PSA: Pay Attention at the Pump

Lately, taking Newt for a fill-up has been a ginormous pain in the you-know-what. First of all, the price for diesel has been even higher than for gas which has sky high. Here in California's Central Valley, diesel was running about a dollar more per gallon than regular unleaded. I think gas has started to come back up though, so now the difference is less, but diesel is still more.

The second reason that I hate to get fuel is that it always takes more than one stop. Many stations around Bakersfield run out of diesel which means I have to choose another station. This happens more than you think. It would help if instead of flashing that green $6.09 indicating the price per gallon, they would instead flash the word OUT.

My third complaint about filling up is that the pump shuts off at $99 which means I have to go in to pay because $99 only gives me about 14 gallons. That won't fill up most tanks, and it comes nowhere near to filling up Newt's 48 gallon swimming pool of a tank. Normally, going in isn't that big of a deal, but occasionally - like last week, the employees are new and simply don't know how to move through customers. I spent fifteen minutes in line on one particular day and finally had to leave. There were still 5 or 6 customers ahead of me. 
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My last, and biggest, complaint about pumping fuel is that the cheapest and most convenient stations on my route have only one or two pumps that contain diesel. The Fastrip above used to have a diesel handle at nearly every pump. There is now only one. This station is large and accessible from both directions which makes it convenient for trucks with trailers - it's where I used to fill up with Blue Truck. Guess where the one diesel pump is now located. Yep, the pump closest to the front door which has the smallest amount of space. In the photo above, the pumps way out past the roof are really easy to use if you're hauling any type of trailer. That's not where the diesel is now located.

On Monday, I stopped by the pharmacy which shares the same asphalt as the gas station. On my way out, I thought I'd top off my tank. The station was completely empty except for one car. And that one car was parked at the one diesel pump, and the driver was nowhere in sight. F&ck me.

And that's why I hate to get fuel.