July 25, 2014

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS! 

THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

Well, I'm back, and I've got an important message to share this week!

You all know that NJGCA is an organization committed to helping our members! We ask you to call our office when you receive violations, and we want you to continue to do so! Our job is to make sure that you are being treated fairly, and help you achieve the best possible outcome from any mess that you may have gotten in to.  We don't ever try to pull strings, use influence, or inappropriately ask for favors from the authorities but we do intervene and ask for consideration of all mitigating factors to achieve the best possible outcome. I will ALWAYS go to bat for my members if an over-zealous enforcement officer from ANY department of government is out to play "gotcha" BUT all enforcement agencies, from field-level investigators, right up to the top dog, are well aware of NJGCA's philosophy of ZERO TOLERANCE with regard to deceptive, fraudulent or willfully negligent behavior.

If I'm going to continue being successful, my personal credibility, and the credibility of NJGCA, must be maintained at the highest levels.  That is why members must be completely truthful with me when they call this office looking for assistance.  It is unfortunate, but all too often, members only tell HALF of the truth, and are deceptive with me, simply by choosing NOT to relay all of the facts.  They only relay the facts that bolster their side of the argument, but conveniently leave out the facts that demonstrate their fault or wrong-doing.  Since this happens more often than I would like, I am going to relay the most recent example, and I'm sure you will understand what I mean.

A member recently contacted Debbie in my office. The member had just received a fine for $500 because a Weights and Measures Officer stopped by asking for paperwork that is required by law to be kept on premises and made available at all times. The owner (our member) was not there at the time, so the Officer did not receive it, and he issued a $500 fine. The member faxed a copy of the summons to our office.
 
At first glance, the issuance of this summons seemed a bit unreasonable.  Of course, Debbie contacted the Weights and Measures Officer involved, and found that our member conveniently failed to mention a few VERY IMPORTANT facts when he told us the story.  I'll give you the facts and let you determine the culpability of this particular member.
 
Fact 1:  The Weights and Measures Officer visited the location THREE (3) months earlier, and found a serious malfunction of the price display on the face of all of the location's dispensers.  The Officer alerted the member and asked him to have the necessary repairs made. The dealer indicated that he would do so in the next few days.
 
Fact 2:  When the Weights and Measures Officer returned three months later, he found that the repairs were never made, the pricing display was still incorrect, and the dealer had virtually ignored the warning that he had received three months earlier.
 
Fact 3:  The penalty for this particular violation is $1,500 per hose, which means that on the very first visit when Weights and Measures found the problem, the dealer could have been issued a $15,000 fine. The statute also calls for up to 30 days closure of the location. However, the Weights and Measures Officer reasonably, and I believe, properly, gave a fair warning to the dealer.
 
Fact 4:  Upon visiting that station a second time and realizing that the violation still existed, the Weights and Measures officer could have issued an additional $15,000 penalty and an additional 30 days closure, but he still did not. He chose instead to issue a $500 summons for not having records available. The dealer then claimed that he was being treated unfairly, and that the reason the records were not available is because he was not present at the location at the time.
 
Fact 5: After Weights and Measures' second visit, the dealer had the problem fixed in a matter of two days, which should have been done three months prior, when he was first made aware of the violation.
 
So now, I ask you, was this dealer treated unfairly by the Division of Weights and Measures, or did he willfully and knowingly neglect the correction of a serious problem, which he had been warned about, and asked to correct, three months prior?  Do I need to say much more to make my point?
 
We here at NJGCA will work very hard to help you get out of whatever mess you get into, but rule #1 is to be truthful with us.  When we try to defend you based on incorrect information that you have provided, you diminish the credibility of this organization, which is an asset that is used to help ALL members.  I hope we can all learn a lesson from this story.
 
Although I have missed writing this message over the past three weeks, the feedback that I have received is that you were all happy with the Road Warriors that Jacy wrote while I was gone, so who knows, maybe I'll have her fill in for me every now and again... Until next time... Thanks for reading!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS 

Long Established Towing Business For Sale!

Numerous contracts in place for new owner to take over!

• Dealerships, Municipalities, Road Service Clubs as well as State of NJ, State Police and Ocean County.
• Medium and Heavy Duty relationships as well.

Contact Greg at NJGCA (973-376-0066) for more information!

If you'd like to list your business for sale, publish a location you're selling, or are seeking a business partner for your establishment, please contact NJGCA at 973-376-0066! 

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

07/24/2014:
How to Get Shoppers into Your Store
The most basic challenge of the c-store operator is getting shoppers on the lot and then into the store. For the past 50 years, c-store operators relied on two categories to entice shoppers: gas and cigarettes. Unfortunately, every reliable indicator confirms that both categories will decline in shopper visitation into the foreseeable future. So how does the c-store operator compensate for the visitation rate declines of these two major categories? Almost everyone is focusing on transforming the convenience store into a competitive location for immediate-consumption food, especially during breakfast and lunch day-parts. This is a daunting task given the numerous highly competent competitors such as McDonald’s, Subway and another hundred national, regional and local competitors any one of us could identify on the fly.
 
07/23/2014:
State Tobacco and E-Cigarette Legislative Overview
With only eight state legislatures still in session this year, a clearer picture of the outcome of e-cig legislation is emerging. So far this year, very e-cig bills have been passed and enacted into law despite the fact that 16 states debated bills to assess a tax on e-cigs, and 14 states considered bills to restrict the use of e-cigs/vaping in public places. Bills to assess a new tax on e-cigs were proposed, but not enacted, in Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, NJ, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, SC, VT and Washington.  North Carolina enacted a tax on nicotine in a solution used for electronic-vapor products at a rate of 5 cents per fluid milliliter of consumable nicotine solution product.  Proposed e-cigs taxes are still pending in three states: Michigan (a tax of 15 cents per 1.5 milliliters on the nicotine solution in vapor products including e-cigs), New York (a 75% tobacco products excise tax on e-cigs), and Ohio (a proposal to assess the $1.85-per-pack cigarette tax on e-cigs).
 
07/22/2014:
The Seasonality of Gasoline
After a slow start due to a fierce winter, gasoline demand in the US picked up late in the first quarter of this year, accelerating into the second quarter until June, when the year-over-year comparison with 2013 narrowed gains.  The slowing pace of demand growth in the second quarter -- turning negative in June -- coincided with an increase in gasoline prices.  Higher gasoline prices continue to turn back demand, an ongoing correlation. An early season hurricane in the Atlantic Basin, Hurricane Arthur, was also ill-timed, slamming into the Outer Banks of North Carolina on July 4, a Friday no less, as the category two storm quickly moved north along the heavily populated eastern seaboard.  This year's forecast was revised higher in July following turmoil in Iraq during June, which threatened to cut off the country’s exports.
 
07/23/2014:
Decline in gas consumption puts retailers in a fight for survival
According to official numbers, the US hit its peak in gasoline consumption in 2007, at the time using 9.29 million BPD.  For that year, NACS reported a nearly 18% jump in motor fuel sales, observing in its annual State of the Industry survey, “the demand for motor fuel far exceeds the supply.”  At the time, few anticipated the coming recession, and a new demographic -- the millennials -- was seen as more of a quirky generational novelty than a major force of change. But five years after the Great Recession officially ended, demand continues to fall. “I’m led to believe most of the decline we’re seeing in gas demand is not cyclical in nature at this point, but really is a true long-term decline,” says Nelson.  While demand has typically bounced back from previous economic pits, this time it has two massive weights on its ankles: tougher CAFE standards, and demographic trends that put fewer drivers on the road, driving less.

TRAINING CLASSES!!
-ALL CLASSES WILL BE HELD AT NJGCA HEADQUARTERS-
66 Morris Avenue - Springfield, NJ 07081 (Union County)

In order to be licensed as a Motor Vehicle Emission Inspector, you must complete this course and pass a "Written Exam" given by the State of New Jersey. NJGCA offers this training in a ONE DAY State approved training program that will provide an understanding of inspection related issues including EPA Regulations, Safety, Diesel, Customer Service and the New Jersey State Specific Curriculum. This specially tailored NJGCA course fulfills all requirements.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

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 require12 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 973-376-0066 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.