Self-serve gas: Some would like full service

I got a stream of comments as steady as a run on gas during an oil embargo.

The oil embargo crisis of the 1970s is what finally nixed Washington’s ban on self-serve gas, and the majority of Street Smarts readers who wrote in last week said to leave that ban to history.

“I think that’s the most awful idea I’ve ever heard of,” said Steve Janik, of Monroe, in a statement representative of the majority.

There was never any threat of reinstating a ban on pumping your own gas, like only Oregon and New Jersey still require. But a recent insurance company poll showed a surprising level of interest among the Washington drivers it polled, with about 4 in 10 leaning toward or strongly supporting the idea.

That was up from a similar poll Pemco did in 2012, when one-third liked the idea.

Still, the 2012 poll gave a hypothetical 5-cent increase in the per-gallon price for a ban, and the 2016 poll did not. Roll in a margin of error and some of the higher numbers of folks who said “I don’t know” in 2016, and interest could be about the same.

OK, but we’re not electing a president here.

And along with those flabbergasted emojis, there were a goodly number of people who said it would be nice to have someone else pump the gas for them — except they can’t find the option.

“There are many times I would be happy to pay a few more cents a gallon to have an attendant pump my gas … if it was rainy, cold and windy, if I was dressed up and didn’t want to get out of the car, or if I just didn’t feel like pumping my own,” said D. Long, of Mukilteo.

With gas prices falling below $2 a gallon, is it time for a niche market to make a comeback?

Past experience says that ain’t likely, according to a couple former station owners.

Along with our bootstraps, we Washington drivers really love our pennies.

“After seeing the lines at Costco to save a few cents a gallon, I feel the customers would be unwilling to pay extra,” said Ted LaVinge, of Lynnwood.

LaVinge founded the Lynnwood car wash and gas station business Mr. Kleen in 1967. “(After the ban was lifted) I tried to offer full-serve again a few times and just pass on the extra labor in cents per gallon, but it was a flop,” he said.

In the 1970s, Fred Howard, of Snohomish, owned Paine Field Union, a gas station and full-service maintenance and repair center. He could spread the cost of a refueling attendant over all the work the person performed.

Gas at the Union went as low as 17.9 cents in the price wars of those days. The typical cost was 31.9 cents per gallon.

“Now the tax alone is about double that price,” Howard said.

Washington has the second-highest gas tax in the country. New Jersey has the second-lowest. And in Oregon, where gas taxes are higher than the national average, support for its self-serve ban is slipping. Lawmakers this year started allowing people to pump their own gas in rural areas at night.

Those who oppose a ban say they worry about damage to their car, being delayed waiting on help, and paying more for something they can do themselves.

There are a fair number of you who said you deliberately refuel in Washington before traveling into or through Oregon for any or all of those reasons.

When the self-serve ban was the national standard, the issue was safety for a new motoring public.

These days, it’s about jobs.

In New Jersey, the cost of the ban is estimated at 5 to 7 cents per gallon. For a 13-gallon tank, that’s less than $1 added to the receipt.

The social, environmental and economic benefits are worth such a “negligible cost to consumers,” wrote Monmouth University professor Robert Scott III in a 2007 study of the topic.

Some folks here agree.

“With gas prices way down, we can afford to pay more if it will provide jobs,” said Ken Quam, of Snohomish.

But what about when prices go up?

“A ban on self-service, with its accompanying labor cost, might fly now, while prices are low, but would certainly run into opposition if they climb back to the three- and four-dollar level,” said John Carlin, of Edmonds.

Let people vote with their dollars, others said.

“Maybe times have changed and it would work now — but let free enterprise determine that,” said Brian Laine, of Arlington.

Don Holt, of Mukilteo, wonders about a hybrid approach — requiring stations to offer a full-serve option while still allowing self-serve.

“With today’s demographics, I can see where more and more folks would be less inclined toward an interface with a gas pump,” Holt said. “Personally, I prefer to pump my own.”

Molly Deardorff, of Everett, prefers full-service refueling, and she’s found one of the lone places where you can get the service.

In over 40 years, General Brushless on Evergreen Way has never allowed drivers to pump their own gas.

“I love that we have an option here, and I believe if it were available more, people would take advantage of it,” said Deardorff, who opposes an outright ban on self-service.

Indeed, business is good, said Mark Hoidal, who started at General Brushless as an attendant 41 years ago and worked his way up. “We stay pretty steady.”

Just as many customers come to have an attendant put gas in their vehicle as come for the premium car wash.

“We have all different (customers). A lot of senior citizens who have trouble getting in and out of the car, and people dressed up who don’t want to smell like gasoline. We have young and old,” Hoidal said.

The station benefits from a car wash that already requires extra hands. It’s also competitively priced. On a recent weekday morning, gas at the General was $1.99 a gallon, which was from 3 cents to 20 cents higher than other stations in a three-mile stretch.

Hoidal gave up the station’s affiliation with Texaco a few years back, which helps keep prices lower.

“Brand name is not as important, now that we have Costco gasoline, Safeway gasoline, Fred Meyer… My brand name has been here 41 years,” he said. “They’ve respected us for many years. There’s not that many businesses that have stayed around for over 40 years. I can’t think of too many.”

Have a question? Email us at streetsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your first and last name and city of residence. Look for updates on the Street Smarts blog.