Litres at pumps?
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FUEL, both diesel and petrol, may soon be sold in litres if the garages' organisation has its wish. The Motor Agents Association has asked the Metrication Board to go ahead with encouraging metrication at the pumps as soon as possible.
This decision to request an early change-over to litres has been prompted by the recent leap in oil prices. About half of Britain's 100,000 pumps cannot show more than £L99 a gallon, while others cannot exceed 99p a gallon and are already displaying half-gallon prices.
With oil prices still rising, the MAA says it is logical to go over to litres so that the conversion is carried out at the same time as many of the pumps are being changed anyway to permit higher prices.
An MAA spokesman said it was even more important to sell diesel in litres since diesel prices are roughly 7p a gallon higher than petrol and diesel pumps will become outdated even more quickly as prices rise.
Deliveries to garages by the oil companies are already made and invoiced in litres, so a nationwide metrication programme would eliminate the conversion to gallons and bring us in line with Continental practice. The MAA estimates that it would take three to four years to convert every pump, hence the need to start soon.
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