April 08, 2016

Dear First Name:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

ACTION TAKEN AGAINST CITGO LOCATIONS
BRAND CO-MINGLING; OCTANE CO-MINGLING; BELOW COST SELLING
FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO PREVENT PROSECUTION
UPDATE ON SMART CONTAINER ACT AND SCHEDULES THAT WORK ACT

There are times when I don't keep you fully informed, not because I don't want to, but because I simply can't. Due to ongoing investigations or sensitive political negotiations in Trenton, I can't be open with things until it's appropriate to go public. Here's an example: A little more than 3 years ago (February 27, 2013) I initiated meetings with high-ranking officials at the NJ State Office of Weights and Measures, to encourage them to make a bigger effort to end below-cost selling. I gave the Weights and Measures officers some tips on what to look for in their investigations into below cost selling, and these tips led to multiple discoveries, as suspected, that the unscrupulous retailers gain advantages by substituting unbranded product for branded product, and by co-mingling regular grade gasoline into premium grade storage tanks.

I can only discuss this investigation now because Citgo made a public acknowledgement just last week. Click HERE to read the Oil Express Alert.

Once investigations began, the infractions started piling up. Of course, because much of what has transpired over the past three years is investigatory in nature, not everything could be shared with me in an appropriate fashion, and certainly I wasn’t able to share info with you. However, I remained confident that officials were taking action and I gained more confidence last September when I was asked to meet with officials from the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Weights and Measures, and the Department of Consumer Affairs. We met in Newark to review the status of the investigation and I was assured that things would be progressing. Certainly, my suspicions and allegations were not unwarranted.

In recent months I learned that Citgo, who was one of the targets of this investigation, announced at one of their regular meetings with marketers and distributors that they would be de-branding a number of locations in New Jersey for co-mingling. This was confirmed when several owners of those locations called my office to inform me that they were being forced to debrand, and also to contribute to a financial settlement that Citgo had to make with the state of New Jersey.

Weights and Measures is also making a larger effort to check the octane levels of your premium and mid-grade gasoline when they conduct their regular inspections of your pumps and meters. For the record, I encouraged them to conduct octane tests during their visits, and will continue to do so. Unfortunately, and all too often, they find octane levels below what they should be. This usually means one thing and one thing only... Regular grade gasoline was co-mingled into the premium or mid-grade tank. This is cheating!! A retailer conducting business this way can gain as much as a 50 cent per gallon advantage over the honest competition across the street or down the block. A retailer co-mingling 1,000 gallons would see an additional $500 in profits. In the brutally competitive market in which we operate, an honest retailer simply cannot compete with that.

I was upset to learn that in the past year, in one North Jersey county alone, 17 individual retailers were caught co-mingling regular into their premium, and pled guilty and paid fines for their infractions. The silver lining was that none of them were NJGCA members, but each one of them made it harder for my honest members to keep their businesses open and support their families each day. There were a few former members on the list and it's understandable why they would not want to be a member of NJGCA anymore... it is clear that we won't tolerate their behavior. You should know that the fine for selling sub-octane is $1,500 per violation (every single sale that they catch), and the fine for co-mingling unbranded product into branded is also $1,500 per incident. Both of these infractions are also sometimes accompanied by closure of the location for as much as 30 days per violation.

Now, there may be times when octane tests are not performed properly, and retailers have found themselves unjustly accused. Over the years I have had many retailers call me because they've been cited for selling gasoline below the posted octane. Of course, if a retailer calls who is not a member, I will not even talk to them until they are a member and pay all back dues in accordance with the NJGCA Membership Fairness Doctrine. When a member calls with this dilemma, I have a series of questions that I ask initially, and after receiving the answers, I already know if they are guilty of cheating and just want my help to try to get themselves out of a jam. Since I always try to give members the benefit of the doubt, I'll ask them to visit my office and produce certain documents. It is then that I can either confirm their innocence or explain to them just how glaringly obvious their guilt is. Since I'm also extremely concerned with an innocent retailer being unjustly accused, it is extremely important for you to carefully read what I am about to prescribe:

1. If an octane test is performed at your location, make sure that the sample is taken by a Weights and Measures officer in your presence (or in the presence of an employee).

a. They should also take two samples and leave one with you. This can be sent to another lab by you personally, in case the results of the Weights and Measures test indicate that your sample is sub-octane.

2. It is also important that you preserve your POS sales tapes that will identify and document the exact time that all sales occur, including those samples used to take the 5 gallon meter tests.

a. Be certain that any samples that were taken for octane testing were taken AFTER the hose has been purged of any lower octane product.

3. It is important that all of your delivery invoices, Veeder Root tapes, stick readings and sales records all be preserved and then reconciled. This is physical evidence that regular grade product was not added to your premium grade inventory.

Keep in mind that in instances where your delivery arrives and all of the regular does not fit into the regular tank, even if it is only 50 gallons, you shouldn’t dump it into your premium tank! That is cheating! If it dilutes the octane of your premium and a test is performed at that time, you will be guilty and you will have no defense! You certainly can't tell the judge, "only 50 gallons went into my premium because it would not fit in my regular," because you would have just admitted your guilt! That measly 50 gallons would have just cost you $1,500 bucks in Weights and Measures fines. Sadly, when retailers cheat, they aren't cheating with just 50 gallons, they are cheating with 200 gallons or more... and in many instances, much, much more.

I'm going to end by making myself very clear: If you have done everything right I will personally stand with you and fight like a junkyard dog on your behalf. However, if you have cheated, I will be standing right next to the prosecutor at the trial. I want to reiterate the NJGCA Zero Tolerance policy for willful cheating and fraud. When a retailer cheats, whether a member of not, he is not only cheating the motoring public, but he is cheating the rest of the honest NJGCA members, and that cannot be permitted.

Now let's move on to other matters:

Last week's Road Warrior discussed two pieces of legislation being considered in Trenton on Monday. They were the Smart Container Act and the Schedules that Work Act. Both bills were a late addition to the schedule, and I already had critical, previously scheduled matters to attend to, so I sent Eric down to Trenton to testify against the Smart Container Act. He did a great job, and you can listen to his testimony HERE. You can also read a press release that I wrote about the bill HERE.

As I explained last week, we are trying to prevent your convenience store, or even your repair shop or gas station (if you have a soda vending machine or a cooler), from being turned into a recycling center. Both the Smart Container Act and the Schedules that Work Act were passed out of their committees in the Assembly on Monday, and we will keep you updated on the issues as they go through the Legislature.

Thanks for reading -- See you all next week!

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!!

NJGCA MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER GILL ENERGY LOOKING TO HIRE FOR (3) DIFFERENT POSITIONS!

For more information about these positions, and to submit a resume for consideration, please contact: ravigill@gillenergy.com.

04/05/2016:
Business groups blast bill regulating employee schedule changes
As it's currently proposed, the “New Jersey Schedules That Work Act” would mandate that employers with 15 or more workers consider requests for a number of changes in the terms and conditions of one's employment and, in some cases, require the employer to honor them. The bill particularly concerns changes regarding an employee’s work location, number of hours worked and the amount of notice given ahead of a work assignment. Business groups have already come out in opposition of the measure, which was advanced Monday by the Assembly Women and Children Committee. It is being sponsored by Assemblywomen Pamela Lampitt (D-Voorhees) and Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) in the Assembly and by state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) in the Senate. Though employers would have the right to either grant or deny a schedule change request, they would still be required to consider it as part of a “timely, good faith interactive process” that includes a discussion with the worker.

04/04/2016:
N.J. Assembly committee advances bottle deposit bill
A bill that would require a deposit on all glass and plastic bottles in New Jersey for the first time since the 1970s advanced from a state Assembly committee on Monday. By a 3-1 vote with one abstention, lawmakers referred the measure out of the Assembly’s Environment and Solid Waste committee for a vote by the full Assembly. Similar measures have failed to gain traction in previous legislative session. But this one – co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Valerie Vaineri Huttle, D-Englewood, would earmark 75% of any revenues generated toward fixing problems of lead in public drinking water supplies. The other 25% would go toward retailers and redemption centers for handling costs. That provision drew support from several environmental groups and residents of Newark, where elevated levels of lead have been detected this year in the drinking water of 32 public schools. The measure came under fire, however, from bottlers and beer wholesalers.

04/03/2016:
N.J. Will Stop Tailpipe Emission Testing For Older Cars: Kiss Your Inspection Sticker Goodbye
Beginning May 1, the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) will change the inspection requirements for certain older passenger vehicles, which will no longer have to undergo tailpipe emission testing. According to the NJMVC, law enforcement agencies throughout the state have been advised of these changes “in an effort to prevent unnecessary stops for vehicles which do not display inspection stickers.” Even though exempt vehicles no longer need to be inspected, car owners still are required to maintain all mechanical and emissions equipment and can still be cited for malfunctioning or missing required equipment, authorities emphasized. Any vehicle that fails inspection before May 1 will still be required to be repaired and pass a re-inspection before it can be issued a certificate of approval, the NJMVC stated.

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.