I’m seeing reports on the local news that gas companies and/or local service stations are asking people not to top off their tank, but to wait until the tank is almost drained before filling up. This is supposed to prevent runs on gas station.
Why? This makes absolutely no sense to me at all.
Let’s say I drive 500 miles per week and use an average of 10 gallons of gas to do so (hey… I drive a Prius). That means that every 50 miles takes about 1 gallon of gas. If I decide to buy 1 gallon of gas every 50 miles rather than 10 gallons of gas after 500, I’ve still used 10 gallons of gas in roughly the same amount of time. The difference over the span of a week to the local gas station is zero. They’ll get to see my smiling face more often, but they won’t be selling me any more gas.
If the price of gas is going up, then I’ll come out ahead because some of the earlier gallons of gas will have been purchased at a lower price than the last gallons. If I wait until the end of the week, the gas station (or probably the oil company that supplies them) will come out ahead because I bought all of those same 10 gallons at the highest price.
So who benefits if I wait? The oil companies.
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Well, I also own a Prius and have been resisting the temptation to top off our tank because if everybody did this it really could lead to (artificial) gasoline shortages.
I don’t think your argument holds water. It would make sense if you actually did use up a gallon of gas and then put a single gallon back in.
But if you keep your gas tank 3/4 full instead of 1/4 full, you’ve taken 1/2 tank out of the communal gasoline supply and stored it in your car instead. That can produce an artificial gas shortage–it really is an inventory problem rather than a shortage.
That strikes me as selfish. When gas supplies are tight, people should only get gas when they truly need gas instead of hording gas in their tank.
In a sense, topping off is (mildly) akin to looting because you’re thinking “I’ve got to look out for myself first” rather than thinking about how your action affects other people.
1Remark from Brian — Tuesday, 9/6/2005 @ 10:43 am PDT
We’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I still believe that, over time, there’s no difference to the “communal supply” whether gas is in my tank or in the gas station’s tank. I still need that 10 gallons each week. (Actually in my case it’s more like 7 or 8 gallons every 10 days, but you get the drift.) There might be a blip in the supply if everybody topped their tank up today, but that spike should even out within a few days. Gas tanks in cars only hold so much gas. If my driving habits remain constant but I fill more frequently, I’m putting less gas in the tank each time. I have to drive around and use some of that gas up before I can put more in.
That gas isn’t really being “stored” in my tank, it’s being used. If I had a huge tank in my back yard and I was going to fill it up and sit on it, then maybe I’d agree with you, but that’s not the case.
Besides, this isn’t a “communal supply.” Oil companies are in business to make money. And if I’m willing to pay what they’re charging, I see no reason why I shouldn’t buy gas as often and in whatever quantities I want. If you see that as selfish… fine.
2Remark from Judy — Tuesday, 9/6/2005 @ 6:14 pm PDT