Night switch

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Night counter at a gas station (2007)

A night counter is a type of check-in counter where customers can do business outside of normal shop opening hours (usually at night). The transaction takes place via the counter window, so the customers do not have to enter the shop, so it can be locked overnight.

distribution

Night counter in the main post office in Kiel, 1971

Night counters have been in use in post offices since the middle of the 19th century, at the latest, allowing mail to be posted outside of opening hours. For the year 1866, for example, there is one post night counter in Munich and one in Bamberg .

Another area of ​​application for night counters is the pharmacy emergency service . In pharmacies that cannot or do not want to open their regular sales room for emergency service, sales are made via a night counter or a so-called emergency service window. The night counter at pharmacies is usually positioned in the immediate vicinity of the regular store entrance.

Night counters are widespread at petrol stations . Since these are not subject to the opening times restricted by the shop closing law, petrol stations are open around the clock in many places; Customer contact during the night is often handled via night switch systems. Since most petrol stations nowadays generate a large part of their sales with supermarket goods, a few tenants do not use a night counter. This is intended to encourage customers to make spontaneous purchases in the late evening and night while they go through the petrol station shop to the checkout. However, large oil companies such as Shell or Aral recommend the use of night switches for security reasons or even make it mandatory. Since the 1990s, the petrol station night counters have developed into a meeting point for young people and young adults , especially in structurally weak and rural regions, due to the lack of alternatives, but also in inner-city areas.

Security aspect

The criminal investigation department recommends operating a night counter, especially for petrol stations, for reasons of security. A night switch enables petrol station staff to lock the sales area at night in order to prevent robbery and theft . In addition, such a switch prevents direct physical contact between staff and a possible perpetrator. Night switches are used today like other security switches that are also used during the day e.g. B. used in banks and exchange offices, manufactured in series from hard-to-destroy material. Modern night counters at petrol stations with up to 20 mm thick sheet metal and armored glass can also withstand fire from firearms .

miscellaneous

In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic , some petrol station operators switched their entire operations to night counter handling from spring 2020 in order to minimize customer contact and thus the risk of infection for their employees. This approach was recommended , for example, by the trade association for trade and goods logistics .

Web links

Commons : Night Switch  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Casimir Dresch: Our conditions. Discussions of our most important communal and political questions with a look back at past days . 2nd year, 4th issue. Bamberg 1866, p. 16 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ^ Konrad Gatz, Fritz Hierl: New stores: stores, shopping centers, department stores . Verlag Georg DW Callwey, Munich 1956, p. 75 ff .
  3. ^ Sandra-Ariane Rieger: The gas station as a sales channel . Diplomica Verlag, 1997, p. 116 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  4. ↑ Fabian Wagener: The keeper of the night. Schwarzwälder Bote , November 2, 2015, accessed on March 15, 2021 .
  5. ↑ Andreas Timphaus: Security or Profit? Why tenants do without a night counter. Deister- und Weserzeitung , February 24, 2016, accessed on March 25, 2021 .
  6. ↑ Jens Rübsam: To refuel at the "Sprinte". taz. the daily newspaper , April 1, 1998, accessed on March 25, 2021 .
  7. ↑ Matthias Kalle: When we were forever young - the formative memories of our youth . S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2017, ISBN 978-3-10-490264-7 , p. 94 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  8. ↑ Protection concepts for petrol stations: modern video technology and deposit safes can reduce the risk of robbery. GIT Security, accessed March 15, 2021 .
  9. ↑ Security technology: night switch. wurster-online.de, accessed on March 30, 2021 .
  10. ↑ Lisa Brack: To protect customers and employees: Will the first petrol stations close soon? chip.de , March 31, 2020, accessed on March 12, 2021 .
  11. ↑ Industry-specific information: petrol stations. Trade association for trade and goods logistics, accessed on March 15, 2021 .