Hutch Report: Gas Thefts Up As Prices Increase

There is a growing problem in the US right now, which involves people pulling into convenience stores, filling up their gas tanks and driving away without paying. This problem has become so bad in Central Texas, where I live, that none of the gas stations in my area, let a customer fill their fuel tank without prepayment. While I live in a city of around 150 thousands people, most neighborhood convenience stores have been frequented by the same consumers for years. When most of these stores started requiring prepayment from regular customers, some folks didn’t like it one bit because they took the attendants prepayment request as a lack of trust and harsh words were sometimes exchanged.

High gas prices are putting a great deal of pressure on the American consumer right now and it’s amazing there are not more altercations at gas pumps because of it. I would image that people who must travel long distances to and from work each day are finding it more difficult all the time to pay their monthly gasoline bill.

These high gas prices are going to cause the number of “gas drive-off’s” to continue to increase nationwide until no convenience store or gas station will allow a customer to fill their tank without a substantial deposit before they start filling their tank. Some of these gas retailers who don’t want to offend their regular customers with prepayment have installed digital cameras to catch folks who fill up with gas and drive off without paying for their purchase. As the price of gas continues to rise and the cost of surveillance equipment goes down in price like most high technology, look for these surveillance devices at all gas stations and convenience store gas pumps in the near future.

Over the past year as gasoline prices have continued to stay high, some folks who shop at my neighborhood convenience store have started to get a negative attitude when visiting this location and purchasing gas. I think most people know down deep inside that the store owner isn’t making that much money off of gas purchases, but the average consumer is angry and wants to blame someone for the high prices. Too many times, it’s the retailer that gets blamed rather than some guy at OPEC or one of the large oil companies.

For years, convenience stores have made only a few cents per gallon on fuel sales. The only reason most stores still offer gas at all is to attract folks to their location for sales of other products, which make the store owner a greater profit. Most likely, the total amount of money collected on a daily basis at the average retail store for fuel makes up well over 50% of total revenue, but earns the retailer less than 1% of their stores profit. The rest of that money is going back to the oil companies and local, state and federal tax collectors. Let’s all remember that it is not the retail store owner who is to blame for these high gas prices and let us not to take our anger out of them with harsh words or driving off without paying for our purchases.

Related: Gas Pump Price, Politics Of Nature, Tattered Image Issue, New Gas War, New Energy Sources

Gas Thefts Up