Oregon... Where apparently average citizens don't understand pumping gas

[drift freaq]

It definitely has changed Fresh out of high school we still had full service pumps for about a year. The big thing that drove the companies to eliminating Full Service was the cost of Gas. When I was a kid Gas was like .25-.50 a gallon. Gas Stations offered full service because it was just pump your gas. It was check your oil, check your water, put air in your tires. That was what full service was and full service led to people bringing their car to that station possibly when repairs were needed.


Of course Gas Stations wer franchised and leased it was big business and guys got rich off owning Gas Stations. I knew several Shell owners I worked for that made a fortune. Around 73 and 79-80 that all began to change. Gas got expensive because oil got expensive . Arab oil cartels.

The margins for profit got thin, paying a guy to be an attendant was extra cash out pocket extending the bottom line. So stations first started having self serve Islands were the gas was cheaper. Idea being charge extra for the services so you can pay a single attendant and still make a little more. Before there were multiple attendants now there was one maybe two.

What happened though is people started moving to the self serve islands becuase the gas was cheaper. Then the oil companies figured out why not eliminate the whole service bay concept and save even more . Have a guy lease the name run a bank of pumps pay a few employees and call it a day. Self serve stations had arrived prices still up but cheaper than any full serve . Oil company makes more because they had room for more pumps and moved a shit ton more volume. The old thinner margin but higher volume game for profits.

Soon all or most of the stations with service bays would either convert the bay's to mini marts or have the owner buy it out and turn it into a full repair shop.

It's now looked back as nostalgic and quaint as a concept except in Oregon and NJ were it looks archaic . Lol