A customer thinks gas stations are sabotaging drivers to get them to spend more money at the pump. He thinks they are doing this through a knob trick.
TikTok user @datsilvertaco is a truck owner based in Florida who sometimes shares his thoughts via social media. In a video, he makes an observation about the pump he’s using to fill his truck up with gas. “POV: gas stations grinding off the last knob so you can’t pump slow anymore,” the text overlay reads.
The camera is zoomed in on the notches of the gas pump. It looks like there is just one notch on the handle.
“What has the world become!” @datsilvertaco captioned the post.
The video amassed more than 1 million views as of Monday.
What are the knobs for?
A Quora user asked about this, and several people took a moment to explain. “The second notch on the squeeze trigger lock of gas pumps is typically designed as a safety feature to allow for hands-free operation while fueling a vehicle,” wrote one user.
They continued, “When you engage the first notch on the squeeze trigger lock, it holds the trigger in place and allows fuel to flow without you needing to continuously squeeze the trigger manually. This can be convenient for filling up your vehicle without having to hold the trigger the entire time. The second notch on the squeeze trigger lock is often intended for use with larger vehicles or when you need to fill a larger volume of fuel.”
In this Reddit post to r/Pics, you can see an example of a pump with three notches. A user posted it along with the question, “Does anyone really use the other notches on the gas pump?” In the ensuing thread, one user speculated that gas pumps with notches are less common because of user error resulting in spills.
In the comments of @datsilvertaco’s TikTok, users offered their own opinions on the gas pump notch question.
One user said, “Ive literally never seen a pump handle with more than 2 notches.”
A second user asked, “Why do you want to pump slow?” Someone responded, “I used to purposely pump slower while at my last job. I’d run the fuel truck and have to go refuel and pump slow to waste time.”
Another user wrote, “I've never in my life used any notch but the fastest one.”
The Daily Dot reached out to @datsilvertaco via TikTok comment and direct message for comment.
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