I would only do that in a literal life or death emergency. That's why I stock proper containers. That's a major safety issue.
I know that looks bad on the surface but it's not particularly unsafe, particularly in high humidity (which I presume is normally the case in Kitsap). The whole bit about grounding a gas can to not allow static electricity to cause a spark is, in my most humble opinion, another overwrought nanny state assertion which is so extremely rare that the chances are less than dying from COVID. The consequence of such an event can definitely be life-altering, however, so common sense is called for. It's another one of the examples of dumbing down the populace so much that common sense is thrown out the window along with both the baby and the bathwater.
For instance, the same signs which tell you to always put a gas can on the ground often tell you to turn off your cell phone when filling your gas tank(s). How many people do that? There's several other reasons which are also nonsensical but no need to type them out.
And they have to assume that your gas cans are metal and can even be grounded in the first place. But most metal cans nowadays are bolted to a Jeep frame for looks and the majority of gas cans in present usage are plastic ones with CARB-blessed spouts on them. (which, BTW, is a pretty convenient idea when filling up something from a can, oddly enough for an idea from within a gooberment agency)
In this picture, the metal drums would definitely be too heavy to handle if they were put on the ground for filling, but they could easily be offloaded from the pickup bed to wherever they're stored, even without a tractor or skid-steer. Hopefully the guy had really cleaned and dried them out before filling, AND added the correct amount of Pri-G before heading to the gas station. (Stabil is crap)
The pickup looks to be an F-150 (half-ton) so it's not a diesel. If it were diesel, it would be wise to add biocide to it as well as the right amount of Pri-D, to keep crud from growing which plugs the fuel filters as soon as the gunk hits it.
