Jeff Lenard Retailers Quotations

There has been an incredible increase in the number of retailers who are throwing up their hands and saying, 'That's it, we are going to require prepay until we can figure out another way,'

This week, there's been a huge upswing in retailers who've said, 'Enough. I can't figure out another way to prevent theft,' who've gone to prepay.

It's all related to how recently you got your shipment. Retailers base prices on replacement costs.

There was an increase in thefts immediately, especially with the dramatic increase of prices. After Katrina, there were so many retailers that couldn't absorb losses anymore ... so they went to prepay. They couldn't afford that one drive-off a day that would hurt their gas profits. And with Rita ... we will see more stations go pre-pay, if nothing else, as a temporary solution.

California retailers have a whole lot of obstacles to selling gasoline. You have stringent environmental regulations that add to it.