DeWitt Petroleum has partnered up with Yara North America and the DeliveryOne Network to provide a free Diesel Exhaust Fluid Seminar. The Seminar will cover topics ranging from SCR trucks and how DEF works to packaging and distribution of Diesel Exhaust Fluid.

Anyone that is interested in attending needs to RSVP at DeWittPetroleum.com as space is limited.

The event will include lunch, door prizes and (2) flip video raffle prizes.

When: March 24, 2011 from 11a-1p

Quiet Cannon – Event Center

901 Via San Clemente
Montebello, CA 90640

Bobby Fleet Manager Wall

Since the election, I have not known what to say. I mean really, has everyone lost their mind?  Lets face it, we have to cut expenses and we will likely have to pay taxes in order to pay down debt.  That, or we stick our head in the sand and let our children and theirs figure this mess out.  California is going deeper into debt every day and eventually, even the federal government will stop loaning us money. Here is an excerpt from an article posted today on WSJ online, by Allysia Finley.  I included the link below so you could read the entire article. Browse the comments too, there are like minded people out there. I wonder if they voted?

My Best, Mary

CALIFORNIA: THE LINDSAY LOHAN OF STATES

Sacramento is headed for trouble again, and it shouldn’t expect a bailout.

Allysia Finley Op-Ed – Wall Street Journal – November 8, 2010

Listen up, California. The other 48 states—your cousin New York excluded—are sick of your bratty arrogance. You’re the Lindsay Lohan of states: a prima donna who once showed some talent but is now too wasted to do anything with it.

After enjoying ephemeral highs and spending binges, you suffer crashes that culminate in brief, unsuccessful stints in rehab. This cycle repeats itself every five to 10 years, as the rest of the country looks on with a mixture of horror and amusement. We’d feel sorry for you if you didn’t constantly flip us the bird.

Instead, we’re making bets on how long it will be before your next meltdown. Oh, wait—you’re already melting down.

You’ve racked up nearly $70 billion in general obligation debt, and that doesn’t include your $500 billion unfunded pension liability. Your own analysts predict you’ll face a hole of at least $80 billion over the next four years.

Your government’s run by a brothel of environmentalists, lawyers, public-sector unions and legislative bums. When they’re not taxing or spending, they’re creating regulations and commissions like the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology and the California Blueberry Commission. Many businesses would leave if it weren’t for your sunny climate.

Which may explain why you’re so obsessed with climate change. If your climate changes, no one, including your Hollywood friends, would tolerate you anymore. So you’ve created a law to tax carbon emissions—no matter that it will kill jobs.

You appropriately give your government low marks—28% approval for outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 16% for the legislature—yet you continue to re-elect the politicians who got you into this mess. Not a single incumbent state legislator lost re-election this year, including one Democrat who died a month ago (no joke). What’s scarier is that you’ve just given almost all of the keys to statewide offices to Democrats.

Jerry Brown will be your new (old) governor. This is the man who acted as a gateway drug to your spending addiction three decades ago when he gave public-sector employees collective bargaining rights. Helping enforce your wacky laws will be Lt. Gov-elect Gavin Newsom, the San Francisco mayor who flouted state law by allowing same-sex marriage. On the plus side, he has nice hair and loves you just the way you are.

You’ve also just re-elected Barbara Boxer (that’s Senator Barbara Boxer) to a fourth term. She boasted on election night that it’s her “eleventh straight election victory, and what a sweet one it is . . . [since] everything was thrown at us, including the kitchen sink, and the stove and the oven and everything, millions of dollars of negative ads from known and unknown opponents, millions and millions of dollars.”

We’ve tried to help you, California. Some spent millions on campaigns to entice you to change your reckless behavior. And you told them to kick rocks. So here’s our final warning: When you inevitably crash and burn, don’t count on us to bail you out.

Entire Article

Mary Fleet Manager Wall Allysia Finley, budget, California, DeWitt Petroleum, Federal Government, WSJ

Dear Customers, Coworkers, Vendors, Family and Friends,

As you prepare to vote next week, please remember our battle in California is to stay financially upright and competitive.  Do not forget that if we don’t hold the legislature accountable, we will have ourselves to blame.  We must fight this battle on all fronts, let’s start with these two:

CARB’s Science is Wrong- Again!

CARB, by their own admission, significantly over-estimated diesel emissions. The recession has created additional reductions with the change in economic conditions since 2008.

• CARB used poor data and inappropriate assumptions in reaching their 2008 emission estimates.
• CARB over-estimated off-road emissions by 340%.
• CARB admits it over-estimated on-road emissions by about 30% and Sierra Research believes another 25% reduction is needed.

After questions arose about the internet “credentials” of CARB’s experts, CARB promised to do an independent report. Instead they relied on a previously prepared EPA document.  With that:

• Premature deaths went from 19,000/year (CARB study) to 9,200/year (EPA study), for ALL PM 2.5 emissions. Diesel makes up about 25% of PM 2.5 emissions.
• Margin of error in EPA study is 2,000 deaths.
• 25% of 9,200 are about 2,300 deaths, so the diesel-attributable deaths are close to the margin of error.

Should we have to retire vehicles before the end of their useful life at half their value? Based on faulty and misleading data? Can the businesses and people of California afford it? Communicate with CARB and your elected officials- the diesel truck rule must be reevaluated NOW.

YES on Prop 23, Saves Jobs

The passage of Prop. 23 will allow California to focus on job creation and economic recovery. It will do so without jeopardizing environmental quality because the state’s strict air, water quality and environmental protection laws will remain in place. It is vital to our employees, our company, and our industry that voters say Yes to Prop. 23 in the November Election. I encourage you to visit www.yeson23.com to learn more about why Prop. 23 is crucial to our business, the state of California and you.

With a persistently high unemployment rate (currently 12.3%) and a $20 billion budget deficit, California can’t afford AB 32’s costly regulations that will lead to even more job losses. As an employer in California, it would be irresponsible to sit back as a passive observer when a better alternative is available. Prop. 23 will save approximately 1.1 million California jobs jeopardized over the AB 32 implementation period (2012-2020) and prevent higher energy costs. Studies show that Prop. 23 will stop the following:

• Up to 60% higher electricity rates
• Up to a 57% increase in natural gas costs
• $3.7 billion a year in higher gasoline and diesel costs
• $143 billion cap-and-trade tax

Remind your coworkers, competitors, family, and friends:  our elected officials allowed this to happen, so let’s hold them accountable.

Thanks again each of you for working hard on this crazy situation.

Now VOTE!!!!

John DeWitt

admin Fleet Manager Wall AB32, CARB, PROP 23

Does anyone have a bugle?  I need to borrow a bugle, take some lessons, grab the music for Taps and then off to our cardlocks where today we laid the hold open latches on our gasoline nozzles to rest.  As you stand, next to your car filling it up with the world’s cleanest gasoline, you can thank VST out of Springboro, Ohio and the California Air Resources Board.  Hold tightly, don’t let go of the handle, don’t walk away, because that clean gasoline will stop flowing into your car.  Just stand there, squeeze with all your might and watch the gallons click by, watch the dollars click higher, and thank CARB and VST when you notice one of them keeps right on clicking even higher tomorrow, next week and next year. 

Until regulators are held accountable for their mistakes. Until they must actually PAY for these mistakes,  (oddly they have not offered to reimburse us for the nozzles they said we must use and no longer can use)  we will continue to have bureaucrats create rules to maintain their jobs. Rules that have very little added benefit to us the citizens, AKA their bosses, and often times rules that do more harm than good.

Come with me little one. Grab some hot coco on this cold Southern California day, snuggle up to some global warming and stay awhile. I will tell you the story of our dearly departed MTBE, mandated not too long ago…

My Best, M

Mary Fleet Manager Wall CARB, DeWitt, diesel, EVR, MTBE, Nozzle, VST

Ok, hang on a second…I will be right with you…one more second…whew, who knew wrestling the soap box away from my dad would be such hard work.  Here it is and here I stand.  It has been some time since we have had much of interest to rant, I mean talk, about, but leave it to the California Air Resource Board , to strike again.

Many of you will remember that gas stations around the state had to “upgrade” their vapor recovery system by April of 2009 in order to catch a minute amount of additional vapors at the pump.  As part of this upgrade we were required to install CARB “certified” nozzles. Not to bore you but, there were two possible systems certified to meet the requirement, the balance system was installed in 30% of the stations and the only nozzle certified for use with that system was made by a company named VST. 

So when a mandated, certified, “commercially available”, more expensive, lesser warranted nozzle does not work….Well, you go to the other certified nozzles, right?

Ahhh, my mistake there is no other certified nozzle that works with the balance system….So now what do gas station operators have to do with the 35,000 nozzles in CA?  Well according to CARB and the State Fire Marshall, we have to remove the hold open latches on our existing $300 nozzles. We can then get in line to turn those nozzles in for $100 credit towards a $300 newly “certified” nozzle.

In the mean time, as of October 15^th, 2010,  every one of us trying to fuel at an affected station will have to stand by the tank and hold the nozzle open…

As if we didn’t hate to get gas enough…

My Best, Mary

Mary Fleet Manager Wall California Fuel, CARB, fuel price increases, fuel purchases, Gas Stations, Vapor recovery, VST