Here is what TSD posted on their FB page .
" I know everyone noticed the reduced discount at Loves today. They are still on our discount network, just pulled back a little on the discount. We all knew that the large discount couldn't be sustained with the low fuel prices. However TA is being aggressive during this time with their discounts trying to win customers over. Discounts will fluctuate over the course of time which is why we are working on expanding our discount network to have flexibility so when one is low you have other options to choose from. Keep looking for the lowest price regardless of the chain."
Bottom line I think the fuel price is so low now Loves can't give the deep discounts they were giving. Other than Pilot I get the feeling this will be a changing thing all the time. Loves was good for a year. Looks like it's TA and Petro for this years deep discount. I don't know how any of them can go but so low. The price of fuel is so low now. What are they going to do? Sell it to us at a loss? LOL
Well, that's kind of good to know, glad to hear it wasn't something more systemic (Good Sam again, thanks for nothing!).
I continue to be fascinated by the economics behind this. To your last point, "sell it at a loss", no, I don't THINK they are doing that, but? Are they?!
In my area, Loves, on the app, is 1.99/gallon. TA is 1.33/gallon. Difference of .66/gallon between the two. So, what's going on?! What's the "buy price" right now on a tanker full of diesel per gallon? 1? 2? 1.20? Is TA buying it at 1/gallon and Loves spending 1.75? I've always thought that gas/diesel was a VERY low margin business. Like, if they are selling it for 1.99, they probably paid about 1.70-1.90 per gallon for it. I thought it was a volume business, not a markup/margin business. But, TSD is blowing that all to pieces for me. I sincerely doubt that TA is selling me diesel fuel at 1.33/gallon and losing money. So, let's just pick a number, let's say TA is buying fuel at 1.10 a gallon and selling it at 1.33, making about 20% on the transaction. If TA can buy at 1.10 a gallon, I can't see any reason that Love's can't buy at that price too, which means that if I go to my Loves and pay 1.99/gallon, it's almost 2X markup?! That's not a "low margin" business, in fact, it's an extremely high margin business. That would mean that my fuel up at Loves, assuming I do my truck and transfer tanks (about 200 gallons) would make them close to 150 dollars in 10 minutes? Holy crap! That's a money printing machine (a diesel pump, who would have thought it!).
I just don't get what's going on here from an economic standpoint. I mean, if TA can sell fuel at 1.33/gallon to TSD and make money, why aren't there some gas stations, even small independants, selling diesel at that rate to generate business? It's been boggling my mind since I got the TSD card, I just don't see how you sell a commodity like diesel fuel that entirely fungible and transparently (well, apparently not!) priced all up and down the highway at 20-50% off. It makes no sense to me, I said, jokingly, in another thread, I feel like I could make money now buying from TA and hauling it to Loves, selling it to them for 10% over what I paid for it, and they'd still make .50c per gallon selling it at their posted rate.
Since I don't think that anyone is selling below cost, what I do think that is that, specifically in diesel fuel, there are really 2 markets. The high consumption trucker market, where they pay a "TSD type" price, which is closely linked to the real price of diesel fuel. That's the "normal" low margin business that I thought was the entire fuel market. Then there's the other market, call it the "suckers market" where people pay close to 2X that for the small amounts of diesel that they need. All out of the same pumps from the same station selling the same fuel. Kind of like how you can buy premixed 2 stroke fuel at Lowes for 25/gallon or make your own out of no-E gas for about 3/gallon? Anyone using any appreciable amount of 2 stroke gas is going to pay 3/gallon, the "suckers" are going to pay the "posted rate" at Lowes?
I love my TSD card, and I'm so glad that they do what they do; hopefully the discounts at Loves come back in line, but, for now, it's TA for me. But it boggles my mind every time I fill up and see these huge discounts, I just don't know how they can do what they do, but I'm real glad they do it! I just hope they get into other commodity markets soon, let's find a way to buy gold at 1000/oz.
I was just getting ready to look for a new TV and was going to let the TSD card make the payments. 
