April 13, 2017

Dear NJGCA Member:

Thank you for reading this week's NJGCA Road Warrior!

Here is what you will find in this edition:

RECAP OF NJGCA VISIT TO UNIFIRST PROCESSING AND LAUNDERING FACILITY
OPW ISSUES VOLUNTARY RECALL OF 2013-2017 HOSE SWIVELS
NJGCA DINER TOUR IN WALL TOWNSHIP ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19

If you didn't participate in NJGCA’s visit to UniFirst last week, you unfortunately missed a really eye opening experience. We visited an incredibly modern and efficient laundry facility and witnessed firsthand the quality control that goes into their uniform services. We learned how environmentally conscious UniFirst is, and how dedicated they are to providing their customers with quality products and service. The process begins when uniforms are collected at your locations each week, and continues far beyond what you see after the uniforms leave your shop. The automation and technology involved in the way UniFirst tracks your uniforms through the washing, drying and pressing process, right up to the sorting that guarantees that the correct uniforms are delivered back to your employees, is amazing to observe. I’ll bet you didn’t know that UniFirst is the only company that actually presses your laundry, and doesn’t just steam the clothing to remove wrinkles. UniFirst also demonstrates exceptional attention to details like stain removal and proper collars. I do wish that you all could have been there to visit UniFirst with us and to see what the NJGCA staff saw. I've included a picture of the NJGCA staff with the UniFirst staff who took us on our tour!

Next, it has been brought to our attention by our friends at PECA (Petroleum Equipment Contractors Association) that OPW, a large manufacturer of petroleum equipment, is issuing a voluntary recall on hose swivels. The affected hose swivels were distributed / manufactured from 2013 to early 2017. The potential danger is the failure of the swivel, causing separation, which could lead to an open hose situation leading to a fuel spill, and potential environmental/fire hazard. If the swivel fails, there's no “automatic shutoff” in any system that will recognize the swivel failure to shut down the flow of product. The reported failure incidents are fairly rare. OPW stated that of 1.3 million affected swivels, there are only 16 reported incidents of failure. However, the actual amount of failures could be much higher and simply not reported. OPW is working with the Consumer Protection Agency and has decided to initiate a Voluntary Recall of these swivels. This isn't a government mandated recall, however replacement is highly recommended. The arrangement that OPW agreed to with the Consumer Protection Agency is to offer free parts replacements of the swivels, however any costs associated with installation is not covered by this recall. OPW stated that continual use of the existing swivels will be at the tank owner’s risk. A copy of the OPW swivel recall notification for your reference is available HERE. Please share widely.

Finally, NJGCA will be hosting a Breakfast Meeting in Wall Township next week. It will be Wednesday, April 19^th at 9:30 AM at the Princess Maria Diner at 2044 Route 35 N in Wall Township. As you know, we discuss relevant issues currently facing the industry, such as self-serve, the gas tax, a new emissions inspection program, Stage II Vapor Recovery, and any other issues that are a priority for YOU. The point of this meeting is to generate a small, informal roundtable discussion where you can ask questions and not only get input from ME, but also from your fellow small business owners. NJGCA gives away a $50 American Express gift-card at the event, and your FREE breakfast is included thanks to our generous Member Benefit Partners and sponsors! All Monmouth County Members will be receiving a phone call next week, so if you know you’ll be able to come, please reply to this email and save us the trouble of reaching out!

Thanks for reading -- See you next week!

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES!!

All classes held at NJGCA HQ -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Township, NJ 07753

Emissions Inspector Training Class - One Day Only!

Want one of your technicians to become a NJ Emissions Inspector? We can help! Our one-day class will provide all the information for becoming a NJ Emissions Inspector, and the State will administer the written test the very same day at our offices! We are offering the class: Tuesday, April 25th from 7:00am to 3:00pm. Cost $250.
Click HERE for the registration form.

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 732-256-9646 or DEBBIE@NJGCA.ORG TO LET HER KNOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING A SPECIFIC CLASS. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO GAUGE YOUR NEEDS AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE WISHING TO PARTICIPATE!!

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS

FOR SALE:
Shell Gas Station with 6-Bay Repair Shop for Sale in Bergen County!

Business established in 1980. Fully equipped repair shop with 5 lifts including an alignment rack with a 2-year-old Hunter Hawkeye alignment machine. New Hunter tire machine & wheel balancer. AAA aproved and very busy.

Towing business also available which includes 3 Freightliner/JerrDan flatbeds (2015, 2016 & 2017), a 2012 Dodge crew cab wrecker with a Jerrdan Quick Pick & dual cable winch & 2 service trucks (a 2012 GMC 2500 utility truck with a plow & a 2014 Ford transit battery/service vehicle).

Pumping over 1,000,000 gallons per year. 100x300 lot with plenty of parking. Excellent location!!! Call Jim @ 201-851-3084.

FOR SALE:

Commercial Building in Asbury Park, Property Only for Sale, Not the Business! For listing information, please click HERE.

FOR SALE:

Four (4) Gilbarco Encore 300 dispensers. Brand New in 2003. Pumps work great, just no card readers. Call Katie or Al at 732-739-1360.

Also offering: Transac system for pumps and two dual LSI island lights

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

04/11/2017:
Petroleum Manager Sentenced to Prison for $600K Heating Oil Scam at Brooklyn Terminal
The 40-year-old manager of a Brooklyn fuel terminal will serve up to three years in state prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of gallons of heating oil worth $600,000, prosecutors say. Scott Vitello was sentenced to 1-3 years in NY state prison, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance announced Wednesday. He pled guilty to grand larceny charges in New York State Supreme Court last month. "The illicit trade of stolen heating oil has led to millions of dollars in fraud and losses for fuel terminals and customers alike," said Vance. "I encourage other companies to make similar efforts to crack down on conduct that undermines honest business." Vitello managed a Buckeye heating oil terminal in Red Hook between January and July 2014, prosecutors said. He allowed unauthorized individuals and tanker trucks to fill their tanks and leave the terminal without paying for the heating oil, which Vitello then sold at a fraction of the retail price, according to prosecutors. The Florida native disabled counters that track the quantity of gallons dispensed at the terminal's loading racks, tampered with security camera positioning and scheduled pick-ups during early morning or late evening hours to cover his tracks, officials said. "This defendant engaged in a widespread scheme that consisted of fraud and brazen theft in the heating oil industry which shortened the City and its residents by stealing millions of dollars in fuel each year," said Gonzalez. "With today's imposed sentence he has now been held responsible for his actions."

04/11/2017:
Is Russia Poised to Take Control of CITGO?
Russia could take control of CITGO Petroleum Corp. and possibly gain the ability to affect U.S. retail gasoline prices if Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) defaults on a loan from Russian oil company Rosneft. Venezuela is experiencing a severe economic crisis. Last year, state-owned PDVSA used 49.9% of CITGO shares as collateral for a $1.5 billion loan from Moscow-based Rosneft. If the Venezuelan government defaults, the Russian government could become the 2^nd largest foreign owner of U.S. domestic refinery capacity and possibly affect U.S. fuel prices, lawmakers said in letters to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. CITGO, based in Houston, is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels owned by CITGO Holding Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of PDVSA, the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Through CITGO, the Venezuelan government is the largest foreign owner of U.S. domestic refinery capacity. It owns three U.S. refineries (in Texas, Louisiana and Illinois) and a large network of pipelines and terminals across 24 states. Independent CITGO-branded retail marketers sell motor fuels through approximately 6,000 gas stations and convenience stores in 30 states. US Representatives Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and Albio Sires (D-N.J.), and U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) requested that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review the matter.

4/11/2017:
The best place to get your car fixed in all 21 N.J. counties (according to Yelp)
Flat tires and “check engine” lights are the bane of any driver’s existence. Who would argue? But what can be even more frustrating is not knowing where to bring your busted car for repair, or worse — rolling into a place that can’t wait to rip you off. A heap of Yelp data is here to help, as the popular business rating website has provided the highest-rated auto repair shop in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties. Please take these user-generated ratings with a grain of salt, but rest assured that many of these shop reviews, linked within, include dozens of success stories from past customers, and most places boast a perfect 5-star score. Did your favorite mechanic make the list? Some NJGCA members did!

4/10/2017:
Why April will bring significantly higher gas prices
Along with warmer weather and longer days, the month of April will likely bring higher gas prices. For naysayers who say they've heard this before, pump prices increased a nickel last week driven by rising crude oil and wholesale gas prices. "It's countrywide. We're on the threshold of a couple of significant increases," said Tom Kloza, Oil Price Information Service global petroleum analyst. "In terms of gas prices, April can be the cruelest month." Here's why. Crude oil prices climbed out of their below $50 a barrel hole and wholesale gas prices increased to hit $1.74 on Friday. The average price for regular in New Jersey increased from $2.31 last Monday to $2.37 this Monday, according to GasBuddy.com. Friday was one of those rare days where New Jersey returned to having cheaper gas than the $2.39 a gallon national average for regular. Discount retailers hung in between $2.11 and $2.15 on Friday. Kloza's advice? If you own a boat, you might want to fill the tank now. "It will be noticeable between now and Easter," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised to see this be a 20 cent per gallon (increase) month." Retail prices could increase a dime this week alone, based on wholesale gas price hikes because retail follows wholesale, Kloza said. To read more, click the link above.

04/07/2017:
Why Lawmakers Should Reject a Legal Tobacco Age Increase
Virtually every current state legislator is older than 21 years old, which means that each lawmaker was able to personally exercise a right to determine for themselves when they were 18, 19 and 20 years old whether they would purchase and use legal tobacco products. However, bills introduced this year in 23 states would take that personal right away from these young adults by raising the legal age to buy and use tobacco products to 21. Of these 23 state bills, legislation to raise the legal age has already been defeated or died in 6 states -- Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, North Dakota and Utah. The other 17 states with legal-age bills still pending include Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia. It is only fair to allow current young adults the opportunity to exercise the same right to decide whether to buy and use tobacco products that each current state legislator made at the adult ages of 18, 19 and 20. Read more by clicking the link above.

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD:

TMP Energy Solutions

Another Way to Save on Your Energy Bills

We have had a number of NJGCA members successfully reduce their rate per kWh signing up through our energy saving program. We know it's difficult to collect 12 months worth of previous electric bills to get an "accurate" analysis when comparing a variable rate to a fixed rate, but we now have another option available.

This new solution is a power purchase option; the other program is still in full force and has saved members thousands of dollars. If you sign up for the power purchase option, you will be grouped with other NJGCA members until the minimum kW demand is acquired. By pooling the member's usage together, you will be able to take advantage, as large energy users do, and receive a lower kWh rate.

Each member will receive their own contract. Each member is responsible to sign and return the agreement the day it is received in order to secure the price for their group.

Please do your due diligence, so when you receive the proposal and the agreement you will be able to make an intelligent decision.

If by chance, you still want us to assess you bills, to give you a price to compare, we will require 12 months of your most recent utility bills.

There are no bills required, but we would still like to have one bill per meter on file to check account #'s, meter #'s service addresses and other pertinent information incase there is a problem.

The term of the agreement is for 12 months. During this term period, you will have price protection against any energy price increases along with a low fixed kWh rate.

If you are interested in becoming part of this power purchase option, please contact Greg Cannon at the NJGCA.

Remember when you sign up your energy through the NJGCA Energy Program, TMP makes a considerable donation to the NJGCA Scholarship Fund through their proceeds. This has no affect on your rate, and costs you nothing out of pocket.

We hope to help hundreds of NJGCA members reduce their utility costs by participating in this and our other cost reduction programs. Our purpose, in the endeavor, is to help NJGCA members lower their energy costs while supporting the NJGCA Scholarship Fund.

Contact GREG CANNON at 732-256-9646 or email Greg at greg@njgca.org. Mention that you are interested in saving money on your energy bills. NJGCA & TMP Energy Solutions will handle all the rest.

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC

DEFENDING OUR MEMBERS.
PROTECTING YOUR INTERESTS.
ANSWER THE CALL & CONTRIBUTE TODAY!!

Promoting our agenda in Trenton is of utmost importance to NJGCA and our members.

However, in order to truly affect the debate, we must ensure our friends in the Legislature are re-elected. It is for this reason that your Association has established the NJGCA PAC.

For too long, the weight of funding our Political Action Committee, the arm of the Association responsible for political donations, has rested upon a few. This is not only unfair to those few members who have shouldered this burden, but means we are not utilizing our full strength to affect the debate in Trenton.

To truly understand the importance of supporting our allies, consider our successes in Trenton:

We defeated BELOW COST SELLING
We made history in getting FIRST RIGHT OF REFUSAL signed into law!
We have built large support for RIGHT TO REPAIR and got it passed out of the Assembly
We defended your small business against the false accusations of Attorney General Anne Milgram
We gained wide support to move New Jersey to an all PIF Inspection System and close the CIF lanes
...and MUCH MORE!!

In each instance, we achieved these goals with the help of our friends in the Legislature!

If every member contributes just $100.00 we will be able to provide the help necessary to ensure victory for our allies.

PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO:
NJGCA PAC
4900 Route 33 West, Suite 100
Wall Township, NJ 07753
Please make your donation payable to NJGCA PAC

I understand that times are tough for all NJGCA members, but this is just as important as any battle we have fought in the past.

We have made great progress in Trenton. I hope that you will answer the call.

*NEW* Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are for reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.