Yes, these guys were barely skilled at what they were doing.
There are no pumps for "big rigs" at that little Byers Sinclair filling station. The 9News website has a picture of the Byers Sinclair station, at
http://www.9news.com/storyfull.asp?id=11281. This small-town gas station looks at least 30 years old, with perhaps one island of 1970's-era pumps -- only one pumps diesel, I'd guess.
And yes, this skill-gap pattern seems to fit the modus operandi of the 9/11 hijackers as well as Moussouwi, the "horizontal flier."
fyi- #15, 33, 58,109, 134, 165, 189, 191, 197, 199, 200.
And note that this incident occurs shortly after the FBI issued the BOLO for the al-Qaeda operative they feared had entered the country last week (can't think of his name at the moment). IIRC from the newscasts, there was speculation that he was here to coordinate/authorize an attack.