Blog Archives




 

  • What thoughts does your company name bring to mind?
    By David A. Kolman - Monday January 28, 2013
      With so many choices confronting a business’ prospective customers and clients, the question is: Why should they choose you? One way is to recognize and promote your true competitive advantage while building a category-leading brand identity. That was the message David Avrin, a marketing professional known as the Visibility Coach, delivered in his presentation to SOLD (Service Opportunities and Learning Day) - a day-long program especially designed for the owners and managers of shop operations in the parts and service industry. SOLD was held the day prior to the opening of Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) - North America’s largest gathering of the independent heavy duty aftermarket - which took place in Las Vegas, NV...

  • Large truck crash statistics
    By David A. Kolman - Monday January 28, 2013
      While at a recent Mertior Wabco Vehicle Control Systems event in Michigan, the matter of truck safety was discussed. In his presentation, Alan Korn, Meritor Wabco’s director of advanced brake systems integration, touched upon commercial vehicle safety and provided some large truck crash statistics, compiled from the most recent data collected in 2009. Among the highlights: - 286,000 large truck police reported crashes. - 2,987 fatal crashes; 3,380 fatalities. 73 percent of these involved combination vehicles. By way of reference, there were 26,945 passenger car fatal crashes in 2009. - 51,000 injury crashes; 74,000 injuries. 57 percent of these crashes involved combination vehicles. - Fatalities per 100 million miles...

  • Innovations are revolutionizing vehicles; OE dealers can’t tool up; How will the aftermarket?
    By Elliot Maras - Friday January 25, 2013
    One of the best read stories on VehicleServicePros.com this past month was that many Chevrolet dealers will not service the Chevy Volt because of the high tool cost, estimated at $5,100. Some noted that Volt owners will have to drive further distances to get their cars serviced. This creates more than just a problem for General Motors. It underscores the demand for immediate attention from every tech and shop owner who hopes to be in the fast-changing aftermarket industry for the long term. The number of technological changes exceeds the number of new models being introduced to the market. As new vehicle technology changes, so does the aftermarket. The age of specialization is here. For example, existing hybrids require different...

  • The arrival of an additional work force?
    By David A. Kolman - Monday January 21, 2013
      The more people in an area, the larger the labor pool to draw from. If your operation is in a handful of cities, you might want to up your employee recruiting efforts. Penske Truck Rental , a leading global transportation services provider, has released its annual list of top moving destinations within the United States. The list is compiled through its online consumer truck rental reservations and through Penske Truck Rental call centers. Once again, Atlanta, GA topped the list. It has been the number one moving destination for each of the three years that Penske has compiled its ranking. The Dallas/Fort Worth area made the jump from fourth to second place. Four markets (Chicago, Houston, Denver and Seattle) retained...

  • Beyond the hype and hope: North American International Auto Show creates excitement, but new car sales aren’t about to explode
    By Elliot Maras - Thursday January 17, 2013
    Nobody is more upbeat than a new car salesman. They think they can psyche their way to success on the sales floor. Think positive, they think, and it becomes contagious. Today, many OE dealers are hoping to convince car owners it’s time to stop holding onto their existing vehicles, which they’ve been doing for years. Right now, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit has the OEMs excited. This year’s show appears to be the best since the Great Recession began, and it has given many people a shot in the arm. The excitement is contagious. Let’s sift through the proverbial wheat and separate it from the chaff. U.S. sales did rebound in 2012, and automakers naturally hope to build on the momentum. But new car sales...

  • A rodeoing I went
    By David A. Kolman - Monday January 14, 2013
      For the seventh time, Rush Truck Centers put on its annual Tech Skills Rodeo. The event was created so that the company’s technicians can test their skills against one another and compete for valuable prizes, cash and an increase in their hourly pay. Rush Truck Centers is North America’s largest network of heavy and medium duty truck dealerships. In order to be able to take part in the rodeo, Rush’s 1,400 technicians from its 70 locations in 15 states who meet certain training requirements attempt to qualify through written exams in the test areas. This year the test areas were: heavy duty vehicles, medium duty vehicles and CNG/LNG-powered vehicles. For this year’s event, held in in San Antonio, TX, 400 technicians took...

  • The end of brake jobs as we know it?
    By Craig Truglia - Thursday January 10, 2013
    "The good times will never end!" Then computerized diagnostics came along and half the repair shopsfolded up. Reading through some magazines I see huge new repair facilities with lobbies like hotels and garage floors you can eat off of. They think the good times will never end and that they will see enough brakes, tires and suspension to pay for the $5 million dollar facility. Yet, I really wonder how much of us will still be here in 2030. How much business would we still have if the brake job went the way of the carburetor? PureForge is a company that is making lifetime rotors for police cars. They never need to be lathed or replaced. Why? There is a thin layer of metal on the outside that is so tough that brake pads and the...

  • DIY diesel lubricity additive study sounds fishy
    By Craig Truglia - Wednesday January 9, 2013
    Making the rounds on the Internet, I came across a DIYer online forum discussion of diesel fuel additives. The posters said that "common knowledge" dictates that ULSD fuel, with only 15 PPM of sulfur, lacks the sulfur necessary to properly lubricate a diesel engine and its components (fuel injectors, fuel pump, etcetera). While what they say may be true of older diesels, newer diesels are designed to work with the new fuel, so it is hard to endorse any fuel lubricant as "necessary," though it might be helpful. However, with all the anecdotal evidence of fuel pumps and injectors going bad from ULSD fuel, the DIYers supposedly "know" that they need to add diesel fuel treatments to their vehicles. So, they took it upon themselves to find...

  • A walk through an axle plant
    By David A. Kolman - Monday January 7, 2013
      I am one of those editors that truly enjoy plant tours. I am fascinated how raw material comes into a plant at one end and then, after a typically circuitous journey through many stations, is transformed into a product comes out the other end. So, when I received an invite from Meritor to tour its Fletcher (Asheville), NC, manufacturing facility I jumped at the chance. However, I was concerned about walking the entire plant, the size of which is slightly more than a half million square feet. The first thing that struck me about the plant was its relative quietness and how clean it was. I was also impressed by the number of automated processes and robotic systems, and with the emphasis on safety throughout the plant. The...

  • Rumors of 2013 Fords with electric problems
    By Craig Truglia - Friday January 4, 2013
    Just yesterday after we did a set of tires on a SUV in our repair shop, we took it to the Ford dealer to get an alignment. When the alignment was done, I went inside to grab the keys and pay for their work. There, I overheard a conversation between the service writer and a technician which might have escaped the notice of someone that does not work in auto repair. What I heard surprised me. The service writer asked: "Why didn't you charge the battery on that car? Don't you know with any of the 2013s the battery goes dead in three weeks?" The tech responded: "Well, yeah I know." Service writer: "Even two weeks!" Technician:  "Well, we have to reflash the BCM on them whenever it happens too." Now, if I had better hearing or a...

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