A lubricity additive is added to low sulphur fuel to make up for what is lost by the new refining process. Supposed to be, anyway. It's often done at the distributor level, not at the refinery. Putting in the additives at the distributor level is common practice and has been for decades. Raw un-additivized fuel is shipped to the distributors who then add their own additives (to suit the brand name... each has their own recipe). Some additivized fuel is shipped from refineries, such as a Chevron refinery that might also be the local distributor for example. Anyway, if the fuel is properly bended, no additional additives are needed. If not, it won't kill your pump right away but a long term diet is harmful. The real issue is the whether the distributor is a corner-cutter or has a bozos on staff that screw up when installing the additives.To the extent there is a problem, that's where it lies. Did the research for a story a few years back and talked to a fellow at Chevron and a couple of regional distributors. The story got killed but the research didn't go to waste!
The Spicer test as linked above is a good one and to the extent I add anything, it's 2-stroke oil. Has better lubricity than some (many) of the high dollar additives AND it's designed to be combusted... which means no carbon deposits.
You read a lot of about ULSD and lubricity but I think it's overhyped by and large. The worst of the chicken little talk comes from the people who have the most to gain from us hershey-squirting and frantically buying additives. Adds a lot to the fuel costs if you do. Talk to pump shops and you don't see a rash of failures due to ULSD. Again, a good distributor = good fuel and no need for additives. Long trips and unknown stations is when I would consider an additive.
