Is anything free at Pilot/Flying J?

[W4RLR]

Originally Posted by goreds2

Stop at a Family Dollar or Dollar General store and it will be half that.

And stale. But you get what you pay for.

[LadyFitz...]

Originally Posted by mrblanche

A frequent notation in a series of books (The "Wolf World" or "Sten" series) I really like: TANSTAFL

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

The free services one received at gas stations made good sense when all them also did mechanic work. Besides attracting more customers when services such as cleaning windshields was done well, checking under the hood and airing up tires gave the pump jockey the opportunity to point out needed mechanical work, bad tires, etc. (it was called driveway sales for a reason).

I worked for a few months in an Exxon station when I got out of college (jobs were scarce) and I racked up a lot of honest sales for oil, air filters, etc. that I could take care of right at the pumps and directed a lot of work to the garage for more difficult work, such as new fan belts, water pumps, hoses, tires, etc. (and got to do some of that work). We had both full service and self service pumps but the full service pumps got the most business. Even many of the regulars that used the self service pumps would occasionally use the full service pumps so they could get things checked out. That "free" service more than paid for itself.

The reason most of those stations went out of business was cars became to hard to work on and it was too hard to find or train mechanics to work on them. Self service stations were more profitable because the profit margin was improved due to lower labor expenses, allowing them to be more competitive. When convenience stores started pumping gas, the gas became the draw to get people into the stores where the real profits were, allowing the profit margins on gas to be tightened even more. I worked in a convenience store for a few years after I first retired to supplement my income and we made very little money of gas sales. All the profits were inside the store.

[dieselclacker]

Convience stores didn't begin pumping gas,...service stations became convience stores.

Dieselclacker

[Doc Mark]

Not WiFi - $4.95 a day to use. That's ridiculous in this day & age and I told the manager so. No reaction or response.

Mark

[xctraveler]

Originally Posted by mrblanche

A frequent notation in a series of books (The "Wolf World" or "Sten" series) I really like: TANSTAFL

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

I believe first use of that acronym is in "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" Robert Heinlein 1966.

I could be wrong, but I have not seen an earlier citation.

[LadyFitz...]

Originally Posted by dieselclacker

Convience stores didn't begin pumping gas,...service stations became convience stores.

Dieselclacker

Not necessarily. In the Phoenix metro area, Circle Ks and 7-11s didn't pump gas for years yet the Circle Ks are a dominant presence in their service areas. They bought out many of the corner service stations.

[dieselclacker]

Arco in California (Atlantic Richfield) was about the first one to convert to convience stores. Followed by Chevron, and then the rest of the major brands. Circle K and 7-11 were around but without gasoline for sale, they were about the only chain type convenience store around. Pressure was applied to operators of service stations to become convenience stores by the major oil companys in the mid to late 70's. I owned a Texaco station, not leased, in that time period.

Dieselclacker

[LadyFitz...]

I remember the old Richfield stations. They gradually disappeared here then, several years later, Arco started buying out small convenience stores and service stations, gutting or leveling them and putting in their Arco/AM PM stores.

[blackf3504dr]

Originally Posted by LadyFitz...

The free services one received at gas stations made good sense when all them also did mechanic work. Besides attracting more customers when services such as cleaning windshields was done well, checking under the hood and airing up tires gave the pump jockey the opportunity to point out needed mechanical work, bad tires, etc. (it was called driveway sales for a reason).

I worked for a few months in an Exxon station when I got out of college (jobs were scarce) and I racked up a lot of honest sales for oil, air filters, etc. that I could take care of right at the pumps and directed a lot of work to the garage for more difficult work, such as new fan belts, water pumps, hoses, tires, etc. (and got to do some of that work). We had both full service and self service pumps but the full service pumps got the most business. Even many of the regulars that used the self service pumps would occasionally use the full service pumps so they could get things checked out. That "free" service more than paid for itself.

The reason most of those stations went out of business was cars became to hard to work on and it was too hard to find or train mechanics to work on them. Self service stations were more profitable because the profit margin was improved due to lower labor expenses, allowing them to be more competitive. When convenience stores started pumping gas, the gas became the draw to get people into the stores where the real profits were, allowing the profit margins on gas to be tightened even more. I worked in a convenience store for a few years after I first retired to supplement my income and we made very little money of gas sales. All the profits were inside the store.

Not all stations had a repair facility, I grew up in west Michigan and there was a local gas station chain called "4 Star". none of them were equipped to service cars, all they did is pump gas,check oil etc. Another that comes to mind is the Drake gas stations.... Just sayin'.
As a teen I worked in a station that had two pumps (regular and high test) and the building was about 10' by15'.... It's true the modern gas station/convenience store makes more money of the store then they do gas sales.....
Most people would be surprised at how low the profit off a gallon of gas is for the station.

[melvonnar]

Originally Posted by blackf3504dr

.....
Most people would be surprised at how low the profit off a gallon of gas is for the station.

Last number I got was 10 to 15 cents a gallon.
could be wrong here but Exon with it's 4.5 billion profit last year isn't getting that much profit from only a 1 or 2 cent a gallon profit.
They don't build those company owned mega gas stations to give their product away.

[Always-RVing]

The only ones that receive free goods are the 50 million people that live off the government (leeches) and who live off the backs of others. Everyone else pays. It's just not fair.


There will be a judgement day and a day of reckoning.


That should raise an eyebrow or two...



It's a very easy equation to know who will win the election.. Very easy...


The one candidate people feel most likely to keep the checks coming will win.


It's that simple. The public only cares about their wallets.. Everything else is expendable or adjustable. You cannot argue that since it is the basic flat truth. And if you don't think so, you're living a fantasy.

[Wayne M]

Click HERE for breakdown of gasoline prices.

[blackf3504dr]

Originally Posted by melvonnar

Last number I got was 10 to 15 cents a gallon.
could be wrong here but Exon with it's 4.5 billion profit last year isn't getting that much profit from only a 1 or 2 cent a gallon profit.
They don't build those company owned mega gas stations to give their product away.

They're lucky if they clear 4 to 5 cents a gallon.... That's profit not profit margin. The oil companies themselves make about 8 to 10% on their investment which is in line with companies of their size ( the average return is 8%). Pharmaceutical companies, banks and food processors make more on average then oil companies...