Reporting by Mike Argento, York Daily Record
Ronald Campbell was on his way home from an appointment at the Veterans Administration clinic in Camp Hill on Wednesday morning when he stopped at Freedom Fuel to fill the tank of his Dodge SUV.
His wife had heard on the news that gas was cheaper at the station, formerly the gas station for B.J.’s Wholesale Club, before it relocated from Hartzdale Drive to a busier location on Carlisle Pike last August.
She’d heard President Donald J. Trump was touting the Freedom Fuel Network on social media: “The Freedom Fuel Network will be lowering gas prices … this Retailer is taking the lead, and others should follow.”
When Campbell, a 72-year-old retired tow truck driver from Perry County, glanced at the price on the pump, he was taken aback.
On social media and in news articles from recent weeks, Freedom Fuel’s price per gallon of regular unleaded gas was pitched as $3.47, in honor of Trump’s 47th presidential administration.
To his chagrin, that wasn’t what Campbell got at the pump on July 15.
When Campbell looked at the price on the pump, he looked confused. The price wasn’t displayed on the electric sign in front of the gas station, displaying zeros for the price, which, it turned out, didn’t mean the gas was free. He turned away and then returned his gaze to the pump. Then, he reluctantly pulled his debit card from his wallet and began the process of filling his tank.
“It seemed to me it was $3.50 or something like that. But it’s $3.82. I can get gas anywhere for $3.89,” Campbell said.
He was irritated, but he was there, so he went ahead and filled his tank.
“I don’t like gimmicks,” he said. “It is what it is, you know.”
Where did Freedom Fuel come from?
Freedom Fuel was the brainchild of a special teams coach with the Baltimore Ravens and a commodities trader from New Jersey who formed the company to proudly lower gas “prices to benefit our community and strengthen the local economy,” according to the enterprise’s website.
The company, according to the website, is a “privately owned and proudly patriotic company — along with its convenience store operators, haulers, sign companies, and operational partners — that answered President Trump’s call to action to lower prices at the pump.”
Initially, Freedom Fuel lowered “the price at the pump to $3.47 for our 47th President,” according to an X post on the White House account.
But as motorists were finding at the location near the Capital City Mall on the West Shore, that price hasn’t held.
Representatives from Freedom Fuel did not respond to requests for comment.
Of course, gas prices fluctuate almost daily, depending on market conditions, the economic law of supply and demand and just how angry the Iranians or Trump are on any given day.
The average price for gas in York County is $3.92, according to the AAA. GasBuddy, a website that tracks gas prices, listed a number of gas stations selling gas for less, including Royal Farms, which listed unleaded regular gas at $3.79 a gallon.
On Wednesday, Freedom Fuel was selling it for $3.82 in Camp Hill.
The company, which operates 25 gas stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, had been kind of a mystery, attracting attention when Trump hyped it on social media. The website Politico, though, obtained documents that show the company was formed on June 23 by Ravens senior special teams coach Randy Brown and a former commodities trader from New Jersey named Yoni Gontownik.
The West Shore location is owned by a company called ACR Property LLC, which lists its address as a home in a suburban development in Manchester, according to Pennsylvania Department of State records. ACR bought the property on April 14 for $500,000, according to Cumberland County property records.
Nobody answered the door at the address listed in corporate filings on Wednesday.
The station is small. It has a small kiosk bearing signs for “Smoke Shop, Vape Zone” and “Skill Games.” The young man behind the counter said he just works there.
Apparently, the owner had been expanding the kiosk, pouring a new concrete pad next to it and erecting a small building. But that work apparently was halted. A “stop work” notice on the door from Lower Allen Township says the owner had violated the section of the state’s construction code that requires a permit for building such an addition.
Freedom Fuel, on its website, says it has experienced “explosive growth — an average volume increase of more than 50 percent, with several locations surging over 100 percent.”
The website says, “Just like the President, we remain committed to putting America First! God bless the U.S.A.”
Some customers’ reviews, though, are harsh.
One man, getting gas to mow his lawn, was having trouble with the pump, something he said he never experienced when the station was B.J.’s.
Another, an electrical contractor named Jeff Kolva, who was filling up his work van, said he fueled up at the station because it was just down the road from his shop. He used to patronize B.J.’s because it was convenient and offered discounted gas. “I miss B.J.’s,” he said.
The gas was slightly cheaper, he said, but “is that a good thing or a bad thing?” He said, “You never know the quality of the gasoline.”
Another customer, Margaret Hope, who lives near Ski Roundtop in York County, said she drove to the station because she heard gas was cheaper there.
It wasn’t. And she wasn’t happy about it.
“Sunoco is cheaper than this,” she said as she filled the tank of her Ford Fiesta, bearing bumper stickers that said “Abuse an Animal Go To Jail” and “Refugee Immigrant Asylum Seeker Neighbor.” “It was cheaper when it came in, but now it’s not.”
To her, it reflects the state of the nation.
“I’ve had it with this country,” she said. “It seems like everything in this country is disjointed. I’m very angry. I’m 74 years old and watching our country implode is a sad state of affairs.”
Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record.
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