Almost a leap into the past. At certain Totalenergies stations it is now possible to see a pump attendant again. This profession has almost disappeared from almost all French service stations since the 1980s and motorists have long become accustomed to filling their own gasoline tanks. But Totalenergies resumed hiring in 2020 and, after an interruption due to the health crisis, we now find a pump attendant at a hundred of its stations.
Under his orange vest, the gas station employee offers the driver to refuel him. In a day he can serve more than a hundred clients, according to him. The Parisian. In addition to gasoline, he is also responsible for helping customers wash cars or inflate tires, distribute cars between lines or even check the level of the windshield washer fluid. It’s also a relief for the store, encouraging customers to take time to purchase a drink or snack.
We find ourselves with “the service station that we knew thirty or forty years ago,” Francis Pousse, president of the service stations and new energies section of the Mobilians union, emphasizes to BFMTV.
The return of the pump attendant allows us to “reestablish the service, the connection,” he emphasizes, especially because “it is not always pleasant to refuel, because it does not smell very good.” And above all, with a faster service, almost transforming the station into a “drive”, the waiting time is shorter.
200 stations in 2024
According to Totalenergies, 200 additional stations should welcome a pump attendant in 2024, or 300 service stations in total, including those that already do so, provided the hiring is successful. Specifically, it is not the group itself that decides to host a pump attendant, but the director of the service station: the parent company selects the stations that seem favorable to it and then leaves the management to the interested managers. freedom to accept or not install it. Free service at your homes.
But not all stations of Totalenergies, which has 3,400 service stations in France, will find their pump attendant. Those located in urban areas are more worrying, because “they are busier” and “when the economic effort is made to have someone at the station, it is better that they be well occupied,” says Francis Push.
“In rural areas you can have a customer every half hour, so interest is less,” he points out.
The return of the pump attendant also anticipates the electrical change. With the electrification of the vehicle fleet, service stations will change their face in the next decade and customers run the risk of getting a little lost: this is where the gas station attendant can intervene.
Source: BFM TV
