Pumping Gas / Shut Off Question

Discussion in 'Dodge Challenger General Discussions' started by synoptic12, Oct 21, 2021.

  1. Yes

    5 vote(s)
    62.5%
  2. No

    3 vote(s)
    37.5%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. SRT-Tom

    SRT-Tom Well-Known Member Staff Member Super Moderator Article Writer

    Posts:
    7,061
    Likes Received:
    2,174
    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2011
    Location:
    southern New Jersey
    That's good advice, but in NJ, the attendants always try to round off your purchase to whole dollars to make change easier.
     
  2. NC20RT

    NC20RT Full Access Member

    Posts:
    904
    Likes Received:
    633
    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2021
    Location:
    Mountains of western NC
    I noticed that too but when we hit the NJ Turnpike it seems the attendants are overloaded with cars so I just do my own. They never say anything. They must see that all the time from 'out of staters'. On that one occasion I could not get my car to accept fuel and he showed me the trick of 'upside down'. I certainly appreciated it as I used the method elsewhere as I earlier posted. I never had an issue of feeding fuel into any car I have owned over the first several decades of my driving life. Always something new.
     
  3. B5blueRT

    B5blueRT Full Access Member

    Posts:
    1,129
    Likes Received:
    540
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2018
    Location:
    Broadview Hts., Ohio
    What's the reason NJ and OR have attendants to pump gas? I assume that drives the price up to pay for the added labor.
     
  4. 70-426_10-SRT

    70-426_10-SRT B&E body lover

    Age:
    64
    Posts:
    1,947
    Likes Received:
    894
    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2018
    Location:
    PDX
    As it RAINS 70% of the year here (or least it feels like it) I don't usually mind, but

    It's really all about CONTROL.

    According to: https://www.staroilco.net/oregon-and-self-serve-laws-at-the-pump/

    1. Safety – As a class 1 flammable liquid, some basic safety procedures should be followed. Since a cashier can’t watch all the pumps all the time, trained attendants are there. This also allows people to reduce personal injury or exposure to the fumes. In addition, attendants are likely to notice safety issues on a vehicle such as a low tire or faulty windshield wipers and such report to the driver to keep them safe. The law specifically mentions the weather we have in Oregon as a safety reason: the risk of slipping in the rain. Supposedly, all these benefits reduces insurance liability to the service stations.
    2. Equable Treatment of Seniors & Disabled – A senior or a disabled person my find it harder to get out of their vehicle and perform the functions of pumping their gas. Because of this they would be forced to go to a full service station and pay a premium for this service, which isn’t equitable.
    3. Jobs – This is the most commonly cited reason for continuing to employ service station attendants and is part of the statue. The cost that an attendant incurs per gallon wasn’t considered to be excessive especially since Oregon doesn’t have a sales tax. As minimum wages increase, this may change.
     
    NC20RT likes this.
  5. SRT-Tom

    SRT-Tom Well-Known Member Staff Member Super Moderator Article Writer

    Posts:
    7,061
    Likes Received:
    2,174
    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2011
    Location:
    southern New Jersey
    Until they raised the tax a few years ago, NJ had one of the cheapest prices for gasoline. In fact, many PA drivers frequently came over the bridges to tank up.

    Its ban on self-serve goes back 72 years. The Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act and Regulations of 1949 banned drivers from pumping their own gas in NJ, and the rules are still in effect.

    Like so many laws, the statute claims the ban is for drivers’ own good. Specifically, the regulations cite fire hazards directly associated with dispensing fuel. Because of this, "it is in the public interest that gasoline station operators have the control needed over that activity to ensure compliance with appropriate safety procedures, including turning off vehicle engines and refraining from smoking while fuel is dispensed."

    But the government version may not be the whole story. The passage of the Act was motivated by something a little less pure than safety- money. In the 1940s, when self-service was unheard of in most of the country, a gas station owner offered lower prices to customers willing to pump their own gas. The gimmick was wildly popular and soon became a threat to competing gas stations. Rival station owners reacted by persuading state lawmakers to outlaw self-serve," and the state legislature made this practice illegal.

    As more and more states around the country began to offer self-serve gas stations in the 1970s and '80s, New Jersey stayed put. Nowadays, some politicians will even refer to the matter as a source of state identity and pride. In 2011, Governor Chris Christie said, "People in New Jersey love the idea that they’ve got somebody to pump their gas," adding, "I don’t see that changing."

    In 2015, New Jersey General Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon introduced a bill that would lift the ban. “I am offended by people that argue that New Jerseyans are mentally incapable of pumping their own gas without setting themselves on fire," O'Scanlon said in a press statement. O'Scanlon made one semi-concession to the old law, recommending that stations hang signs on gas pumps reminding people to turn off their engines. The recommended text seemed to mirror the assemblyman’s exasperation: “Do not, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, set yourself on fire!!”

    Despite this helpful suggestion, O’Scanlon’s bill was not to be, as State Senate President Stephen Sweeney blocked the vote. "I will oppose any attempt to rescind the law that has effectively served the best interests of the state's motorists for decades," Sweeney said in a press statement. "As long as I am Senate President, the ban on self-serve will stay in place."

    "We've been doing it the right way in New Jersey,” Sweeney concluded. “We should not change."
     
  6. NC20RT

    NC20RT Full Access Member

    Posts:
    904
    Likes Received:
    633
    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2021
    Location:
    Mountains of western NC
    The only thing I agree with in regards to mandating gas attendants is that it indeed helps many elderly folks. That's a good thing for sure. Everything else, nah...:thumbsdown:

    I'd personally be a wreck every time someone else filled my gas tank. These attendants get tired and worn out, and could care less about scratches, fuel spilling on the car or anything else towards the end of their shift, especially on a rainy or snowy day. I'm so pleased to be able to do it myself.
     
    70-426_10-SRT likes this.
  7. B5blueRT

    B5blueRT Full Access Member

    Posts:
    1,129
    Likes Received:
    540
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2018
    Location:
    Broadview Hts., Ohio
    As a former full service attendant from the 70's I applaud those states that can keep the tradition alive. As I read the explanations FOR having attendants I was chuckling a bit about the safety reasons - fire and slipping. You don't hear about customers starting their own fires while filling, that percentage has to be really low. Most I hear about are if/when a car crashes into a pump. Slipping in the rain? True but think of all the states with snow and ice around the pumps during winter seasons. If safety were really an issue I'd expect more states would have full serve stations.

    Like NC20RT, I would be nervous watching an attendant letting the gas cap drag across the quarter panel instead of hanging it off the gas door or swinging the pump nozzle around close to the paint while they struggle to straighten out the gas hose.

    However, with winter right on top of us now, I'd go to a full serve station if it were ever offered here. It sucks getting out in shitty cold windy weather. Just IMO.
     
    Green with Envy and NC20RT like this.
  8. NC20RT

    NC20RT Full Access Member

    Posts:
    904
    Likes Received:
    633
    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2021
    Location:
    Mountains of western NC
    OK. I really concentrated yesterday while getting some fuel at a local BP. It was so 'second nature' and automatic to me that I wanted to make sure what I did. It was in the Challenger.
    I squeezed slowly until I reached that first slot that locks in the handle for even flow. No issues and it shut off by itself. It obviously depends what service stations and what state you are in apparently but that's how I do it here in the GA/NC area. None of that full open throttle stuff.
     
  9. Green with Envy

    Green with Envy Full Access Member

    Posts:
    134
    Likes Received:
    85
    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2021
    Location:
    Marshall Texas
    Interesting thing having someone to just stick a gas nozzle in your vehicle to put fuel in. I've pumped my on fuel here in Texas for well over forty years. Back in the good old days when we had service stations there would be as many as four guys come out to gas up your vehicle. One pumping gas , one checking under the hood , one checking tire pressure and one and one cleaning windshield and vacuuming out the car. That's what I call service, I don't need some guy standing there putting in my fuel unless they are going to do all the above service I mentioned like we use to see. Anyone can pump gas.
     
    B5blueRT and NC20RT like this.
  10. SRT-Tom

    SRT-Tom Well-Known Member Staff Member Super Moderator Article Writer

    Posts:
    7,061
    Likes Received:
    2,174
    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2011
    Location:
    southern New Jersey

    Also, gas stations used to offer S & H green stamps that you could redeem for merchandise.


    [​IMG]
     
    B5blueRT, Green with Envy and NC20RT like this.