I don't buy the head lift explanation.
Most gas station tanks are no bigger than 24,000 gallons, which is a mean dimension of 9 feet in diameter by about 48 feet long (not all stations have tanks that big, either).
Gas station tanks are buried between 5-10 feet deep, depending on ground conditions, but the average seems to be about 7 feet. So, 7 feet plus 9 feet means the bottom of the tank is 16 feet. And those tanks don't draw off the bottom, they either use dip tubes or side draw with the pipe a few feet from the bottom of tank, so realistically a vertical lift of between 12-14 feet.
There are a couple of different kinds of pumps -- tank submerged impellers and push fuel up, and more standard suction pumps that sit outside the tank and pull fuel out.
Neither style has much trouble dealing with a 14 foot vertical lift. The amount of lift the pump needs to generate also doesn't change. It remains static because the pump and dip tube locations don't change relative to the level of gas in the tank.