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May 12, 2016

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE:

GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS!

• Answers from MVC Regarding Tail-Pipe Testing; Success (For Now) on Mandatory Paid Sick Leave Bill; $15/Hr Minimum Wage Bill to be Heard on Monday; Quirks with New Diesel Nozzles; Is Mobile Fueling the New Uber?

NJGCA CLASSIFIEDS

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

District Manager
Store Manager
Trucking Operations Manager

For more information, and to submit a resume, please contact: ravigill@gillenergy.com.

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

• Wayne police seek public's help in tracking down gas-station robber [video]

• Canada 's Wildfires Are Boosting Oil Prices
• California smoking age raised from 18 to 21 under bills signed by Gov. Brown

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE!
• Emissions Inspector Training, Tuesday May 17, 2016
• ETEP Re-Cert (Sections 8, 9, 10) DAY and NIGHT Classes!

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD
• ATS Environmental: Confidence in your Tank & Compliance Testing
• Bellomo Fuel: Exceptional Service, Aggressive Petroleum Marketing
• Gill Energy: Getting you There!
• TMP Energy Solutions: Another Way to Save On Your Energy Bills

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC
• Participate in the NJGCA PAC today and help us keep our Agenda rolling in Trenton!

*NEW*Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

JOIN NJGCA ON FACEBOOK -- CLICK HERE

TO SEE OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL -- CLICK HERE

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

ANSWERS FROM MVC REGARDING TAIL-PIPE TESTING

SUCCESS (FOR NOW) ON MANDATORY PAID SICK LEAVE BILL

$15/HOUR MINIMUM WAGE BILL TO BE HEARD ON MONDAY!

QUIRKS WITH NEW DIESEL NOZZLES ... BEWARE!

MOBILE FUELING… THE NEW UBER?

At our breakfast meeting last Wednesday I learned that members were having difficulty conducting initial tail-pipe inspections on vehicles due prior to May 1. I wrote about the situation in last week's Road Warrior, and I had many other members call me to say they were having the same problem. In my efforts to AGAIN seek clarification from the Motor Vehicle Commission, I was informed that initial inspections on vehicles due before May 1 would not actually be required (or allowed), and the equipment would only be used to conduct re-inspections on vehicles which had failed their initial inspection conducted prior to May 1.

I had already asked Motor Vehicle Commission how quickly the maintenance fees on this equipment would be terminated, but after this discovery I renewed the conversation with even more urgency! The Motor Vehicle Commission replied yesterday, and this is what I learned:

Keeping tail-pipe inspection equipment is a "business decision." As such, YOU ARE FREE TO DECIDE WHETHER YOU WANT TO KEEP THE EQUIPMENT OR NOT.
My advice would be to ditch this equipment immediately! It simply is no longer a money-maker for you!

Since this information just came to light yesterday, we have not yet received instructions on what EXACTLY you need to do to disconnect this equipment and free yourself from the monthly maintenance fee. As soon as we have the specific instructions, we will send them to you right away in a Wildfire Alert, so that you can take action immediately! We do not want you to have to wait another day!

Next, I have a few legislative updates from Trenton. Last week, NJGCA and our partners in the small-business coalition fighting against mandatory paid sick leave were back on high alert. We asked you to AGAIN send an email to your legislators, and AGAIN, our efforts were successful! This is the third time since January that this bill has been scheduled for a vote, and then taken off the list at the last minute! (Thanks to your help!) Our efforts, and those of our coalition partners, are working! However, this bill will surely come back up again... maybe next week, maybe next month, maybe not again until the fall, but you can be sure, it will be back. And when that happens, we will AGAIN ask you to write to your legislators. You might think, "oh, I already did that, it's not important that I do it again," and you would be wrong!! I will not write to you and ask you for your help unless it is important!

On that note, I have a call to action for Monday. Some of you received an email from us yesterday, informing you that the $15/hour minimum wage bill will be discussed in Trenton on Monday morning (10:00 AM). The unions will have many of their laborers at the hearing, so we need YOU to join us for a strong showing against this bill! Come out in your work uniforms and let the legislators see that this will hurt real, middle class, small business owners! Contact Eric at 732-256-9646 or eric@njgca.org if you are available on Monday to join us. Eric will provide more details to those of you who wish to attend!

There are two final topics that we're in the preliminary stages of investigating. The first concern is that at least one manufacturer of diesel vehicles has recently made the fill necks of their diesel gas tanks the same size as fill necks on regular gas tanks. As you know, current diesel nozzles and the fill necks in diesel gas tanks are larger than regular gasoline nozzles and fill necks. This helps to easily identify which fuel belongs in which tank, and to prevent diesel nozzles from being placed in the fill neck of a regular gasoline tank. So, the release of a new, smaller fill neck diesel gas tank presents two problems:

You're at a higher risk of making a mistake and putting gasoline into one of these new, smaller fill neck diesel vehicles.
Your current diesel nozzles will no longer fit in these new vehicles, and you will be forced to purchase new spouts.

We will continue to monitor the development of this situation and work to find solutions to this problem.

Second is the issue of mobile fueling. This has been on my radar screen for the past three months and I have already given advice to a member on this issue who is actually making mobile deliveries, but it is now happening more often, especially in states like California. Mobile cell phone apps now allow for fast, simple and convenient mobile gas deliveries directly to your home, office or even a shopping center. We are further investigating this because so far we've found conflicting regulations in New Jersey... We have just discovered one regulation that I believe specifically outlaws the practice, but there are others that are more vague and might even allow it to occur. We used those parameters to give our member a go-ahead, but now more info is coming to light. We clearly have some work to do to sort everything out and will keep you informed as we learn more.

Thanks for reading -- See you all next week!

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES!!

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

Emission Repair Technician Re-Certification Class

Four (4) Full Days -- Starts June 7
DAYS: 9AM - 5PM on Tuesdays -- June 7, 14, 21 and 28

Eight (8) Evenings - Two Nights Per Week -- Start June 6
NIGHTS: 6-10 PM on Mon & Weds -- June 6, 8, 13, 15, 20, 22, 27 and 29

For registration form, click HERE.

Emission Inspector Training Class

Tuesday, May 17, 2016 -- 6:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Class Starts 7:00 AM (donuts and coffee provided)
Pizza and soda served at 12:00 pm
MVC Test at 1:00 PM

Cost: Member = $250
Non-Member = $300

Please bring $50.00 check made payable to NJMVC to satisfy the State's licensing fee

For more information and Registration Form, click HERE

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

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

District Manager
Store Manager
Trucking Operations Manager

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

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

05/10/2016:
Wayne police seek public's help in tracking down gas-station robber [video]
Police released video surveillance that shows a man brandishing what appears to be a handgun and robbing an attendant at a Route 23 Shell gas station one week ago. The robber, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, demanded money as he entered a glass-enclosed kiosk, where the attendant at the station at 1217 Route 23 South had been sitting in the early morning of May 3, said township police Capt. Laurence Martin. After the attendant gave him money that was in his possession, the robber said “don’t look at me” as he appeared to put a round in the gun’s chamber and demanded “any more money,” Martin said. The attendant then gave him an additional amount of money from a register, the captain said. The bandit exited the kiosk and ran north through the parking lot toward a foot path that connects the station and a Burger King, Martin said. It was not clear whether the man had a vehicle waiting for him. Martin said the attendant “was unable to provide any vehicle description.

05/09/2016:
Canada's Wildfires Are Boosting Oil Prices
Oil producers and refiners braced this week for further supply constraints from wildfires that have shut ¹/₂ of Canada’s vast oil sands capacity and forced BP and other big oil firms to warn they would not be able to deliver on some contracts. While recent cooler weather, light rain and favorable winds helped control the advance of the blaze that razed neighborhoods in Alberta’s oil sands boomtown, Fort McMurray, regional energy firms continued to shut facilities as a precaution, sending futures prices up 2% in early trading. Statoil STOHF -0.72% and Husky were the latest to do so, after cutting output earlier at their regional facilities. They are among 11 production firms and three pipeline operators that have curbed activities after the week-long inferno forced offline more than 1 million barrels in capacity -- or 40% of total oil sands production. Alberta’s vast oil sands are the world’s third-largest crude reserves.

05/04/2016:
California's smoking age raised from 18 to 21 under bills signed by Gov. Brown
California Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed a pack of bills that will raise the smoking age from 18 to 21, restrict the use of electronic cigarettes in public places and expand no-smoking areas at public schools. However, Brown vetoed a bill that would have allowed counties to seek voter approval of local tobacco taxes to pay for healthcare expenses for those with tobacco-related illnesses. “Although California has one of the lowest cigarette tax rates in the nation, I am reluctant to approve this measure in view of all the taxes being proposed for the 2016 ballot,” Brown wrote in his veto message for a bill authored by Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica). The tobacco industry has threatened to seek a referendum vote to overturn the bills increasing the smoking age and restricting e-cigarettes. The threat led lawmakers to employ procedural tricks to make it harder to qualify a referendum. The Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Assn., which represents makers of electronic cigarettes and said it would work with voters to educate them about the industry, criticized the Governor's action.

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.