# What happened to the Grounding Strap dragging beneath gasoline tankers?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happened-to-the-grounding-strap-dragging-beneath-gasoline-tankers/192561>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [August 30, 2023, 4:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happened-to-the-grounding-strap-dragging-beneath-gasoline-tankers/192561 "2023-08-30T04:02:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 4:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happened-to-the-grounding-strap-dragging-beneath-gasoline-tankers/192561/1 "2023-08-30T04:02:39Z")

</div>

As a young boy, I wondered if their friction created _more_ staticharge.  
Are modern rubber tires formulated to be morelectrically conductive so less need for a grounding strap?

Thank you.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![It\_s-Me](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/it_s-me/32/12660_2.png) [@It\_s-Me](https://community.cartalk.com/u/It_s-Me)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 4:18am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happened-to-the-grounding-strap-dragging-beneath-gasoline-tankers/192561/2 "2023-08-30T04:18:02Z")

</div>

Some people have a short memory

> [@What happened to Ground Straps seen dragging beneath fuel trucks years ago?](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happened-to-ground-straps-seen-dragging-beneath-fuel-trucks-years-ago/90680):
>
> Are tires now made with an electrically conductive material? Or was road surface friction from the ground straps producing more of an electrical charge? Thank you.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 4:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happened-to-the-grounding-strap-dragging-beneath-gasoline-tankers/192561/3 "2023-08-30T04:21:38Z")

</div>

Ha! Eight years ago. Forgothat I asked.  
Thank you.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-happened-to-the-grounding-strap-dragging-beneath-gasoline-tankers/192561/4 "2023-08-30T22:31:01Z")

</div>

Forgetting posting the same topic, 8 years later? No worries, definitely forgivable 🙂

Tom & Ray got a related query on a recent podcast, not about big trucks but a particular make/model of passenger car. Every time the caller paid the road-toll to the toll-taker, they both get a shock. The toll-taker said “all of those make/models do it”. The caller asks: why would my particular make/model cause a shock, but not others? Tom & Ray at first suggested it may have to do with the seat covering material used on that particular car. On the next episode they did a re-think & decided it probably wasn’t the seat material, but something about the tire material. IIRC the graphite content (graphite conducts electricity) was reduced to improve the rolling resistance and better the car’s mpg.