BY JASON E. KAPLAN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
BY JASON E. KAPLAN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERNew Jersey and Oregon are the only two states in the U.S. that ban self serve gas stations. But these two holdouts may be ready to give up the game. New Jersey is considering legislation that would lift the state’s ban on pumping your own gas. Oregon is considering smaller scale changes.
BY JASON E. KAPLAN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
New Jersey and Oregon are the only two states in the U.S. that ban self serve gas stations. But these two holdouts may be ready to give up the game. New Jersey is considering legislation that would lift the state’s ban on pumping your own gas.
Oregon is considering smaller scale changes.
After a 64-year prohibition on self-serve gas in the Beaver State, a bill has passed the Oregon House of Representatives that will permit fuel stations in rural counties to allow customers to pump their own petrol. House Bill 3011 defines rural counties as those with fewer than 40,000 inhabitants. The rationale behind lifting the self-serve ban only in sparsely populated areas is that it would allow rural residents greater access to fuel if stations no longer needed to pay staff to run them at night.
Currently there are 18 Oregon counties that would be affected by the new law. Among these is Tillamook. We stopped by a few gas stations in the area to gauge employee feelings about possible changes coming down the pike.
If HB 3011 passes it will mean “a loss of a lot of jobs,” says Kristi Bertrand, manager of the Tillamook Farmers’ Co-Op and Fueling Station. She figures the Co-Op could lose as many as six employees if they no longer needed to man the pumps. Upon hearing the proposed law would only affect rural counties she wonders: “Why would they do it in rural areas where they need jobs so badly?” After hearing the reasoning behind the bill, Bertrand nodded, saying: “I guess there are two sides to it.”
Bertrand can’t say whether the Co-Op would adopt a self-serve practice if the law permitted it. Such a decision would be up to the board of directors. But she didn’t know if they could justify spending so much money on staff who were no longer needed. “We could be cutting our own throats.”
Two of her workers, Rusty Werst and A.J. Harmon, were more sanguine. They believe the Co-Op would continue to offer full-service no matter how the legislation pans out.
Werst thinks the Co-Op would lose customers who have come to depend on full-service fueling. Neither Harmon or Werst were worried about their jobs as they are both high school seniors who plan to leave for college in the fall. Werst does hope he can come back to work at the Co-Op during his school breaks.
At the 3rd St. Shell, clerk Rose Stevens was asked about the possible impact of a change in the pump law. “Yeah, I’d be out of a job!” she exclaimed. Though after more thought she too said she believed her employer would continue to offer full-service fueling. Transitioning to a self-serve business model, Stevens said, “will hurt the whole economy.”
