A Shortage at the Pump: Not of Gas, but of 4s

The prices that we are experiencing are the result of a slowly but steadily increasing worldwide demand for oil and the slow but steadily diminishing oil supply. There has not been a catastrophic event that is making prices spike.

Cheney and Bush talk about attacking Iran. If that happened Iran would begin sinking oil tanker ships. If there is such an event prices could spike very quickly. And Bush, Cheney and a good chunk of the Bush Administration could double their oil fortunes over night.

The station owners need to start thinking about new signs with room for an extra set of digits. A row of three digits might not be enough if prices go over $9.99 per gallon.
Jim
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July 15, 2008
A Shortage at the Pump: Not of Gas, but of 4s
By KEN BELSON
If one is the loneliest number, then four is the hottest — at least when it comes to gasoline.
With regular gas in New York City at a near-record $4.40 a gallon, station managers are rummaging through their storage closets in search of extra 4s to display on their pumps. Many are coming up short.
That’s why Vishal Nair, who runs the Lukoil station at Eighth Avenue and 13th Street in Greenwich Village, took another plastic number last week, turned it over and scribbled “4” on it with a black magic marker. The result was an obviously homemade “$4.47,” but it would have to do until he received the extra 4s he ordered months ago.
“Typically, we have a lot of 9s and 1s, and we had a shortage of 3s before we got a lot of 3s in,” Mr. Nair said.
The missing digits are an unanticipated barometer of how frequently prices are changing. The average price of regular gasoline in New York City has risen by 35 percent this year, forcing station managers to change their price displays almost every time they get a delivery, which can be daily at some stations.
Franchises often order numbers from their parent companies, though like independent station owners, they can buy directly from sign companies. Sets of 40 include equal numbers of each digit, which are magnetic or slip into plastic holders. Digits, which are often in a Helvetica font, are sold individually for as little as a $1.50. In New York, numbers must be 4.5 or 9 inches tall.
When prices passed $4, many stations ran out of 4s, and managers improvised by photocopying signs or stenciling numbers by hand.
The makeshift digits are legal as long as they are similar to the neighboring numbers, said John Browne, the assistant director of enforcement for the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs’ petroleum unit.
“As long as the color and size are correct and it is apparent what the number is, they are fine,” said Mr. Browne, who inspected Mr. Nair’s handiwork last Friday at the Lukoil station…
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http://www.nytimes.com/