In today’s information-overloaded business world, we often find ourselves deluged with literally hundreds of news items from dozens of sources. While it is likely impossible to read every article and remain productive, by not doing so we risk missing the one article that could change a key business practice or thought process. And that is where the NATSO Foundation’s newest publication, Biz Brief, provides assistance! The NATSO Foundation's Biz Brief is a daily collection of the most relevant business intelligence for truckstop and travel plaza operators.
While we think the Biz Brief is a must-read every day, if you only read ten news articles this week, these ten most-clicked Biz Brief articles are the ten to read.
-
N.J. Pilot Location Unionized
In the heavily unionized state of New Jersey, employees at the Bloomsbury Pilot Travel Center voted Feb. 24 for union representation. Eligible employees voted 12-7 to allow the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union to act as their bargaining agent. This is the first Pilot Flying J store to vote for unionization. A Pilot spokesperson stated, “We would simply like to reiterate that we value all of our team members and appreciate their hard work and commitment to serving our customers.” Click here to read more > -
Extreme Cold Causes DEF Freezing
Diesel exhaust fluid is required in most diesel engines manufactured after 2009. School bus fleets in one Central Minnesota city have been dealing with freezing DEF through a good part of this winter. The buses use engine heaters in the exhaust fluid tanks but there are many times even that is not enough. The product freezes at 12 degrees and this has caused many bus operators to house their vehicles in heated garages. Click here to read more > -
TravelCenters of America Opens New Iron Skillet
TravelCenters of America and Petro Stopping Centers announced the opening of an Iron Skillet full-service restaurant in Pearsall, Texas. The 130-seat facility is located on Interstate 35 at Exit 110. TravelCenters President and CEO, Tom O'Brien said, “We acquired and opened the Pearsall location in late October, and have worked diligently to transform the restaurant to the quality that customers have come to expect from an Iron Skillet.” Click here to read more > -
C-Store Credit Card Thieves Arrested
San Francisco Bay Area police arrested six people who allegedly skimmed hundreds of thousands of dollars from convenience store credit card customers. The thieves installed credit card skimming devices in San Francisco area convenience store gasoline dispensers and then duplicated new cards to purchase more than $500,000 in merchandise. Click here to read more > -
C-Store Manager Foils Skimmer Efforts
A Hess convenience store manager in Brooksville, Fla., upset the plans of criminals who had placed internal skimmers in the station's dispensers. During a routine inspection of the location's gasoline equipment, the manager identified four skimming devices that had been installed in dispensers. Fortunately, the thieves had not returned to extract the credit card information that the devices gather. Information relating to 342 different credit cards that had been used in the dispensers was housed within the electronic skimming equipment. No arrests have been made regarding this case. Click here to read more > -
Tolling Coalition Criticizes Wisconsin Tolling Plans
The Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates, of which NATSO is a founding member, urged Wisconsin lawmakers to abandon the idea of using tolls to pay for transportation infrastructure in an editorial that appeared today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. ATFI said Wisconsin, like many states, is facing a significant challenge with funding transportation infrastructure, but the ongoing debate over how to fix the problem has “taken a detour away from serious solutions.” Click here to read more > -
January Restaurant Performance Offers Warnings
Even after adjusting for the impact of the harsh winter storms, January's restaurant sales provide a concerning outlook for coming months. According to the recent NRN-MillerPulse survey, industry sales were flat in a month that provided relatively easy comparisons to the prior year. Fast food sales increased 1.6 percent for the month but fast-casual and casual dining operators recorded a drop of 0.9 percent. Click here to read more > -
EPA Finalizes Tier 3 Gasoline Rule
EPA finalized its Tier 3 gasoline rule, reducing sulfur in gasoline to from 30 parts-per-million (ppm) to 10 ppm effective January 1, 2017. EPA acknowledged additional costs associated with the new rule, claiming the rule will add less than one-cent per gallon to the cost of gasoline and $72 to the price of a new car. However, groups representing refiners say the rule will cost motorists an additional six to eight cents per gallon. Click here to read more > -
U.S. Natural Gas Inventories Are Running On Empty
Because consumption of natural gas is seasonal, producers use underground pressurized storage to hold inventories. The storage is filled during the spring and summer of each year and consumed during the cold winter months. The country has nearly 9 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas storage capacity, but it has never been filled. Most years, inventories of 3 tcf to 4 tcf are put into storage by mid-November and remaining inventory levels are normally around 2 tcf by the end of winter. This year, we have already drawn down more natural gas than any other winter on record and we are still facing four more week's of cold weather. Storage will likely be depleted by late-March. Click here to read more > -
Famous Fictional Oil Company to Open Station
The 1980's television series "Dallas" featured lead characters from the fictional Ewing family. The family's significant wealth was derived from the Ewing Oil company, supposedly based in Texas. Now, an actual Ewing Energy convenience store will be opening with some very low retail pricing. The series is being resurrected and a sequel will hit the airwaves later this year. An announcement will be made soon regarding the location of the new retail store with its 1980's pricing to hype the new season of the show. Click here to read more >
I might be biased, but I think if you aren't receiving Biz Brief, you are missing out! Not a subscriber? Be sure to submit a request to be added to the email list. Already receive it and have feedback for me? Be sure to email me at editor@natso.com.
- See more at: http://www.natso.com/blog/what-you-missed-in-the-biz-brief-this-week-december-4-2013-#sthash.OtWdANVl.dpuf
Subscribe to Updates
NATSO provides a breadth of information created to strengthen travel plazas’ ability to meet the needs of the travelling public in an age of disruption. This includes knowledge filled blog posts, articles and publications. If you would like to receive a digest of blog post and articles directly in your inbox, please provide your name, email and the frequency of the updates you want to receive the email digest.
