Sitting here feeling smug as our local County, Josephine County, has a population of over 85,000! Seriously, back in the old country everyone fills their own (petrol) tanks. Or they did so where I used to live in England prior to 2008.
I've called Oregon home since 6th grade so have some familiarity with the issue. We've watched most other states switch to self serve with the claim prices would drop if we did so. Baloney that was. The real reason is to allow travelers & locals who need fuel late at night in highly rural counties to obtain fuel. There are many parts of the east two thirds of the state where fuel is scarce due to low population. Fuel availability in the east can easily approach 100 miles between fuel stations. So the station is not going to be open late for less than a handful of needy customers. We tend to laugh at the rest of the country for buying into the baloney of price advantage. Good humor, nonetheless.
pesfls wrote:
I've called Oregon home since 6th grade so have some familiarity with the issue. We've watched most other states switch to self serve with the claim prices would drop if we did so. Baloney that was. The real reason is to allow travelers & locals who need fuel late at night in highly rural counties to obtain fuel. There are many parts of the east two thirds of the state where fuel is scarce due to low population. Fuel availability in the east can easily approach 100 miles between fuel stations. So the station is not going to be open late for less than a handful of needy customers. We tend to laugh at the rest of the country for buying into the baloney of price advantage. Good humor, nonetheless.
I've called Oregon home since 6th grade so have so... (
show quote)
"...prices would drop..." Yeah, the politicians say that a lot. We had only one local station that kept the pumps turned on 24/7 so you could buy gas at 2:00 AM. Another company took over, and that has come to an end.
jerryc41 wrote:
"...prices would drop..." Yeah, the politicians say that a lot. We had only one local station that kept the pumps turned on 24/7 so you could buy gas at 2:00 AM. Another company took over, and that has come to an end.
Here it was the oil industry making the claim while lobbying at the state legislature for years. Eventually the industry got the issue before the voters through the initiative petition process. Nobody, at least mostly, believed. There measure went down in flames, big time statewide. This recent change was pushed by county governments from the low population ones. The legislature is the one that changed the rule in this case. Long history of that issue here. It was about as popular as attempts to institute a state sales tax, of which we have none. But our income tax is accordingly high. OK, enough politics for me. I'll shut up now.
Hey, Here in NH there is no income tax, no sales tax and we pump our own gas...no problem here. BTW our gas prices are fairly low, bought gas last week for 2.09... but it is common to see 2.29 or so.
Believe they tried to change to pumping your own gas in Oregon but there was a large hue and cry over the loss of jobs.
Central Oregon resident here - I live in an affected county. No big deal here and not sure what all the hubbub is about. Although as OP's have said, if you are coming from Idaho, into Oregon late night and need fuel - now you can get it. Otherwise, plan on camping out at a gas station until it opens. I do find it interesting, though, that there are people who have absolutely no idea how to pump gas or where the fuel filler is. Must have lead a very sheltered life. New law also says that there is to be an attendant available if you do not want to pump your own fuel at stations. Crook County is about 3000 square miles with a population of about 22000. Don't like big cities :)
Here I thought it was only in NJ that the government thought its citizens were too stupid to pump their own gas. I was not aware that Oregonians put up with that crap also until I read a story about the new law this morning. What a bunch of snowflakes.
So I guess Oregonians never drive through other states?
Pegasus wrote:
Here I thought it was only in NJ that the government thought its citizens were too stupid to pump their own gas. I was not aware that Oregonians put up with that crap also until I read a story about the new law this morning. What a bunch of snowflakes.
So I guess Oregonians never drive through other states?
I explained the history in Oregon of the politics of the issue here but apparently you don't read well or thoroughly. Go figure.
Live in southern oregon now, previously lived in central oregon. From my experience, it is 10% of the population that makes 90% of the noise. Most people I know would be ok pumping their own fuel.
Coming from MA, we pump our own gas. I think the rest of NE is the same. It feels weird when I travel to NJ for work and I have to let someone else pump!
Of course, I don’t mind during really cold days :)
I haven't seen a full service gas station in 20 years. I didn't even know that they still existed.
sb
Loc: Florida's East Coast
I miss having someone else pump my gas. I would gladly pay an extra 5 cents a gallon for that service to provide employment for someone in need of a job. I am old enough to remember the gas station attendant checking your oil and tire pressure while you were getting gas.
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