Aftermarket Dialogue panel tackles industry’s biggest issues

What is the biggest issue facing the heavy-duty aftermarket today?

That all-encompassing question is the genesis for the upcoming ‘360° View of the Heavy Duty Aftermarket’ panel at next month’s Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue (HDAD) on Jan. 25, 2016, in Las Vegas preceding Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) 2016.

New to HDAD this year, the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) and MacKay & Company have added ‘360° View of the Heavy Duty Aftermarket’ as a way to allow the industry to publicly discuss the biggest changes entering or on the horizon of the aftermarket.

WheelTime President and CEO Mike Delaney has been tapped to lead the discussion, and will be joined on the panel by Lee Long of Southeastern Freight Lines, Mike Eppes of Rush Enterprises, Inc., John Minor of Midwest Wheel Companies, Javier Rodriquez of J&R Fleet Services, Bill Ryan of Point Spring & Driveshaft Co., and Kyle Treadway of Kenworth Sales Company.

In talking with Truck Parts & Service earlier this month, Delaney says he’s eager to get on stage with the panel and inquire about the industry’s biggest issues because of the spectacular scope of possible responses.

“In our [preparatory] discussions with the panel we’ve asked that question … and it’s stimulating a huge range of responses. Everyone has had an answer and they’ve nearly all had a different answer,” Delaney says.

He says he expects positive and negative ideas alike to be posed during the session, which will be formatted to allow each panelist to present personal thoughts before opening up the floor to a group discussion and questions from the audience.

Ideally the session will work to springboard industry-wide discussions on each issue, moving the aftermarket toward resolutions of potential problems and optimization of potential opportunities.

The hope is to move the aftermarket forward as a unit, Delaney says, with each business and division working in unison to evolve and grow.

“Our goal is to make sure we are hitting on issues that are important to the industry,” he says. “Most of the issues ahead of us are things that are going to be surmounted — the industry will survive and thrive — but the way that we do that is going to change.

“Players that are cognizant of that are going to be much better equipped to make that transition.”

For more information on HDAD and to register, please visit www.hdma.org.