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Road Warrior Newsletter

September 23, 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:
• FDA Hiring Minors to Conduct Tobacco Sting Operations; AAA Contract Presents More Issues, Few Benefits; Colonial Pipeline Disruption Affecting Gas Supply and Prices in NJ; Updates on Gas Tax/TTF Funding and Credit Card Interchange Fees

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

FDA Increases Fines for Tobacco Violations
N.J. gas prices spiking after major pipeline shutdown
E-cigarette maker NJOY files for bankruptcy

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE!
• Emission Inspector Training -- Wednesday, October 19, 2016

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!


FDA HIRING MINORS TO CONDUCT TOBACCO STING OPERATIONS
AAA CONTRACT PRESENTS MORE ISSUES, FEWER BENEFITS
COLONIAL PIPELINE DISRUPTION AFFECTING GAS SUPPLY AND PRICES IN NJ
UPDATES ON GAS TAX/TTF FUNDING AND CREDIT CARD INTERCHANGE FEES

The first issue the week is the start of an effort to uncover tobacco sales to minors.  We’ve learned that the FDA Center for Tobacco Products is hiring high school students under the age of 18 to buy cigarettes and catch people breaking the law.  I’ve been at NJGCA for almost 10 years and I haven’t seen one case like this. Now, in just one week, two members sent me packages of legal documents outlining violations and penalties, including affidavits of undercover officers.  We know that the government is focused on making it harder for young people to access tobacco and get addicted to smoking. You may also remember that when local Mayor and Town Councils wanted to implement a minimum age of 21 to purchase tobacco, they also chose to dedicate the fee that was  imposed on local cigarette retailers to the expansion of undercover enforcement. I hope I'm wrong, but my instinct tells me that these efforts will continue and I will begin seeing these cases come across my desk at a rapid pace.
 
Here are some additional details about how the undercover effort works: A 17 year old gets sent into a location to attempt to purchase cigarettes. An adult enforcement officer is always watching from a safe distance, observing the transaction as both a means of verification and protection for the minor making the purchase. They need to see if the sales clerk asked for ID and if a sale was made.  Although the federal age to purchase tobacco is 18, New Jersey’s threshold is 19 years old, and about 15 municipalities in NJ have implemented laws to make it legal only at 21 years old. Should you allow anyone under the age of 18 to purchase cigarettes, you have technically broken a federal law, a state law, and quite possibly a municipal law.
 
The penalties I have seen range from $500 to $5,500.  I shouldn’t have to remind you, but I will. It is imperative that you check the identification and verify the date of birth for anybody looking to purchase tobacco products that appears under the age of 27.  It is also critical that if they don’t have identification or if their birth date does not make them at least 19 years old (or 21 in certain municipalities which have passed harsher local restrictions) you do not sell the tobacco, no matter how much the customer complains!
 
If younger people want to smoke, it is likely that they have someone of the proper age who purchases the cigarettes for them, so if you follow the rules you will stay out of trouble and avoid costly penalties. If you have been contacted by the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, please call the office immediately.  It seems as if many penalties are not arriving until months after the infractions occur.
 
The next issue which has deeply concerned me in recent weeks is the new contract that AAA wants their approved repair shops to sign. There are various clauses that I find extremely troubling.  Additionally, I’m aware of the fact that AAA is diverting tows to their corporate run facilities and all of the AAA-approved shops I’ve talked to have experienced a significant decline in business coming from AAA. After all of the effort that you have made -- working nights, weekends and holidays, in the rain, sleet and snow, to fulfill your obligations to AAA and help them build a respectable reputation -- AAA has violated that trust. How many times did you get up at 3AM to recue a stranded AAA member?  Now that AAA has their own repair facilities, they are trying to steal your customers away as if that loyalty and partnership never existed. One longtime member cited an instance when a very good customer was stranded locally and called AAA for a tow to his shop.  AAA made an aggressive appeal with enticing monetary offers to lure the customer to their own repair center.  That, in my opinion, is dirty and unprofessional especially when my member was such a loyal part of their success. 

AAA made a name for themselves on the backs of shop owners like yourself, whose integrity, professionalism and expertise allowed AAA to provide superior service. But YOU were providing that service, not AAA.  Furthermore, in this day and age, many car manufacturers, dealerships and insurance companies offer roadside assistance with the same reliability that AAA has offered for years, due to your partnership! Let’s think about becoming approved for those other roadside assistance programs, because they rely on qualified and experienced professionals of your caliber, too. It may be time to leave your AAA-accreditation behind since you don’t seem to be gaining any business from it, anyway.

Because of efforts begun over a year ago by our friends in Maryland at WMDA/CAR, AAA has made some changes in the contract that they are requiring to be signed by October 1.  Previously it had included a provision that required you to give them direct access to your customer data base, but now have conceded that you can enter information in to a Web Based Portal. However after reviewing the contract, I am still not comfortable that they aren’t trying backdoor mining of customer information that doesn’t belong to them. All of the instances that have been reported of AAA diverting tows and aggressively stealing customers from their approved shops leaves me very mistrusting.
 
This is a business decision on your part!! If you feel that being part of AAA brings you business and it is worth the annual fee, then sign the contract.  If you have a AAA operated multi bay super service center in your vicinity, then I advise you to think twice, as the experience of others says that AAA will aggressively try to divert your customers in to their shops. I think it is a slap in the face for you to pay them while they steal your customers. If you don’t have a AAA super service center near you, it is less likely that they will be stealing your customers (at least for now until they build one nearby).
 
If you do decide to sign the contract I insist that you add the following as a continuation of Section 4.2: “Club also explicitly represents that ONLY vehicles that are towed to this AAR are subject to reporting using the Web Portal.
 
You should handwrite that sentence and clearly initial it. On the signature page make a note pointing out that you added the sentence in section 4.2  If AAA is not willing to accept that addition to the contract then I guess you have your answer about what their intentions are. Would you provide customer information to the shop down the street from you? I doubt it. Why provide it to AAA?  Again this is a business decision. I can report to you that our sister association in Maryland WMDA/CAR does not endorse the contract and neither do we here at NJGCA. Our friends in Maryland believe that most of the AARs there will not be signing, with the exception of a few who have shops that aren't located near AAA super service centers.  Please let me know how you make out with this and what you decide to do.
 
I also haven’t addressed the marketplace much in recent months, since it has mostly followed the standard supply and demand formula, which created lower prices because demand is flat and supplies of both crude oil and refined products such as gasoline and diesel have been stockpiled in abundance. However, the equation is affected when unexpected supply interruptions/emergencies occur (such as a storm in the Gulf Coast, or, in the case of recent events, a leak in the Colonial Pipeline causing almost 300,000 gallons of gasoline to spill into the environment). Besides environmental issues arising from that catastrophe, gas supplies along the East Coast have been severely affected and there have been recent overnight increases of as much as 7¢ per gallon. However, the pipeline should be repaired quickly, supplies will resume, and I predict that prices will drop back down to where they were before the accident occurred.
 
I finally have two quick updates for you:

  1. I haven’t had much to share in recent weeks regarding progress on funding the TTF and increasing the gas tax. Eric and I continue to meet with legislators and raise concerns about the amount of the increase. We learned privately that discussions have resumed between the Governor and leaders in the Assembly and the Senate to reach a compromise. No one has shared what they think that compromise will be, but we have not heard anything that indicates that the compromise will include NJGCA’s request for a reduction from 23¢ to 18¢. But, let me be clear, I don’t know this for a fact.Legislators are being very careful in their conversations with me, as they are aware of our involvement in the issue and our strong position.
  2. Each week for the past month I've wanted to discuss NJGCA’s efforts to pass legislation to reduce credit card fees. We have actually seen some progress and I've been wanting to share it with you. However, each week it gets put off to make room for other “front burner” items. Hopefully I will be able to discuss an update on credit card fees in next week’s Road Warrior.


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

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

CLASS DETAILS:
Class Date
: Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Class Location: NJGCA Headquarters -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Twp, NJ 07753
Arrival Time: 7:00am (coffee and donuts will be served)
Lunch Break: 12:00pm (Pizza and soda will be served)
NJMVC Test: 1:00pm


CLASS FEES:
NJGCA Members:
$250.00
Non-members: $300.00

Manuals are included and payment is due upon registration. All credit cards are accepted.

License Fee: Bring a $50.00 check made payable to NJMVC to satisfy the State's licensing fee.

PLEASE NOTE: If you live out of state, you must bring 6 points of ID with you, such as a license, passport, healthcare card, utility bill, etc.

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


09/21/2016:
FDA Increases Fines for Tobacco Violations
The FDA has announced an increase in the monetary fines that are assessed against retailers violating federal tobacco regulations. The increases were made according to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015, which allows each federal agency to adjust its monetary fines for inflation once a year. Under the terms of this new federal law, the FDA was not required to issue a proposed rule adopting the inflation adjusted monetary fines. The FDA’s new monetary fine amounts apply to retailers assessed with a fine by the agency after Aug. 1, 2016, even if the retail violation or violations occurred as far back as Nov. 2, 2015. The number of violations, previous fine amounts and new fine amounts are available by clicking the link above.
 
09/20/2016:
N.J. gas prices spiking after major pipeline shutdown
Gas prices are rising due to a break in a critical pipeline that is used to ship gas between Houston and New York harbor. The Colonial pipeline was shut down on Sept. 9 after an estimated 250,000 gallons of gas leaked in Shelby County, Alabama, 30 miles south of Birmingham. That pipeline transports about 1.3 million barrels of gas daily and ends in Linden, according to a Colonial Pipeline release. "That pipeline does deliver a lot of fuel to the Northeast, it's the artery, the jugular vein," said Tom Kloza, Oil Pricing Information Service petroleum industry expert. "I think what we'll see is gas prices move up, particularly among the independents, because supplies are not as robust as normal." However, the break in the pipeline was described as a "nick" in the artery by Kloza. What that means at the pump is that drivers could see prices go up by five cents and as much as 10¢, he said. Drivers saw the average price for regular increase to $1.99 a gallon in New Jersey between Friday and Monday evening, GasBuddy.com reported. Discount prices rose to $1.75 to $1.77.
 
09/19/2016:
E-cigarette maker NJOY files for bankruptcy
NJOY, one of the biggest electronic cigarette makers, is going up in smoke. The company filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 16 in Delaware federal court, burning some high-powered Silicon Valley investors, including Sean Parker, co-founder of the now-defunct Napster, and PayPal founder Peter Thiel, who were part of a $70 million capital round that valued NJOY at $1 billion in 2013. Singer Bruno Mars is also an investor in NJOY and a fan of the e-cigarettes, which heat nicotine-laced liquid into vapor. Parker, who ponied up $10 million to put into the company, said at the time that electronic cigarettes had the potential to make regular cigarettes “and all the harm they cause obsolete.” The filing comes just five months after new federal regulations from the FDA threaten the fast-growing multibillion-dollar industry that includes tobacco giants Altria and Reynolds, which own MarkTen and Vuse, respectively.

                                                                                                                                                                  

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.