Wednesday, June 11, 2008

FUEL STATIONS OUT OF COMPLIANCE REPORT

Click here for a table showing Texas fuel stations which are out of compliance. (Click here for definitions.)

Hearing Consumer Concerns Commissioner Staples Gives Green Light To Posting Gas Station Violations Online

AUSTIN - With gasoline prices hovering around $3 a gallon, Texas drivers want to make sure they are receiving exactly what they are paying for. Now, keeping an eye on their local gas station is as easy as logging on to the Internet.

Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples announced today the Texas Department of Agriculture is now posting results of gas station inspections on its Web site, so consumers can see which stations around the state failed their recent gas pump inspections.

"The Texas Department of Agriculture is committed to consumer protection. We want Texans to know our inspectors are on the frontlines ensuring they are receiving what they are paying for," Commissioner Staples said. "By visiting the TDA Web site, drivers will have the information they need at their fingertips to know where gas pumps have been found out of compliance."

TDA has 72 weights and measures inspectors throughout the state checking more than 65,000 fuel pumps a year. An inspector will place an "out of order" tag on any pump not dispensing the correct amount of fuel within the allowable tolerance.

The station owner or operator is responsible for having a pump repaired by a service company licensed through TDA before the pump can be further used to sell fuel. A TDA inspector will then place a new seal on the pump after it has been tested and found to be operating properly. TDA recently increased penalties for any fuel pump found out of tolerance in the state. This was the first increase in fines since 1996.

To check out the new online reports go to the Texas Department of Agriculture's Web site at http://www.tda.state.tx.us/ and click on "public information reports." Besides gas pump inspection reports consumers can also review weights and measures enforcement action reports to find out how much gas stations owners had to pay for the out of order violations.

Source: Texas Department of Agriculture

4 comments:

Susan in St. Paul said...

Wow! I wonder how accurate ours are?
Only $3 a gallon there???

If your gas widget is correct our gas just dropped back down to $3.89 from $4 something.

Mommy said...

I think that article must be a few months old. I was just in Texas, and saw prices around $3.89. That's what they are here, too, and we're not that far away. :)

Anyway you look at it, it's a pain in the azz!!!

Alyson | New England Living said...

The gas in my town is around $4.40!! CT has a .20 gas tax. Ridiculous! I go to Massachusetts, which is only 7 miles away, to fill up.

Laurie said...

Susan - Our gas is almost $4.00, too.

Jen - Yeah, the article is a couple months old, but the table is current.

Alyson - This is just crazy.