North American Fuel Shortage Reports

[frankthetank]

News station out of Eau Claire, WI (north of me in LaCrosse) has an interesting article on gas theft. I'd love to see a graph of gas prices vs drive offs... I know locally, from talking to a cop, the same was seen during our last big run up. I'll ask when I get a chance again and see whats happening with 2.57 gas. I know hit and runs have been way up the past few months. (WI along with one other state do NOT require auto insurance...you can't be ticketed for not having it).

Every time gas prices start to rise, the Eau Claire Police Department says its phones begin to ring off the hook.
Now, the department says it can't afford to respond to every gas drive-off.

Officer Jason Kaveney says last year, officers responded to more than 200 gas drive-offs. He says 75 percent of the time, the officer was called simply to help the gas station figure out who the car was registered to.

Can't you guys wait until $120 oil and shortages along with natural gas shortages and sky rocketing food prices (already has begun)! We all know what will happen when people become desperate...we're still animals!

Wait until this summer boyz!

Link and video available
http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/6687597.html

[Jack]

And people ask why I'm a doomer...

If oil goes up to, say, $80 per bbl this year...and higher next year...matters should get interesting.

The only question is, which to pack? 9mm or .40?

[TreebeardsUncle]

Well, a lot of places require pre-payment. That seems to be a simple way of dealing with this sort of thing. A lot of folks here seem to have a real fixation for violence and its acoutrements, not seeming to realize that it leads to a general shortening of life-expectancy of most participants likely to include the population here.

g

[MD]

The big question: Can the US con the rest of the world out of another half trillion dollars, or not?

There's your out of control "gas theft", right there.

[gnm]

The only question is, which to pack? 9mm or .40?

G30, .45 you sociopath...


-G

[gg3]

Pre-payment for gas.

Here in California you go inside and pay cash, or stick your ATM or credit card in the pump and punch in your PIN number, and then the pump is unlocked for the price of the purchase (presumably with a ceiling limit on ATM/CC purchases).

No drive-offs because you pay before you pump.

Problem solved.

Next prediction: gas siphoning from parked cars, as per the 1970s. If you don't have a locking gas cap, now's as good a time as any to get one.

[MonteQuest]

Now, virtually every car made has a locked gas cap door and hood.

Pfft! Those locking doors will open in a second with a pry bar.

Get a locking gas cap! I was 22 during the last oil crisis.

Trust me.

[emersonbiggins]

I'm itching for someone to siphon the diesel out of my car's tank and put it into their Cavalier or Taurus or something. My idea of revenge is much more demented.

[pea-jay]

I cant believe these gas stations dont mandate prepayment. The best response to encourage prepayment would be the decriminalization of drive-offs. Authorities announce that drive offs from gas stations that do not mandate prepayment no longer will be investigated or tried.

Problem solved. Either gas stations comply and we no longer see stories like this in the paper or local residents can fill up for free.

[Colorado-Valley]

During the recent hurricane spike I saw stories of gas thieves using portable electric drills on gas tanks.

[seldom_seen]

A locking gas cap may give you a warm fuzzy, but is not much of a deterrent. They will resort to drilling a hole in your fuel tank as well, but sometimes there's a spark...and you may have some BBQ'd gas thieves in your driveway.

[MonteQuest]

A locking gas cap may give you a warm fuzzy, but is not much of a deterrent. They will resort to drilling a hole in your fuel tank as well, but sometimes there's a spark...and you may have some BBQ'd gas thieves in your driveway.

Yes, holes were punched in gas tanks to drain the gas in the 70's. Hammer and punch in those days....pre-cordless drills.

[max_power29]

And people ask why I'm a doomer...

If oil goes up to, say, $80 per bbl this year...and higher next year...matters should get interesting.

The only question is, which to pack? 9mm or .40?

.40

[pea-jay]

How much is lost in the customer base if a cash prepay is installed

I have heard that arguement before, but unlike with other goods where there are substitutes, transportation fuel purchases are not one of them. If every gas station in an area started doing this, no one would be at a disadvantage. What's a disgruntled customer going to do? Stop buying gas?

Police have better things to do than chase down the people who take advantage of the fools that cling to a dated business model. Times change

[MonteQuest]

For a view of 1970's gas rationing history:

Hoarding Gas and Oil

Page two, I reminisce about the old Texaco stations of yore.

[whereagles]

whaddaya think of a hunting shotgun? Recharge time is high but can hit multiple opponents

[Jack]

whaddaya think of a hunting shotgun? Recharge time is high but can hit multiple opponents

Personally, I like a 12-gauge pump with rifle sights, with #10 shot for the first round, buckshot for the second and third, a slug for the fourth, and buckshot thereafter.

The #10 shot is lethal face to face, but not lethal after penetrating two layers of sheet-rock.

That said, you'd make a mess of the pumps. The shotgun isn't sufficiently precise in most cases.

A .40 (or .45) with hydro-shock or Glaser ammunition is less likely to involve unintended targets.

Back to the topic - a CRIND (credit reader in dispenser) helps with the drive-off problem. Just one trip, and everything is pre-paid. Those without plastic are the only ones who make two trips.

[Newsseeker]

It's starting. Imagine what will happen when it is $4 or $6 dollars a gallon.

[Lore]

The only question is, which to pack? 9mm or .40?

The light Glock 31, it holds 16 rounds of powerful .357 SIG ammo and is very accurate and flat shooting. Makes a great carry pistol for rural living too.

I have also noticed around here that many of the pumps are now being retrofited with bill changers, eliminating the lost revenue from people who didn't want to pay first or use their credit cards.

[MacG]

A locking gas cap may give you a warm fuzzy, but is not much of a deterrent. They will resort to drilling a hole in your fuel tank as well, but sometimes there's a spark...and you may have some BBQ'd gas thieves in your driveway.

As long as locking caps are rare, they provide decent protection - siphoners find it easier to move to the next car rather than punching or drilling. Considering the current JIT-paradigm, there are very few locking caps on the shelves in auto-part stores, and it will take months to ramp up production if the need arise.

Everything is about buying time, and outrunning your fellow hunters rather than outrunning the attacking bear. It's for example a hell of a difference between arriving to the store one hour before the food runs out, rather than one hour after.