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Dear PEI Member:

The PEI Board of Directors held its mid-year meeting last week in Hilton Head, South Carolina. During the meeting, directors updated the association’s strategic long range plan, reviewed committee reports and addressed other matters of importance to the association and the industry. Here is a summary of the board’s key actions:

What’s Ahead. Directors spent considerable time discussing the future of the liquid fuels equipment industry. The consensus was that the opportunities for PEI members are enormous. Among the most-often cited opportunities were:

• Using remote monitoring capabilities in the forecourt to provide premium levels of service;
• Non-retail work, including lifts, lubes, commercial fueling and electrical vehicle (EV) charging equipment;
• Testing and environmental compliance services related to the 2015 federal underground storage tank (UST) regulations;
• The coming wave of tank replacements;
• Increased ability for customers to order online;
• New store construction.

While fundamentally optimistic, directors also noted the following threats to the industry:

• Large retail customers taking over their own service work, driving down prices and specifying products not well suited to the job;
• Consolidation among both distributors and customers;
• An increasingly complex patchwork of state and local regulatory requirements;
• The challenge of finding and keeping qualified technicians;
• Potential market disruption as electric vehicles grow market share.

Latin America. The board committed up to $600,000 over the next three years to increase PEI membership in Latin America and establish PEI as the recognized authority for fuel and fluid handling equipment in the region. This effort will include hiring a full-time Latin America director.

PEI Mid-Year Board Meeting Report

Iowa Tightens Anti-Skimming Law

OSHA Seeks Comments on UL

EPA Settles Claims Against New York Marketer

Respond to this Newsletter

by e-mail to the editor, Rick Long at rlong@pei.org

or join the discussion in the  Petroleum Equipment Forum

Service Tech Training and Recruitment. To combat the continuing shortage of qualified service technicians, the board authorized development of a next-level training manual to pick up where PEI’s popular Entry Level Service Technician Training Course left off. The board also asked PEI staff to develop a program to equip vo-tech schools and military training organizations with information, tools and resources that will promote career opportunities for fueling equipment technicians.

Priority Club. For several years, PEI has had a waiting list of members interested in joining the Priority Club. The board asked PEI staff to review the current structure of the Priority Club program and, if warranted, present recommendations for changes.

In other actions, the board:

• Accepted the minutes and recommendations of the Safety Committee, the Education and Convention Committee, the PEI Foundation Board of Governors and the Investment Committee.
• Approved a $3,970,812 budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
• Set a dues structure that will keep PEI’s dues well below that of other associations in the wholesale distribution industry.
• Authorized up to 30 scholarships to help PEI members attend the 2019 University of Innovative Distribution (March 10-13, in Indianapolis).

Robert Peavey, PumpTex Inc, Beaumont, Texas, presided at the mid-year meeting. Other officers, directors, co-directors and staff in attendance included:

• Craig Hoyer, Kubat Equipment & Service, Denver, Colo. (immediate past president)
• Charlie Burns, The Oscar W. Larson Co., Clarkston, Mich. (vice president)
• Bill Mascott, Mascott Equipment, Portland, Ore. (treasurer)
• Rick Long, PEI, Tulsa, Okla. (executive vice president)
• Tom Dion, Wildco PES, Bloomfield, Conn. (District 1)
• Ron Sledd Jr., Beneficial Systems, Jetersville, Va. (District 2)
• BJ Benton, United Pump and Controls, Suwanee, Ga. (District 3)
• Tiina McCombie, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (District 4)
• Eric Scott, The Southern Co., Memphis, Tenn. (District 5)
• Mani Sundaram, Double Check, Kansas City, Mo. (District 6)
• Mike Bakken, Valley Petroleum Equipment, Grand Forks, N.D. (District 7)
• John Keller, Petroleum Solutions Inc., San Antonio, Texas (District 8 co-director)
• Ryan Rethmeier, Western Pump, San Diego, Calif. (District 9)
• Greg McGee, PMP Corp., Avon, Conn. (District 10)
• Brian Shelton, Clawson Tank Co., Clarkston, Mich. (District 11)
• Tim Weiss, Morrison Bros., Dubuque, Iowa (District 12)
• Brad Hoffman, Tanknology, Austin, Texas (District 13)
• Pat Vuchetich, Williams & Company Consulting, Kansas City, Mo. (Affiliate Division)
• Ben Stallings, Fatboy Electric, Kansas City, Mo. (Service & Construction Division)
• Sarah West, PEI, Tulsa, Okla. (education and convention director)
• Melinda Whitney, PEI, Tulsa, Okla. (director of operations)

IOWA TIGHTENS ANTI-SKIMMING LAW
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation making the unauthorized possession of data encoded on a credit or debit card a felony in the state. Those convicted of violating the law could face up to five years in prison and a $7,500 fine. Under the former law, prosecutors had to prove that individuals possessing such data had the intent to defraud the authorized user, card issuer or merchant. The new law will make it easier to prosecute cases of skimming. (see Feb. 28, 2018 TL)

UL SEEKS TO EXPAND ITS ROLE
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) filed a notice April 20 requesting comment on the proposed addition of 22 Underwriters Laboratories (UL) test standards to the Nationally Recognized Test Laboratory Program's list of appropriate test standards. Twelve of the standards involve some aspect of the storage, metering and dispensing of liquid fuels:

• UL 25A (meters for ethanol blends up to E85)
• UL 25B (meters for biodiesel blends up to B20)
• UL 79A (pumps for ethanol blends up to E85)
• UL 79B (pumps for ethanol blends up to B20)
• UL 87A (dispensing devices for ethanol blends up to E85)
• UL 87B (dispensing devices for biodiesel blends up to B20)
• UL 567A (breakaway fittings, swivel connectors and pipe fittings for ethanol blends up to E85)
• UL 567B (breakaway fittings, swivel connectors and pipe fittings for biodiesel blends up to B20)
• UL 842A (valves for ethanol blends up to E85)
• UL 842B (valves for biodiesel blends up to B20)
• UL 2586A (hose nozzle valves for ethanol blends up to E85)
• UL 2586B (hose nozzle valves for biodiesel blends up to B20)

Comments and requests for extension of time in which to comment are due by May 7. For the complete text of the OSHA notice and instructions for submitting comments, click here.

EPA SETTLES CLAIMS AGAINST N.Y. MARKETER
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Blueox Corp. entered into a settlement agreement for alleged financial responsibility and recordkeeping violations at 12 retail fueling locations operated by Blueox in New York. According to the settlement agreement, Blueox could not document that it had maintained liability insurance for bodily injury and property damage caused by accidental petroleum releases from the sites, as required by 40 CFR 280. The settlement agreement also states that Blueox was unable to provide monthly release detection records for several of the facilities, which also is required by 40 CFR 280.

PEI MEMBER NEWS
Growth Energy announced a training initiative with Universal Technical Institute (UTI), the nation's leading provider of technical training for automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians. As part of the agreement, Growth Energy will support the student resource center at UTI's NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, North Carolina.

McCon Building and Petroleum Services hired Gina Jaimes as project manager. Jaimes has nearly 21 years of experience in the c-store industry with Stripes, Susser and Sunoco.

The Steel Tank Institute (STI/SPFI) named its officers for 2018. Three of the four officers are members of PEI:

• Steve Meeker, Hamilton Tanks, president
• Robby Hagemann, Boardman LLC, vice president
• James "Jimmy" Jones, Modern Welding Co, treasurer
• Sonny Underwood, Mid-South Steel Products, chairman of the board

Stenstrom Petroleum Services Group, Rockford, Illinois, has acquired Accurate Tank Technologies, North Aurora, Illinois. The entire Accurate Tank team will become employees of Stenstrom. Steve Trabilsy, former owner of Accurate Tank, will serve as director of service and environmental compliance.

FUEL MARKETER NEWS
“Speedway LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum Corp., is acquiring 78 convenience stores held by Petr-All Petroleum Consulting Corp. These c-stores are located primarily in the Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo markets in New York and operate under the Express Mart brand.”—Convenience Store Decisions, April 26, 2018
“Walmart shoppers soon will have far greater access to stations where they can charge up their electric cars quickly while they buy goods and groceries. The world's largest retailer announced today that it will work with Volkswagen subsidiary Electrify America to roll out fast electric vehicle chargers at 100 locations across 34 states by the summer of 2019. The project will double the number of EV chargers installed at Walmart locations.”—Greenbiz, April 18, 2018
“Target Corporation announced expansion plans for the charging infrastructure in 20 U.S. states. … All told, Target intends to have more than 100 charging sites with more than 600 stalls in 20 states within two years.”—InsideEVs.com, April 24, 2018

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS
Australian construction company. IOR Petroleum Pty. Ltd., 99 Southgate Avenue, Cannon Hill, Queensland, 4170, Australia, has applied for service and construction division membership. Drew Leishman is HyDip systems manager for the company, which was established in 1984. The firm manufactures, sells and installs unattended fuel network equipment, tank gauging and fuel management systems. Sponsored for PEI membership by David Glasson, Fuelcal Engineering, Mount Isa DC, Queensland, Australia.
www.ior.com.au

Malaysian tank company. Alltank Solutions Sdn. Bhd., Lot 4009, Jalan Klinik Kampung Bukit Naga, Batu 6 ½, Jalan Bukit Kemuning, Lang, Shah Alam, 40460, Malaysia, has applied for affiliate division membership. Alan Tiong Meng Kiat is managing director for the company, which was established in 1998. Alltank Solutions manufactures storage tanks. Sponsored for PEI membership by Christopher Weeks, Tank Solutions Pty. Ltd., Newcastle, Australia.
www.alltanksolutions.com.my

North Carolina construction firm. Geological Resources Inc., 3502 Hayes Rd., Monroe, NC, 28110, has applied for service and construction division membership. Tomie Benton handles business development for the firm, which was established in 1971. The company offers full-service environmental consulting, construction and engineering services. Sponsored for PEI membership by Kevin McGee, McGee Corporation, Matthews, North Carolina.
www.geologicalresourcesinc.com

Texas installation company. Douglass Distributing, P. O. Box 1124, Sherman, TX, 75091, has applied for service and construction division membership. Brad Douglass is CEO of the firm, which was established in 1981. The company does fueling facility installations and repairs. Sponsored for PEI membership by Stephen Scott, B & J Equipment Ltd., Longview, Texas.
www.douglassdist.com

Kenyan Distributor. Unicorn Sales & Service Ltd., P. O. Box 16620, Ruaraka Housing Estate, Nairobi, 00620, Kenya, has applied for distributor division membership. Ridham Patel is operations engineer for the firm, which was established in 1996. The company offers sales, distribution, supplies, repairs and maintenance of a wide range of petroleum transfering, metering and dispensing equipment in Africa. Sponsored for PEI membership by Evan Reid, Gilbarco Veeder-Root, Greensboro, North Carolina.
www.unicorn.co.ug

ADMITTED TO PEI

• Lupus Equipamentos para Lubrificacaoe Abastecimento LTDA, Sao Paulo, Brazil (dist)
• Tindell Marketing LLC, Athens, Tennessee (aff)
• Kern Construction, Bakersfield, California (s&c)

 

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Petroleum Equipment Institute
P. O. Box 2380
Tulsa, OK 74101-2380

The TulsaLetter (ISSN 0193-9467) is published two or three times each month by the Petroleum Equipment Institute. Richard C. Long, Editor. Opinions expressed are the opinions of the Editor. Basic circulation confined to PEI members.