By Heart of Illinois ABC
PEKIN – If you hate getting out to pump your own gas this time of year, there is a new proposal being considered by Illinois lawmakers that would eliminate self-service gas stations.
The proposal to ban self-service at the pump says, “No gas may be pumped at a gas station in this state unless it is pumped by a gas station attendant employed at the gas station.”
However, it’s unclear from the bill itself why.
Drivers we talked to said they’re worried about long waits and an increase in gas prices.
“If they enact this, this means that gas stations have to hire someone to attend which is going to be minimum wage of fifteen dollars which means gas prices are going to go up,” said Tyler Tucker, of Pekin, Illinois.
Tracy Padgett, of Pekin, said, “I think it’s a bad idea, people should pump their own gas and be responsible enough to pay for their own gas.”
Meanwhile, other drivers noted gas station attendants were the norm in the past.
“People were pumping my mom’s gas when I was younger, so I don’t have an issue with it,” said Nick Lee of Pekin.
But Beachler’s Vehicle Care & Repair Owner, Terry Beachler, said there is a reason most gas stations switched over to self-service.
“It’s no different now, we’ve been there done that. It just didn’t work out. The economics did not support the very small percentage of customers who wanted the full-service.” Beachler added, “Customers would be waiting in line for somebody to pump their gas, and you’d be enjoy much higher gasoline prices to cover the labor cost involved in it. That’s one we gotta take and through in the trash bin.”
Heart of Illinois ABC can be reached at [email protected].
