Thank you for all of your welcomes!
Back to the lighter fluid lighting method, I tried it again tonight. The charcoal pan was filled and wet with lighter fluid, placed in the Pit Barrel, then lit. After 25 minutes, most of the coals had ashed over, but those near the vent side were still black. They accounted for about one fourth of the pan.
When it was first burning, I noticed the flames never made it to that area, so I'm suspecting this is the problem. The incoming air is keeping that portion of the coals from igniting.
To get around this, I moved those coals on top of the lit coals, and waited until they were ashed over. So, what am I doing wrong? Do most of you do the initial charcoal burn inside the PBC?