news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Lost? Hate to ask directions? Need gas?

Then, here's the solution.

How high will you go before you start cutting back? Join the discussion at the new Debatables blog.

Gilbarco Veeder-Root, the Greensboro-based gas pump maker, and Google, the online search leader, soon will allow motorists to get directions to select destinations at about 3,500 pumps across the country.

"This will be sort of a Googley, more stealthy way of getting directions," said Karen Roter Davis, an official at the California-based company.

Davis said pulling up a map at a gas pump should be especially popular for motorists who are too stubborn or embarrassed to ask for directions.

Gilbarco will test the service early next month and roll out the feature a short time later.

The pumps will include an Internet connection and will display a version of Google's mapping service on a small, color screen.

Gilbarco announced the deal recently at the National Association of Convenience Stores trade show in Atlanta.

"It was a great fit," said Lucy Sackett, Gilbarco's manager of marketing communications. "We ... provide consumers with the capability to pull directions from Google with the same ease ... they do on their home computers."

Motorists will be able to scroll through various categories — local restaurants, hotels, hospitals, landmarks, attractions — selected by the station owner. Each category will provide the top eight listings.

The driver will select a destination and see it on a map. In addition, the pump will print out directions.

But the pump must be dispensing gas for the system to work.

Eventually, Sackett said, the company hopes to give motorists the ability to type in a specific address and get directions.

Sackett said "a number of pumps" in Greensboro are set up to use the Google feature, but the company does not yet know which retailers will use the service.

Gilbarco said the feature will help retailers become more competitive.

"Our retailers are undergoing a number of competitive pressures from big boxes that are getting into gas and drugstores that are getting into convenience," Sackett said. "Our responsibility is to bring our customers solutions that help them compete."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or donpatterson@news-record.com