Road Oil

Serving Missouri and Illinois

Road Maintenance Since 1954

Piasa Road Oil, LLC is in the business of furnishing and applying liquid asphalt and emulsion. We participate in bids for municipalities and county governments in the Southwestern Illinois area for their road maintenance programs.


Piasa Road Oil also bids on oil and chip application for improvements to parking lots, driveways, lanes and subdivisions. We can quote jobs for time and material for the oil and truck in addition to quoting the entire job as turnkey.


For private bid pricing information and quotations, please call 618-216-4525

For government/municipality pricing and to schedule application dates, please call 618-216-4525


Piasa Road Oil has been in the road maintenance business since 1954. We understand some of you may be new to the business and may not know how to calculate gallons needed for a job, how jobs are billed to you, how much product can be applied in a day, etc. Although this is a sealed bid business, Piasa is here to help ensure you are getting a quality job for the money. At today’s prices, you need to know that you are getting all of the oil, that it is applied in a professional manner, and at the agreed upon price.

How Many Gallons Do I Need?

To calculate the gallons required for a job, you multiply the length IN FEET of the road by the width IN FEET of the road. Divide that number by 9. This answer gives you the total number of square yards. You will then multiply this number by your desired application rate, 0.35 gallons for example. You now know how many gross gallons it will take for the job.

[LENGTH (in feet) x WIDTH (in feet)] / 9

= TOTAL SQUARE YARDS


TOTAL SQUARE YARDS x APPLICATION RATE

= TOTAL GALLONS NEEDED

Other Questions

  • What is a gross gallon and why does it matter?

    Remember back to your school days…when a liquid is heated, it expands. Although the products volume gets bigger as it is warmed, the per gallon weight does not change. Each load, whether delivered on the distributor or a trailer, should be accompanied with a weight ticket indicating how many net gallons were on the vessel and will subsequently be charged to you. Government bids require that vendors charge in net gallons. A net gallon is the volume of product when the temperature is adjusted to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, no matter how hot or cold a liquid is, one gallon always weighs the same. Because liquid asphalts and emulsions are always warmer than 60 Degrees F, there will be more gross gallons than net gallons. For instance, a trailer load of 5800 net gallons may expand to around 6200 gross gallons. Even though you will be able to cover more road surface with the expanded volume, you should not be charged on a gross gallon basis. Make sure that your contractors charge you by the net gallon.

  • Are there any other charges that I should be aware of?

    Cover and seal coat bids to municipalities, counties, townships, and road districts will only be charged the per gallon bid price. There are no hidden or extra fees charged by Piasa, and there should not be any allowable additional fees for cover and seal coats.

  • How do I know the distributor truck is empty when it leaves?

    When the truck runs out of product, the liquid will no longer fan out of the nozzles. The appearance will quickly change to a fog. This is how you know the truck is empty. It is best to ensure that the truck is utilizing the rear suction and is on a flat surface or slightly pointing up hill. For the best results, it is not recommended that the distributor travel many linear feet with a fog until the last load of the day. This will ensure a) you get a good job, b) you get all of your product, and c) our truck can be completely empty prior to our next job.

  • How do I know the trailer is empty before it leaves?

    By using the above table, you should know about how many gallons each one of your roads will take. You should also observe how many gallons are loaded each time the distributor returns to the trailer. The telltale sign that the trailer is completely empty is when the hose begins to jump. This is caused by the air being sucked into the distributor truck. Make sure the nose of the trailer is higher than the discharge and allow the hose to jump for a couple of minutes prior to closing the valves. This will give you a good indication that all gallons have been off loaded.