The folks at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) recently shared some data about the industry that you may find of interest. Do these trends match up with your experience last year? It can be useful to measure your experience against how others are doing to see if you’re keeping pace with competitors or falling behind. Total motor fuel demand in the US is predicted by the federal EIA to be flat in 2023 compared with 2022, but still down about 7% from 2019 (pre-covid). Higher prices last year led to more transactions at stations, though with fewer gallons sold per transaction. That can be good for retailers since it gives you more opportunities to convert fuel customers into purchasing something else. Cigarettes made up an average of 28% of all sales, and declined nationally by 3.2%. Gross sales of all other convenience store products were up 8.6%. Packaged beverages and cold dispensed beverages were up over 10%, hot beverages up 13%, salty snacks and candy both up 15.5%, and prepared foods up over 16%. The average gasoline margin nationally was 45¢ a gallon, up from 34¢ in 2021. However, inflation is the biggest driver of higher sales, it was about 7.5% overall last year. Still, gross profits went up more than sales growth, so generally c-stores are making a little extra on top of the price increase they need to cover inflation. Operating expenses, though, were up almost 15%, and wages have increased almost 50% over the last four years.
NJGCA Scholarship Fund & Applications
As you may have noticed this week, we sent out an email blast announcing our scholarship fund and our goal this year to be able to give to student winners. For the last two years, we have proudly collected and donated scholarship money to very deserving and promising students of employees of your businesses as well as members of your own families. The first year we ran the scholarship we were able to donate $10,000 and last year $7,500. This year our goal is to be able to give $15,000 to these students. This year, we have an online portal to be able to donate, as well as an option mail a check to the office. Visithttps://www.njgca.org/scholarship-fund/ to donate online, and feel free to donate more if you are able! One hundred percent of the donations collected will be given directly to the awarded applicants. The more we are able to award, the better!
You may also fill out a check and mail it to the office. Be sure to write ‘Scholarship Fund’ in the memo:
NJGCA Scholarship Fund
615 Hope Road,
Bldg. 2, 1st Floor
Eatontown, NJ 07724
Additionally, for those of you with children and/or grandchildren, employees and their children, and/or their grandchildren are eligible to apply for the scholarship. Our vision is to not only to provide financial support to college-bound students, but to vocational students as well. If you know someone who meets the above requirements, have them locate our application at https://www.njgca.org/scholarship/ and fill it out ASAP! Scholarships are due June 8th 2023, and an announcement on the scholarship winners will be announced shortly thereafter.
Don’t forget your donations are tax deductible! Email joe@njgca.org today for more information on the NJGCA scholarship fund.
March Health Coverage
Happy Holi!
This year's Holi celebrations occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 7th and 8th this week. The festival marks the last full-moon day of the lunar month and celebrates the beginning of spring for those of the Hindu faith. For all those that celebrate, we hope your Holi was filled with moments of laughter and enjoyment with your loved ones.
EVR Upgrade Mandate Reminder
In the last few months, we’ve updated our members on our discussions with NJDEP officials concerning the forthcoming Enhanced Vapor Recovery ("EVR") upgrade mandate. You’ll recall that this upgrade affects all locations with tanks installed prior to December 23, 2017. Any tanks installed on/after December 23, 2017 are unaffected; and should have had these enhancements made at the time of installation (more on that, below). That means, for any station build before December 23, 2017, you must upgrade to new, full EVR requirements by December 23, 2024.
For those affected, the upgrade is a California Air Resources Board (CARB) Certified Phase 1 system, and includes enhanced rotatable fill adaptors, dust caps, spill buckets, hoses, and other requirements. Stations that do not upgrade their facility by December 23, 2024 may face fines or penalties for non-compliance. In following the same mindset that forewarned the implementation of the Stage II Vacuum Assist Vapor Recovery decommissioning (which ended on December 23, 2020), the Association highly recommends all affected stations comply with the upcoming mandates ahead of the deadline. Any station with tanks installed before December 23, 2017 should contact their compliance vendor to inquire about the updates and schedule their completion before the deadline.
Please don’t wait until the last second. As we saw with the end of Stage II and the EMV credit card reader deadlines, many station owners waited until the final few weeks before the compliance deadline --- and were harmed by longer wait times and higher costs.
If you have any questions, contact Nick at nick@njgca.org for more information.
All classes held at NJGCA HQ -- 615 Hope Road, Building 2, 1st Floor, Eatontown, NJ 07724
ASE Training Course - Reach Out Today!
Are you (or an employee) getting ready to take your A6, A8, or L1 in preparation to recertifying your Emission Repair Technician (ERT) credentials through the State's Emission Technician Education Program (ETEP)?
We can help --- but we need to hear from you, first! NJGCA wants to hear from students interested in our ASE-prep training program, so we can gauge demand and schedule our next session series.
As you know, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has always maintained a "dual-track" system to allow technicians to earn their Emission Repair Technician (ERT) credentials through New Jersey's Emission Technician Education Program (ETEP). In doing so, technicians were allowed to certify as ERTs through either an ASE-test track or an ETEP-educational class track. Starting on January 1, 2020, NJDEP amended the ETEP criteria, and the ETEP-educational class track was abolished.
Today, only the ASE-test track remains, and all ERTs must certify or re-certify their credentials though ASE to remain in the Program.
NJGCA has recently offered an ASE-prep class to help you get ready for the A6, A8, and L1. In doing so, students were welcome to participate in a ten-session preparatory class that covered material for all three ASE exams. We also had a handful of students who joined us only for the A8 or L1 sections.
Once completed, students took their ASE exams with a local ASE-approved test proctor (NJGCA can train you to prepare for the ASE exams, but are not permitted to offer the actual exam - students must make these arrangements individually themselves).
Building on that success, we are now seeking student participation in our next training series session. To make arrangements and organize a session, we need to hear from you!
For all the talk about the benefits, the transformation from fossil-fueled to electric vehicles is proving to be challenging for New Jersey’s car dealers, who plan to spend about $150 million over the next few years to sell the public on the switch. That investment is likely just the start of what the more than 500 dealers — in this car-dependent state — will need to spend to convert their dealerships to sell and service light-duty electric cars and trucks. Dealers must also resolve other issues like working with electric utilities to upgrade facilities to allow charging of EVs and mechanics to work on the vehicles, and ongoing global chip and battery production problems.
The United States Postal Service will buy more than 9,000 Ford electric delivery vehicles, one year after an initial plan to buy predominantly gasoline-powered vehicles sparked controversy, The Hill reports. In an announcement Wednesday, USPS said it has awarded contracts to buy 9,250 Ford EVs, part of a vehicle electrification plan Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced in December. USPS will also buy an equivalent number of gas-powered vehicles and 14,000 charging stations. “We are moving forward with our plans to simultaneously improve our service, reduce our cost, grow our revenue and improve the working environment for our employees. Electrification of our vehicle fleet is now an important component of these initiatives,” DeJoy said in a statement. “We have developed a strategy that mitigates both cost and risk of deployment—which enable execution on this initiative to begin now.” USPS will begin building out charging infrastructure across 75 locations over the next month, the service said in a statement.
Problems with motor vehicle sales and repairs topped the list of complaints to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) in 2022, the agency said Monday. Of the more than 18,000 complaints received last year, more than 2,500 were about vehicle sales and repairs, it said. The cases included predatory towing, automotive repairs, car sales and auto parts pricing, it said. Consumer Affairs reached what it called “significant settlements” with nine car dealerships throughout the state in 2022, totaling more than $650,000. “The dealerships’ alleged violations include failing to list prior accidents, damage, and repairs made to vehicles; failing to honor the advertised price of a used car; charging excessive vehicle preparation fees; failing to disclose the full sale price of a motor vehicle and deceptive advertising,” it said.
A record $141 billion in energy transition financing was deployed in the U.S. in 2022 for clean energy, including renewables, electric vehicles and other technologies, according to the Factbook, which focuses on renewables, efficiency, natural gas, distributed power, storage and sustainable transportation. It said 32 GW of new renewable power-generating capacity was added to the U.S. grid down from 37 GW commissioned in 2021 due to higher costs, trade challenges and other problems. By the end of 2022, the U.S. had 108 GWh of lithium-ion battery manufacturing commissioned. Capacity additions nearly doubled compared to 2021 with 45 GWh being added, the report said.
Contraband cigarette seizures in Massachusetts soared in 2022 with little impact on smoking trends, while sales tax revenue dropped by $7 million, most of which was the result of the state’s failed ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco, a new report finds. The Commonwealth’s Illegal Tobacco Task Force released its annual report that includes new data that highlights the growing and largely unaddressed problems that have been created by the state’s flavored tobacco ban, which took effect in 2020. Nearly 90% of those sales shifted out of state, primarily to bordering New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The report illustrates that the revenue loss has continued unabated while the illegal market for the banned products has increased exponentially.
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.
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