I have a bad habitat of not filling up my truck, lawnmower and pretty much anything with an engine until the tank is bone dry.

I’m not sure why I do that, whether it’s the few minutes of inconvenience to stop and refuel or if it’s become some kind of game to see how far I can get past empty. I’ve calculated I can get about another 35-40 miles past the edge of E.

Still, I usually carry a couple of gallons with me for emergencies. Luckily, I’ve never ran out of gas, though I’ve probably coasted into a service station once or twice.

But anybody who ever has pushed it too far can tell you running out of gas is no fun and can even be dangerous.

It’s a risk that most people wisely aren’t willing to take. Though I may take a chance on the highway, it’s not something I’d ever risk on the water. The fuel gauge really is the most important one on a boat. Running out of gas on Highway 80 may mean walking a few miles to a convenience store.

Running out of gas on the Alabama River or a larger body of water would be a nightmare and depending on weather and location, could potentially be a life and death situation. Selma has long been hampered by the fact that there’s not a fueling station at the Selma City Marina. Local boaters know to fuel up before you hit the water and save enough to get back home.

There are no fueling stations between Camden and Montgomery, making recreational travel of the river all but impossible.

Decreases in barge traffic resulted in the stations slowly closing, leaving Millers Ferry as the only place to get fuel along that long stretch of the river.

However, that’s about to change, and fuel will soon return to Selma.

The Selma City Council agreed Monday to accept a fuel truck from the Alabama Scenic River Trail.

Though some details still have to be worked out, the gift is the result of a multi-year project to bring fuel back to the Alabama River.

Once the converted military vehicle is up and running, most boaters would be able to make it from Mobile to Selma by topping off at Dog River Marina, Bobby’s Fish Camp on the Tombigbee, Millers Ferry and now the Selma City Marina.

But the fueling station will have a bigger impact than just allowing people to travel more of the Alabama River, it should also be a boon for drawing fishing tournaments as well as helping boaters harbor their ships out of reach of Gulf of Mexico storms.

The move remedies a lingering problem and increases the overall value of the marina — one of Selma’s diamonds in the rough — and should pay dividends for a long time to come.