Gas shortages?

Question

well this is more a policy question than a gas shortage cause i no they have plenty. i live in Sacramento Ca i recently had my old car totaled and since i only had liability coverage im out of a car. so im driving my dads Tahoe the past 2 months. This is a 30 gallon tank 12MPG gas drinker. i just recently started filling it up all the way because i noticed 25 dollars didnt make it burp. that got me half tank in my corolla. anyways i just recently got this new credit card with a 1,000 dollar limit and i went to vallero( a gas station but i tihnk this is only in california) to put gas. anyways when it got to 80 dolalrs exactly it stopps and it wont let me put nay more gas and i no more will fit cause i only put 22 gallons in and its a 30 gallon tank. so i just dont think much of it. then today i go to a vallero at a different location and put gas and it stops at 70 and again wont let me put any more gas. since i have plenty of credit and it stops at different amounts every time is this

Answer 1

Each filling station is different, depending on where you are. In speaking with a gas station attendent, it's to curb the attempts of people who get debit/credit cards with $1 to their name, fill up a truck, and 9 fuel cans, then stiff the gas station with the bill.

Here in Michigan, it's common to see a limit of $50 (though some have increased to $75), but even in my little Escape, I've hit that $50 mark more than once, hung up the pump, and finished it off. I see it as a burden to prevent fuel prices from skyrocketing further.

Sidenote: Jettech, what kind of truck are you driving, since Ford only offered the F-350 with a 29 gallon tank and a 38.0 gallon tank? I can only think that a 138 gallon tank would be freakin' massive.

Answer 2

Some fuel stations limit how much you can put on your credit card for a single fill up.

Answer 3

I have Valleros here at home.

The best suggestion I have, if you want a full tank, is going in and handing them the card and asking them to turn on the pump. Of course that means you have to walk back inside and retrieve the card and sign your reciept. Or just recycle the card and start pumping as soon as it clears, takes about the same amount of time.

Many of the independent dealers are putting a limit on pay at the pump options due to "drive-offs" theft, and the fact that when the system verifies your card, it only checks for an available balance of $1 prior to allowing the sale. This is a means of preventing a number of things, such as theft and fraud as fuel prices rise.

By limiting the sale to $70 without actually seeing someone, and getting a signature, they defend themselves against drive off's with maxed out cards and protests that the card was used illegally.

When fuel was $0.70/gallon, the gas stations could afford the odd hit. At well over $3.00/gallon, they're scrambling to stay in the fuel business and get people in to buy goods at convenience store rates and having trouble making money off of fuel sales at all.

If you use the same station regularly, and your credit's good, they shouldn't have a problem with you walking in, telling them to turn on pump X, tanking up and coming back in.

Sorry, know it's a pain in the butt, but what else are you gonna do?

JT