Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: When I fill my gas tank at a gas station, I've noticed that they have inspection stickers stating what month and year the pumps were inspected. How long is the inspection sticker good for? Our car safety inspections are due every year, for example. Does the same go for these gas pumps? Also, I've noticed that not all gas pumps have an inspection sticker. Does the state require that every gas pump have one? Policing the state’s
gas pumps and scalesAnswer: The inspection stickers have no expiration date. They are meant to reflect when the pumps were inspected, explained Wendell Murakami, measuring device specialist with the state Department of Agriculture's Measurements Standards Office.
There is no requirement as to how often the pumps should be inspected, he said.
Also, although the stickers indicate a pump has passed inspection, there is no requirement that they be posted. It's not unusual for stickers to simply fall off, Murakami noted.
"When a sticker is missing but our records reflect that we have inspected it and it was passed, then we don't do anything," such as posting a new sticker, he said.
In years past, inspectors were regularly able to inspect every commercial measuring device -- taxi meters, scales, yardsticks, etc. However, because of downsizing and budget cuts, coupled with more businesses that use weights and measures, inspections as a whole in the state are backlogged about two to three years, Murakami said.
The inspection staff on Oahu has shrunk to 11, which includes one based in the laboratory, while the neighbor islands, which used to have four inspectors, are now done to one, Murakami said. The kicker is that the one will soon be down to none. Optimally, according to standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland, there should be one measurement inspector per 30,000 population. For Hawaii that would be around 33 inspectors.
(Meanwhile, the Measurements Standards Office has been without a permanent home for a while and is now based in a trailer, awaiting a move into a new home next year.)
These days, "it's impossible for us to check (all weights and measures) every year," Murakami said.
However, last November, the pumps at all gas stations, except for six, were tested within the previous year, he said. But because of staffing problems after that, inspections again fell behind.
Since then, Murakami said, the way inspections are done was restructured, and new equipment was ordered, which will allow for a faster and more efficient inspection process.
"As far as gas stations go, I expect that by the end of this year, all the stations should be inspected within a year and a half," Murakami said. On Oahu there are 4,447 nozzles from which to pump gas.
Asked what an inspection entails, he said not only do inspectors test the pumps, they also check to make sure all other parts of the pump are working properly, including the hose, the nozzle, the read-out display and the security seal in the dispenser. They make sure labeling requirements are followed throughout the entire station and the octane number is posted properly on each grade of gas; that pumps shut off at pre-programmed numbers; and there are no computer chips that allow cheating.
Murakami pointed out weights and measures are a big part of daily life, from grocery shopping to filling up with gas to buying lumber or catching a cab. Even when you buy a Christmas tree, he said, "how do you know that it's 6 to 8 feet tall? Well, we make sure."
Although inspectors cannot check all the trees, they are there to warn businesses that there are "laws and guidelines on how you shall sell something." Also, he points out that "Hawaii is the only state that has temperature compensation regarding gasoline. ...
"Somebody is working to make sure you have your fair share."
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