August 07, 2015

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!

MARKETPLACE HAPPENINGS
GAS TAX AND SELF-SERVE
MANDATORY TIRE REGISTRATION

I'll start this week with the marketplace. There's been a lot happening in the last month, but I've refrained from discussing it with you, as I've been trying to figure it out. The phenomenon is that for the first time in years there's actually been an uptick in demand and so far through 2015 there has been more consumption than in previous years. As I stated, this has not happened in a while, and generally when demand shows any kind of an uptick, prices will creep upwards slowly (or quickly, if there happens to be any supply issues). But what we are seeing right now is that along with the uptick in demand, there is a glut of supply for both crude oil and finished product. The worldwide supply of crude oil is plentiful and on the horizon staring speculators in the face, is the fact that the proposed nuclear arms treaty with Iran will put more oil in the marketplace than currently exists. The price of crude oil has dropped from $63 a barrel to $45 a barrel as of this writing, and refiners are trying to take advantage of the low crude oil prices by pumping out finished product at a record pace, which will help them with a greater profit margin. As such, the pressure from the glut is still driving prices down.  What should you be doing?
 
First, please remove your idiot hats and try to find your smart hats. There is no need to have a race to see who can be the lowest price on the street. If you don't increase your margins, you'll never increase your profits, and ultimately, when prices do go back up and margins are squeezed, you will find yourself in a big bind. This game should be about profits and not volume. 
 
Several weeks ago, I wrote you to say that there is still a buzz around the statehouse, even though supposedly they are on vacation, about increasing the gasoline tax. Using the fact that legislators are spending more time in their district offices, Eric and I have been make the summer rounds to visit them and I can confirm that the buzz about the gas tax is real. Everybody has their eye on the dropping prices and knows that if they can time an increase in the gas tax to coincide with the lowest point of street prices, there will be less scorn from the motoring public when they vote to increase the tax. Eric and I have been trying to sell them on the fact that if they permit self-serve, they can lessen the blow to the consumers even more. Publicly, legislators are squeamish about saying they support self serve, however, surprisingly, many do support it privately.
 
Let's get back to tire registration. I saved this subject for last not because of a lack of importance, but because its been my drumbeat for the last couple weeks. Right after we sent last week's Road Warrior, the U.S. Senate passed a measure identical to the U.S. House of Representatives, which continued funding for the nation's highways on a temporary three month extension.  The measure that was passed DID NOT include a provision for mandatory tire registration by repair shops. However, it is expected that a long term (three to six year) plan will be debated and passed before the next funding deadline in October.  The tire manufacturers are using all of their influence to have Congress pass a highway funding bill that will impose burdensome mandatory tire registration on YOU.  For those of you who think I am making a big deal out of this, think again. The tire registration process is manual, highly prone to errors on your part, time consuming, costly, and let's not leave out PUNITIVE. Punitive means that not registering a tire, or making an error while registering a tire, would carry a penalty of $1,000 per tire. If you can afford this, then don't worry. But I suspect none of you can afford this, so you should be concerned. Eric and I, and our colleagues from our sister association in Maryland, will be meeting once again with Congressman Leonard Lance, who represents the 7th district in NJ, since he is Vice Chairman of the Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Sub-Committee in the US House of Representatives. So far, Congressman Lance has promised not to allow mandatory tire registration as part of the highway funding bill to be passed through his committee. Though I have confidence in Congressman Lance's word, I do not have confidence that the House Republican leadership won't play games and try to bypass his committee altogether. We are working to see that it doesn't happen. Regardless, this is of utmost urgency, and you must pay attention every time I write about it.

That's all for now!  Thanks for reading -- See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES!!

Emissions Inspector Class being offered in Wall Township (Monmouth County) on Wednesday, August 19, 2015!! Click HERE for Class Info and Registration Form!

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ETEP Re-Cert, Sections 8, 9 and 10 being offered in NORTH and SOUTH Jersey -- DAY and EVENING Classes Available!

For Class Informational Flyer, please click here.
For Class Registration Form, please 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

08/05/2015:
Special Interests Lead to Failure of North Plainfield Smoking Bill
North Plainfield Councilman Doug Singleterry says that special interest lobbying was the driving force behind a proposed anti-smoking bill’s death during its second reading at the city council. The measure to raise the legal age for purchasing cigarettes had 4-2 support at first, but Singleterry says that pressure from tobacco lobbyists could have been the deciding factor. Similar bills have been shot down in Paramus and Edgewater. North Plainfield was one of several municipalities that were seeking to get a jump on a possible state-wide ban on selling cigarettes to those under 21. So far nine NJ cities have enacted their own versions of the law, despite objections that city-wide bans for small municipalities will be of little use and may hurt local businesses if young smokers choose to buy in the next town over. “We got opposition from this lobbying group called NJ Gasoline, Convenience Store and Automotive Association,” said Singleterry, adding that the group also opposes a state-wide version of the bill. Singleterry published an op-ed in June detailing his arguments for the change. He says that he hopes coming forward about the sway the tobacco lobby holds at even the local level will help more iterations of the bill succeed across the state.
 
08/03/2015:
Gas prices tumbled last week. Will the drop continue?
Crude oil prices are tumbling and that can only mean good news at the pump for drivers. So how good is it going to get? Gas prices took a five cent per gallon tumble during the previous week to a state average price of $2.48 per gallon for regular, said Jeff Pelton, senior oil analyst for Gas Buddy.com. But lower prices could be found, including what looked like an old school price war between a Speedway and Wawa on Route 9 in Woodbridge last week with princes ranging between $2.35 and $2.36 respectively. The lowest of the low prices beat those figures, ranging between $2.17 and $2.23, according to Gas Buddy.com. The price slide continues what started around mid-month after prices stabilized from increases driven by demand from drivers taking those anticipated summer road trips. Pelton predicts prices will continue to drop this week by two to four cents a gallon as gas retailers "jockey for position and try and stay a few cents ahead of the competition."
 
08/01/2015:
Gas tax increases by 7 cents in Washington state
The price of gas may be going down nationally, but Washington drivers -- already paying above the national average -- may see even higher prices at the pump following last week's 7-cent-per-gallon increase in the state’s gas tax.  The increase is the first of a two-step jump to pay for transportation projects across the state.  With state gas taxes now up to 44.5 cents a gallon, adding in the current federal gas tax of 18.4 cents, the total per gallon gas tax in Washington is now 62.9 cents. The state increase was part of a $16 billion, 16-year transportation revenue package approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor earlier this summer. Next summer, the tax will increase an additional 4.9 cents a gallon, putting the total state tax at 49.4 cents -- which based on current rates, would make it the second-highest gas tax in the nation behind only Pennsylvania, according to the American Petroleum Institute.

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.