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New Jersey banned customers from pumping their own gas in 1949, and it's still the only US state where that's the case.
But a group of lawmakers and industry insiders might change that.
As reported over the weekend by Politico, a gas industry group called Fuel Your Way NJ is backing a bill by Assembly members Carol Murphy, Ned Thomson and Annette Chaparro called "Motorist Fueling Choice and Convenience Act," that would allow customers to pump their own gas but would allow stations more than four pumps to provide a "full service" option.
"We would never promote legislation that would say you can't have full service. We want there to be a choice for motorists," said Sal Risalvato, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store, Automotive Association, (NJGCA) which is affiliated with the Fuel Your Way NJ effort.
The group says this would take the strain off small business owners and gas station managers, amid rising gas prices and labor shortages, both of which make it difficult to keep stations staffed.
On Monday, the average price of gas in the US jumped to over $4 a gallon for the first time since 2008.
"I am finding it increasingly difficult to keep my gas stations open due to the labor shortages, significantly impacting my business," said Levent Sertbas, NJGCA member and gas station owner said in a statement released by Fuel your Way NJ last week.
"There have been multiple instances where I have had to close midday because I cannot find attendants to work the gas pumps," he added.
Recruiting gas station attendants is just difficult right now, according to Sam, a manager of a gas station in central New Jersey. (He asked to be identified by his first name only since he hasn't been authorized by the larger corporation to speak publicly.)
As for attendants, "I guarantee you that at every station, they have a shortage," Sam told Insider. While he's managed to keep most of his gas station attendants from quitting, six or seven people he offered the job to didn't show up, he added. Seven or so people changed their minds after the training.
"We never faced this problem before," he said, adding that the pandemic has made the job more stressful – customers are more rude and often throw cash at attendants or put it in the gas can so they don't have to touch you.
A 2007 research paper that analyzed the impact of gas station attendants concluded that they didn't add much to price while adding a significant number of jobs, according to NJ.com.
New Jersey has a history of arguing over the law – a slightly different effort to ditch gas attendants failed in 2015. Former Governor Chris Christie, who did not support that effort, cited widespread agreement over the law from his polling done at the time: 78% of women in New Jersey opposed self-serve gas.
New Jersey's governor, Phil Murphy, didn't give a clear signal on his position last week.
"Listen, on self-service gas, that's been sort of a political third rail in New Jersey, which I have historically not crossed," he said. "Given the gas prices on average have now gone over $4 a gallon, I'm not necessarily signing up for that, because I need to know what impact it would have on that."
