European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes february modern living the Gas and go situation new York times Andrew sacks Amos Walls still runs two wreckers for towing and a pickup to jump dead by Iver Peterson new York times the Corner Tow truck appears to be going the Way of the Man at the Gas station who used to wipe the Windshield and Check the motorists facing the perils of Winter of batteries that die on cold mornings and of Snow drifts that snatch their cars from the Road Are Likely to find the search for a wrecker More difficult and the wait longer this theres no doubt about said Stanley executive director of the Gas and Auto service dealers association in As the Small Independent service station dealers go out of business and the Oil company concentrate on Gas and go operations for economic the usual customer services Are and that Means the wreckers Arent there in the state Highway which Calls wreckers to help stranded began noticing the decline in the number of Tow trucks in suburban and Rural areas last either the trucks just we rent there or it took forever for one to because the ones that Are left arc spread so an information officer James director of Auto engineering and Road service for the automobile club of which contracts with towers to service its members when they have trouble on the said the triple a has had to put its own Tow truck in areas where the Gas and go Situa Tion has led to a loss of private such As Las vegas and Mcdowell that in some including Independent towers unconnected with any garage have begun to the Ontario motor league has been operating a Fleet of 40 Light service trucks since 1973 because the Good Quality service the kind with four trucks of their have said Ron Ron the league general in Northern an affiliate of the automobile club has started inspecting members cars for finding that at least 50 percent have problems that might require Road those problems May account for the increasing num Ber of service Calls that automobile clubs have been an Mcdowell last there were 7 million Calls this the number is approaching 18 solid numbers Are hard to come by when it comes to Tow but a clue is found in the decline in the number of independently operated full service stations that used to operate from 1972 to May the number of such stations declines by nearly from about to in the same the number of stations owned and operated by the most of them Gas Only Sta has increased from a few More than to nearly the fact that there Arent As Many wreck ers on the Road Means the rest of us will pick up the said Amos who has operated his Shell leased from the Oil on a Corner in Detroit for 15 he runs two wreckers for towing and a pickup to jump dead but it Means folks have to wait and a lot of people Arent going to get to work on across grand River from Walls Robert Wes Ley runs a Boron owned by the Standard Oil company the bricks that Wall up the service Bays have carried a Large Gas Only sign since repairs and Road services were stopped two years i dont even have a Battery Charger in Wesley its strictly get your Gas and get the refineries that operate these gasoline Only stations say it costs less to hire unskilled pump jockeys Wesley was pumping his regular Grade of Gaso line for his customers for 2 cents less than Walls self service Independent operators who say that they Are be ing forced out of business by the company owned Gas stations argue that the Gasman do operations neglect customers cars and ultimately Lead to higher repair i just put in a new said Verna Boveroux who lives in a Detroit my car  Start and i  get anyone to come out and Start and finally my neighbor told me the Battery was dried i thought you didst have to Check them i think its time we All stopped picking on the Post weve All done its a cheap and its time we really addressed ourselves to the problems of the Tal service and the options left to the simple fact is people Are writing More letters than the Post office can the answer weve got to Stop writing like i have three children who not Only anticipated the postal but did something about during the years when they were in they limited their correspondence to three letters a year a Legal action by the University b Legal action by the Bank c annual begging and we could All help by following their example and writing Only when we have something startling to Pride must be restored to postmen for what they Are i mean the Quality of mail has been going downhill for some time How do you think mailman feel walking 50 Miles a Day to put a bundle of mail in you hands and having you stand there in front of them drop Ping the truss digest in the trash and complaining about the rest i firmly believe that mail addressed to occupant should be kept at the Post office and if people want it they have to show three ids and certification of abolish postcards from this constitutes Large chunk of mail and people who Are up to their ashes in Snow do not want to hear from someone on Tahiti whose Tan line is beginning to lets Stop giving the Post office a bad if the zip code helps them hold postal rates lets give it a this summer business leaders will be advised to add four More digits to the five digit zip code we now i say lets get rid of names altogether and go for the from Here on you can Call me Ive been called having no name will solve once and for All the forms we fill out that give you of an Inch line to fill in your name and Complete and lets get realistic about the postal lets do away with All those funny Little Stamps they Bounce on Ink pads and stamp on letters and packages hand this Side handle with they dont mean any thing there just for and grow there is no phone at the Post youve always known its time to Stop telling yourself that there is someone on another line dispensing it just rings to indulge we play Ball with the Post office and who knows maybe someday  put the driven mailboxes on the Drivers Side of the c Field enterprises