Disappearing Petrol Stations...!

[Fozzer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32974892

In my travels around the countryside over many years, I have observed the gradual disappearance of the life blood of Motorists....

Roadside Petrol Stations!..... ...!

Nowadays the stations are only available in towns and cities and motorway service stations!

For anyone travelling on roads other than Motorways can find themselves running out of fuel and being abandoned on the roadside, with no knowledge of just how far away the nearest petrol station is...or even it there is one!

Many of my regular weekend, countryside trips, reveal a lack of petrol stations for many, many miles, with the remains of many of them lying abandoned and derelict.

With someone with a small fuel tank (like my motorbikes) it is essential to top up with fuel at every opportunity, or risk the results of running out!
..its a constant worry!

At one time, countryside petrol stations could be found at around 12 mile intervals...not any more!

Once on the open road, fuel stations are now a thing of the past, for various reasons....and I miss their comforting appearance during my journeys!

Paul.... ...!

[4_Series_Scania]

Rural stations need to charge a premium to balance out the lack of regular customers, motorists in the main disregard this obvious point and just check the price per litre think "Tesco Tec are cheaper" and drive on by...

The same issue is killing rural shops and pubs too,alas.

[Sinkrate]

I feel your pain guys! I used to ride in Wales early (daybreak) on a Sunday morning when the roads are quiet. You would be hard pushed to find more than three or four stations that are open in the whole country! I built an extension to my luggage rack and strapped on a 5L plastic fuel can as a sort of reserve. I don't know if it's legal; never got pulled for it, but i did it on three of my bikes over a number of years. Gave up motorcycling when petrol prices went bananas but starting to look around for another bike now.

[OldAirmail]

There's no way for me to know how things have gone in the UK, but this is what happened here in the US;

"Gas", petrol, was a sideline. True, it pulled in plenty of money, but the real deal was auto service.

That changed with the advent of the catalytic converter, fuel injection, emission control, computer controlled ignition, etc, etc, etc.

The small family run stations, heck - even many of the small chain service centers, couldn't keep up with the changes.

And the large chain service centers over here have a hard time hiring competent service mechanics for the higher tech vehicles.



It's a vicious circle.

They can't pay the good employees well enough, so they leave.

The second and third tier mechanics can't do a wide variety of work, or do it well enough to keep customers.

The service stations loose money.

They can't pay the good employees well enough.

Round and round.



And as much as you think that pay for gas/petrol, the station is only making a VERY small profit.

And THAT is the reason why the gas/petrol stations are only located in high traffic areas.



The world that I grew up in as a kid is long gone, and the future should be interesting.