Top Tier Fuel or a Cheap Bottle of Additive?

One thing I can tell you for sure is that, unlike AAA or its competitors, Allstate’s towing coverage only covers towing to the nearest dealership or repair shop. The last time I had a flat tire on my motorcycle, they would only tow the motorcycle to a shop. They wouldn’t take it to my home so I could fix the tire myself.

“Go figure…”

OK! Gasoline taxes are 32.9 cents per gallon in NJ. Delaware is closest at 41.9 cents. New York is over 60 cents, and PA is almost 70 cents per gallon. It’s easy to see why gasoline is less expensive in NJ. With such a big difference, it may not be a hardship to pay attendants.

WA has a pretty high gas tax, about 10-12 cents higher than OR if I remember. But the labor cost of selling gasoline in OR must be significantly higher because of staffing. I imagine a typical neighborhood 24 hour gas station here must have at least 2 people on duty 'round the clock. The place I ran in WA I was able to have a morning cashier 6-2 and an afternoon cashier 2-10. There wasn’t enough cash business through the night to justify staffing so I just ran the pumps credit/debit only with no attendant. Seems to me self-serve would allow OR gas stations to reduce payroll (and associated taxes and insurance) by half. Gas station owners would love that, and some may even be crazy enough to pass some of the savings along to the customer.

Not to mention the shorter lines and less time spent getting gas. Having to have an attendant do it is horribly inefficient.

I used State Farm towing 4 times in 12 years with no premium increase. 2 tows were at least 15 miles each.