Failure Rate Of Gas Stations? Nozzle Accuracy Increases By 3 Percent

July 29, 2013

 The Arizona Department of Weights and Measures says a recent audit of gas stations showed a 17-percent failure rate when they checked the accuracy of nozzles on fuel pumps at over 1,800 retailers. That's a 3-percent increase from last year and Compliance Director Shawn Marquez says auditors discovered some significant problems.

“We actually found an increase in meter jumps, meter creeps,” Marquez said. “We actually found more of those. And that’s where you flip the handle up before you pump anything, money flashes on the screen even though no gasoline came out.”

Marquez says station operators were fined if their equipment failed to deliver the proper amount of fuel, or if the customer was charged when the pump was not dispensing fuel.  He hopes the enforcement action is a wake-up call to the industry to do a better job of maintaining equipment.