People In The News
Following are personnel changes that recently occurred in the trucking industry:
- The Boler Company announced Matthew Boler succeeds John Boler as president, CEO and chairman of the company, effective immediately. The company also announced Gary Gerstenslager has been promoted to president and CEO of Hendrickson, a division of Boler.
- Steve Schwab joined Unicoil International as its U.S.-based vice president of sales.
- Hendrickson named David Templeton its vice president of human resources; David Decker joins Hendrickson to head up human resources for its trailer division.
- Yokohama Tire Corp. announced Takao Oishi is executve vice president of operations; Kenichi Shirai is chief advisor, strategic marketing; Iwao Shimomura is senior director, corporate quality assurance; Satoshi Miyata is CFO and treasurer; Takaharu Fushimi is general manager, tire overseas sales and marketing department No. 1; Tadayoshi Hiraga is general manager, tire overseas technical service department; and Takeshi Masatomo is manager, passenger car and light truck tires product planning dept.
- Ron Baucom was promoted to Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.’s manager of sales and service at its Nashville service center.
- Bob McHugh was promoted to director of North American sales for Heil Environmental.
- Doug Dorn was named director – OEM sales in Europe for SAF-Holland, Inc.’s Powered Vehicle Systems unit.
New Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week Panel
“Why Fleets Buy,” a panel exploring the factors that drive fleet parts-purchase decisions, has been added to the 2008 Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week lineup. The panel will be moderated by Bruce Plaxton of BGP Marketing and includes four fleet maintenance directors: Sid Gooch of FedEx, Steve Duley of Schneider National, Carl Lyth of Pepsi Cola and Kevin Tomlinson of South Shore Transport.
“This group of highly regarded fleet executives will provide an excellent perspective on the HD parts replacement process and will take any and all questions from the audience on their business,” says HDAW 2008 Program Chairman Jerry Weis of Ott’s Friction.
Other scheduled programs and speakers include:
- The HD Aftermarket Forum, Stu MacKay of MacKay and Co.
- “The Two-Minute Drill: Lessons for Rapid Organizational Improvement from America’s Greatest Game,” Dr. Clint Longenecker, University of Toledo
- “Access to Repair Information: an Industry Perspective,” Dave Scheer of Inland Truck Parts
- “Brand vs. Non-Brand: Who is Taking the Risk?,” Jerry Weis of Ott’s Friction
- Improving Sales Call Proficiency: The Recipe,” Tom Easton of Essential Action Group
Truck Giveaway Marks Klein Tools’ 150th Anniversary
To mark its 150th anniversary, Klein Tools is celebrating with a giveaway promotion for customers, the company announced. Participants can enter the contest at www.kleintools.com/truck and winners will be randomly selected for prizes that include a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi pickup truck, Klein tools and Klein promotional items.
Freightliner LLC Changes Name
Freightliner LLC – parent company of Detroit Diesel, Freightliner Trucks, Freightliner Custom Chassis, Mercedes-Benz engines and transmissions, Sterling Trucks, Thomas Built Buses and Western Star Trucks – announced it will now be called Daimler Trucks North America LLC beginning January 7, 2008
Affinia Adds Raybestos Brand Part Numbers
Affinia Under Vehicle Group says it has added 70 ABS control module part numbers for its Raybestos brand, providing technicians with one of the most comprehensive offerings in this product category available in the industry.
It is part of a rollout of 270 new part numbers, both in the hydraulic and electronic control module lines, expected to be complete by March 2008. The company says a full listing of these new part numbers can be found by calling a local distributor or by using its electronic catalog system, eSelect.
Aftermarket Survival Discussed at Truck Parts Seminar
The 32nd annual Truck Parts Seminar, hosted by Truck Parts & Service magazine, was held last month in Deerfield, Ill., and featured discussion on market globalization, channel distribution issues and employee attraction and retention.
The event, themed “Aftermarket Survival Guide,” was attended by nearly 70 representatives from manufacturers, distributors, fleets and aftermarket marketing groups. The two-day event featured nine speakers over three sessions, each accompanied by roundtable discussions.
During one session, the increasing globalization of parts manufacturing and procurement “is here to stay,” according to speaker Don Reimondo, senior vice president of customer relationship management for the Affinia Group Inc.
Reimondo says globalization is less about counterfeit parts than low-cost parts and that customers look to manufacturers and distributors to “put quality parts in the box.” It is the services and support that accompany parts that will continue to differentiate suppliers, and these need to continue to be leveraged to stay competitive, he says.
Adds speaker Kurt Danielson, vice president, truck and bus tire marketing, Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, “There’s always going to be somebody cheaper, it’s what you wrap around the product.”
Defining the Channels
The makeup of aftermarket distribution, according to speaker Todd Kindem, director of sales and marketing for ArvinMeritor’s Commercial Vehicle Aftermarket, is more complex than it was 15 years ago when it was a simple two-channel system with OEM dealers and warehouse distributors. “Today it’s more complex with marketing groups and automotive edge-ups, and WDs and OESs all wanting or having private label products,” he says.
He says the value of the distributor to its customers is dictated by the brands they distribute. He adds that manufacturers need to be equally focused on building their brands among endusers and distributors by establishing their technical capabilities and expertise and supporting products through training and e-Commerce initiatives.
Michele Calbi, vice president of procurement and shop operation, Swift Transportation, says the key to getting a fleet’s parts business is “being able to rescue a fleet when they’re in trouble” by having the needed products on-hand.
The Next Generation
Bringing new talent into the aftermarket was the focus of one session, and speaker Tim Nash, provost and COO, Northwood University, says helping employees understand the global nature of the business and their role in it could help the industry’s labor challenges.
Nash says companies can attract and retain employees by:
- Helping them understand they are part of a global economy;
- Cultivating an environment in which they never stop learning; and
- Never underestimating what they are capable of.
Chuck Udell, senior partner, Essential Action Design Group, adds that the aftermarket needs to devote more resources to employee development. He says, in general, companies devote about two percent of payroll toward employee development, while the aftermarket is estimated to spend just one-half percent.
Udell says companies need every employee to understand their impact on the organization’s profitability and that rather than job descriptions, “position results descriptions” are necessary.
MEMA Holds Vehicle Safety, Environmental Technology Event
The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association hosted its second annual ride-and-drive event last month at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. to showcase available and emerging vehicle safety and energy technologies for policymakers and regulatory agencies.
The event drew more than 150 people to view products and displays from 12 MEMA-member companies over two days. Attendees were able to experience firsthand technologies such as stability control, adaptive cruise control and collision warning systems from the cab of vehicles equipped with the systems.
“The regulators in particular – people from NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) and FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) – come here for hands-on experience with technologies that they’re regulating,” says Ann McCulloch, MEMA director, external affairs. “The same with congressional staff. This gives them a chance to get behind the wheel and see these technologies in action. We bring the technologies to them, as opposed to them having to seek out all of this on their own.”
Among the attendees of the event were Reps. Robert Aderholt (Ala.) and Joe Knollenberg (Mich.), as well as congressional staff from other districts.
“We’ve seen a lot of congressional staff come through representing offices from across the country,” says McCulloch. “A lot of it is concentrated from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee where suppliers are located, and that is really the audience we went after.
“We want them to have a better understanding of the companies in their districts and the wonderful technologies that they’re manufacturing.”
The energy systems on display included hybrid powertrains and idle-reduction technologies for both automotive and commercial vehicles.
Safety systems were demonstrated on dry van, mixer and tanker trucks to provide a variety of application scenarios. Ride-and-drives were done with both the safety systems off and activated to show their effectiveness.
Companies that participated in the event included Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, BorgWarner Inc., Delphi Corp., Gates Corp., Gentex Corp., Magna International of America Inc., Meritor WABCO Vehicle Control Systems, PPG Industries, Robert Bosch LLC, SABIC Innovative Plastics, Valeo Inc. and Webasto Product North America Inc.
“We are very pleased with the turnout and express our thanks to the participating companies,” said Bob McKenna, MEMA president and CEO. “The event gave policymakers in Washington the opportunity to see the great strides suppliers are making in improving vehicle safety and fuel efficiency, and it gave the industry a chance to emphasize legislation that furthers these objectives.”
Price File Library Update Automation
HDX Services, Inc. (HDX) and Vertical Development, Inc. (VDI) partnered to launch HDX/VDI Data Express that the companies say will simplify and automate manufacturer updates to the Price File Library, a standardized repository of part information and pricing.
“Most manufacturers agree with the concept of the Price File Library – an industry-wide system that can automate the synchronization of product and pricing information between manufacturers and their customers,” says HDX Chairman Jay Johnston of Harman Heavy Vehicle Specialists. “However, their current processes are so convoluted that they are forced into some sort of manual file creation. The HDX/VDI Data Express product was designed to simplify this process for a very reasonable price.”
Data Express will allow information to be imported from different file formats and systems and automatically converts it to the Price File Library standard. According to Jay Wright, president of Vertical Development, the system can apply rule-based and unique pricing methodologies, and also can incorporate marketing and product information.
Caterpillar, Cummins Rank Highest in J.D. Power and Associates Study
J.D. Power and Associates reports that the results of their 2007 Heavy-duty Truck Engine/Transmission Study rank Caterpillar highest in customer satisfaction for the heavy engine pickup and delivery segment and Cummins as first in the heavy engine vocational segment.
The study also finds that respondents report fewer problems with their heavy-duty engines than they did in last year’s study, but that problem incidence is “much higher” versus 2003 model year vehicles. According to J.D. Power and Associates, “the average number of reported engine problems is 59 PP100 (engine problems per 100 vehicles) – down from an average of 70 PP100 in 2006, but still well above the average of 46 PP100 reported prior to the new emission standards.”
The study goes on to report quality improvements for fuel injector and turbocharger components over last year. The most common reported problem for the second year in a row was the exhaust gas recirculation valve.
