I didn’t want to highjack the “Gas Thieves!” thread so I figured to start a new one. It was brought up, in the other thread, that people in Oregon and New Jersey don’t pump their own fuel and that is it done for them by someone that works at the station. I remember the time, and was part of it, when every gas station had pump jockeys that not only pumped the gas for you but also checked your oil level and cleaned your windshield. Those full service stations were phased out, at least here in the south, by so called convenience stores that made most of their money by selling beer and smokes. They charged less for self service gas and made up for it on other items. Full service stations couldn’t compete and started disappearing like drive-in movies and drive-in dinners with Car Hops. Question is, what other states require someone else to pump your gas for you and why? If it’s for Health reasons, then why is it better for one person to be doing this 8 hrs a day vice an individual doing it maybe once a week for less than 10 minutes. Also what does the requirement of an extra person do to the already inflated price of liquid gold.
as zgears said ..it subsidizes those that would end up on welfare anyways..at least thats the way i see it
NJ has cheapest gas in this area, but that's because of taxes and has little to do with self serve issues... I often wonder about the actual economics. Self serve allows the station to run without a pump jockey, but self serve stations always seem to me to be very inefficient places when I'm buying out of state. Customers are just not as good at the pumping, and payment seems slow and clumsy except for transactions that use a credit card read directly by the pump. And this is in areas where the cashier is basically trusting the customers to run the process and then pay...in urban areas, customers have to pay or hand over card first, then return to cashier to settle the actual charge. Always looks to be slower than getting pumped, handing payment out the window, and cars stack up waiting.
And...around here, the "pump *****s" are mostly Indian or ****stani immigrants, who consistently display larger vocabulary, more complex sentence structure, and FAR better manners than most of the "regular Americans" I bump into at cash registers. I don't know their IQ scores, but it looks to me like they're improving the local gene pool.
Yeah I found that out the hard way in Oregon. When I was stationed out there, the wife and I took a trip to Astoria. We stopped at a small station, in BFE, I pulled up and started pumping. This 18 year old freckled face retard comes running across the lot screaming at me. He yells at me I'm breaking the law, to which my response was WTF??????? I figured it was a town thing them he told me it was state law. Just like zgears said, it creates jobs you have to pay for with your gas. Really doesn't matter, because you would have been paying them welfare anyway. I guess the states think we'll actually feel better because they are doing something to earn it.
The Indian and ****stani Run most of the convenience stores and Motels around here. And the Pre Pay bit is because of the Gas Thieves that pump and drive off. Most of the Self-Serve's have cameras on the pumps to record tag numbers and here in SC a Drive off can cause you to lose your license. Not that losing their license will stop them from driving, but it does make for more car chases.
Richmond Canada but if you decide to pump it yourself you are labile if something happens i don't know what can happen but what ever it's the gas stations rules so it's probably something stupid. Ohh ya u also got to pay before u fill to stop people from stealing gas don't know if this happens else where.
Washington has been pumping it's own gas for decades, and it works pretty well. The current pumps take both cash and cards, plus you don't have to worry about someone else being across the island when the shutoff fails and runs gas all over your car. Oregon now allows motorcycles to pump their own, which is a big plus.
Prob wont visit a state that wont let a person pump ther own gas.............I also have my choice of two different stations out in the country where I live, one is prepay one is not. I go to the one that lets me fill up and then pay. How the **** am I to know what the tank will take and pay it AHEAD of time? Especially with prices dancing around every couple day.
I love it for the most part. I can drop a motor in and get it running in 2 hrs flat, but when it comes to pumping my own gas I am reduced to the likes of a soccer mom in an minivan. No clue. Bruce is right, usually always Indian or some such pumping the gas. And our gas in this area is cheap (relative term) The cheapest gas in the nation is usually between south Jersey area and Newark NJ. Ill pay the extra 20 cents/gallon to not have to drive the long 5 miles into the ghetto for Newark gas tho. Funny quick story tho...my old band was on tour with a band from Jacksonville Florida, and long/short they always avoided getting gas in Jersey. I was like why? They said they had to a few times but hated tipping the gas dude. I rolled on the floor. They were shocked, all that money they spent tipping the guy pumping the gas for all those years haha. I guess to an out of stater it is odd.
When I pull up to the pump in my hot rod here in South Jersey, even though I am not allowed to pump my own, the gas attendants usually defer to me as they don't want to scratch or overflow gas down my tank and paint.........if they don't offer, I just ask them if I can pump it and mostly they agree.........it works out..... CB
Yeah I forgot to mention that in a cl***ic car you can almost always pump your own. Usually they dont want to screw up your car and prefer it. I have a few times in my old Merc cuz the filler was in the trunk.
When I lived up in New Jersey, I pumped my own gas into my hot rod, and none of the stations ever complained. I will say that on a cold winter morning, or in the middle of a heavy rain storm, it was nice to not get out and pump!
Wow.... People WHINE about jobs going overseas.... Same people whine about gas stations creating a job for Americans.... If you've never been to Oregon (or NJ), you shouldn't reply.....because you have no clue....
FWIW, when I'm in Oregon (in the A) they hand me the hose after they get the pump sorted out. Maybe I'm just lucky?
I never knew that NJ and OR wouldn't let you pump your own gas.. soudns retarded to me. As far as self serve being inefficient, well I guess it is a bit slower but there are very few stations here in north dallas that I have to wait at. Maybe the customers are slower but everyone still gets gas.
Last summer we took a trip in the daily from michigan to utah pretty much right thru I80 i think it was and i pumped my own in every state we were in? I also didnt know that oregon or new jersey didnt allow that .. I had to train my wife on filling her car cause she had never done it at 40 years old and i got tired of running down and filling the damn thing up for her.. Now occasionally I still go fill it up for her but mostly when i need it for a run somewhere.. Dave
I live in NJ, our gas is usually the cheepest in the nation for 2 reasons our taxes are lower and we also have the refineries which lowers the transportation cost. When ever someone in the state legislature introduces a bill to have self serve it is easily defeated for to reasons 1 the price of gas would not be lower because someone still has to work at the station and 2
I was visiting relatives of mine out in Philly and one day we took a day trip down to Atlantic City. On the way there, we stopped for gas, I offered to pay for and pump the gas. Everyone started to laugh at me like I was some foreigner or something...They were like you're not allowed to pump your own gas in Jersey. I asked why and no one knew haha
I've never once had an attendant pump gas for me. I saw in California that some places offered it, but never took them up on the offer. Seems silly to me. I drive up to a pump, swipe my card, pump gas, drive off. Why do I need to have someone else involved?
Just out of curiosity ('cause this just occured to me) how many 'drive offs' do they have in New Jersy or Oregon? I'm guessing not too many, if the pumps are set up to where the attendant has to turn them on.
In California, most of the gas stations are corporate owned, hence the self-serve. I use to be a pump jockey in the 60's. For $1 worth of gas, we would do the front and back windshield. For $2 and above, it was all the window and check the hood, air upon request. We even gave 5X blue chip stamps and coffee mugs.
Its all about getting something for nothing, and no one is better at it than the gas companies. Absolutely no service and in lot of places they won't upgrade their pumps so you can just fill up no they make you are forced to go inside their mini-mart. Lived in Oregon most of my life and just recently moved to WA where its all self serve, and guess what I pay more in WA than OR. Who's fooling or hosing who? Service stations are a thing of the past!
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