@aburka At least back in the day, very new players were common clients of the fuel rats, because if you're newer to the game your jump range and fuel capacity is lower, and you've not yet internalized the reflex to manage fuel properly. And so, new players run themselves out of fuel fairly frequently. I used to think of the fuel rat volunteers as people who experienced that back in the day, and are giving other players the leg up they got themselves from the fuel rats back in the day.
@danderson I have to say, I bounced off Elite Dangerous when I tried it. If I got to do this kind of thing, I think I'd probably give it another go. Though it sounds like you'd need to already have played for quite a while first to have the resources and know-how. If there was on-the-job training I think I'd sign right up. It sounds like fun!