Marika Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 For gas buyers, it's the 1970s all over again Sunday, September 18, 2005 By JOHN CICHOWSKI ROAD WARRIOR Wildly fluctuating gas prices. Suspected bait-and-switch pricing. Paying for premium but getting regular. We haven't had this much fun since the gas shortages and long lines of the 1970s. One frustrated road warrior, Howard Vogel, doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I've replaced my car's gas gauge," quipped the Fair Lawn man, who sent me a cartoon of a gauge with dollar figures replacing hash marks - $45 for half a tank, $90 for a fill-up. Since Hurricane Katrina disrupted gas supplies, motorists like Jeff Haviland are as skittish as jungle prey. The Hawthorne man thought he was getting a bargain when an attendant at a Fair Lawn station began filling up his tank while another one was changing the price sign. It turned out that Jeff got only 75 percent of a bargain. "Three-quarters into the fill-up, the guy tells me the price just went up 8 cents a gallon," he said. "So he asks if I want to continue at the higher price." Jeff agreed. He got two bills - one at the original price for 12 gallons and another one 8 cents higher for four gallons. "I wasn't going to complain about 32 cents more for another four gallons," he said. He could have complained to the Bergen County Office of Weights and Measures. Under state law, signage must reflect price, said Michael Alpher, executive director of the office. "A system shall not permit a change to unit price during delivery," Alpher said, quoting rules governing liquid measuring devices in Handbook 44, the bible of the National Institute of Science and Technology. Motorists needn't carry Handbook 44, but to make a charge stick, they must testify in municipal court. If you take half a day off to do so, and an investigator presents a strong case, there's a chance a guilty gas station will be fined. Right now, the fine is $50. No wonder motorists are learning signs don't mean much. For example, Alfred Voto was searching for the kind of "reasonable" mid-September price that we would have considered outrageous in mid-August, when he spotted a sign for $2.999 on Route 17. The Upper Saddle River man waited patiently for his cheap tank of regular. What he got instead was an expensive dose of bad news. "No regular was available," Alfred fumed. "They set prices low just to get you in the station, then sell you a higher-priced grade." A bait-and-switch rip-off? Maybe. Maybe not. "When we see this," said Alpher, "we tell the stations to take down the signs." It could mean the station has exhausted its supply of regular. That makes sense because demand for regular is rising. A main reason: Many drivers, with engines designed for premium, are economizing by buying regular. That can lead to one of the oldest gas-station deceptions. "I think there's a lot of product swapping going on now," said 40-year gas station veteran John Shanahan, owner of the Washington Garage in Bergenfield. An owner can bribe a supplier's driver to pour a few hundreds gallons of regular into his station's holding tank designated for premium, said Shanahan. Recently, Weights and Measures inspectors have found holding tanks with suspected unauthorized mixes in Rutherford, Edison, Atlantic City and Buena Vista. For unscrupulous station owners, this scam can reap high yields, said Chuck Olsen, who owns a Park Ridge station. "If the high-grade gas commands 20 cents more per gallon," said Olsen, "he can pocket $200 for selling 1,000 gallons of regular at the higher price." In some of these cases, drivers noticed that their engines knocked. But most motorists won't notice any change in performance. Overall octane levels won't change much if, say, 500 gallons end up in a 10,000-gallon tank. And modern technology can work against the consumer. "Low octane can make an older engine knock or ping," said Shanahan. "But today's computerized engines adjust for lower octane. They don't knock." If your car uses premium gas, you have two defenses: (1) Check your mileage after each fill-up; regular yields poorer mileage than high-test, and (2) Call your local Weights and Measures office during regular office hours - (201) 336-6424 in Bergen, (973) 321-1277 in Paterson, (973) 305-5750 in the rest of Passaic County and (973) 285-2955 in Morris County. But don't expect much if you exercise Choice 2. The fine for a first offense is (hold your breath) $50 to $200. A municipal judge can also suspend a station's operating license for five to 30 days, although that's rarely imposed. You can also leave the state. Readers like Jon Yozzo and Dee Bullis insist they've found cheaper gas in New York and Connecticut - as low as $2.94 - even though state gas taxes per gallon are roughly double New Jersey's 14.5 cents. Gas retailer groups in all three states insist these differences are anomalies. The cheapest gasoline we found in New Jersey last week was $2.889, much less than in neighboring states, although some Garden State stations charge much more. Pricing is based largely on the amount a retailer is charged by a supplier. In a wildly fluctuating market with high demand, he might get several deliveries a day at various prices. Less-populated areas of New York and Connecticut generally don't face such huge swings. Big oil companies also impose "zone pricing," a system that allows them to charge whatever a regional market will bear. Big Oil has read the census data, Jon and Dee. It knows our state is a high per-capita-income zone. And guess who's their prey? Copyright © 2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc. Copyright Infringement Notice User Agreement & Privacy Policy If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marika Posted September 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Odd, I was wondering why my gas mileage was dropping for my 4.9, premium gas only, engine. I guess I'm not getting 93 octane. I've got the symptoms of lost gas mileage and lost power. And here I thought it was the catalytic converter. If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike5514 Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Yesterday for the first time since I bought my used 97 sls 3 years ago I put regular in it at the local shell station. I will continue untill bush leaves office. mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Come on, folks! Supply versus demand (Econ 101). "W" is not responsible for the supply system damage caused by Katrina or the damage that could be put upon the Texas Gulf coast facilities this weekend by Rita. Jim Drive your car. Use your cell phone. CHOOSE ONE ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike5514 Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Jimd, sure absolutly you are right cant believe how stupid i am. I think Iwill change my name to dummer than a stump and join the majority. mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 A nice story, but as usual, with a few holes. Here's a more technical explanation, don't get too bored with the beginning, read the whole thing and consider all of it before posting a comment. (Not MY post, the article) I especially like the part about speculation. http://g.msn.com/0MN2ET7/2?http://www.msnb...=EmailThis&CE=1 I HOPE that's still available. I hate it when an article disapears into neverland. And, no date BTW, but it seems fairly recent. Some of the info is pretty timeless in fact. I've worked in the industry for about 32 years. Yes, I was in it during the 70's and some of the things the article points out were from lessons learned during that time. Case in point, price caps. Didn't work then, won't work today (sort-of WILL work, but we ((drivers)) can't hold out long enough). Fact is, with price caps, spot shortages tend to show up. This is the "lesson", the punishment, for allowing these price caps to continue. The oil sellers have the option to sell the product to the person, or state, or country, that will pay the most. Canada? Maybe, China? Possibly. You get the point. Now for the holes. I have a little problem with this... "I think there's a lot of product swapping going on now," said 40-year gas station veteran John Shanahan, owner of the Washington Garage in Bergenfield. An owner can bribe a supplier's driver to pour a few hundreds gallons of regular into his station's holding tank designated for premium, said Shanahan. Recently, Weights and Measures inspectors have found holding tanks with suspected unauthorized mixes in Rutherford, Edison, Atlantic City and Buena Vista. For unscrupulous station owners, this scam can reap high yields, said Chuck Olsen, who owns a Park Ridge station. "If the high-grade gas commands 20 cents more per gallon," said Olsen, "he can pocket $200 for selling 1,000 gallons of regular at the higher price." In some of these cases, drivers noticed that their engines knocked. But most motorists won't notice any change in performance. Overall octane levels won't change much if, say, 500 gallons end up in a 10,000-gallon tank. And modern technology can work against the consumer. "Low octane can make an older engine knock or ping," said Shanahan. "But today's computerized engines adjust for lower octane. They don't knock." If your car uses premium gas, you have two defenses: (1) Check your mileage after each fill-up; regular yields poorer mileage than high-test, and (2) Call your local Weights and Measures office during regular office hours - (201) 336-6424 in Bergen, (973) 321-1277 in Paterson, (973) 305-5750 in the rest of Passaic County and (973) 285-2955 in Morris County. It's really PRETTY true, but I don't think it would take a bribe to get a driver to put a few gallons of regular into a premium tank. I say Premium, because it has the highest price differential. No station owner worth his salt would choose to put excess 87 into the 89 tank, look at all the "potential savings" they'd be giving up! The real problem might be something totally different, hold your breath...Excel! Yes, a computer based automatic ordering system based on outdated AVERAGE sales figures. It can happen. No bribe needs to occur since the driver ONLY wants to empty his truck without spilling a drop on the ground. That way he avoids the wrath of everybody from GOD on down, and is ready for his next load. Who would complain? The dispatcher is happy, he gets to sleep all night without the phone ringing, the station owner is happy, he's making money; the truck driver is happy 'cause he still gets his bonus for no spills or mix-ups through the year. In our zeal to get top performance from everyone, we've unintentionally (?) built a system which penalizes people for telling the truth. As for option #2 (I should have copied and pasted just a few more lines) I have yet to meet a weights and measures guy that has time to learn how to use an octane measuing device. Heck, with WalMart having 72 scales to check, just in the FRONT of the store, it could take forever to get to all the gas stations! Then he has to check for the "shrinking gallon", making sure every milk jug on the shelf really does hold a gallon of milk........gas pump measurements come somewhere AFTER this, it smell worse and is more dangerous. Sorry for the rant, tonight seems to be the night for LONG posts (see LOGAN) and I could go on. I've seen a lot in 32 years. I can tell you this much, I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The little conservation efforts everyone is making are working in the little ways just as they did in the 70's. It will take a while longer, and fewer Hurricanes, to slow demand, but it's slowing a little. I just hope they don't drop the speed limits back to 55....I HATED THAT!!! Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDK Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 So, After an evening of dinner/drinking... A personal question. Would you lock-in the price of your normal amount of fuel at $3.00 per gallon for the next year or what? I have got a number of answers like Maybe, OK right now , if it was $2.50 or No F'ing way. This question bears special relevance for me because I buy natural gas daily or months in advance (futures trading almost). So, what about you? Thanks all with malice to none. Add power to leave problems behind. Most braking is just - poor planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike5514 Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 The way thing are at the moment I would think the price to go up. But remember when you play ball with the big boys they can and WILL shove the the bat up your but.Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjayzway Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Jimd, sure absolutly you are right cant believe how stupid i am. I think Iwill change my name to dummer than a stump and join the majority. mike I can't stop! Big Jay Life is too short to grow up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjayzway Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 I can't wait to see what happens in the next couple of days. I mean with oil going up $4.00 a barrel yesterday!!! Big Jay Life is too short to grow up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 This question bears special relevance for me because I buy natural gas daily or months in advance (futures trading almost). So, what about you? So is it true that this winter, my gas bill will be $300.00/month like I heard on the radio this morning? (it's about $600.00/year right now) Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Yesterday for the first time since I bought my used 97 sls 3 years ago I put regular in it at the local shell station. I will continue untill bush leaves office. mike Yeah, you buying regular until someone leaves office is really going to make a difference. Get over yourself and fill up with whatever you like. I've been putting midgrade in mine for a while with no loss in performance or mileage. In fact, my mileage has been increasing...it's up over 20 mpg now. But I think my reduced use of the A/C lately with the slightly cooler weather also plays a part there. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danbuc Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Ehh..I just stick with Premium. Here in PA you have to pump your own gas, and right now, Premium is only $3.09 a gallon and falling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 You know, come to think of it, the gas in the wrong tank at stations works both ways. Of course you would never here about it if a station put premium, which he could not hold, into his regular tanks............that would be sorta like giving Bush a pat on the back, wouldn't it? Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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