Gas Question

[Kimberly]

Sorry, not buying this! I've lived here my entire life, as has DH. My parents have also lived in NJ their entire life (70 years). We have never had any damage done to the fuel lines in our vehicles, and don't know anyone who has. I can't imagine someone having this happen often, if at all. You know the grade - you can see them push the button, and the cost per gallon.

Okay... considering I knew several others that had this very same problem.

 

[bballmom56]

Yep, here we go again! Yes, we have attendants and yes, we like it. At least I do! I actually have never heard anyone who lives in NJ complain about not having self serve.

 

[dislaney]

Yep, here we go again! Yes, we have attendants and yes, we like it. At least I do! I actually have never heard anyone who lives in NJ complain about not having self serve.

I would love to have attendants here. It's hard to even find a full service station around here anymore!

 

[tvguy]

In California, if you have a Disabled License plate or placard, the attendant has to come pump the gas for you, even if it is a self service only gas station. And you pay the self service price. Only exception is if there is just one employee on duty at the gas station, then they do not have to do it for you.

Heck, there was a move for a while in California to ban the sale of milk, unless it had non-fat milk solids added to it. Yup, milk as it comes from the cow would have been illegal. Apparently at the time there was a huge surplus of milk, and non-fat milk solids, and this would have been a way to justify a hike in the price paid to dairy farmers for milk.

 

[mjkacmom]

Okay... considering I knew several others that had this very same problem.

I'm guessing they weren't NJ residents, and were just stopping by...

 

[Jennasis]

I'm guessing they weren't NJ residents, and were just stopping by...

How would that make any difference? Either an attendant broke the car or didn't. Where the vehicle owner lives is of no consequence if the breaking happened in NJ.

My mom's car was broken twice by an attendant, but it was at a full-serve on Long Island.

 

[DrCavin]

In California, if you have a Disabled License plate or placard, the attendant has to come pump the gas for you, even if it is a self service only gas station. And you pay the self service price. Only exception is if there is just one employee on duty at the gas station, then they do not have to do it for you.

Same in Ohio.

 

[stichy]

My parents are still in Jersey. My dad hates that he can't pump his own gas. He's friends with the owner of a nearby gas station. Keith lets my dad pump his own gas. He's the only customerr who is allowed to do it.

 

[mjkacmom]

How would that make any difference? Either an attendant broke the car or didn't. Where the vehicle owner lives is of no consequence if the breaking happened in NJ.

My mom's car was broken twice by an attendant, but it was at a full-serve on Long Island.

Because the only time I've ever heard of a gas station attendant damaging a car is here, on a thread like this one, from someone who doesn't live here. How is it, living here my entire life, that I've never had any damage, or known anyone to have any damage, and yet there are others who have limited time in NJ, who have suffered damage many times?

 

[Nennie]

In New Jersey, we pump FISTS, not GAS!!!!

 

[Jennasis]

Because the only time I've ever heard of a gas station attendant damaging a car is here, on a thread like this one, from someone who doesn't live here. How is it, living here my entire life, that I've never had any damage, or known anyone to have any damage, and yet there are others who have limited time in NJ, who have suffered damage many times?

Well, you are exposed to a larger cross-section of people here on the DIS (from all over) rather than just the relatively insular nature of the friends and family you actually kow IRL. It makes sense you might hear things here that you've never heard at home or from people you know.

Or maybe your friends and family are just lucky, or they don't complain about such things?

 

[angie@dvcstore]

in new jersey, we pump fists, not gas!!!!

lol!!!

 

[RadioNate]

I have visions of one guy running around trying to fill 10-12 cars, how many people are working there filling up the cars? Our stations have anywhere from 6-20 pumps available.

That is how it is in Oregon and then you WAIT WAIT WAIT for the guy to get to your car to start the pump and then you WAIT WAIT WAIT again for the guy to get back to the car to remove the stupid nozzle that stopped pumping gas 5 minutes ago so you can actually leave.

Don't even get me started on the cash transactions....at least the majority of the people have the decency to use credit cards at the pump.

I think they have about 1 guy for every 10 pumps. Give or take depending on how the pumps are situated.

When I lived in Oregon I hated it and I'm fairly certain if I lived in New Jersey I would hate it there too.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yes. This comes up all the time. I will let you know exactly how this thread will go:

It is stupid you have to pay someone else to pump you gas

Our gas is lower then surround states

Maybe, but yours would be even cheaper if stations didn't have to pay someone to pump your gas.

It is nice to be able to just sit in your car in bad weather and let someone else do it for you.

Maybe, but it should be a choice, not a law.

Why do you care anyway, you don't live here.

It is just the principle of the state dictating to a business that they must employee a non-essential employee.

This will go back and forth for pages and pages. I have just saved you valuable minutes of your life since you can stop reading now.

OSHA regulations. Studies in New Jersey over a five year period starting in 1980 revealed that hairspray use among New Jersey residents was significantly higher than those from other states (an insanely high parts per million.) The fear was that pumping gas with too much hairspray would cause SHC (sudden hair combustion) causing death, injury, or at least a very bad hair day.

States started to implement laws permitting self-service stations, however OSHA blocked New Jersey from enacting similar laws. New Jersey sought an exemption so that out-of-state residents could pump, however it was feared that such laws would give rise to civil rights lawsuits. In fact, Aquanet Hairspray retained several lobbyists to fight the matter.

OSHA studies throughout the years have resulted in similar findings and the regulatory restrictions remain. It was thought that in the late 80's/early 90's the regulations might be lifted due to shorter hairstyles around the nation. However, studies revealed that massive hairspray use in New Jersey continued during this time.

But seriously, that does NOT explain it for Oregon.

Well, you are exposed to a larger cross-section of people here on the DIS (from all over) rather than just the relatively insular nature of the friends and family you actually kow IRL. It makes sense you might hear things here that you've never heard at home or from people you know.

Or maybe your friends and family are just lucky, or they don't complain about such things?

Just what I was going to say!

I had my car seriously damaged by Jiffy Lube, and MANY others have as well, but not *everyone* has had that happen, b/c they are still open. Doesn't mean it didn't happen to me and the others!

That is how it is in Oregon and then you WAIT WAIT WAIT for the guy to get to your car to start the pump and then you WAIT WAIT WAIT again for the guy to get back to the car to remove the stupid nozzle that stopped pumping gas 5 minutes ago so you can actually leave.

Don't even get me started on the cash transactions....at least the majority of the people have the decency to use credit cards at the pump.

I think they have about 1 guy for every 10 pumps. Give or take depending on how the pumps are situated.

When I lived in Oregon I hated it and I'm fairly certain if I lived in New Jersey I would hate it there too.

That's been my experience in OR as well. We try hard to avoid getting gas in OR. And when we were in NJ for a wedding, we filled up in Philadelphia.


Growing up in CA my mom only went to one service station, and they did full service. So as a teen, I couldn't imagine it any differently. Then I moved away and quickly got used to doing it myself! So quick, so easy, so simple!

 

[mjkacmom]

That is how it is in Oregon and then you WAIT WAIT WAIT for the guy to get to your car to start the pump and then you WAIT WAIT WAIT again for the guy to get back to the car to remove the stupid nozzle that stopped pumping gas 5 minutes ago so you can actually leave.

.

Trust me - you don't wait here in NJ! Everything is a faster pace here - a gas station would be out of business if the attendants didn't hustle. One of the hardest aspects of vacationing in other areas for us is the rest of the world is SLOW! Our local stations discount cash transactions about 9 cents a gallon, but the guys race to give change.

 

[Kathi OD]

Many years ago, there was no such thing as self-serve stations, ANYWHERE! Then the oil companies came up w/ this gimmick to supposedly save us, the consumer, money. It didn't save us anything, least of all money, but the driving public bought into the propaganda and now thinks this is the way it should be. It's similar to those "check yourself out lanes" that are popping up in all the grocery and home improvement stores. Believe me when I tell you, they aren't for your convenience or speed of check out, they are for the corporation's bottom line.

While I live in NJ now, I've only lived here for 4 years. I was born, and lived 50 years in PA, but close to the river. I have always sought out those stations in PA that will pump my gas without charging a premium (yes, there are some) or, once I started working in NJ, gone across the river to get my gas (always at least 15 cents/gal. cheaper). The short amount of time it takes to "wait" on the attendant to pump it is negligible. I don't think I've ever waited more than a minute, unless the inconsiderate person in the car ahead of me goes into the convenience store (in which case I'd have to wait anyway).

As to the why? The law making it illegal was passed in 1949. Back then, the dispensing of gasoline was much more dangerous than it is today and the state's lawmakers wanted to make sure that people were properly trained to dispense such a flammable product. Could the law be changed? Of course. Dispensing gasoline today is much safer than it was when the law was written. But, the vast majority of NJ residents are happy w/ the status quo, so there's no need to change the law.

As far as fuel lines being broken or damaged by the attendants, NEVER have heard of this happening.

 

[FigmentFinder]

Considering some of the TMI threads I've seen on this forum, I'm shocked this thread is about the gas you put in you car.

 

[akhenaten]

Sorry, not buying this! I've lived here my entire life, as has DH. My parents have also lived in NJ their entire life (70 years). We have never had any damage done to the fuel lines in our vehicles, and don't know anyone who has. I can't imagine someone having this happen often, if at all. You know the grade - you can see them push the button, and the cost per gallon.

Almost 50 years old here and never heard of anyones fuel line broken either!!
Friends , family, co-workers, friends of co-workers etc.

and that is not something that people would be quiet about if it happened to them!

And the attendants are not slow.. and usually there is no car in front of me... no wait...

The best part is not having to get out in cold weather or rain!!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Texas practically banned full service on accident. When they allowed people the freedom to pump their own gas, they also required any service station that offered full and self service to give the self service price to handicapped people. That sounded like a noble idea, but if you think about it, it was a bit greedy on the part of the legislature. If they thought that we should give this benefit to the handicapped, why didn't they offer to pay the difference instead of sticking the service station owner with the cost?

Anyone should have been able to predict what would happen. Everywhere where people are actually free to pump their own gas, the vast majority choose to do so. The people that don't are often the people for whom it would be physically challenging. Since most of the customers that would be willing to pay for full service were getting it at no extra cost, service stations found that having a full service option cost extra money but didn't bring in much extra revenue. As a consequence, it is harder to find a full service station and the ones that are full service rarely have a self service option.

The moral of that story is that if we think that we as a society should provide extra help to a group that could use it, we as a society should pay for it. Trying to stick someone else with the tab often backfires.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I don't think I even know how to let someone else pump my gas. What do you do? Drive up and the guy asks what you want like a car-hop? Do they wear outfits?