Hendrickson has added Watertown Spring and Alignment Service as the newest member of its Pro-Genuine network.

Watertown Spring and Alignment Service is owned by Brent Richardson, and has been serving the Watertown, N.Y. area and heavy-duty service industry for more than 75 years.

“We are excited to have Watertown Spring and Alignment Service as part of the Pro-Genuine network and we look forward to servicing the end users of Hendrickson systems with genuine parts through the partnership with Brent and his entire team,” says David McCleave, director of aftermarket for Hendrickson Truck Commercial Vehicle Systems.

Pro-Genuine is an affiliate program that connects Hendrickson to the independent service network.  Hendrickson says the program focuses on marketing tools, technical training and promotions that reward members for their loyalty to selling and installing Hendrickson genuine components.  For information regarding the Pro-Genuine network, contact Hendrickson at 630.910.2800 or e-mail bvancamp@hendrickson-intl.com.

HDA Truck Pride announces the appointment of Shawn Shumaker to the position of vice president of Program Management.

According to HDA Truck Pride, the responsibilities of this position include the negotiation, implementation and maintenance of vendor product programs, as well as an active role within the HDA Truck Pride Product Committee.
Shumaker is a six-year veteran of HDA Truck Pride and formerly HD America. He also has worked for Perkins Motor Service.

“Shawn’s industry experience and product knowledge is a valuable asset to HDA Truck Pride,” says Bill Burns, HDA Truck Pride COO. “This promotion recognizes the contribution and strategic role he has performed in the merger of our two former program groups into HDA Truck Pride.”

The board of directors of Dana Holding Corp. has appointed two new directors, effective immediately. Virginia A. Kamsky, chairman and chief executive officer of Kamsky Associates Inc., and Steve Schwarzwaelder, former director of McKinsey & Co., were appointed to the board and will stand for election by all shareholders at the 2012 annual shareholder meeting.

“We are very pleased to add the strategic and international expertise that Virginia and Steve bring to our board of directors,” says Dana Chairman Keith Wandell.

Kamsky, 58, founded Kamsky Associates, a strategic advisory firm and one of the first American corporations licensed by the Chinese government to establish an office in Beijing, in 1980. Kamsky also served as an executive vice president of Foamex International Inc., in various leadership roles at then-Chase Manhattan Bank, including as a credit and lending officer and as second vice president in charge of the Chase Corporate Division-China. Kamsky currently serves on the board of Spectrum Brand Holdings Inc. and as a White House appointee on the Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel. She has also served as chairman of the board of trustees and chief executive officer of the not-for-profit China Institute in America since 2003.

Schwarzwaelder, 55, joined McKinsey & Co., a global management consulting firm, in 1980 and retired after 27 years of service. During his tenure at McKinsey, he was the managing director of the Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Detroit office, led its North American Operations Effectiveness Practice, provided oversight leadership to the firm’s global functional practices, served on its Shareholders Council and Knowledge Committee, and was one of six members of the Managing Director’s Advisory Committee. At McKinsey, he primarily counseled industrial corporation CEOs in corporate and business unit strategy, mergers and acquisitions, operations, sales and marketing, and performance improvement programs.

Mahle Clevite says its first online supplier portal, mahleclevitesupplier.com, provides a centralized system for suppliers to manage orders and other account information more efficiently, which in turn allows Mahle Clevite to better meet customer needs. Suppliers have the ability to accept or decline purchase orders, enter shipping information with tracking, view performance metrics, change the lead time for a particular product and request early shipments to expedite the order process.

Mahle Clevite says the supplier portal also improves communication and efficiency between purchasing department and suppliers. The portal generates automatic e-mail notifications for all new purchase orders, weekly reports on upcoming shipments and on past due orders and parts. Additionally, purchase orders and reports can be viewed, saved and printed at all times, and mass e-mails can be sent to all Mahle Clevite suppliers.

“Overall, the new supplier portal helps reduce operating costs, improve inventory efficiencies and strengthen the supply base so that we can provide better service to customers,” says Markela Skenderi, information technology applications analyst for Mahle Clevite. “Mahle Clevite customers will surely benefit as we continue to provide industry-leading delivery fill rates.”

Once on the website, suppliers are required to sign-in with their assigned username and password. Suppliers needing a username and password should contact a Mahle Clevite administrator.

IMPCO Automotive has appointed two current sales team members to new director positions. Jay Sandler has been named director of OEM and fleet sales, and John Cocchiola has been named director of aftermarket and dealer sales.

“As we continue to grow our OEM, fleet and aftermarket business in North America, we want to be smart about managing that growth by ensuring we have in place the right organizational structure to support our business objectives,” says Rob Lykins, director of sales and marketing. “I am confident that both Jay and John will succeed in their new roles and additional responsibilities and that IMPCO Automotive will benefit from both their leadership and the efforts of their respective teams.”

Sandler will be responsible for growth and management of IMPCO Automotive’s alternative fuel system business with vehicle manufacturers and major fleet customers. His primary focus will be working with Detroit’s “big three” OEMs as well as other U.S.-based commercial truck and bus body builders. Sandler also will be working with major commercial truck and bus fleets in North America to assist them with transitioning their fleets to cost-effective clean burning alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas and liquid propane gas. He is an automotive industry veteran with prior sales and engineering experience at Meritor Automotive, Workhorse Custom Chassis, Navistar International and Azure Dynamics.

Cocchiola will focus on managing and growing IMPCO Automotive’s installation, sales and service network. Working with the IMPCO Automotive aftermarket regional sales managers, he will be implementing a new Certified Installation Partner (CIP) program designed to grow the aftermarket business and to ensure top-quality installations for IMPCO’s customers. He also will be working to expand IMPCO Automotive’s North American sales and service network to create a strong nationwide sales and service presence to support the many vehicles being converted across the country utilizing IMPCO Automotive alternative fuels systems.

FleetPride Inc., an independent aftermarket distributor of heavy-duty truck and trailer parts, announced the acquisition of Interstate Turbo Supply located at 7725 Dahlia St. in Commerce City, Colo. FleetPride says the acquisition will provide a more diverse customer base, enhanced sales opportunities and an additional location to serve the needs of the heavy-duty parts industry in the Denver marketplace.

“The Interstate Turbo Supply acquisition represents FleetPride’s second expansion into the greater Denver area,” says W.M. McGee, president and chief executive officer of FleetPride. “FleetPride’s current Denver location, managed by Randy Luttrell, has been very effective in servicing its customer base. Together the two branches will compliment each other by expanding FleetPride’s reach within this market.”

Interstate Turbo Supply was founded in 1968 by Clenten Miles. His son, Dan Miles, assumed the role of president upon his retirement in 1977. Dan will remain with the company, and employment offers were extended to all operational employees.

“Interstate Turbo Supply has a long history in the Denver area, and as a result, they have an immensely loyal following,” says Lee Stockseth, FleetPride chief operating officer. “Dan Miles and his team have built a superior service model. We are proud to invite the Interstate Turbo Supply employees into the FleetPride family. We look forward to providing the same high level of service to the ITS customers.”

Truckers should make sure their tires are properly mounted, suit the hauls they carry and are fuel-efficient, experts said Friday, Aug. 26, during a tire technology seminar at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas.

Tires “are one of the top three expense items owners have,” said Clif Armstrong, Continental Tire commercial vehicle marketing director. He was joined by Don Baldwin, Michelin’s commercial tire product category manager; Harvey Brodsky, Retread Tire Association managing director; and Erica Graves Walsh, Bridgestone’s engineering manager for original truck and bus tires. Commercial Carrier Journal Executive Editor Jack Roberts moderated the discussion.

The Compliance Safety Accountability program, which places much greater stress than before on truck inspections, makes it more important than ever to have tires that are well maintained, the panel advised.

Having a calibrated gauge for pressure readings is essential, Armstrong and others noted. “With CSA, you have to know what the air reading is in your tire.”

Use of proper compounds, tread design, sidewall and bead design and reduced truck weight can help fuel economy, the experts said.

“We use compounds that generate less heat,” Armstrong said of the tires made for long haul and regional haul.

Baldwin noted that sidewall and bead area design is critical for reducing rolling resistance.

Tire maintenance also is important for achieving optimal fuel efficiency, the panel said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay certification program recognizes tires that are fuel-efficient.

“You’ve got to take care of your tires,” Brodsky said. “Check them with a calibrated gauge, and don’t drive like a madman.”

The panel also recommended that tires should be maintained at 100 psi (80 psi is considered underinflated), the tread be matched for the truck’s application and routes, and the tire be mounted properly with enough lubrication to seat properly.

The Radial Conditions Analysis Guide, available at all tire dealers, is a helpful source for tire concerns, the panel said. “It gives you a checklist of what you could be experiencing and why,” Armstrong said.

As part of its ongoing efforts to educate the industry about the value and importance of active safety technologies, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC offered leading drivers the opportunity to experience advanced technologies first hand during the American Trucking Associations (ATA) National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC), from Aug. 9-13 in Orlando, Fla.

An annual competition among professional truck drivers, the NTDC consists of winners in eight classes of competition from 50 state trucking associations’ truck driving championships.

Bendix demonstrated how the company’s Wingman Advanced collision mitigation technology helps drivers on the road to improve highway safety.

More than 60 drivers and others attending the NTDC participated in the demos, which took place on Orlando public roads in day-long sessions on Aug. 11-12.

“We are pleased that so many drivers participated in the demo. Keeping these elite, respected drivers aware of safety technologies helps improve understanding of their value for all drivers,” says Fred Andersky, Bendix director of government relations.

“According to recent reports from government regulators, the single largest factor impacting truck safety and truck crashes is the behavior of other motorists. Active safety technologies, like Bendix Wingman Advanced and Bendix ESP, help drivers respond to the situations they encounter on the road every day.”

Bendix says Wingman Advanced delivers both warnings and active interventions to help drivers potentially avoid rear-end collisions or, at least, help reduce their severity. The system provides following distance and stationary object alerts, along with active braking interventions, which are always available. When in cruise control, Bendix says the adaptive cruise control with braking feature helps drivers maintain a safe following distance behind a forward vehicle by reducing throttle; engaging the engine retarder; or, if necessary, applying the foundation brakes.

The collision mitigation feature of Bendix Wingman Advanced provides additional interventions, whether or not cruise control is active, by alerting the driver and automatically applying up to two-thirds of the vehicle braking power to help decelerate the vehicle when the system senses a rear-end collision may be imminent, the company says.

According to Bendix, Wingman Advanced builds on the company’s full-stability technology — Bendix ESP electronic stability program — providing fleets and owner-operators with a system that can help drivers in collisions, rollovers, and loss-of-control situations.

East Manufacturing Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer David Tate is retiring on Nov, 1 after 32 years of service, the Randolph, Ohio-based company announced. Tate will be succeeded by David de Poincy, who joined the company Aug. 1 and is transitioning into the president and COO position.

After having served six years as a U.S. Navy officer and seven years in sales and management with a computer services company, Tate began his career with East in 1979 as director of marketing. He also served as vice president sales and marketing and executive vice president prior to promotion to his current position in 1999.

“I am very proud of the people of our company who have worked so hard to help East Manufacturing achieve a very strong brand name as a leader in the aluminum trailer industry,” says Tate. “And I am pleased to announce my replacement, David de Poincy. He brings a wealth of business experience to East, having served as president of three companies over the last 17 years, including nine years with trailer manufacturer Transcraft Corporation. I am most confident Dave will have a long and successful tenure at East.”

After declining for four consecutive weeks, the U.S. average price of a gallon of diesel fuel increased 1.0 cent to $3.82 for the week ending Monday, Aug. 29, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. The price, which had fallen 13.9 cents since July 25, is 88.2 cents higher than the same week last year.

Prices in the regions tracked by DOE saw a mix of increases and declines. The biggest increase, 5.3 cents, was found on the West Coast, where prices rose to $3.908. The smallest increase, 0.5 cent, was found in the Lower Atlantic, where prices rose to $3.793.

The biggest decline, 1.7 cents, was found in New England, where prices fell to $3.977, the nation’s highest price. The smallest decline, 0.9 cent, was found on the Gulf Coast, where prices declined to $3.763, the nation’s lowest price.

Complete diesel price information is available on EIA’s Website.