New Haven Independent: Pumps Go Dry -- For Lack Of Numbers

Pumps Go Dry — For Lack Of Numbers

by Marcia Chambers | May 13, 2008 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

R.J. Shore Automotive has stopped selling gas because the pumps can’t register the number 4 — as in $4 a gallon.

Robert Sherwood and Jimmy Bruneau, the co-owners of the station in Branford’s Short Beach section, made the decision a few weeks ago. They purchased the local landmark in 2005. The two old gas pumps, a fixture for decades, were probably upgraded 20 years ago, Sherwood said.

When they purchased the garage, which also does foreign and domestic repairs, the pumps had been shut down for awhile. Sherwood said they listened to the locals who asked them to sell gas again. They also gave patrons full service, including washing front and rear windows.

Back in 2005, the nationwide average of $2.16 for a gallon of gas was considered off the charts. Newspaper stories from the period show that light crude oil was trading “as high as $53.57 a barrel in New York” in April 2005. Last Friday, light sweet crude oil for June delivery settled at a record $119.97 a barrel, after having peaked at $120.

When gas prices began to approach $3 a gallon, Sherwood and Bruneau had a problem. They knew their two pumps were so old “they stopped at $2.99.” They decided to recalibrate the pumps at a cost of about $700. “Now we had them so they could go over three [dollars],” Sherwood said.

But slowly prices continued “to climb and climb and climb and climb and climb. And now we are about to hit four dollars,” he said. At that point Sherwood and Bruneau had to rethink the sale of gas. “It became clear to me that it was not worth it,” Sherwood told the Eagle.

It wasn’t just the cost of recalibrating the old pumps again. On average a gas station owner earns less than dime on one gallon of gas. Sherwood’s company earns about six or seven cents on one gallon of gas, he said. He said that since his towing and automotive repair business is thriving, it did not make financial sense to keep pumping gas.

Gasoline dealers are having trouble now — and several in the New Haven area say they may have to shut down — because they cannot earn more than that dime.

They offer a host of reasons: Operating costs, higher supply costs, credit card fees, federal taxes of 18.5 cents per gallon, a state gas tax of 25 percent per gallon, and a second, state gross receipts tax that will rise from 7.5 percent of each sale to 8.1 percent on July 1.

Then There’s 5…

Sherwood and Bruneau figured that paying to enable their pumps to hit $4 a gallon wouldn’t necessarily mean the end of it. If gas hit $5, “we would have to recalibrate again.”

Meanwhile, Sherwood said, the shop works on between ten and 15 cars a day. It has eight trucks on call for 24-hour towing. “We work for local garages and dealerships and the Triple A. We do an average of 25-30 tows a day, too. We are fair people. We give you good service. We built it that way.”

And might there come a time when they would pump gas again? “Probably not. I don’t think it is worth it. It’s just not feasible,” Sherwood said, especially because people are driving less, hitching rides with others and buying hybrids.

Not surprisingly some in Short Beach are disappointed that they can’t fill up at the local station. “That’s understandable,” he said. “The local people, they came for the full service. We would pump the gas and wash the windshield, look at the wiper blades, stuff like that. They are little disappointed. But they understand the economy.

“But I told them, swing in any time. I will check your oil. But you will have to go to another station as far as getting gas.”

As he was talking, the signs were changing at the Shell Station in East Haven, a mile and half away. The numbers told the story.

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Comments

Posted by: dylan | May 13, 2008 2:08 PM

Two years ago, $53 for a barrel of crude oil was considered to be high. $100 was unfathomable. Yet today crude sits at $120 per barrel (likely continuing to rise) and aside from some gimmicky attempts to have cars that are more fuel efficient (that added efficiency is having a hard time keeping up with prices and the ethanol hoax is wreaking havoc on global food prices) most people are still doing things the same way they always have. Sounds to me that by continuing to do business as usual and not think about our physical environments (i.e fully functioning, well rounded walkable small towns and cities rather than sprawled out suburbs), we're sleepwalking into bankruptcy, privately and at all levels of government.

Posted by: PowertothePeople | May 13, 2008 2:31 PM

I bought a bus pass and comfortable walking shoes today. Anybody want to buy an SUV. :(

Posted by: Name Withheld | May 13, 2008 3:27 PM

Gas is predicted to hit $10+ per gallon next year by many energy traders (they've been right every year for the past 20 years, so it's probably not just a prediction).

What will the stations do then? Seems that it would be very expensive to rebuild all of those pumps.

Posted by: Name Withheld | May 13, 2008 4:04 PM

Sleepwalking into bankruptcy, Dylan? Aren't we already there... and then some?

Let's take the brand-new 10-lane expanded Q bridge as an example. Does the State of CT really have an extra billion dollars sitting around to be building that, when the roads and infrastructure that we currently have are crumbling as it is?

On the bright side of things, at least some of those highway bridges can be sold for scrap metal.

Posted by: DingDong | May 13, 2008 5:20 PM

Funny how rising gas prices get so many headlines, while the fact that gas consumption is causing global warming that will result in massive droughts and floods around the world doesn't get people as excited.

It's time to redo our land use laws so that people can live in compact, walkable communities and to redo our transportation policy so we stop forking money over to the state's corrupt highway construction industry. How about, instead of expanding the Q-bridge, using some of that money to fix the rail bridge near New London that stops Shore-Line East from running there? How about weekend service on SLE and running it through to Providence?

Posted by: j rocket | May 13, 2008 5:39 PM

How Is Al doing I heard he was sick?

Posted by: downtownnewhaven | May 13, 2008 8:52 PM

DingDong, expanding commuter rail east to Providence would make a lot of sense. Local residents and the regional business community will need to be much more organized if they want to overcome the numerous policy and coordination roadblocks currently preventing that from happening. Either that or we can wait until gas prices rise a lot more, which may not be that long from now.

Posted by: steve beck | May 13, 2008 9:20 PM

Don't forget, there is a non-profit out there whose main focus is to promote Smart Growth as an alternative to business as usual. "Grow Connecticut Smart" is the campaign and we need people to get involved. Check it out at www.1000friends-ct.org.
You can get involved and there is a lot you can do to make a difference. A vibrant economy, options in transportation, housing, education, respect for natural and historic resources, a more sustainable future for Connecticut. $4.00/gal gasoline is just the beginning. Somebody must read Kunslter's Cluster.... Nation. "Sleepwalking into the 21st Century" - I love that expression and he says it all the time

Posted by: joey | May 15, 2008 12:02 PM

Global warming?? please give it up!

Posted by: James Shoemaker | June 10, 2008 11:11 PM

I am concerned about 0 mpg the cost of fuel, but I can not do anything about it. I have a 1995 Ford F150, that is paid for. I use it only to haul things. I drive a 1971 VW Sedan to go everywhere else. I have a 1969 VW bug I am working on that gets 30 mpg on the highway. It has a mild cam and a counterbalanced crank. I have been building VW's since 1968. They are easy to work on. They have a plain ignition and carb. No elctrinic stuff that needs a computer whiz to work on. I can afford the fuel, because my cars are paid for. I am on a fixed income, SSI and Ironworkers retirement.

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Pumps Go Dry — For Lack Of Numbers

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