Recently, I took a trip from Canada down the west coast of the Untied States before hopping on a cruise to Mexico. We drove down to L.A. in a new Grand Cherokee with the Hemi. But wait – the Hemi isn't the subject of this spew. This is about what I encountered at gas stations along the way.

I had considered buying a diesel truck this spring, but after this trip, I don't think I will. Sure, they have scads of power and better fuel economy while towing, and in Canada, diesel is marginally cheaper than gas (usually about 10¢ less per litre, or about 40¢ per gallon). However, in the United States, at almost every place I stopped for fuel, diesel was upwards of 40¢ per gallon more than gas. So much for the fuel savings gain from mileage improvements. Besides, I have driven several of the new gas trucks and they have lots more power than my older Chevy 454 plus they can cost $5,000 to $10,000 less for a two or three year old truck. Sounds like a much better deal.

Yes, I know those of you in the States know where to buy the fuel at the best price, but when I travel in the USA, I have to stop wherever I am when the tank runs low.

So I pull up to the pump to swipe my MasterCard. But what's this? Seems many pumps now ask for your postal code before you can get gas this way. Problem is, our Canadian postal codes have letters and numbers, and they've apparently neglected to consider the fact that Canucks might travel here too. So using the credit card at the pump is out. Instead, I have feed cash into a box at the pump station or swipe my card inside at the till and leave it with some cashier I don't know while I fuel up. Ugh.

Let's not get into the pre-pay pain-in-the-ass that is just about everywhere. I want a full tank every time I gas up. That usually means overpaying (which is a real hassle with a credit card) then making another trip back to the counter to collect my money back. I even hit a station that was "cash or debit only", right on the side of the Interstate. Trouble is, in the US our debit cards only work in cash machines (well, most of the time!), and not at your cash registers because our cards have options at the till that USA cards don't. That usually costs me an extra $2.00 service fee to get money. Argh.

Then there is Oregon, where I have to wait for someone to pump my gas for me. When it is busy, this is about as frustrating as it gets. Further down the road, I stopped at a COSTCO pump (I am a member) where they wouldn't take cash, MasterCard, or Visa. They accept only debit cards or AMEX – so much for membership. Grrr.

Stick with me – this rant is almost done! So what's the big idea here? It's only gas-we all use it, and most of us need it daily. A full tank is about 20 to 30 bucks for you state-side guys, while a full tank for us is usually over $50. When I fill the two tanks in my truck, it's over $100; the two tanks in my Jeep hit $140 and I still don't have to go through any of this crap to buy gas. You can't tell me that much gas gets stolen that we have to jump through all these hoops just to get a tank full.

Now onto a Canadian phenomonen, the "3-1/2 cents off the pump price" deal. Okay, so I look at the price up on the sign and it says say 84¢ per litre. I pump the gas at the pump and it says 81.5¢ per litre. Now this sounds like a great deal – but it is the same at every station I can see. So isn't the regular price really 81.5¢ per litre if every place does it? Oh well – things could be worse, I guess!

Albert Vandervelde
Editor, 4WD Magazine