Fuel & Measures history

1885: Karl Benz invents the first gasoline-powered automobile (which had only three wheels) in Mannheim, Germany.

1888: Bertha Benz, Karl’s wife, takes the first road trip, a 60-plus-mile round trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim to showcase the new Benz Patent-Motorwagen.

A few small side streets in Bellefontaine, Ohio, are paved beginning in 1891.

1893: Brothers Charles and Frank Duryea build and test the first American gasoline-powered automobile.

They found the Duryea Motor Wagon Company in 1896 and sell their first vehicles, the Duryea motor wagon.

1898: John Tokheim conceives and develops the first gas dispenser pump and first underground storage tank.

Samuel Kier founded the country’s first oil refinery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mainly producing kerosene that he dubbed “Carbon Oil.” Pennsylvania remains responsible for more than half of the world’s oil production until the East Texas oil boom began in 1901.

​1905: In St Louis, Missouri, Automobile Gasoline Co., a subsidiary of Shell of California, opens what some people consider to be the first United States filling station.

Others suggest that the first gas station was opened by Socal in Seattle, Washington, in 1907.

1908: While there are already approximately 300,000 automobiles on the road, the introduction of the first affordable Model T leads to a rapid growth in automobile sales within several years.

1909: The first paved road in the country appears — a one-mile section of concrete road just outside of Detroit, Michigan.

1910: Gilbert & Barker Manufacturing Co. (now Gilbarco Veeder-Root) manufactures its first gas pump, using a pull-push motion to draw gas from an underground storage tank.

The first purpose-built, drive-up gas station opened in 1913.

The 1915 Weighmaster Act provided for the licensing and oversight of individuals and companies engaging in the business of public weighing for hire and issuing weight or measure certificates upon which the purchase or sale of bulk commodities was based.

1916: The first canopy is introduced, as Standard Oil of Ohio unveils a prefabricated canopy prototype.

The 1919 Hay Baling Act ensured accuracy in the sale of hay, providing for the testing of scales used by hay balers and the recording of net weight of the sale.

1920: In larger cities, fire safety ordinances begin to force curbside fueling stations to close.

In 1921, the State Department of Agriculture was reorganized and became a part of the Department of Agriculture as the Division of Weights and Measures.

It was not until 1925, when Rickenbacker offered the first electrical fuel gauge, that the convince and reliability of the device—and the automobile in general—reached the point that it started to become commonplace.

Going back to Studebaker, their dash-mounted system would start a trend that wouldn’t become common-place until the 1930’s.

1932: Congress enacts the Revenue Tax Act of 1932, establishing a federal excise tax on gasoline.

1937: Is this the first gas price sign? Maryville Oil Co. in Missouri has “The Big Pump,” a giant imitation gas pump that shows the station’s “cut rate” prices.

1939: The shut-off valve is developed by Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., which is the forerunner of today’s cut-off valves.

In 1958, American Express and BankAmericard are introduced.

1965: The Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Act establishes the country’s first emissions standards.

1969: Gilbarco introduces the “tight seal nozzle” to prevent splash-back.

The National Environmental Policy Act establishes the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is created in May 1971.

In 1972 the Bureau of Weights and Measures was again reorganized as a division and renamed the Division of Measurement Standards.

Starting with the 1975 model year, United States automakers respond by equipping new cars with pollution-reducing catalytic converters designed to run only on unleaded fuel.

1977: The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil, is established.

The regulations are for passenger vehicles only, requiring car manufacturers to have an average fleet fuel efficiency of 18 miles per gallon beginning in 1978.

1979-81: In February 1979, the revolution in Iran begins, and in November the United States Embassy in Iran is stormed and hostages are taken.

1988: The Alternative Motor Fuels Act establishes incentives under CAFE for alternative fuel vehicles.

Many BP stations see sales declines of 5 to 10%, but it’s far lower than the 40 to 50% seen at many Exxon stations following the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.

In premium gasoline grades, the BTEX volume content was as high as 50 percent. As a result of its substitution for lead, BTEX volume rose from 22 percent to roughly a third of the gasoline pool by 1990.

1992: The Energy Policy Act of 1992 seeks to restructure energy markets by mandating energy efficiency standards and a broader use of alternative energy and renewables, plus more domestic oil production.

1996: EPA bans the use of leaded fuel for on-road vehicles (leaded gasoline was down to 0.6 percent of 1996 gasoline sales). Lead is still used in some aviation fuels.

1999: Consolidation of the industry begins with the merger of British Petroleum and Amoco, and, later that year, Exxon and Mobil.

2005: Congress passes the Energy Policy Act of 2005, establishing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). RFS sets a minimum volume of renewable biofuels to be blended into the transportation fuel supply.

Nymex teams up with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to introduce electronic trading of oil and other commodities in 2006.

In June, ExxonMobil announces it will sell its retail assets, and ConocoPhillips makes a similar announcement in August, joining BP, which in 2007, announced it was getting out of the retail side of the business.

At the time, total industry sales were an estimated $480 million and very few stores sold fuels; in 2012, industry sales were $700 billion.

Two new entrants announce that they will try new concepts 2014: Dollar General will sell gas at a Dollar General Market in Hanceville, Alabama, and Walmart will test a convenience store selling fuel concept (Walmart 2 Go) in Bentonville, Arkansas.

2021: Demand for fuel returns almost to pre-pandemic levels but supply is a problem over the first half of the year, especially related to a trucker shortage that limits deliveries to stations.