Once upon a time, back in the wild and crazy 80s, there was an experimental job function that involved gassing up service vehicles used to load baggage and cargo onto aircraft’s, like belt loaders, loaders, trucks, tractors, pay-movers, and more. The airline decided to ditch the old way of doing things where a ramp agent drove around with a fuel truck attendant and gassed up the equipment. Instead, they wanted to have their own man stationed at a service station atmosphere, so when a ramp crew noticed they were low on fuel, they would take their equipment to the service station.
A major airline was thinking of making this a regular job in the upcoming bid. So, they had this one ramp agent named Carlo’s doing the service station attendant. One day, I brought my tractor to fill up and I asked Carlo’s which name brand gas they use to fuel up these vehicles. Of course, he shouted with excitement, “TEXACO of course!” I couldn’t help but laugh at his enthusiasm.
As I was driving away, I couldn’t help but think, “I hope they don’t expect me to fill up my car at the gas station with airplane fuel.” But, I guess that’s just how they roll in the 80s.
