$4 Gas Literally Impossible At Some Gas Pumps

Like a lot of small-scale entrepreneurs, Cathy Osborne worries that she'll go out of business if fuel prices rise above $4 a gallon. Not because she won't be able to buy gas at that price, but because she won't be able to sell it.

The old mechanical gas pumps with scrolling dials at her country store in Fauquier County lack the gears to go beyond $3.99 a gallon. State inspectors shut down her diesel pump several months ago when the fuel topped the $4 mark, so now all that's left are two pumps dispensing 87-octane gasoline, set at $3.75 -- and climbing.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't have $30,000 to invest in new pumps, and I'm barely skipping by," said Osborne, who owns the Orlean Market and Restaurant, a store dating from 1892 with horse-country views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and miles of rolling Virginia Piedmont.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Podewumun]

What a shame that the county "powers that be" will soon force the locals to drive 40 frigging miles to purchase gas and diesel. WHAT A CROCK OF SHITE!

Abject stupidity will be the death of this country.

[Podewumun]

Save your money, Cathy.
Just set the gearing to reflect half the going price and place a LARGE NEON GREEN SIGN on your diesel pump that the amount owed will be double what the pump indicates. Simple. Get creative!

[Podewumun]

Well, crap...never mind. That'll "learn me" to read the full article before posting. LOL

[MajorKong]

I recall when gas first hit $1.00/gallon back in the 1970s some of the old gas pumps couldn't go past .99 and they had to sell it by the half gallon.

[gcallaghan]

It's time then to change the unit of sale from gallon to 1/2 gallon or quart. Picture the line of morons at the station selling $1 qt gas across the street from one selling $4 gal.

[Chavez08]

Can someone tell me why Republicans hate America so much?

[Mogamboguru]

Not quite right - they WHOLEHEARTEDLY LOVE America: Just like snakes do love mice...

[KOisGod]

LOL

[Mogamboguru]

Sorry, but sometimes I think the people in the USA are a little hyperventilating.

Just for your knowledge: I am german and live in Germany.

As of today, in Germany Regular Fuel as well as Diesel cost 8.20 Dollars per gallon nationwide, and Premium cosrts 8.55 Dollars per gallon.

And we still do live long and prosper.

How come? Our cars have - ON AVERAGE - a mileage per gallon that is TWICE the average of a common american car.

How come THIS? BECAUSE of the high fuel prices, which only MAKE people buy high-mileage cars, in the first place! And because there is a DEMAND, the manufacturers eagerly struggle to SUPPLY respective, affordable, high-mileage-cars!

But as american customers for decades kept demanding big, gas-guzzling SUVs, Vans and Pickups from the US-manufactureres, THEY GOT big, gas-guzzling SUVs, Vans and Pickups from their US-manufactureres.

SEE? CAPITALISM WORKS! That's the whole trick: Start buying high-mileage-cars, and your gas-trouble will dissolve into thin air.

[Chavez08]

I, along with at least 5 other people I personally know, drive between 85 and 103 miles one-way to work 6 days a week in alot of stop-go traffic and we don't get reimbursed for 80% of it.

Many states don't have accesible public transportation, we are victims of big auto and big oil.

"SEE? CAPITALISM WORKS! That's the whole trick: Start buying high-mileage-cars, and your gas-trouble will dissolve into thin air."

That won't stop the speculators from jacking the barrrel price another $20 every time a gopher shits too close to a pipeline.

[KillTheMessenger]

"I, along with at least 5 other people I personally know, drive between 85 and 103 miles one-way to work 6 days a week in alot of stop-go traffic and we don't get reimbursed for 80% of it."

No offense, but you better move closer to work or share a ride. Gas prices will easily hit $6-$8/gallon over the next three years. Unless you can afford that...

[Mogamboguru]

That, again, is correct. I despise all speculators, all speculation on oil, on food - on EVERYTHING, which is, basically, a matter of life-and-death of common people.

[Enid]

Water and Air futures
Wall Street will love it.

[KillTheMessenger]

You don't even have to try. They don't get it. The failure of the US school system is perpetuated when the same students who failed at long division fail to make simple logical connections between their car's fuel economy and the total amount of money they have to fork over at the gas station.

We are driving a Prius and it gets almost 48mpg under normal driving conditions. That is about the average fuel economy of the European fleet. The difference is that a Prius is actually a pretty good size car when compare to a small Citroen or Fiat. It is only a "compact" for American measures, but that's plenty good enough for commuting.

I have recently been to Milano and was very surprised about the size and number of "wheels on chairs" in the city. And the Italians don't even mind parking these tiny cars perpendicular to the street like motor-cycles! It looked really funny. We rented a smart car and were actually quite happy with it, except for the luggage which barely fit in the back. A couple more centimeters and we would have had to get a different car.

You are absolutely right. Capitalism works. You get what you pay for. What does not work is the American's predisposition for being whiny. They like to make poor decisions, stick to them and then cry all day long about how the consequences are killing them.

[Mogamboguru]

Quite a harsh assessment - but correct nonetheless, I am afraid...

So, one of the hardest tasks over the next 20 years will be, to re-educate the american people, I think.

You better start shutting down cable-TV-stations, for that purpose. Or else...

[knosiswar]

READ THIS. THIS IS FOR REAL.

A guy local to me has improved his gas mileage by 275% with an invention that turns water into Hydrogen right at the cars intake. Spread this around before big oil squashs it.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/BUSINESS/805130339&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL


'Gas prices push retiree into action'

HARTSELLE -- If you are tired of paying $3.50 to $4 per gallon for gasoline, Larry Thrasher wants you to visit him.

He won't be able to lower the cost of gas. But, he said, his generated hydrogen system will increase your miles per gallon and decrease the number of trips you make to the gas station.

After more than a year of research and testing, Thrasher said he has perfected a system that will allow your vehicle to run on hydrogen and gasoline.

Long range, his plan is to run a vehicle on hydrogen only.

Because of the number of electronics in vehicles, he said, his hydrogen system still depends on some gasoline.

Since installing the hydrogen fuel system on his eight-cylinder Cadillac, Thrasher said his fuel efficiency has increased from 19 miles per gallon to 53. His wife's 1996 Toyota gets about 71 miles per gallon.

A former teacher at several technical schools with more than 30 years of automotive experience, Thrasher started researching his system about 16 months ago.

-cont

[sparkey]

If he really does have something like that, you can be sure that the Cheney hit squad will pay him a visit and the police will label it a suicide. His invention will just disappear. End of story.

[Uosdwis]

Maybe if the school system worked, they'd have learned that oil is finite and eventually only Bill Gates and Warren Buffet will be able to afford to fill up. I would SERIOUSLY consider making sure your gas pumps can display OVER ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS a gallon. Of course, American civilization will have collapsed long before then.

[einherjar]

Maybe the oil companies can send some of thier $40 billion per quarter profits to help these folks out.

I mean after all, the less gouge-o-line stations there are, the less obscene profits the oil companies rake in per quarter. God forbid they have to get by on only $39 billion.

[KillTheMessenger]

Here is the rub: as prices rise and oil volume available in the market will continue to decline, gasoline sales (by volume) will decline. It is inevitable that less profitable gas stations will go out of business. The ones with old mechanical pumps might be the first to go, but pretty soon only the cheapest stations which sell the largest quantities will be able to compete (except for those who have a unique location, of course). Should we be unhappy about that? No. We could use half the amount of gas we do and still live comfortably. Every gas stations that goes mean millions of dollars less wasted on something we don't need.

[Sumocat]

This is a good reminder that station owners are getting screwed by the oil companies more than the rest of us. While oil companies score record profits, station owners make nearly nothing selling gas. They gain nothing from higher prices and are actually in danger of losing money from it.

[BobMunck]

The same problem occurred back in the 70's when gas went over 99.9 cents per gallon. Some stations adjusted their pumps to measure in litres instead of gallons (where the unit price was around 25 cents), others set the pump to charge half what a gallon actually cost, posted signs explain that you'd have to pay twice what the pump said.

I can't imagine that this is a big problem. I haven't seen a mechanical gas pump readout in years. And I live about ten miles from the station in the article.

[TrueBlueMajority]

It's a big problem because of some weights and measures laws about labeling.

State legislatures will have to get on the stick and get regulations passed saying that it is OK to price gas by the liter or the half gallon instead of by the gallon, so long as proper prices per gallon are clearly posted and available.

[MGhamma]

You can bet that the oil companies will face this crisis with courage and resolve.