5 ms·

Are you allowed to charge your own electric vehicle in Oregon, or are attendants required as they are at gas stations?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
pkulak 4y ago
Oh you. In all seriousness, charging a car is far safer than filling it with gas; no attendants needed! * so long as you believe the premise of the law
- azinman2 4y ago
  It’s a valid question — I was wondering the same.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  The premise of the law is a jobs program, is it not? No one could reasonably look at the other 48.5 states and conclude that self-service fueling is dangerous. They could reasonably say “we want to structure fueling to protect bullshit jobs.”
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    I think if you look at insurance costs, you could find the answer to whether or not self-service fueling is more dangerous or not.
    - version_five 4y ago
      Or you could answer whether insurance is rent seeking that's parasitic on society. I don't know the details so could be wrong, but if insurance is mandated by government and supplied by an oligopoly, it's fees don't necessarily reflect the actual risk involved. It's easy to see comparisons of different health/car insurance costs across jurisdictions to see that.
      - rootusrootus 4y ago
        Well, yes, I think if that's how you feel about insurance and the supposed lack of a functioning free market, you have to resolve that question first before using it as an indication of actual risk.
  - repiret 4y ago
    The premise of the law is safety, or at least it was when it was enacted generations ago. It’s function is as a jobs program though.
- geauxvirtual 4y ago
  The first time I filled up in Oregon after moving into the state, the attendant pulled the nozzle out of my truck while it was still filling up. Gas all over my truck and the ground. The manager came up and apologized, saying it was his first day on the job. The kid was probably still in high school, and the first day he ever had to fill a car up. And there I was sitting in my truck realizing I had about over 25 years "job" experience for what this kid was doing, and I had never done that.
  - mulderc 4y ago
    I hear these stories all the time from people, and don’t doubt this happened to you but I have lived in Oregon almost my whole life and this has never happened to me or anyone I personally know.
    - quadrangle 4y ago
      Of course it would never happen to you. You grew up in OR, so you never tried to pump your own gas. That situation only happens to people from out of state who come to OR and start pumping their own gas, not knowing the law against it.
  - version_five 4y ago
    Yeah its a bit ironic. I remember being a young kid and my dad showing me how to pump gas. I assume that's normal for everyone outside Oregon and (New Jersey?). It's funny that such a common thing is somehow a rare piece of knowledge in some places. Reminds me of the story of Newton (or some other deep thinking mathematician) going somewhere and realizing he didn't know how to butter toast. Edit: I looked it up, the toast story is Erdős http://www.fang.ece.ufl.edu/erdos.html http://www.fang.ece.ufl.edu/erdos.html
Scoundreller 4y ago
Makes me wonder: Is fuel in Oregon more expensive than surrounding states because of this (after accounting for diffential fuel taxes and labor costs)? Or does the cost just get absorbed into the supplier chain and cost consumers nothing while creating a few jobs in the process?
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  > Is fuel in Oregon more expensive than surrounding states Nope. From what I hear, the increased cost of insurance for self-service is in the same ballpark as hiring a few attendants. So it's a wash.
  - karaterobot 4y ago
    The price of gas in Oregon is more expensive than in neighboring states, except California, due to increase taxes on fuel in that state. In general, taxes probably explain much more of the difference in gas costs than insurance does. I'm not an expert, but it's not clear to me why insurance would cost more for a self-service station than for a full service station, so if you have a source that explains this, I'd appreciate reading it.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    The insurance cost being lower such that it offsets labor costs is obviously not true. If it were true, then there would be a business opportunity in the other 48 states for a gas station to sell full service gas at the same price as others are selling self service at. But it never, ever occurs, so it is trivial to prove the labor costs are material and would result in higher gas prices that people are not willing to pay for.
    - rootusrootus 4y ago
      If it's a wash economically, then self-service is still the better choice because it eliminates the other less-insurable risks that come with having employees. Unfortunately there's no easy way to tell, because in the other 48 states, full service is considered a premium service and they charge extra for it because a certain segment of consumers will pay for it. That doesn't mean it's actually more expensive.
OberstKrueger 4y ago
You charge it yourself. There’s no attendants at any chargers I’ve been to.
dubswithus 4y ago
Damnit. I came here to make this same comment.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

Oh you. In all seriousness, charging a car is far safer than filling it with gas; no attendants needed! * so long as you believe the premise of the law

azinman2 4y ago
It’s a valid question — I was wondering the same.
sokoloff 4y ago
The premise of the law is a jobs program, is it not? No one could reasonably look at the other 48.5 states and conclude that self-service fueling is dangerous. They could reasonably say “we want to structure fueling to protect bullshit jobs.”
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  I think if you look at insurance costs, you could find the answer to whether or not self-service fueling is more dangerous or not.
  - version_five 4y ago
    Or you could answer whether insurance is rent seeking that's parasitic on society. I don't know the details so could be wrong, but if insurance is mandated by government and supplied by an oligopoly, it's fees don't necessarily reflect the actual risk involved. It's easy to see comparisons of different health/car insurance costs across jurisdictions to see that.
    - rootusrootus 4y ago
      Well, yes, I think if that's how you feel about insurance and the supposed lack of a functioning free market, you have to resolve that question first before using it as an indication of actual risk.
- repiret 4y ago
  The premise of the law is safety, or at least it was when it was enacted generations ago. It’s function is as a jobs program though.
geauxvirtual 4y ago
The first time I filled up in Oregon after moving into the state, the attendant pulled the nozzle out of my truck while it was still filling up. Gas all over my truck and the ground. The manager came up and apologized, saying it was his first day on the job. The kid was probably still in high school, and the first day he ever had to fill a car up. And there I was sitting in my truck realizing I had about over 25 years "job" experience for what this kid was doing, and I had never done that.
- mulderc 4y ago
  I hear these stories all the time from people, and don’t doubt this happened to you but I have lived in Oregon almost my whole life and this has never happened to me or anyone I personally know.
  - quadrangle 4y ago
    Of course it would never happen to you. You grew up in OR, so you never tried to pump your own gas. That situation only happens to people from out of state who come to OR and start pumping their own gas, not knowing the law against it.
- version_five 4y ago
  Yeah its a bit ironic. I remember being a young kid and my dad showing me how to pump gas. I assume that's normal for everyone outside Oregon and (New Jersey?). It's funny that such a common thing is somehow a rare piece of knowledge in some places. Reminds me of the story of Newton (or some other deep thinking mathematician) going somewhere and realizing he didn't know how to butter toast. Edit: I looked it up, the toast story is Erdős http://www.fang.ece.ufl.edu/erdos.html http://www.fang.ece.ufl.edu/erdos.html

Scoundreller 4y ago

Makes me wonder: Is fuel in Oregon more expensive than surrounding states because of this (after accounting for diffential fuel taxes and labor costs)? Or does the cost just get absorbed into the supplier chain and cost consumers nothing while creating a few jobs in the process?

rootusrootus 4y ago
> Is fuel in Oregon more expensive than surrounding states Nope. From what I hear, the increased cost of insurance for self-service is in the same ballpark as hiring a few attendants. So it's a wash.
- karaterobot 4y ago
  The price of gas in Oregon is more expensive than in neighboring states, except California, due to increase taxes on fuel in that state. In general, taxes probably explain much more of the difference in gas costs than insurance does. I'm not an expert, but it's not clear to me why insurance would cost more for a self-service station than for a full service station, so if you have a source that explains this, I'd appreciate reading it.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  The insurance cost being lower such that it offsets labor costs is obviously not true. If it were true, then there would be a business opportunity in the other 48 states for a gas station to sell full service gas at the same price as others are selling self service at. But it never, ever occurs, so it is trivial to prove the labor costs are material and would result in higher gas prices that people are not willing to pay for.
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    If it's a wash economically, then self-service is still the better choice because it eliminates the other less-insurable risks that come with having employees. Unfortunately there's no easy way to tell, because in the other 48 states, full service is considered a premium service and they charge extra for it because a certain segment of consumers will pay for it. That doesn't mean it's actually more expensive.

OberstKrueger 4y ago

You charge it yourself. There’s no attendants at any chargers I’ve been to.

dubswithus 4y ago

Damnit. I came here to make this same comment.