When Joe Namson and his brother, John, took over a station on the Westside after World War II, they became a hot success by jumping sales from 5,000 to 30,000 gallons a month. Now, some big oil companies try to dump franchisees unless they pump at least 100,000 gallons a month. These days, Namson, who gets a daily tank-truck load of gasoline from Unocal, sells more than 200,000 gallons a month. Some big-volume stations pump up to 500,000 gallons a month. The latest plague on dealers is a steady fall in demand for gasoline in recent years.
New cars are more energy efficient.
And the economy has been stalled, reducing companies' need to transport goods and people. At the same time, low world crude prices have kept an ocean of petroleum on the market. That has kept prices at the pump, adjusted for inflation, at 1947-era lows. Profits have sagged for dealers and oil company marketing divisions. In response, the oil companies have tightened their belts.