Supply agreement assignment

Definition

Whether the fuel supplier must let the contract follow the store, which federal law declines to say.

Why It Matters

The federal statute over branded fuel franchises is loud about endings and silent about sales. It preempts state law on termination and nonrenewal, sets ninety days of notice for most of them and a hundred and eighty for a market withdrawal, and then says in as many words that nothing in it authorizes or prohibits a transfer, leaving that to the franchise agreement and to state law. So the refiner's consent clause is the operative document and the statute will not help. Read it early, because the supply agreement is usually the reason the fuel volume is worth anything. The dealer's right of first refusal people cite is narrower than its reputation: it runs forty-five days over the refiner's own interest in leased premises, on specific nonrenewal grounds, and never over the dealer's sale of its own business.