When a driver who had just filled his tank at one of Eddy Nader’s petrol stations was told the outlet was not part of a price discount program, he turned on the worker behind the counter.

“He put our female staff member into tears,” Mr Nader said.

He said a “big burly truck driver” intervened to stop the man from racially and verbally abusing the worker and remove him from the store.

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In another incident since fuel prices started to soar, Mr Nader alleged a truckie drove off without paying for $1,000 worth of diesel.

“We managed to get a hold of him and he hit me with, “Oh, it’s Ampol, they can afford it’ — nah mate, it’s a family business, it’s not Ampol.”

Mr Nader owns six service stations in New South Wales including some that have branding agreements with Shell and Ampol.

A bald man with dark rimmed glasses in a navy jumper stands, staring ahead with his arms folded beside a service station sign.

Eddy Nader says his staff have been abused and crucial in-store sales have fallen during the fuel price rise. (Supplied)

The independent operator has been in the fuel industry all his life and his son recently joined the business.

“There’s photos of me in the bassinet at Dad’s first servo,” Mr Nader said.

Fuel theft and customer aggression weren’t the only challenges, Mr Nader said, adding that his third-generation family business had seen better times.

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Cost-of-living pressures meant many customers could no longer afford to buy a snack or drink — the sales his business relied on to make a profit.

“If someone came in and purchased $80 worth of fuel and didn’t grab something in the shop and paid on a credit card, we’ve barely broken even on that transaction by the time you put in the hourly rate we’re paying staff, the insurance, the electricity,” he said.

“The Australian dream was always own your own house, the second dream was run your own business … sometimes you just wake up and go, is it really worth doing this?”Five red petrol pumps in a bowser; one with a red handle, then a blue, a green, a dark blue and a black handle.

Petrol retailers say many customers can no longer buy items in their store because of their fuel bill. (ABC News)

Union investigating incidence of worker abuse

Anecdotal reports of increasing abuse of petrol station workers has prompted the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association to launch an Australia-wide survey to firm up the reports of customers taking out their frustration over prices on staff.

“This is real,” the union’s national secretary Gerard Dwyer said.

“The conversations that we’ve had with staff that have been in really high pressure situations now serving fuel to the public, it’s not good. 

“The incident rate has gone up significantly.”

Mr Dwyer said the union had received reports of verbal abuse, violent confrontations and customers destroying equipment and property.

External shots of a 7/11 petrol station and fuel pump with an out of order sign.

The union representing service station workers says it’s hearing reports of customers taking out their stress on staff. (ABC News: Warwick Ford)

The survey results would help inform operators on how to improve the safety of their workers, he said.

“The war in the Middle East is driving the price increases, obviously those workers have got nothing to do with that,” Mr Dwyer said.

“We’re all frustrated with the increase in petrol but that’s no excuse to then abuse the person who’s serving you.

“People need to step back, calm down … when you go into those petrol stations and you’re purchasing your fuel, keep your cool.”

Uncharted territory for fuel retailers

The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association represents the interests of fuel retail operators in Australia.

Less than one third of petrol stations were owned by large fuel companies, it said, while the majority were small- or medium-sized businesses — despite some having a branding or franchisee agreement with a distributor.

“You might drive through a country town like Warrnambool or Warracknabeal or somewhere like that and you might see an Ampol sign or a BP sign … 70 per cent of the time it will be owned by an individual,” the association’s CEO Rowan Lee said.

A man standing in front of a price sign at a fuel station

Rowan Lee says abuse of workers has soared in some areas since the fuel crisis began. (ABC News: Ed Gannon)

Mr Lee said some of the abuse had likely stemmed from the mistaken belief station operators were profiting from the price hike.

He said before the federal government cut the rate of the fuel excise, 52 cents in every dollar of petrol sold was paid in tax. 

He said wholesale and distribution costs ate up another 33 cents per litre.

“That leaves retailers with about 15 cents to play with and out of that 15 cents comes their labour cost, their rent, their insurance, the cost of goods, utilities.

“You’re left with a profit of around probably 2 to 3 cents in the dollar.”

Mr Lee said the past few weeks had been been extremely stressful for the entire industry. 

“People are working ridiculous hours running their businesses, you know, 16- to 18-hour days, because everyone just kind of keeps ahead of the curve.

“We’re in uncharted territory.”

An electronic sign showing the price of petrol and diesel beside a petrol station with 7-11 signage.

Petrol station owners say they are not profiting from the fuel price rises. (ABC News)

He also condemned the abuse of petrol station workers.

“The person serving at the service station hasn’t set the tax rate, hasn’t set the fuel price and they don’t control what’s happening there,” Mr Lee said.

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