NJGCA's New Healthcare Plan: Register to Join Our Webinar Big Oil Under Attack Over High Gas Prices What's Going on in the Marketplace? Catalytic Converter Theft Legislation Passes NJ Senate Class C Program - Are Your Attendants Trained? Happy Diwali! Health Insurance Webinar Many members have been asking for more options when it comes to the soaring cost of health insurance, even if they are only looking to cover themselves. We have partnered with our friends at World Insurance, who have long been our trusted providers for our Workers Comp Insurance Program, to create a new Health Plan designed for and exclusive to NJGCA members. This Tuesday, October 25th at 12PM, NJGCA will be hosting a free webinar with World Insurance to inform our members about a new healthcare option which promises meaningful savings for many. Click HERE to register for the webinar to find out more about the program. Big Oil Under Attack As gas prices continue to increase so close to the election, it has become a hot button political issue that is getting more attention. More politicians, especially Democrats, are targeting the industry broadly for being responsible for high prices. Most of the attacks have been focused on big oil companies rather than retailers. Many (but not all) have been trying to make the distinction that they are complaining about big oil and not station owners. Just this week, the New Jersey Attorney General announced a lawsuit against Exxon and other big oil companies claiming that they lied about fossil fuels and their effect on climate change. Further, they claim if it hadn't been for the efforts of the big oil industry, society would have dropped oil decades ago (which is quite the stretch in logic...). Yesterday, President Biden made more remarks about gas prices, bringing it back into national headlines. He announced he would release even more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to try to lower prices. While lowering prices is good for public image ahead of elections, releasing more oil is concerning to NJGCA and other experts as the SPR is getting to dangerously low levels, which gives the nation less flexibility to deal with a genuine crisis in the future (like a war). Thankfully, the Biden Administration did announce a plan mirroring what many experts have suggested for months-that SPR will make a guarantee to domestic oil companies that they will refill the SPR and they will pay $70 a barrel for oil, even if the market price is below that level. This will help promote domestic drilling after hesitation from oil companies to make investments. They are afraid that by the time domestic wells come on line, the price of oil will have fallen so much they will not be able to get their investment back. So this plan to guarantee them a price should help solve that issue and encourage more domestic supply. Unfortunately, President Biden also reiterated his claims implying that it's not just oil companies that are unfairly responsible for high prices, but also refiners and station owners. He unfairly threw our members in with the refining companies (who have been making extraordinary profits the last few months). He claimed that if refiners and stations were making the same level of profit that they had on average over the last 17 year, prices would be 60 cents a gallon lower. The president fails to take into account not just that a lot of that extra money is going to refiners, but also that stations have to take on many other business expenses such as higher credit card fees, higher cost of labor, and the fact that they sell fewer gallons overall, so the margin per gallon has to be higher in order to keep the doors open. Marketplace Update As you've probably noticed, the rack price of gas has come down the last few days after spiking briefly at the beginning of the month. However, the price of diesel has not only continued to increase, but has done so dramatically over the last two weeks or so. The gap between the average cost of diesel and average cost of gasoline has been over $2 a gallon for the last week or so. Normally, a $1 dollar difference is considered a massive gap. Before the fuel crisis that started in March with the Russian invasion, there was a long stretch where diesel rack prices without taxes was the same as gasoline prices. It is expected this is being driven by fears of shortages, especially in this part of country. Parts of New Jersey and much of New England rely on heating oil. Even as prices for gas are leveling off, diesel is what trucks use to ship groceries and products. In terms of driving inflation, these gigantic prices make a huge difference. Getting closer to $6 a gallon with taxes wholesale is a big, expensive problem that will be passed on to everyone. If you sell diesel, you may want to talk to your suppliers and have them assure you you'll get supply in the event of shortages and further price spikes. However, it's also possible the prices will fall and fall very fast if shortages do not develop, in which case you could be stuck with too much product you bought at a price well above the market. It's a tough game to play and we will continue to watch the market to bring you the best advice possible. Catalytic Converter Thefts We've talked before about legislation to crack down on catalytic converter thefts that has been kicked around Trenton for a while. We are pleased to report that on Monday, it was voted on in the state Senate and passed unanimously. We sent a letter voicing our support of the legislation which we have made available for you to read HERE. The bill has not moved through the Assembly yet, but we are hoping it will soon since it has already passed one legislative body. Class C Operator Training It's been a few years since we released our Class C program, and it's about time we reminded you how valuable our training program is! Any time you hire a new attendant, you are legally obligated to make sure they are trained as a Class C operator or face financial penalties. The entire training only takes about an hour of time, and is a quick and easy tool to make sure your attendants are up to speed on all the working parts of the station. Why risk thousands over a quick and inexpensive training that only takes an hour? Click HERE to go to our site on the training program. Happy Diwali! This upcoming Monday starts the holiday of Diwali, known as the festival of lights. We want to wish all of our members who celebrate a wonderful holiday, and for those of you who are interested in learning more about what the holiday is and what it means for those who celebrate, you can click HERE to learn more. Be Well- Your Association Staff |
