Simple solution for gasoline drive-off theft

Gasoline drive-off theft is a nationwide problem with an arguably simple solution - consumers should pay in advance.

But such a solution goes against the traditional "C" in the convenience store business and implies that people might not be as honest as they should be.

As a result, changes to an old of way of doing things have been slow in coming. Of course, a generation ago many people wondered if self-service pumps would ever be used by anyone other than kids hoping to trim a penny or two from 49-cent Ethyl.

Now, with some Arkansas outlets losing as much as $2,500 per month to pump-and-runners, a spokesman for Arkansas gasoline wholesalers says her membership is ready to get behind policy that could mean fewer dollars from in-store sales - the C-store industry's stock-in-trade - to cut losses from fuel theft.

"Every time the price goes up, the problem increases," said Ann Hines, executive vice president for the Arkansas Oil Marketers Association. And with gasoline priced at record high levels, so is the theft - not only in dollars, but in frequency.

The most troublesome locations, she reports, are urban areas and communities on the Interstate where customers are unrecognized and can make quick get-aways.

And safety is a matter that must be considered, Hines emphasized.

"My biggest fear right now is that someone is going to be stealing fuel and drive away at a high rate of speed and hit another car," she said.

Indeed, the Conway Police Department is all for putting a law on the books to require stations to collect before turning on the pumps - a piece of public policy that would reduce greatly some recently inflated crime statistics.

"We can reduce 37 percent of our theft with the stroke of a pen," Conway Police Major Bill Milburn told the council last week. He said 27 percent of the city's total crime rate could be attributed to drive-offs, while also noting public safety concerns.

Milburn explained that such thieves are hard to catch and the crimes consume a great deal of police time and effort.

City Attorney Mike Murphy likewise told the council that even if alert store clerks can provide a license plate number, registered car owners cannot be prosecuted without being identified as the driver.

Milburn also provided a detailed survey of the city's gasoline retailers, almost all of whom support such an initiative - even though, as crafted, they could be fined $100 for making such a report.

A representative of a local retailer who spoke up in favor of the ordinance told the council her company "took a cussin'" two years ago when they went to a pre-pay system - but noted business hasn't fallen off.

"It is not personal issue," said Sheila French, a manager for May Oil. "The reason we're doing this is times have changed."

But, getting a public policy solution on the regulatory books apparently isn't as easy as asking an attendant to "fill 'er up."

"If all these folks are for it, then let them do it," said Sandy Brewer of Ward 1, among the more vocal of the aldermen behind the 2-6 vote that defeated the ordinance.

"This is just meddling," said David Grimes of Ward 1.

"I think they need to enforce their own rules," echoed Andy Hawkins, also of Ward 1.

And Ward 4's Theodore Jones Jr. wondered if the requirement wouldn't unfairly impose on the vast majority of residents who are trustworthy and shouldn't have to make two trips inside a store, first to make a deposit for a fill up and then to settle up on a total.

Mayor Tab Townsell said after the meeting the council's reasoning is sound, and that the failed ordinance "may be an intrusion into private business."

He too suggested the retailers should agree to take on the responsibility among themselves.

"I'm sure that getting all the different stations to make the decision collectively is like a kids' dare - they have to decide to hold hands and jump at the same time."

Though Hines said there is historical evidence that stores who choose to go to pre-pay though competitors do not will lose customers, she said, and that to collaborate on any pre-pay plan would be illegal.

"We can support legislation or ordinances that require pre-pay," she said. "But we cannot all get together to decide we are going to do this - it's a violation of federal law."

Hines, who said she worked on the state legislation in 2001 that imposes a loss of driving privileges on convicted fuel thieves, reported that pre-pay legislation had been on her agenda for the recent state assembly session.

An otherwise crowded industry agenda - along with the common problem of getting the necessary rural support for essentially a big city problem - left any such laws on the to-do list for a future legislature.

"In the rural areas this is not a problem," she said. "I have jobbers who have never had a drive-off, because when they have a customer, they know them."

Consequently, Hines suggests local legislation could well be the appropriate approach - though very few municipalities, she said, have actually put such laws into effect.

Mayor Townsell said a non-binding resolution in support of pre-pay would be before the council next week.

Other ideas

A tank or so west on I-40, a convenience store chain reports a commercial solution that has virtually eliminated the drive-offs that cost the company $4 million in their home market last year.

Tulsa-based QuikTrip, which owns and operates 450 stores in nine states, last summer rolled out its "PumpStart" card.

The program, as explained by Mike Thornbrugh, manager of public and government affairs, simply allows customers who prefer to pay with cash to register for a free card that will activate the fuel pump.

"The PumpStart program has pretty much eliminated gasoline theft," Thornbrugh said.

Registration is as simple as a one-time trip to a store counter where the clerk will scan a driver's license and then transfer that code to the PumpStart card.

He declined to say what QuikTrip had spent to develop the patented process, though the company is evaluating plans to market the program.

"It's the quickest return on investment that we have ever had," he noted.

In addition to the immediate bottom line, Thornbrugh said the company and customers benefit because busy clerks no longer must keep an eye on the pumps while also minding the store.

The company has expanded the program to include its stores in Kansas City, Wichita and Des Moines, and has issued about 400,000 cards.

Thornbrugh said the number of cards that are being used indicates that customers recognize the need for such a solution.

"We couldn't wait around," Thornbrugh said. "We had to solve the problem ourselves and at this point it's working."

(Staff Writer J.K. Jones can be reached by e-mail at kevin.jones@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236.)