If I told you that I just paid $2.43 for gas I would be lying. Actually, I paid $2.439 or $2.43 and 9/10 cents per gallon. With the 9/10 part written in smaller numerals on the gas station’s sign than the $2.43 part. You get the same deal at your gas station. Does that bother you?
Is there any other product that we buy that adds an extra 9/10 of a cent to the price of each item?
It’s the greedy oil company’s way of charging you almost $2.44, but making it look like they’re giving you a bargain price of $2.43. It’s their sneakiness, and their assumption that you are too dumb to figure out what they are doing that bothers me.
Once upon a time (the 1960s), when I lived in Queens, I used to go to the Merry Twins gas station in Fresh Meadows. In those days I paid about 30 cents a gallon. Actually, it would have been 30 and 9/10 cents per gallon. It was the same then as it now, but at least in those days it made more sense. Adding 9/10 cents to 30 cents adds a 3% profit to each sale. That’s good marketing.
I didn’t mind it then. When I bought gas at Merry Twins, (and most other places) they popped the hood and checked my oil and wiped off my windshield without even being asked. Then they asked me what grade of gas I wanted and filled my tank for me. If I asked for it, they would also check my tire pressure, or give me a free road map if I needed directions. That kind of service is about as common now as doctors making house calls.
Adding 9/10 cents to the current gas price of $2.43 increases the oil company’s profit by only .037%, or a little over 1/3 of one percent. Come on! How greedy (and insulting) can you get?!
Marty: If the pricing conventions bother you that much, buy an electric car. Then you can complain about opaque kilowatt pricing. ;o)
An average Quick Chek/Wawa pumps around 3-4 million gallons a year. That sends over 2 million a year to the government PER location.
Diary farming is even less profitable.
An average Quick Chek/Wawa pumps around 3-4 million gallons a year. That sends over 2 million a year to the government PER location.
Right? In California, it is over 80 cents a gallon in state and federal taxes. But people are worried about less than a cent a gallon?
Link - ( New Window )
They display both prices on the pumps themselves, but the exterior sign that you can see from the road listing the prices does not always list both prices. Not to mention there is no consistency in the mark-up for credit. Prior to a crackdown, most stations charged a $0.10-$0.20 premium for credit except for one station by me that charged a spread of ~$0.70.
Nearby, NJ highways are stellar compared to PA's. NJ is at $0.51 tax per gallon. And we in PA pay about $0.20-0.25 per gallon more at the pump. I have no idea where the money goes?
Some complain in PA that we are more expensive while pumping our own...for me, I love it. In and out in minutes. Wife hates it. I don't have to wait for the attendant to get to me when he/she notices I have been sitting for 5 minutes. The one good thing about PA gas, you can fairly easily find ethanol free gas for your mowers and garden equipment.
The PA/NJ spread is now around 8 cents on tax.
NJ would see their price come down 10-15 per gallon if they ever allow self serve.
Nearby, NJ highways are stellar compared to PA's. NJ is at $0.51 tax per gallon. And we in PA pay about $0.20-0.25 per gallon more at the pump. I have no idea where the money goes?
Some complain in PA that we are more expensive while pumping our own...for me, I love it. In and out in minutes. Wife hates it. I don't have to wait for the attendant to get to me when he/she notices I have been sitting for 5 minutes. The one good thing about PA gas, you can fairly easily find ethanol free gas for your mowers and garden equipment.
Stellar roads in Jersey, surely you jest.....
And the taxes have been raised over 33 cents a gallons the last two years.
As electric vehicles takes a greater share of the miles driven, the gas tax will have to keep going up and up until they figure out how they are going to get money from the electric cars.
The PA/NJ spread is now around 8 cents on tax.
NJ would see their price come down 10-15 per gallon if they ever allow self serve.
Those gas station attendants in NJ take their jobs seriously. Those dudes are insane. I was traveling through NJ one time a few years ago and completely forgot that they had all full service. Out of habit I pull up to the pump, get out and start pumping. This raging lunatic comes running out of nowhere freaking the hell out. I thought he was going to stab me. I tried explaining to him that it was a mistake but he didn’t want to hear any part of it. A coworker of mine said the same thing happened to him once and the guy told him if he ever came back he’d slash his tires. Good grief, man. Get a grip people.
Does anyone remember the Sinclair Gas Stations with the Green Dinosaur?
Donny's Discount Gas - ( New Window )
Those gas station attendants in NJ take their jobs seriously. Those dudes are insane. I was traveling through NJ one time a few years ago and completely forgot that they had all full service. Out of habit I pull up to the pump, get out and start pumping. This raging lunatic comes running out of nowhere freaking the hell out. I thought he was going to stab me. I tried explaining to him that it was a mistake but he didn’t want to hear any part of it. A coworker of mine said the same thing happened to him once and the guy told him if he ever came back he’d slash his tires. Good grief, man. Get a grip people.
What is the thinking in NJ behind requiring all full service? Job creation over gas prices (and the fact that a lot of people, including me, prefer to pump their own gas)? I can't see why it's still a thing.
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NJ would see their price come down 10-15 per gallon if they ever allow self serve.
Those gas station attendants in NJ take their jobs seriously. Those dudes are insane. I was traveling through NJ one time a few years ago and completely forgot that they had all full service. Out of habit I pull up to the pump, get out and start pumping. This raging lunatic comes running out of nowhere freaking the hell out. I thought he was going to stab me. I tried explaining to him that it was a mistake but he didn’t want to hear any part of it. A coworker of mine said the same thing happened to him once and the guy told him if he ever came back he’d slash his tires. Good grief, man. Get a grip people.
What is the thinking in NJ behind requiring all full service? Job creation over gas prices (and the fact that a lot of people, including me, prefer to pump their own gas)? I can't see why it's still a thing.
Safety
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In comment 15135068 BigBlueShock said:
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NJ would see their price come down 10-15 per gallon if they ever allow self serve.
Those gas station attendants in NJ take their jobs seriously. Those dudes are insane. I was traveling through NJ one time a few years ago and completely forgot that they had all full service. Out of habit I pull up to the pump, get out and start pumping. This raging lunatic comes running out of nowhere freaking the hell out. I thought he was going to stab me. I tried explaining to him that it was a mistake but he didn’t want to hear any part of it. A coworker of mine said the same thing happened to him once and the guy told him if he ever came back he’d slash his tires. Good grief, man. Get a grip people.
What is the thinking in NJ behind requiring all full service? Job creation over gas prices (and the fact that a lot of people, including me, prefer to pump their own gas)? I can't see why it's still a thing.
Safety
Are you serious or just joking....never have I seen the headline"inexperienced person pumps own gas and loses life"
The rest of the country does it
The real reason it was initially banned was a concerted lobbying effort from the NJ Gasoline retailers. They were afraid self serve would allow big oil to run stations without the franchisee, or open their own competing stations and drive them out of business.
Ironically, the same group is now lobbying to have the law taken off the books.
Those gas station attendants in NJ take their jobs seriously. Those dudes are insane. I was traveling through NJ one time a few years ago and completely forgot that they had all full service. Out of habit I pull up to the pump, get out and start pumping. This raging lunatic comes running out of nowhere freaking the hell out. I thought he was going to stab me. I tried explaining to him that it was a mistake but he didn’t want to hear any part of it. A coworker of mine said the same thing happened to him once and the guy told him if he ever came back he’d slash his tires. Good grief, man. Get a grip people.
There’s a very practical reason they do this: The station can get slapped with serious fines if the cops catch customers pumping gas. You’d freak about it too after you’d been whacked with the fines.
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is that milk is more expensive than gasoline. When you consider what it takes to bring a gallon of gasoline to market versus a gallon of milk, it leaves you scratching your head.
Diary farming is even less profitable.
Do peole even keep diarys anymore?
Not bottled water. That gets pumped from puddles behind the Port-O-Potties.
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than gas. I am amazed that the energy companies can find it, get it 1000s of feet out of the ground, refine it and make it available everywhere. Water literally falls out of the sky.
Not bottled water. That gets pumped from puddles behind the Port-O-Potties.
Nearby, NJ highways are stellar compared to PA's. NJ is at $0.51 tax per gallon. And we in PA pay about $0.20-0.25 per gallon more at the pump. I have no idea where the money goes?
Some complain in PA that we are more expensive while pumping our own...for me, I love it. In and out in minutes. Wife hates it. I don't have to wait for the attendant to get to me when he/she notices I have been sitting for 5 minutes. The one good thing about PA gas, you can fairly easily find ethanol free gas for your mowers and garden equipment.
The taxes on gasoline don't come close to paying the full costs that come from the pollution that is caused by burning it and the damage caused by mining and producing it.
In fact, the US subsidizes the true cost of fuels by a massive amount -- around $649 billion in the year 2017 alone, according to an IMF study. Globally, governments subsidize fossils fuels at a rate of around $5.2 trillion per year.
Forbes: US Spends 10 times More on Fossil Fuel Subsidies Than Education - ( New Window )
Link - ( New Window )
About that 9/10 gas price - ( New Window )
The PA/NJ spread is now around 8 cents on tax.
NJ would see their price come down 10-15 per gallon if they ever allow self serve.
My post said Pa was $0.59. NJ was $0.51....
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Whether something is 9/10 of a cent added on doesn't enter my mind...but when my wonderful state of PA is at almost $0.59 per gallon tax, second in the nation behind CA, and our roads are garbage...that bothers me.
Nearby, NJ highways are stellar compared to PA's. NJ is at $0.51 tax per gallon. And we in PA pay about $0.20-0.25 per gallon more at the pump. I have no idea where the money goes?
Some complain in PA that we are more expensive while pumping our own...for me, I love it. In and out in minutes. Wife hates it. I don't have to wait for the attendant to get to me when he/she notices I have been sitting for 5 minutes. The one good thing about PA gas, you can fairly easily find ethanol free gas for your mowers and garden equipment.
Stellar roads in Jersey, surely you jest.....
And the taxes have been raised over 33 cents a gallons the last two years.
I stated in my post, "NJ roads are stellar compared to PA". While NJ roads may not be great compared to other states, they far outshine PA's.
Our company is responsible for 2+ Billions gallons of fuel per year. by pricing up at $2.999/gallon instead of $2.990/ gallon we're looking at an extra $18,000,000. That's significant when our average margin per gallon is ~$0.04.