SpringfieldNewsSun.com

SPRINGFIELD — When Joy Miller drove into the Northridge Gas-N-Go on Thursday, Oct., 16, she looked a bit puzzled as she tried to figure out how to pay for her fuel.

"That's pretty common right now," said Tim Board, the station's owner.

He recently converted the gas station he's owned for 22 years into the area's first automated service station.

Nearly everything at the 1320 Moorfield Road station is automated, including cash sales at the pump.

Miller, who lives in Urbana and works in Springfield, said she almost always pays cash for gas and was surprised to discover she could feed her bills into a slot built into the pump.

"I'm kind of in shock. It's cool that if you use cash, you don't always have to run inside to pay. It is very nice," she said, adding she appreciated the speed and convenience.

Opened for nearly a week, Gas-N-Go's pumps, vending machines, door locks, lighting, fire suppression system, video monitoring system and car wash are automatic and require no employees to be on-site for day-to-day operations.

Board came up with the idea after noticing the automation at commercial fueling stations and the city of Springfield's garage.

"I decided it was worth a try to bring this to the private sector," Board said.

The remodel cost about $60,000. It will save Board $75,000 per year in wages, he said. He still employes two mechanics to run his garage, which operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

His decision to end his relationship with Marathon and become an independent station will save him $25,000 per year in fees paid to the company.

His move to independent status also gives him the opportunity to shop suppliers for the best wholesale price for gas, which helps him remain competitive.

"This is something new and different. The decision to change over came down to the profit from selling the gas," he said.

Gas can be purchased 24 hours a day, seven days a week with credit cards or cash. Change from cash transactions can be received from the mechanics in the garage during their regular business hours. Customers needing change after those hours will receive a receipt showing change due and they can stop back at their convenience The vending area and restrooms are open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. with automatically locked doors before and after those hours.

He never sold beer and made the decision to stop selling cigarettes as a trade-off for no employees, but isn't worried about that cutting into his business.

"I might lose a few of the people who came in in the mornings to buy cigarettes, but the price of the gas is what gets people in here," he said.

Fire safety is important to Board, who had a fire at the station in the early 1990s.

"A woman drove away and didn't remove the nozzle from her car before she took off," he said, "which resulted in her car pulling the pump over and when it sparked, it ignited a fire."

Fortunately, he added, no one was injured.

His automatic fire suppression system is a web of nozzles built into the canopy over the gas pumps that emit CO2 when temperature sensors reach 196 degrees.

All of Board's businesses — he owns two other area car washes — are video-monitored for safety and to help reduce vandalism.

At Gas-N-Go, there are 16 video cameras that capture virtually every inch of the station, and Board can monitor them from the station or his home computer. He hopes the monitors will make women feel safer while they pump gas and get their cars washed, he said.