They are an endangered species, fighting for their reprieve. Since the increase in the price of diesel, linked in particular to the war in Ukraine, independent service stations have suffered the full brunt of the consequences. They immediately opposed the loss-making sale of fuel, authorized last week by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. “We first wrote to the Ministry of Energy Transition, then to the Minister in charge of VSE-SMEs, then to Bruno Le Maire last Monday, and finally to the President of the Republic the next day, lists Aliou Sow, Secretary General of the national automobile federation. We told him that he risked opening Pandora’s box.”
The complaint has clearly been heard. First promising financial compensation for the latter, the government finally chose to back down in the face of the categorical refusal of the distributors. In an interview given jointly to the news of TF1 and France 2 on Sunday September 25, Emmanuel Macron announced aid for “French people who work and who need to ride”. It will concern the “lowest 50% of households” who cannot do without their vehicle to go to work. Each person in the couple will be able to receive a maximum of 100 euros.
A gradual disappearance
The independents, however, have no illusions. They are well aware that their lobbying last week was less decisive than that of the supermarkets, which were just as vehement on the subject. Above all, they see with anxiety Emmanuel Macron’s request to sell their fuel at cost price. “Independent service stations will not resist, warns Xavier Horent, general delegate of Mobilians, a collective of mobility companies. Without supervision and without help, they will disappear in a few months”. For professionals in the sector, the lifespan of these small structures is limited. A vestige of an all-automobile France far from having disappeared, these independent service stations cover the territory, particularly rural areas, already affected by the loss of numerous local services.
The gradual disappearance of traditional stations has accelerated in recent years. When, in the 1980s, France had 40,000 service stations, there will no longer be 2,400 independent pump attendants in 2023. A dizzying fall, largely accelerated by competition from mass distribution. “Among distributors, gasoline has been a flagship product to attract consumers,” explains Bertrand Fauré, lecturer in information and communication sciences at the IUT of Tarbes, author of an article on “The achievement of the social bond in the case of a franchise motorway service station. They do not make their margins on this service, but on what they sell alongside it.” Free parking, multiple products, and, in addition, “fuel at cost” operations: in a sector of activity where the net margin is low – 1 to 2 euro cents per liter, according to Mobilians -, service stations independents are struggling to fight.
Other businesses depend on it
Their regular closure – one every three or four days disappears in France – has consequences for individuals. “It’s not just an economic question,” says Aliou Sow. “These service stations are also an element of land development.” Having a pump in your town is the certainty of having an economical life. According to a study carried out in 2012 by Inrae (National Institute of Agronomic Research), relating precisely to the French network of service stations, “communities equipped with at least” one service station “attract on average the population of 5 different municipalities”. “The population of the ‘pole’ commune, which has a station, is therefore attractive,” noted the researchers. This attractiveness has only strengthened over the years, while the number of stations has decreased.
In 2012, some residents sometimes had to drive more than a quarter of an hour during off-peak hours to find a pump. Ten years later, the situation has worsened: in a working document dating from 2018, the Ministry of Ecological Transition estimated that “90% of individuals” should have an “access time of less than 25 minutes” to a gas pump. “These service stations, which can be located in remote places, are essential for motorists, judges Pierre Chasseray, general delegate of 40 million motorists. Who has never had an urgent need to refuel, while ‘He only had a thimble of gasoline left?’ In addition to the issue of fuel, these independent stations also feature in many local shopping communities, often bringing together garages, grocery stores, bakeries, or even all three at the same time. In their 2012 study, INRAE researchers noted that “equipment tends to concentrate” in the same places. In communities far from urban centers, the presence of a gas station is accompanied and seems to favor the presence of other businesses.
Fight against desertification
This “bulwark” against desertification is not just a theory. Christian Derouet, mayor since 2008 of the town of Lonlay-L’Abbaye, in Haute-Loire, and its 1,117 inhabitants, has experienced it. It has been ten years since the village inaugurated its gas station, for which the municipality drew on its own funds. “Our goal was to make Lonlé residents settle down,” explains the councilor. “When you close a service station, you push residents to do their shopping outside your municipality.” Unthinkable for Lonlay-L’Abbaye, whose bakery, tobacco bar and even hairdressing salon benefit from the attraction of the municipal gas pump. To ensure that they continue to refuel at home, Christian Derouet has even set up a fuel operation at cost price once a month, as large stores do on a weekly basis. “But this is only possible because this gas station is only responsible for part of the municipality’s revenue, he believes. If it were an independent station, it probably would not have been possible”.
Independent gas stations are pessimistic about the prospects of increased cost-price operations by supermarkets. “Cost price or sale at a loss, the situation will remain the same for small structures, estimates Xavier Horent. The independents simply cannot comply. Without supervision and without help, the situation is untenable.” Professionals are calling for two levers to be activated: financial compensation to “manage the emergency” and another to accelerate the “structural transformation” of the sector through the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles.
In November 2022, the government announced an envelope of 10 million euros to finance this revolution. This aid is still insufficient according to these small professionals in the sector, who continue, again and again, to plead their cause.