Old pumps hit gas price limit

By John K. Wiley | The Associated Press • Published May 11, 2008

That's the practice of selling fuel by the half gallon, then doubling the price shown on the meter for the total sale.

Colville and about a dozen other service station owners in Washington state have gotten variances for diesel fuel, which is above $4 a gallon.

They worry what will happen when the price of gasoline climbs above $4, forcing similar arrangements on all of their pumps.

"I posted the price prominently on the pump. I put a note that says 'Notice: the full price is twice this amount,' " Colville said.

He's not sure he'll be able to fix the meters on his pumps to allow sales by the gallon.

"These are older pumps and there are not that many of them left. For them to put a lot of technology trying to figure out how to do them, the pump companies probably aren't going to do it."

Buying new pumps and dispensers with electronic computers is out of the question, he said.

"The new ones run between $10,000 and $15,000 apiece," he said. "It's an expense that's not worth it."

The devices also top out at $99.99 total sale price, meaning owners of SUVs, vans and trucks with larger tanks, as well as tractor-trailers, could be limited on the amount they can purchase at one time.

Frank Hubbard, service manager of JMP Solutions, in Fort Meyers, Fla., whose company services and repairs gasoline station pumps, said the gear kits cost about $350 per dispenser. Replacement mechanical computer kits for some pumps allow sales up to $9.99 a gallon, he said.

Kirk Robinson, who manages the state's weights and measures program, said about a dozen station owners have sought a temporary variance that allows them to price gasoline by the half gallon until their pump meters are fixed.

"There are retrofits to add new wheels and update the pumps that are not too expensive," Robinson said. "I don't think it is a real huge thing. We're seeing requests for variance in rural areas, very remote kind of mom and pop stores with maybe one or two gas pumps."

Stations granted variances are required to post signs telling customers that the final price they will pay is twice what the pump meter indicates.

Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, a trade group that represents about 115,000 stores that sell gasoline, said some major credit card companies already place a $75 limit on the amount of gasoline that can be charged in a single fill up.

Convenience stores sell about 80 percent of the gasoline pumped in this country, but those sales represent only about 33 percent of the stores' profits, Lenard said. The tiny margin on gasoline make it less lucrative than other items the stores sell inside, he said.

"If gas is the profit driver and you are one of those guys with the old pumps, you're either evolving or getting out," he said. "If you're just that kind of image of the '50s gas station where you have a conversation, fill up and have a cup of coffee, that's in the movies."