page.
2. 2Soonest deliveryIf two dealers cost the same, the one who can come sooner goes first.
3. 3Highest ratingEarned from completed deliveries on this site. Only a customer with a paid, completed delivery can leave one, which is more than Google or Yelp can say. Hidden entirely until a dealer has 25 deliveries behind it — a new dealer has nothing to show yet, which is not the same as being bad.
4. 4Best on-time recordThe share of deliveries that arrived on or before the promised day. Weather delays are excluded, because they are real in this business — though we watch how often each dealer claims one.
5. 5RotationAnything still tied rotates, in order, every search. Not random — random only tends toward fair, and a dealer who asks deserves a better answer than "on average it evens out".

What can’t move a dealer up

• Paying us. A dealer can sponsor a tie — when two prices are identical, a sponsor goes first. No amount of money puts a dealer above a cheaper one.
• Alphabetical order. On other sites two dealers at the same price sort by company name, which is why so many of them begin with an A.
• Who owns them, including us. We set no dealer’s price and take no cut of it — every dealer sets their own margin and keeps it.

Why the names are hidden

You see the price, the delivery date and the dealer’s record before you see who they are — and the name appears the moment you order, because you need to know who’s coming to your house. Hiding it until then is what keeps the competition on price. A dealer whose own website charges more can quote you less here without undercutting themselves in public, and that discount is the entire reason this site is worth using.