October 26, 2023

Next Week! Know Your Rights! NJGCA Webinar: Franchise Law Updates You Need To Know: 

If your gas station and/or c-store is a franchisee of a national brand, odds are that you haven’t thought about your franchise agreement for some time. Or maybe you’re thinking about opening a new location. Either way, this webinar is for you.   

There are franchise laws that specifically protect gas station owners in disputes with franchisors. Join Marisa Rauchway and Mauro Tucci of CSG Law on Wednesday, November 1st at 12 PM for a practical discussion about what these protections mean for your business. CSG is one of the state’s top law firms and they have been great supporters of NJGCA for several years.  

Register for the webinar at HERE or find more information at NJGCA.org.

Even if you're unsure if you'll be available, make sure to register and we will send out the recording.   

Gov. Murphy's EV Mandate: 

Last week was the deadline for official comments to be submitted to the DEP regarding their formal rule proposal to adopt California's Advanced Clean Cars II mandate, which would mean starting in 2027 over 40% of new light duty vehicles sold should be electric vehicles, escalating to 100% by 2035. These projections are totally unrealistic and this mandate won't change consumer demand. A huge variety of groups submitted formal comments about this rule proposal, including more than a dozen legislators from both parties (which is unusual for them to weigh in on these proposals). You can read our full comments HERE, in which we point out that this policy puts at risk the roughly 5,0000 mostly small businesses in the motor fuel retail and auto mechanical repair businesses and their collective $1 billion in annual payroll, all for a carbon reduction that even under their own best-case scenario will only lower global emissions by 0.04% per year.

NJGCA at NACS Part Two: 

Last week we talked about some insights we heard at the National Association of Convenience Stores convention about the labor shortage. This week we’ll focus on the future of fuels: 

• Exxon on the US in twenty-five years (2050)
  • 43 million more people living here (if that growth were evenly spread out, it would be about 1.2 million more in New Jersey). The overall population is more urban centered and on average older than it is now. GDP is $16 trillion higher, but total energy demand is down 13% and carbon emissions are half what they are now. 
  • US proposed policy calls for an increase in mpg standards from about 25 mpg now to 60. 
  • If the goals set by the government were perfectly followed through, then less than half the fleet of passenger vehicles will be EVs, with about 15% hybrids and the rest still gas/diesel only. 
• EV Charging
  • The main differentiator that current retailers can offer to compete with the home charging experience and other businesses like grocery stores and malls is the speed of charge. 
  • On average 60% of current fuel customers don’t come in the store, so with EVs there may be fewer motorists coming through, but you may be able to convert a huge percent of them to store shoppers. 
  • Pilot is planning to install fast chargers at 500 locations in the near future
    • They are seeing the average charging customer hang around on-site for an average of 28 minutes—a lot of time to sell them something else.
  • Americans believe 20% of vehicles are already EVs, it's actually just 2% 
  • 85% of the nation’s EVs are in 15 states
• Other types of fuels
  • Hydrogen refueling will come to dominate heavy duty trucks, but light duty passenger vehicles look more likely to be battery EVs. 
  • A lot of consumers are uneducated about E15 which has been pushed hard in the Midwest and is generally cheaper than regular gas. Most consumers don’t realize the regular gas they buy is already 10% ethanol. 
  • “Renewable” diesel is now the majority of diesel fuel in California because they have laws to incentivize it. It's made from various kinds of waste oils and emits much less carbon than petroleum diesel. It works because it’s a “drop-in” fuel, it can be used in all existing engines and infrastructure.
  • “Renewable” gasoline also exists as well, but it costs $16 a gallon. Hopefully if both fuels are more widely produced at scale those prices could fall. 
•  10% of US gas stations expected to close in next 10 years over shrinking fuel volumes

Maryland Conference:

Last week Joe Ocello from NJGCA attended WMDA tradeshow and awards banquet near Baltimore, Maryland. WMDA represents fuel retailers, c-stores, and auto repair shops in Washington DC, Maryland, and Delaware. It was great to be part of their panel, their members are facing very similar issues to what we are dealing with up here, like internet lottery proposals, Weights & Measures and below cost selling enforcement. Their trade show was excellent as well. We got to meet some of our current MBPs who also operate down there, and made some connections for new MBPs for NJGCA and you. Overall they put on a great event and we were glad to be there with our sister association reinforcing relationships.

Message for Current AMT Health Plan Holders:

This message is for those members who get their health plan through Association Member Trust (AMT). A few months back we mentioned that AMT was targeted by thieves stealing their mail, altering checks, and cashing them in their accounts. While the problem continues to be investigated seriously by authorities, we ask that if you pay your healthcare premiums via a mailed check please double check that the check is cashed, and that it is cashed by Association Member Trust (formerly Association Master Trust). You can also contact AMT directly if you’d like to switch to automatic electronic payments. In the eyes of the law, the victim of this scam is not AMT but you. 

Annual Turkey Charity Drive:

NJGCA is thrilled to announce we will be participating in another turkey drive ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday! Groceries are more expensive than ever, so let’s make sure everyone in New Jersey can celebrate the holiday with a turkey on their table.   

This year we will again accept monetary donations and write a check to the Fulfill NJ food bank, which is based near our office. Thanks to the generosity of our members, we were able to donate $2,700 and 63 pounds of turkey last year, which in total is about 8,153 thanksgiving meals donated by our membership! We always hope to be able to exceed the previous year’s goal. If you are able, please consider donating HERE. We will be accepting donations through Wednesday November 8th.  

Member Benefit Partner Spotlight: TMP

TMP can help lower your utility costs. What does TMP do for NJGCA Members?

• Create your business energy profile and establish your price to compare.
• Use your price to compare against current fixed-rate energy market pricing.
• Submit your usage into their network of energy suppliers.
• Recommend the best available options, including the utility's variable pricing average.
• Stay engaged throughout the term of the agreement to offer support & answer questions.
• They have energy consultants with over 30 years of experience for consultation.
• They are supplier agnostic and use a non-bias approach that is price driven
• Ask them how they can provide a level of protection against scammers.

For more info reach out to Ed Deczynski eddeczynski@yahoo.com or 570-766-7533

Top Industry News:

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