There was a time when there was no such thing as "self serve." It became popular around the time of the 1973 oil shortage. Initially, most stations had a self-serve and a full service option.

Personally, I liked it better when everything was full service. You could drive in with a nearly empty tank, hand the attendant $5, then get change back after he pumped 20 gallons, cleaned your windshield and checked your oil.

I am not sure what happened in Oregon. But I would bet it has something to do with a politician who had a financial interest in keeping "full serve" in business.

Unfortunately, I go back that far. That is one of the funny parts of Back to the Future: the car drives over the rubber bell strip and 3 guys come running out to service and fill the car..... :laugh3:

NewJersey, has the same policy as Oregon. With my new job,working for OSHA I go out there pretty regularly now, because we have an office out there. There is no "Self Serve" in Jersey. The only exception the attendants are allowed to make is for Motorcycles. I pulled up on my bike and the guy came over to me to pump my fuel. I looked at his strangely and he noticed my Connecticut plate, and let me fuel it myself. Fueling a bike, is a bit different than a car, and you could very easily spill fuel all over the bike, which sucks a lot, especially if you just cleaned it or something..

I ALWAYS use work gloves when fueling Diesel, into any vehicle. It stinks, it makes a smelly mess of your clothes, hands, and interior. I always used them when fueling tractor trailers. I use them for Diesel, but not for fueling my gas jobs, or Motorcycles, or anything else, if that makes any sense..

Gas evaporates in the air, and will not continue to smell, unless you actually spill it somewhere in the carpet or something..

Sometimes you had to drive over the rubber strip three times to get one guy to come out!!!

Yes, now they have "Electronic" bell systems. It has a sensor, part way down the hose, so when the air from the car hits it, it will sound the bell at the other end. A person could walk across the thing and it will sound the bell, in fact, even a bicycle can sound it, it's very sensitive. Not all places have them, but they are becoming a popular upgrade at a lot of stations..

Another reason to stay away from Jersey. Right Cap'n??? :D

Gloves? What gloves? diesel cleans the cuts on my hands, when I worked in the oil field, we would mix diesel into the non potable water, it would take the grease and never sieze right off in the shower.

I love the smell of diesel. Even still I carry a roll of paper towels, grab off a few after filling the tank, hock some saliva/mucus onto my open palms, wipe clean. All set, man.

I never wear gloves... In NJ where I fill up, the guy uses these full gauntlet space suit gloves! However they seem to leave me and the big rigs alone when we pull up and fill up by ourselves. I usually fill up the tank and two five gallon Diesel cans, which I use to fill up from during the week. I will inevitably over fill one and get diesel on me. No matter, because it is on the weekend and I am not dressed for work. They will NEVER let me touch the gas pumps, though.

At home, I use a siphon hose with a squeeze bulb to fill from the jugs to the car. No mess there. I have learned my lesson about sucking on a hose full of gas, but that is another story:P

Last time I was in jersey, I just got out and filled my car myself, the attendant seemed to have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

I'm told that, in Oregon, if you're at a truck stop where all of the pumps are diesel, you can pump diesel yourself. However, if it's a mixed fuel pump as at regular gas stations, they have to pump the diesel for you.

Politics, of course. the "good reason" is safety; the "real reason" is jobs.

It also works the other way...
 

My friend and his wife moved from Joisey to Las Vegas. The first time she had to put gas into her Ford Excursion, she pulled up the the pump and waited... and waited... and waited... finally she started blowing on the horn. a guy finally came over and said "lady you got to pump it yourself" She had no idea how to use the pump, how to get the gas cap off, etc.

Talk about your Jersey Girls... She's pretty though:D

I don't use any gloves because when I fuel up I never get a drop on me.. Its called skillz

I'd probably wear gloves if, say, I had a job where I had to wear a suit. I agree that it wouldn't be very professional to be in an environment like that and smell of diesel. Since I don't, I just enjoy the smell on my hands. I actually had a girlfriend once that loved that smell. Hated to let that one go...

I normally don't unless the pump is dirty, then I just use a paper towel. I have some of that waterless hand soap in my trunk anyway, that's pretty good for getting rid of any diesel smell.