For hauling a 55 gallon drum, I lay the drum on its side , so its not noticable , as it is below the side of the box.No sense drawing attention to yourself! To unload the drum from my truck, remove the tailgate, and lay a couple of 2 x4s on the trucks rear bumper, and roll it down the ramp. A buddy does use his engine hoist, with an old serpentine belt looped round the drum as a pick up point. sounds kinda sketchy, but he has been using the same serp. belt for years for picking up iron BB Chevy, 460 Fords, and MoPar Hemi blocks by looping the belt thru the main bearing bores with no issues. Regarding shelf life, I have used VP C12 that has been inside the 55 gallon drum for 2 years that ran as good as fresh gas, although if you race in a class where Tech performs fuel check several times over the course of a weekend, like Stock or Super Stock, at a National event or division points meet, I would look for fresher fuel, or at least take a sample to the fuel check team BEFORE your first time trial, to make sure it will pass. If your fuel fails fuel check, (or is a couple of pounds light), that qualifying run will be considered a DQ. Buying the race gas in 5 gallon cans, at least for VP, is typically much more costly per gallon, than compared to a 55 gallon drum.
