Gas Jockeys in the Garden State

You should be happy that they pump the cheaper gas for you. With increase of insurance premiums and the load that all those unemployed gas attendants would put on the state won't be cheaper for long.

I have lived in NJ just about all of my life and have no problem with not being able to pump my own. I have family in VA just outside of DC - they pay at least 15 or 20 cents more for gas - they also offer full service at some stations for 50 cents or more a gallon. Every year there is at least one fire reported in the local news caused by a spill or a static discharge on a cold day. I'll keep it the way it is. Ed

The New Jersey fuel pumping regs are indeed archaic. Trust that they are ignored when appropriate.

I've a hanger at Sky Manor airport and have flown all over the state as well as most of the eastern part of the US.

Pilots pump their own fuel even in New Jersey. Their lives depend on it bring done right. On some rare occasions, the larger airports with towers have a regimented fuel delivery system, and the pilot has to be content watching a kid do it.

I also ride motorcycles. The experienced attendants always make it a point to shake the nozzle of any loose gas before they give ME the task of refueling the bike. With a real hot engine directly below the tank, they would sooner break the law, than risk a fuel fire.

L. J.

"State law cites higher general liability insurance premium rates for self-service facilities and health hazards from gasoline vapor exposure as reasons to ban personal petrol pumping."

One must learn to discern between what politicians say to mollify voters (and to deflect questions by a naive press) and what they can't say openly when they enact "state law." You can be confident that it was the influence of entrenched special interests that lay at the heart of the laws you mentioned.

CA

Sounds like pandering to a union as much as anything else. NJ politicians have long been very close to the unions.

osborne83 said "Sounds like pandering to a union as much as anything else. NJ politicians have long been very close to the unions"

Since you are such an expert on pandering politicians and unions I would like to ask you just what union do the gas pump jockeys belong ?

And name these pandering politicians.

Gas pump jockeys don't belong to any union - if they are lucky they get a couple of bucks over the minimum wage - a high school kid makes more flipping burgers than pumping gas and that is why very few of these kids work the pumps anymore...... and how do you explain that our pump prices are among the lowest in the nation?

You my friend know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about what goes on here !!!

Guest, the unions are the sole reasons why companies are running from the US.The union officials are corrupt and only idiots or those without an education would join an union.

Anybody who thinks that unions are the sole reason jobs are leaving America is missing a couple of screws or bolts in their cranium.

We have granted many nations favorable trade status which means that they pay NO TARRIFS on goods they export to us and many of these nations tax the items we ship to them at absolutely punitive rates.

We have moved all the "dirty" jobs to other nations so that greedy corporations can avoid compliance issues with OSHA , DEP and EPA and avoid these costs. China is the best example of us exporting pollution. Eventually they will poison the entire planet. They have already become #1 in CO 2 emissions. Just wait until India catches up. They will surpass China in population in 20 or 30 years and pollution will be a short time behind.

The standard of living and hourly wages in these third world nations is so low that what we are doing to them is akin to colonialism and possibly slavery. Corporations like NIKE make shoes in Vietnam and they have low wages and child labor. I would be surprised if the $100+ shoes you buy cost them $20 to produce and ship to the USA. Tell me who is the real sucker. We are.

GM was building small cars in Mexico and the hourly wage was around $3US. How many years will it take one these workers to save enough to buy the car he built. He will never afford one.

There will never be the much touted "global economy" until one years wages in all of these countries gets their workers a similar life style and the means to buy products made in other countries. In the US one years gross wage is at least the list price of a new car. It could be a Daewoo or a Mercedes Benz. This is simply not so in these other nations.

There is rarely a single thing to blame for a complex problem. Myopic viewpoints such as yours contribute to the mess we are in presently. Now put that in your pipe and smoke it. THINK and ANALYZE the situation before you shoot off your mouth.

Have a nice life.

Enough already! Try to think of other special interests besides just unions.

I guess then that college professors and school teachers who belong to the American Federation of Teachers are idiots. The only idiot here is YOU. Corporations are sending jobs offshore ( mostly to China ) The reason is greed pure and simple plus they don't have to conform to US rules and regulations. Sounds like you have ISSUES that reach far beyond what we see here.

Who gives a royal hoot about who pumps your gasoline in the Garden State. We have just about the lowest price per gallon. Nothing else really matters.

At least we have one person here who put the whole to pump or not to pump question in perspective.

It does seem kind of silly to be forced to let someone else pump my gas when I am quite capable of pumping it myself...

BUT

Pumping gas (in Oregon) allowed me an income which got me through college without taking out umpteen student loans to pay back with interest. Several other of the part time attendants were also students... and there was no union involved.

Gas prices between Washington state and Oregon state are pretty compatible, so I don't mind having someone else do the work.

Sincerely

Bill

It's probably a good thing that NJ retains that law. Do you ever watch people at self-serve stations spill gasoline as they haphazardly remove the nozzles from their tank. When filling up in NJ, I will often tip the attendants a dollar and it seems to make their day.

HA! What passes for knowledge is often most questionable which gives pause to the suggestion college professors and teacher are idiots. Or that unions are the sole cause of our dilemma's

I'm of opinion that fueling or filling station management prefers to employ attenders due the misuse or appropriation of fuel island supplies and equipment on self serve fuel islands. Think about it, someone is in attendance to render services not limited to jockeying gas but rendering aid such as simple driving directions or not. Cleaning the windows, mirrors and safety lighting and observation possible safety equipment failures not known of by the vehicle operator contributing to safer highways.

Slow down smell the roses is good for you ram jet you may even discover the gas jockey is a moonlighting engineer of sorts