If you cannot see the message, please click here
Road Warrior Newsletter


October 26, 2017

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:
• NJ DEP Email Blasts; Retail Fuel Facility Operator Training; New Form for UST Renewals; MasterCard to Eliminate Signature at P.O.S.; Tobacco Purchase Age Increases to 21 on November 1, 2017; On the Road Voter Guide 2017 in Mailboxes

NJGCA CLASSIFIEDS
- Monmouth County: Gas Station and Repair Shop Business Since 2001
- Asbury Park: Commercial Building for Sale. Possible Sale of Business
- Bergen County: Shell Gas Station with 6-Bay Repair Shop for Sale

NEWS AROUND THE STATE
White House Economic Advisor Floats Idea of Gas Tax Hike for Infrastructure
Toshiba claims EV battery breakthrough: 200-mile charge in 6 minutes
Mega Millions lottery to cost more, get harder to win starting on Halloween
What effect will standard time, online shopping have on gas prices?

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE!
• Entire Emission Repair Technician Course - Starting Nov. 7th
• ONE DAY EMISSIONS INSPECTOR CLASS - TUES. Nov. 14th

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD
• The Amato Agency: Garage Insurance and Workers Compensation! 
• ATS Environmental: Confidence in your Tank & Compliance Testing

• Bellomo Fuel: Exceptional Service, Aggressive Petroleum Marketing
• CBIZ Insurance: Our Business is Growing Yours!

Gill Energy: Getting you There!
• Lending Capital: "Commercial Loans Made Easy" Program
• Salomone Brothers: Tank Testing and Environmental Compliance
• TMP Energy Solutions: Another Way to Save On YouEnergy 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!

NJ DEP EMAIL BLASTS, RETAIL FUEL FACILITY OPERATOR TRAINING; NEW FORM FOR UST RENEWALS
MASTERCARD TO ELIMINATE SIGNATURE AT P.O.S.
TOBACCO PURCHASE AGE INCREASES TO 21 ON NOVEMBER 1, 2017
ON THE ROAD VOTER GUIDE 2017 IN MAILBOXES
 
I’m going to start this week with three updates/announcements from NJ DEP.
  1. You have the opportunity to connect directly to NJ DEP by signing up for email blasts.  Similar to NJGCA, DEP provides station owners with critical information and updates, and you want to be the first to know! The following announcements came directly from NJ DEP, and even though it is NJGCA's responsibility to share this information with you, you could also be getting it firsthand directly from NJ DEP earlier in the week. To sign up for the DEP email blasts CLICK HERE.  On the left hand sidebar, there is a message in RED that says “Receive Listserve Messages.” Enter your email address in the box and click subscribe.  You will receive an email confirmation that you have been added to the list.
  2. DEP will be offering A/B Operator Training for retail fuel facility operators in both November and December (November 9, 2017 in Bordentown, NJ and December 14 in New Brunswick). The EPA has established new minimum training requirements for designated Class A, B and C operators to ensure that those who own and operate underground storage tanks understand how to operate and maintain their systems properly. Federal regulations dictate that all operators must be trained by October 13, 2018. You must attend the class and pass an ICC exam. For more info about the exam and operators, visit NJ DEP at  http://www.nj.gov/dep/enforcement/ust.html. You can register for either one of the courses here: Register Now!
  3. The next round of UST renewals (which starts with Essex County on December 31, 2017) will be able to use either the current UST-021 form, or the NEW UST Facility Certification Questionnaire (FCQ), which is currently in draft form and is optional.  This version of the Questionnaire will be mandatory once the amendments to the Underground Storage Tanks rules are adopted.  This form can also be used to list Class A and B Licensed Operators. More information about the forms is available HERE

A recent announcement from MasterCard revealed that by April 2018 (just six months away), MasterCard will no longer require that consumers provide a signature at the point of sale. In recent years, as additional authentication methods have been developed, the importance of signatures has declined so much that 80% of all MasterCard purchases are now completed without signatures. We will see this becoming more frequent in the coming months and years, and though additional electronic security measures will make signatures obsolete, it remains unclear what will happen if EMV chip and pin are ever fully implemented… will customers buying gas at the pump be required to get out of their car to punch in a PIN number?  We will stay tuned and report back to you with updates!
 
Several months ago I notified you that to our surprise Governor Christie signed a law to increase the age to purchase tobacco from 19 to 21. Although we fully expected this to be passed in 2018 if Phil Murphy wins the Governor’s Race in just two short weeks, we now must deal with it six months earlier than originally planned. I also have a feeling that there’s going to be a huge enforcement effort to do sting operations where underage patrons will enter your convenience store and attempt to buy tobacco. Enforcement is going to be looking to set an example early on. I hope I’m wrong, but I must caution you to have the proper signage and training for your employees to make sure that you don’t get caught up in any stings.
 
Finally, you should have all received the On The Road magazine in the mail this week. As I do every year, I encourage you to study it carefully to find out if candidates running for office have either voted on the issues or agreed with the positions important to your business. A lot of work goes into compiling this info so you can make an informed choice when you vote. I'm becoming increasingly more disturbed by the inaccurate and outright false information that campaign advertising presents to voters. The ads you see on TV and hear on the radio simply cannot be relied on for accuracy to determine the proper person to vote for. Please try to filter through all of that, study the voter guide, and please call the office if there’s something you’re not clear about!

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

Emission Technician Education Program (ETEP) - Entire Repair Technician Curriculum - Starts Nov. 7th
Stop turning away work!!  The New Jersey Inspection Program requires vehicles that fail emissions inspection to go to a Licensed Certified Emission Inspector for Repairs!
 When the new program begins, a list of Certified Emission Repair Shops will be given to vehicle owners! If you want your business name on the list – make sure you have a Certified Licensed Emission Repair Technician & an Emission Repair Facility License!

This class runs on Tuesdays and Thursday from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM for
FIVE consecutive weeks.
Class begins on Tuesday, November 7th and ends on Tuesday December 12th.
NO CLASS ON THANKSGIVING, THURSDAY, NOV 23.

Fees for members are $2,195 and non-members are $2,495.
$500 deposit is due at time of registration.

Click HERE for registration form.

Emissions Inspector Training Class - One Day Only!
TUESDAY, November 14th -- 7am to 3pm

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, November 14 from 7:00am to 3:00pm. Cost $275.
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:

Business For Sale: Monmouth County gas station and repair shop in business since 2001 is for sale. Owner is relocating out of state and is interested in selling business and equipment. Owner is open to limited financing. Business has a strong 10 year lease. The building has two repair bays and the gas pumps are leased to a large independent tenant. Repair shop business currently employs a Manager and two full-time Technicians. For inquiries and more info, please call Mark at 908-670-7798.

FOR SALE:
Commercial Building in Asbury Park, Possible Sale of Business, Too!  For listing information, please click HERE.
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.

         

                                                                                                                                                                         

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

10/25/2017:
White House Economic Advisor Floats Idea of Gas Tax Hike for Infrastructure
President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser raised the possibility of increasing the federal gasoline tax next year to help pay for the administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan, US Rep. Tom Reed said. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn brought up the fuel tax as a way to help fund promised upgrades to US roads, bridges and other public works during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers dubbed the Problem Solvers Caucus on Wednesday, said Reed, a NY Republican who is co-chairman of the caucus. There have been proposals over the years to raise the gas tax, which hasn’t increased since 1993, but they faced stiff opposition from congressional Republicans and others loath to raise taxes. As recently as May 1, after Trump floated the idea in an interview with Bloomberg, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady seemed cold to the idea. Asked then if he’d rule it out, he said, “In my view, yes, but we’re going to have that discussion.” On Wednesday, Brady was no more enthusiastic. “Hm. I’m going to stay focused on tax reform right now,” he said. Revenue from the federal per-gallon taxes of 18.4¢ on gasoline and 24.4¢ on diesel has declined as inflation robbed them of their purchasing power and the average fuel economy of a passenger vehicle increased by 12%, according to the US Department of Transportation. Business and transportation groups have called for increasing the federal gas tax to help sustain the federal Highway Trust Fund that provides money to states for projects.
 
 
10/24/2017:
Toshiba claims EV battery breakthrough: 200-mile charge in 6 minutes
Quicker battery charging is a breakthrough the electric vehicle industry is looking for to reach its tipping point. If a driver can juice up the car in the same time it would take to fill a tank of gas, suddenly those longer road trips don't seem so daunting. It's a common goal, and a number of companies are working on way to minimize charging times. Porsche has got 350-kW charging, StoreDot has its own five-minute solution, and Fisker is working on some mysterious charging standard. Now Toshiba says it has a break-through battery that can add 320 kilometers (199 miles) of range from a six-minute charge. The key to this rapid-charging lithium-ion battery is a new anode material. The next-generation Toshiba SCiB battery uses titanium niobium oxide, which doubles the capacity compared with graphite-based anodes. In testing, Toshiba says it maintains more than 90% of its capacity after 5,000 charge/discharge cycles. Toshiba plans to bring the next-generation SCiB battery, with its new anode material, to market in 2019. Now, if we can get the charging problem solved, we just have to tackle the other parts of the equation: infrastructure and cost.
 
10/23/2017:
Mega Millions lottery to cost more, get harder to win starting on Halloween
The cost of a Mega Millions ticket will climb from $1 to $2 starting with the Oct. 31 drawing. That last drawing with the current ticket price will be on Friday, Oct. 27. Starting jackpots will increase from $15 million to $40 million. Both changes will put Mega Millions on equal footing with Powerball, which usually offers more lucrative jackpots. Of the 15 largest jackpots won in the U.S., 12 are Powerball and three are Mega Millions. The upcoming changes will mark the sixth time in the game's 21-year history where the matrix of numbers has been shuffled. Here's what you need to know … Bad news: It'll be harder to win the jackpot; Good news: it'll be easier to win $1 million prize. To read more, click the link above.
 
10/23/2017:
What effect will standard time, online shopping have on gas prices?
When the clocks are set back to standard time next month, it could bring a drop in gas prices, and how much holiday shopping is done online, as opposed to driving to the mall, could also set prices up for a December decline. Prices at the pump are expected to stay stable with minor declines this week, said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service. He predicted that prices will drop a few pennies per gallon between now and Halloween. "Prices will soften, but we will not see the big drop," Kloza said. "A lot of times the big drop is usually in the first half of November." One reason is the change back to standard time, and an earlier sunset, which he said discourages extra driving. A bigger potential force behind a price decrease is whether driving declines in December as it did last year, he said. "The big question is what happens to U.S. demand and how much travel do we lose to online shopping," Kloza said. "Some of the skimpiest consumption weeks were the first two weeks of December." Before 2016, those two weeks were a period of high driving and high demand for gas when holiday shoppers took to the malls, he said. 

                                                                                                                                                                 

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 reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.