MOORHEAD (KFGO) – High gas prices are creating havoc for service stations and convenience stores. Drive-offs from the pumps have skyrocketed and left many businesses unable to recover the money lost in the gas thefts.
Amy Kiehl, manager of Orton’s Holiday Station Store in Moorhead, said during May, the station had $3,500 in drive-offs and about $4,000 as June ends.
Effective Thursday, the station switched to pre-pay or pay-at-the-pump.
Kiehl says the drive-offs are no longer a criminal matter in Minnesota. Several years ago the legislature passed a bill leaving it for business owners to handle the thefts as a civil issue.
License plates are usually caught on station cameras and that information is submitted to the Minnesota Petroleum Association. They then attempt to notify the license holders to pay up. The law requires payment and a $30 service charge.
But, Kiehl said 70% of those license plates are stolen and the businesses never get repaid for their losses.
