Gas Stations | The Economics of Everyday Things | Episode 1

[@fredygump5578]

As a petroleum service tech, I think the service and fueling equipment industry is making all of the money! Just a card reader in a dispenser may cost $2,000 these days.

[@DangerousPopcorn]

Very promising. Always the best from the guys at freakonomics

[@pw2121]

Amazing Really insightful😊

[@JoshMaxPower]

I love all those hard-working people who own convenience/gas station stores. When you've been on the road by yourself for hours at a time, a friendly face can mean a lot along with your gas and coffee and water and the bathroom. Keep rockin'. 👍

[@jeffrojefferson88]

So glad I came across this. So interesting to me. I have another dozen of your videos lined up ready to watch when I get time.

[@michaelvanhorn3271]

Government makes the most

[@thejeepster90]

It’s so much more complicated than this. Refineries setting limits on gas stations volumes, regulatory and tax implications between gas and commodities, just to name a couple

[@siarnne]

If the business is inside the store, why has all of this money been spent on Pay-at-the-pump technology? It can't be cheap and it would seem to hurt the industry overall.

[@jwfmsu1990]

Prevent theft. Set it up so you have to pay before you pump. Also it is less labor needed to handle payments versus human labor.

[@causticmonster]

There will always be people going to buy ‘taquitos’ for convenience.

[@dannydaw59]

80% of gas stations are independently owned. Oil companies can divide and conquer them.

[@lakeguy65616]

gas is normally a loss leader to get buyers into the convenience store. The convenience store is where profits can be found.

[@kennethlove5778]

Similar to movie theater...they make some money on the tickets...but its the 8 dollar coke abs 10 dollar popcorn where rhe money comes in

[@WrogerWhallet]

@lakeguy65616 That's very interesting. So Mobile and B.P. are making all their Extreme profits from the sales Of cigarettes and hubabuba; cups of coffee and donuts; PBR & hotdogs 🌭🍻 (¿?¿?)

[@TheRealEdStoner]

Don’t forget the federal and state government make more than the owners.

[@kennethbradley2222]

What you explaned is so true thank you my wife an I charge out two electric cars from the sun charge to 90% batteries like that

[@WrogerWhallet]

As I understand it, the oil produced within the USA is not compatible with the majority of the refineries across the nation. Tankers offload oil in Texas, and the oil of Texas is loaded onto the empty tanks. This is because the large majority of the refineries need sour oil to be more profitable, i.e., the chemical industry must be fed .

[@nunyabidness3075]

Correct, and that doesn’t change because of the EPA and environmental lawyers.

[@nunyabidness3075]

@@WrogerWhallet Like many of our bureaucracies, the EPA can exert much more than its legal power by simply dragging its feet. Since it is staffed by people who want to end fossil fuels rather than accept we have a certain level of likely use, they can and do stop many projects by stopping a few. No sensible business person is going to start investing in conversion if the likely outcome is a decade of compliance and studies during which the regulators will not only be looking to stop the project, they will be looking for anything that will allow them to interrupt or fine the existing operation. I believe there’s been a single new refinery built in decades, and I think they built it right next to an existing refinery to help avoid legal attacks by lawyers who go looking for clients to stop or at least extort, any new petroleum infrastructure. I had my aircraft rental operation halted for three days because a local FAA guy wasn’t familiar with the new aircraft and thought he found a reason the model should not have ever been certified. The certification had taken years and millions of dollars to complete with both EASA and the FAA yet the lowliest inspector could, without fear of career damage, question the thousands of regulator man hours spent to do the certification. Meanwhile, I paid all the overhead including interest, taxes, and insurance while my business was halted. This is now the norm in the US government.

[@donames6941]

The company that pulls it out of the ground is controlling the price and making the most money

[@reddrabbit505]

Missed opportunity to discuss difference in regular versus premium gas pricing. The spread used to be 20 to 30 cents - now it’s like 70 or 80 cents. Any supply chain reason for this - or just charge more to the folks who drive the cars that require it?

[@glensmith491]

As I near retirement and take a hard look at my retirement assets, I will be making a significant portion of my retirement income from gasoline both directly and indirectly.

[@bellal5234]

Did this podcast end? Just started and loved it but realized there hasn't been an upload in a while 😢

[@Freakonomics]

Stay tuned!

[@tarjei99]

In Norway, the fuel chains are using food chains like 7-11 to make themself more attractive to the customers. Drivers of electric vehicles pay attention to where the petrol stations are located.

[@DymaxionDon]

Government makes the most from gas sales while doing none of the work.

[@brainstem2023]

In my opinion, people drive unreasonable distances to save a few pennies per gallon. Most people don't consider all the costs of operating a motor vehicle when they drive eight miles out of their way to save less then a dollar on a tankful of gas. Unless you're tank holds over thirty gallons, and you're sucking fumes, it's not worth driving any distance unless the savings is at least fifty cents per gallon.

[@frizzed4207]

But who profits when gas goes up? I feel like the question didn't get answered.

[@stevenswitzer5154]

OPEC

[@brainstem2023]

Owners colluding on price is the very reason for anti-trust laws.

[@danieljackett4193]

Take the federal, State, and local taxes on gas, multiply by 3, and that's the MAXIMUM a gallon of gas should cost In Michigan for 2024, that Max price should be $1.47 a gallon

[@lukeleyow5006]

*we Americans

[@arnoldkinsler6236]

Why is gas priced with .90 per gallon.

[@bwasman8409]

Where did he get the money to buy the gas station?

[@williammorrill946]

Not the station owner, that's for sure.

[@brainstem2023]

EV charging takes too long for it to be a practical thing for gas stations. People aren't gong to hang around inside the store for an hour while they wait for the charge cycle to complete. The bulk of charging will be at home or at work. Commercial properties with manufacturing, warehouse and office space will be the ones making money on charging stations. They'll be the fuel stations of the future.

[@LarryMcCabe-bi9rq]

Something doesn't add up. If there is a price spike it doesn't cost more to pump oil in Texas. That extra money is going somewhere. It may not be the gas station owners, but someone in the supply chain is making more money.

[@garyszewc3339]

When one staion, a mile away from another, is chargin $.60 higher per gallon, don't try to tell me, that they don't make big money.

[@jasontheauralnaut7268]

When the fuck does a gas station owner interact with customers???

[@stevenswitzer5154]

OPEC

[@hazy626]

You didn't really answer the question you asked, "who makes the most from a gallon of gas?". I believe it's the government?

[@stoundingresults]

I'm grateful for having 6 fuel stops near me in a 2 mile radius. I like watching communist countries failing videos like CUBA where sometimes poor folks queue up for 2 days to buy fuel. Also I have the luxury of keeping my tanks full.

[@stephenharriau1406]

Government

[@miwhcyvybaksjd]

Isn’t it nuts that this naive interviewer, thinking he has a good idea, suggests price fixing for gas stations near each other.

[@LeahleahB]

I dont buy gas. I cycle!! I will never buy gas. Why buy gas when its 85% vapor? Lol

[@raceabilene]

Not sure where you gather your info about fuel prices, but I can tell you after listening to this first run of the podcast that in west Texas, none of what you say applies. Pretty much any one station sets a price, most of the others in the next 20~60 mile range will be about the same plus/minus a penny or so. Some places off the highway price match, some are as much as 0.40+ over - apparently those few stations don't really want to sell fuel. Specifically the QT station will sometimes start the morning with a price well lower - 0.05~0.10 than Allsups, Flying J, Iron Horse, etc but by noon they'll be back in line with the others. And you know dang well that when fuel jumps 0.20 between 8AM and 11AM with no fuel delivery that the fuel in the underground tanks didn't cost the stations 0.01 more than yesterday. But the price jumps anyway. I'll also note that in Odessa, where there is a refinery in Big Spring which you'd think would reduce transport costs, prices are generally 0.10~0.20 higher than 100 miles east. Monday the Iron Horse in my city was 3.389, Wednesday it's 3.489 and it was the same at all stations both days for the next 30 miles. Even the Flying J, which is usually 0.02 higher than the two DK stations right across from it.

[@ahbushnell1]

Next EV charging stations.

[@petermundorff6100]

Not enough electricity for that!

[@elainebradley8213]

Love our Tesla charging at home. Such freedom. But a friend of ours in 50's had a garage and said that he made no money off the gas it just brought people in to his station.

[@chris2790]

​@@elainebradley8213freedom... 😂 Drive an ice. You're polluting with your "zero emission" EV. Alot.

[@GM-jv9jz]

Thats not true that 1/2 of Americans want electric vehicles. There's a ton of downsides to them.

[@jerodewert8334]

He was talking about people in general, my electric car is great. 2013 Nissan Leaf with a 2018 battery. I visit the gas station for candy and tire inflator.

[@halloweenengineer6283]

I've been very happy owning an electric car. 0 downsides for me. Highly recommended. Never need to fill it up. Can recharge from solar once I get that installed. I've never been on a road trip in my life, so can't say that was ever a concern. I just fly and rent a car at the destination for vacation.

[@lakeguy65616]

fuel taxes are the single biggest expense in a gallon of gas.

[@kkinva68]

crude oil is the single bigget expense in a gallon of gas

[@BeatlesBowieKrimson]

Us Americans? US? You started your video with incorrect grammar. It's WE Americans. Yes, your next sentence is correct. But your first one shows your ignorance.

[@barryhaley7430]

This is social media. Not a literary treatise. Lighten up.

[@BeatlesBowieKrimson]

@@barryhaley7430 no

[@barryhaley7430]

Ok. Enjoy your disgruntle.

[@BeatlesBowieKrimson]

@@barryhaley7430 thanks

[@danhill3302]

I hope things get better for you soon.

[@w420666]

Pfft... $1.49 for a big o ice