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Cobbs Creek Body Works in Cobbs Creek, VA, Marks 40th Anniversary, Heavy Truck Specialty Paid Off by Sherry Hamilton, GloucesterMathews Gazette-Journal
A family auto business in Cobbs Creek, VA is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and is seeing a fourth generation priming itself to be involved. Cobbs Creek Body Works, located in Willow Oak Industrial Park, was established in 1978 by the late Raymond N. Lowe and his wife, Eileen, in partnership with their son, John Lowe, and his wife, Connie. Various family members have been involved in the business over time, but it is now in the hands of See Cobbs Creek, Page 12
Cobbs Creek Body Works in Mathews celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Established in 1978 by John Lowe, front, and his late father, Raymond N. Lowe, along with their wives, Connie Lowe and the late Eileen Lowe, the business now includes John Lowe’s three children, as well. They are, back row from left, Nathan Lowe, Heather Lowe Williams and Jonathan Lowe. Credit: Sherry Hamilton
Step Back in Time at Holland’s Paint & Body in Robertsdale, AL
After finding this vintage Gulf sign online, Bobby Holland had his new shop office designed around it. Credit: Gulf Coast Media
See Holland’s, Page 62
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
When you roll up on the new Holland’s Paint & Body in Robertsdale,
AL, it’s like stepping back in time. Both inside and out, the business is decorated like a full-service station from the 1950s. Outside, there are oldfashioned gas pumps and signage, while inside, it is decorated with signage on the walls, an old-fashioned counter and even a mannequin in the corner dressed like a service station attendant ready to help with your every need. It is all completely by design. “I’ve always been fascinated with the service stations of the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s,” said owner Bobby Holland. “I’ve always looked for and
Change Service Requested
by John Underwood, Gulf Coast Media
VOL. 9 ISSUE 1 MARCH 2018
A Career Painter’s Personal Experience is Cautionary Tale for Others
by Ed Attanasio
Back in 1985, the actor Yul Brynner was dying from cancer when he told a television audience on “Good Morning America” that what he really wanted to do was film a commercial that said, “Now that I’m gone, I’ll tell you this: Don’t smoke. Whatever you do, just don’t smoke.” When he died several months later, his wish came true when a public service announcement was produced telling the world to quit smoking. Today, it is one of the most memorable anti-smoking statements ever made and is often re-broadcasted all over the world. In life, we learn from others’ mistakes so that we don’t repeat them. In this story, a career painter has sage advice for painters and techs who don’t wear proper gear when painting cars.
Alex Alonso and his wife, Andrea, on the beach in Florida. A former painter/tech, Alex has stage 4 kidney cancer and wants other collision professionals to be aware of the hazards associated with not wearing the proper gear on the job
Alex Alonso is 52 years old and originally from Bronx, NY. His father, Jesus, was born in Uruguay and came to the U.S. to eventually open a twoSee Cautionary Tale, Page 16
CIC Industry Meetings Discuss CCC’s Changes to ‘Secure Share’, Retains Interest in EMS Format
quiring the use of the newer “BMS” data export file, reducing development Changes that CCC Information Servcosts or forced timelines for thirdices recently announced related to its party providers to gear up to receive “Secure Share” data-exchange program BMS files. CIC Chairman Guy Bargnes said were a frequent focus of discussion at the Collision Industry Conference the CIC task force that developed early (CIC) and other meetings held recently last year to address concerns related to Secure Share successfully in Palm Springs, CA. fulfilled CIC’s mission to CCC in December anbring industry stakeholders nounced that it was dropping together to “discuss issues, plans for a 50-cent-per-estienhance understanding, find mate fee for third-party common ground and comproviders (such as rental car municate possible solutions.” companies, shop management “This is a really great exsystem providers, CSI servDan Risley ices, etc.) wishing to receive ample of the difference that estimate data from CCC ONE users. It CIC can make when everybody is also eliminated registration fees for working together for a common goal,” those third-parties, and said it would agreed ASA Executive Director Dan continue to allow such data transfers Risley, one of three co-chairs of the to be done via the commonly used CIC task force. See CCC’s Changes, Page 52 “EMS” data export file rather than reby John Yoswick
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID San Bernardino, CA Permit #2244
2 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Contents AAAS Shares Industry Concerns During
Florida’s 2018 Capitol Days . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Body Shop Owner, Son Bond Over Racing
COLUMNISTS
Attanasio - Too Many Shops are
Advertising When They Should Be
Marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
in Lebanon, TN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Hey Toby - Kool Tools from SEMA 2017 . . . . 20
Ocala, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
on Shop Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Ledoux - Audi’s Mark Allen Interviewed
Career, Tech Classes Play Role in
Ledoux - In Reverse: John Loftus, The
Classic Collision Opens Locations 19, 20
Phillips - Enterprise Shares Company’s
Collision Repair Program Starts Simulated
Phillips - How to Build Customer Loyalty,
Darrell Allen Body Shop in Burlington, NC,
Sisk - Management Success Shares Shop
Consolidation Talks in TN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
in Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Workforce in AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Wins National Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Finding Beauty With the Right Tools at
Wiregrass Tech College in Valdosta, GA . . 12
First Female Painter in Bradenton, FL, Car
Dealer’s History Earns MTC Diploma . . . . 10
GCIA Kicks Off 2018 with Presentation
by Attorney Erica Eversman . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Gerber Collision & Glass Opens Repair
“Dragon Slayer” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Successful Recruitment Strategies . . . . . . 40
Prepare for the New Customer Mindset. . . 56
Resolutions That Stick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Yoswick - 5 Years Ago, CT Shops Still Hopeful That Judgment Against
Insurer Would Hold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 NATIONAL
42 Apprentices Join Service King’s Training
Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Locations in Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
A Career Painter’s Personal Experience is
Brunswick, GA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
CARSTAR North America Launches U.S.,
Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chuck Sulkala Scholarship Fund to Honor
for Collision Education Students . . . . . . . . 65
Consumer Warning: Car Sound Louder?
Awards in GA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Hyundai Showcases World’s 1st Self-Driven
Trying To Expand in NC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Industry Invited To Sponsor Uniforms for
To Developing High-Skilled Workforce. . . . . 3
Mike Anderson to Host Free Webinars on
on March 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
PPG Funds Refinish Student Scholarships
Sisk - NCACAR Enters 2018 With a Bang . . . 28
SCRS Releases Video of ‘Kool Tools From
GICCA Hosts SkillsUSA Competition in
IGONC Holds January Triangle Chapter Industry Invited To Sponsor Uniforms
Lanier Tech Hands Out Student, Teacher
Nonprofit Body Shop Runs Into Problems
SC Executive Says Targeted Education Is Key SCACAR to Hold 1st Official Meeting
Service King Opens 9th Georgia Repair Center. . 8
Tupelo, MS, Body Shop Owner Brings
35 Years’ Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Contributing Writers: John Yoswick, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy Sisk, David Luehr, Stacey Phillips, Victoria Antonelli, Gary Ledoux Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, Bill Doyle, Norman Morano (800) 699-8251 Office Manager: Louise Tedesco Digital Marketing Manager: Bill Pierce Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia Graphic Designer: Michelle Lucas Online and Web Content Editor: Rochelle Beckel Accounting Manager: Heather Priddy Editorial/Sales Assistant: Randi Scholtes
Index of Advertisers
Body Shop Reports 2 Vehicle Thefts in
A highly skilled workforce is a huge draw for a national or international corporation building research, development or manufacturing facilities, according to the founder of a South Carolina-based architecture and strategic vision firm. Thom Penney, chairman and chief executive of LS3P, said the state has invested wisely in workforce education programs and leading-edge facilities that support them. “We’ve seen industry and educational partnerships grow alongside this highly sought-after workforce,” said Penney, whose company is deeply involved in the development of the new aeronautical center at Trident College. Workforce education needs differ from region to region, depending on the type of industry in the area. In South Carolina, the aeronautical industry is growing.
a Cautionary Tale for Others . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Canada 1st Brand Campaign . . . . . . . . . . 65
NABC Founder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
You May Be the Victim of a Crime . . . . . . . 11
Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Collision Education Students. . . . . . . . . . . 65
Locating OEM Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Through CREF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2017 SEMA Show & More’. . . . . . . . . . . . 61
“As one of South Carolina’s fastest growing industries, the aeronautical cluster is generating significant economic development within the state,” Penney said. “This energy benefits not only large corporations such as Boeing who are investing in South Carolina, but also each employee associated with the industry, their families and communities, and the state as a whole.” The state has also seen similar impacts from the growth of the automotive industry and a vibrant advanced manufacturing economy, Penney said. On the importance of integrating education to the needs of the workplace, Penney said designing world-class training facilities to work hand-in-hand with these industries is integral to attracting economic investment from companies interested in locating or expanding facilities in the state.”
Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 38-39 Axalta Coating Systems . . . . . . . . . . 5 BASF Automotive Refinish Coatings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 60 CarcoonAmerica Airflow Systems . 56 ChemSpec USA, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Coggin Deland Honda . . . . . . . . . . 32 Diamond Standard Parts, LLC . . . . 53 Dominion Sure Seal . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Eckler’s Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 ECS Automotive Concepts . . . . . . . 16 EMS Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . 44 Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 52 GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 59 Gus Machado Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 GYS Welding USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Hendrick Automotive Group . . . . . . 33 Hendrick Automotive Group of Charleston. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Hendrick BMW/MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Hendrick Kia Cary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Hendrick Kia Concord . . . . . . . . . . 51 Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 22-23 Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Insta Finish Car Care . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Island Clean Air, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Jim Cogdill Chrysler-Dodge-JeepRam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Jon Hiester Automotive . . . . . . . . . 45 Kernersville Chrysler-Dodge-JeepRam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and adjacent metro areas. Autobody News is a monthly publication for the autobody industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published in Autobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher. ©2018 Adamantine Media LLC. Autobody News Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 760) 603-3229 Fax www.autobodynews.com news@autobodynews.com
Southeast
REGIONAL
SC Executive Says Targeted Education Is Key To Developing High-Skilled Workforce
Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 55 Killer Tools and Equipment Corp.. . 37 Launch Tech USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Lexus Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 64 Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Matrix Automotive Finishes. . . . . . . . 7 Merdedes-Benz . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-35 Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 60 Mirka USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 41 O’Reilly Auto Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Original One Parts™ . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Polyvance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 64 PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Radley Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Reliable Automotive Equipment . . . 29 Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Naples. . . 40 Rick Hendrick MOPAR Southeast Wholesalers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15 Riverside Ford-Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . 24 Robaina Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . 49 SATA Dan-Am Company . . . . . . . . 25 Serra Chevrolet-Buick-GMC of Nashville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Smith Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Southside Kia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Spanesi Americas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 63 Symach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 West Broad Hyundai. . . . . . . . . . . . 26
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 3
udelv Makes Public Road Test Delivery From Autonomous Last-Mile Delivery Vehicle udelv, a Burlingame, CA, company, pulled the wraps off its autonomous, last-mile delivery vehicle Jan. 30 and made the world’s first public road test deliveries from Draeger’s Market in San Mateo to two nearby customers. The 2.5-mile loop, with traffic lights, lane changes, un-signalized left turns and two delivery stops, was accomplished flawlessly. In compliance with existing California
The distinctive orange udelv customized vehicle is built on a fully electric powertrain and features 18 secure cargo compartments with automatic doors using a cloud-based proprietary technology that is shared between the vehicle, customers and merchants. The vehicle can drive for up to 60 miles per cycle and can load up to 700 pounds of cargo
regulations, the vehicle was supervised by a safety driver and in test mode. The distinctive orange customized vehicle is built on a fully electric powertrain and features 18 secure cargo compartments with automatic doors using a cloud-based proprietary technology that is shared between the vehicle, customers and merchants. In its current configuration, the vehicle can drive for up to 60 miles per cycle and can load up to 700 pounds of cargo. A dedicated application is available on iOS to track and potentially reschedule deliveries, with an Android version to be released soon. To complement its autonomous driving technology and ensure reliability of the service, udelv also created an ultra-low latency teleoperations system to monitor and control the vehicles remotely and allow for overrides and human-assisted guidance in unique situations. udelv anticipates that its new vehicle will bring forth a dramatic drop in the cost of local deliveries, add delivery window flexibility and significantly reduce carbon footprint. Clean See Last Mile Delivery, Page 16
CA Self-Driving Report May Validate Consumer Concerns by Chanell Turner, CBT Automotive Network
Would you allow your car to take control of your commute? This is the question many car buyers are still wrestling with. While companies like Tesla, Waymo and even Ford are looking ahead to pushing the boundaries of fully autonomous features in vehicles, the public at large still seems to be on the fence. A study by Carinsurance.com, an online insurance comparison and rate quote company, revealed that 80 percent of its 2,000 respondents would not purchase an autonomous car if given the opportunity. A similar sentiment took place during an MIT survey in 2017. Out of 3,000 respondents, 48 percent said they would never buy a self-driving car because they were not comfortable with the lack of control, and felt the vehicles were not safe. Do consumers have something to worry about? Are their feelings valid?
The Annual Autonomous Vehicle Disengagement Report California implemented a program where manufacturers have the opportunity to test self-driving cars on public roads. The Department of Motor
Vehicles in the state recently released its Annual Autonomous Disengagement Report to reveal how many disengagements the various vehicles experienced during test runs. According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, a disengagement is defined as when a failure of the autonomous technology occurred or if the test driver felt the need to disengage the autonomous mode and manually take over for the safe operation of the car.
GM, Mercedes, and Nissan Reveal Progress This year, 19 manufacturers were included in the report. Recognizable brands such as BMW, Ford, Honda, and Volkswagen did not test any vehicles in 2017 on California’s public roads. General Motor’s Chevy Cruise drove more than 130,000 miles on the public streets of San Francisco with 105 disengagements. GM recorded that most disengagements were attributed to precautionary takeovers to address planning or controls. Mercedes-Benz tested three autonomous vehicles on California roads last year, and in total all three drove more than 1,000 miles. There were 240 manual and 602 automatic disengagements. Nissan tested five cars, including
4 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Tesla On ‘Auto-Pilot’ Crashes Into Culver City, CA, Fire Truck
by Emily Holland, Culver City Patch
Culver City Fire Department’s Engine 42 was struck by a Tesla sedan while working a freeway incident Jan. 23, according to CCFD.
Credit: Culver City Fire Department Twitter
The Tesla was traveling at 65 miles per hour—the driver reportedly told firefighters that the vehicle was on auto-pilot. This is the second accident involving a Tesla on auto-pilot in the last two weeks, according to ABC7. Tesla’s auto pilot feature is an advanced driver assistance system that uses cameras, sensors and various vehicle systems to maintain the speed of the car, prevent them from
three versions of the Leaf. The manufacturer reported the vehicles rode a combined 5,007 miles with 24 disengagements in the year. Two of the most common issues cited for the separations were a software crash or GPS signal issue.
Small Autonomous Automakers Show Promise Waymo, formerly the Google self-driving car project, drove more than 350,000 miles last year and experienced only 63 disengagements. The top two reasons cited were unwanted maneuvering of the vehicle and perception discrepancy. Artificial intelligence company, NVIDIA, had two vehicles drive a combined 505 miles with 109 disengagements. Tesla, a company that has almost become the face of autonomous cars, did not test any vehicles under California law. Instead, the company cited how it gathers autonomous vehicle data from customer-owned cars in shadow mode during normal operation.
There is Still Cause for Concern This report is groundbreaking in that it allows the public a detailed glimpse into real performance data of autonomous vehicles. Even though they
running into slower-moving cars ahead, keep the vehicle in the lane and even change lanes for the driver, according to Auto Trader. Very few other cars have all of these systems, and Tesla gives control of all of them to the car’s electronic capabilities, requiring much less input from the driver, according to Auto Trader. The National Transportation Safety Board will be coming to California to examine the crash, according to ABC7. No one was injured. The first Tesla autopilot crash occurred Jan. 13 on the Bay Bridge. The suspected drunk driver had passed out behind the wheel, ABC7 reported. CCFD warns drivers to stay alert while behind the wheel. We thank Culver City Patch for reprint permission.
www.autobodynews.com were not included in some reports, many manufacturers did detail the reason for each disengagement. Most automakers seemed to have more successes than failures, but is the public comfortable with seeing a “software crash” or “precautionary takeover” as reasons for manual takeovers? A 2017 AutoTrader Car Tech Impact Study gave some additional insight into how drivers feel about autonomous vehicle technologies. Niche autonomous features were cited as having low awareness and appeared polarizing to respondents. Forty-eight percent of respondents were uninterested in fully autonomous technology. Unfortunately, car companies have a bit of a perception problem when it comes to selfdriving cars. While it is normal to experience failures and hiccups during experiments, consumers seem to be on edge with the safety factor of autonomous vehicles. Will the natural experimentation phase of these automobiles throw car buyers off? Only time will tell as manufacturers push forward on their quest to produce a fully autonomous vehicle.
We thank CBT Automotive Network for reprint permission.
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 5
AAAS Shares Industry Concerns During Florida’s 2018 Capitol Days by Chasidy Rae Sisk
On Jan. 16 and 17, members of the Automotive Aftermarket Association Southeast (AAAS) visited Tallahassee, FL, for the association’s annual Florida Capitol Days to maintain and build relationships with members of the state legislature and discuss important issues affecting the aftermarket industry. According to Matt Ward, Director of Government Relations and Field Services for AAAS, “Our annual Florida Capitol Days event was very much a success. Association staff and members of AAAS spent two days in Tallahassee visiting with members of the executive branch as well as members of the House and Senate. Two of the main topics discussed were how the implementation of new technology is rapidly changing the aftermarket (telematics, embedded software, data collection) and how many businesses in the aftermarket industry are having trouble finding and keeping qualified technicians. “The event met and exceeded our expectations. We had some informative conversations about issues facing the aftermarket with members
of the Florida legislature and executive branch. Members of AAAS, representatives from AAAS and a representative of Auto Care Association, our national association, were all
AAAS members met with Jimmy Patronis, Chief Financial Officer of the State of Florida, during the group’s annual Capitol Days
present during these important meetings. This was a great kickoff to our annual series of Capitol Day events held in Tallahassee, Jackson, Montgomery and Atlanta, and we look forward to our upcoming visits to our other state capitols.” “Many of our members attend
Nonprofit Body Shop Runs Into Problems Trying To Expand in NC
by Jason Stoogenke, WSOCTV.com
Southside Rides on Freedom Drive, a nonprofit body shop in Charlotte, NC, only hires ex-convicts so they don’t get discouraged job-hunting and return to crime. However, Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke found the shop is having a problem of its own.
Photo courtesy of WSOCTV.com
The shop’s founder, David Moore, wants to grow the business. More specifically, he wants to start painting vehicles. “A body shop can make at least $100,000 per year” if it has painting capabilities, Moore told Stoogenke. To do that, he would need a special room called a paint booth. So he went a few doors down to Advance Auto Parts and put down $10,000 toward a booth.
this event every year. Florida legislators have become very familiar with and receptive of AAAS, thanks to our annual visits. Educating these representatives about our industry is very
Moore said Advance Auto Parts’ contractor began the work and told Moore he needed a permit. Moore found out he also needed to spend thousands of dollars on engineering plans, so he did. He felt Advance should have warned him, so he complained to the store, but said he got the runaround. “It’s really, really frustrating. It really is,” Moore said. Once Action 9 started asking questions, Advance Auto Parts agreed to pay Southside $12,500 and go their separate ways, but Moore said the shop still lost $1,500 and is facing big expenses coming up to finish the paint booth. Action 9 asked Advance Auto Parts for a statement explaining its side of the story, but the company hasn’t responded. The Better Business Bureau tells other body shops, “It is important to understand that there are local, state and federal regulations that govern the installation and operating of paint booths. Ignorance of the regulations will still get you shut down.” We thank WSOCTV.com for reprint permission.
6 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
important should any future legislation arise that may impact our industry,” AAAS board member Jarrett Liles said. AAAS believes its annual Capitol Days are very important to the association’s members and the aftermarket industry at large.
Ward noted, “Maintaining a fair, open and competitive market for businesses in our industry is the primary goal of any AAAS legislative event. It is more important than ever to have a seat at the table when policy that could affect your industry is being discussed.” In other news, AAAS is very excited about the possibility of offering the association’s successful group health plan to members and prospective members in Georgia and Florida. President Trump recently issued an executive order that could potentially drop the state line barriers that have prevented AAAS from offering the program in those areas. “We are closely studying this order and very excited about the possibilities,” Ward shared. “AAAS closed 2017 with record participation numbers in many of our member programs, including the group health plan and group workers’ compensation plans. 2017 was a fantastic year for AAAS, and we are poised for an even stronger year in 2018.” AAAS Capitol Day events are scheduled for Atlanta on Jan. 31, Jackson on Feb. 13 and Montgomery on March 7. For more information about AAAS, visit www.aaas.us.
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 7
GICCA Hosts SkillsUSA Competition in Brunswick, GA by Lauren McDonald, The Brunswick News
The Golden Isles College and Career Academy in Brunswick, GA, hosted the Region 8 Skills USA competition on Feb. 2. Students from 13 schools came to GICCA to compete in 23 separate contests. SkillsUSA is an organization through which students can showcase their talents in multiple industries through hands-on competitions. The events at GICCA that Friday included extemporaneous speaking contests and skills competitions in first aid and CPR, advertising design, automotive services and refinishing, collision repair, carpentry, welding and graphic communications. “They learn how to work under pressure,” said Jeff Lavinder, the collision repair and refinishing instructor at GICCA. “They’re just honing in on their skill, and they’re just getting better and better.” Lavinder helped oversee the collision repair and automotive refinishing contests. The collision repair students had to fix dents and scratches on a car before taking a written exam. The refinishing students painted a car panel and
taped up the vehicle before also taking a written exam. They received or lost points based on their techniques and ability to complete the work while being cost-efficient.
A high school student welds a piece of steel during a welding exercise in the Region 8 SkillsUSA competition held at the Golden Isles College and Career Academy Feb. 2. Credit: Bobby Haven, The Brunswick News
“The judge wants to see how they go about it—if they know the right technique [and] the right procedures,” Lavinder said. A few doors down, in the welding lab, lights were flashing behind booths as students completed the practical skills portion of the welding competition.
Classic Collision Opens Locations 19, 20 in Georgia
Classic Collision Inc. recently added two more locations in the north Georgia market, bringing its total number of shops to 20. Its John’s Creek location—its second shop in Cumming, GA—is now open. Classic’s first location in Gainesville, GA, is also now open. John’s Creek and Gainesville are 45 and 55 miles northeast of Atlanta, respectively. Classic Collision remains Georgia’s largest privately owned local provider of auto body repair services. The new locations will employ nearly 25 Georgia citizens, bringing Classic Collision’s workforce to nearly 600 people. Classic Collision’s owner, Manfred Kammerer, remarked at the grand openings, “We have reached a milestone for our growing company with the addition of our 20th location. Our plan is to continue to grow our locations and volume of business throughout 2018 and in the years to
come. Our goal is to aggressively pursue high-quality locations for acquisition or green fields. And, of course, that requires a skilled workforce and dedicated, hard-working people. We’re hiring!” Classic Collision has been rated in the top 10 for customer satisfaction and cycle time by two top-tier insurers. Classic’s facilities also provide collision repair work exclusively for 42 local automotive dealerships. Several Classic Collision locations are also Honda ProFirst Certified Shops, certified by American Honda to work on Honda and Acura automobiles. Classic Collision’s locations are in Atlanta (Buckhead and Brookhaven, Buford Highway), Alpharetta, Marietta (Airport Road and Cobb Parkway), Chamblee, Duluth (Gwinnett Place), Kennesaw, Lawrenceville, LilburnStone Mountain, McDonough, Morrow, Rome, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Union City, Douglasville, Cumming, and now Gainesville, Georgia.
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8 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Judges observed the students work every step of the way. The students could lose points for violating the safety protocols, forgetting to bring certain tools and equipment, and welding in the wrong positions. “They have a blueprint, and if they don’t follow the blueprint, then they take points off,” said Barry Bray, a judge. Bray, a welding instructor at Coastal Pines Technical College, said these competitions showcase some of the most talented students in SkillsUSA. “I love it because they’re all in high school, and it gives us a chance for a recruitment tool,” he said. “I can find me some students to hopefully get in my program.” Students who earned first and second place in the contests advanced to the state competition in Atlanta later this school year. GICCA typically sends many of its own SkillsUSA participants on to the state round, Lavinder said. “We do real well,” he said. “A lot of the other schools hate to see us show up. They don’t want to see us show up, because we’re usually going to win.” We thank The Brunswick News for reprint permission.
Service King Opens 9th Georgia Repair Center
Service King Collision Repair Centers recently announced the company has officially opened its ninth Georgia repair center. The new facility, located at 1860 Buford Highway in Cumming, GA, continues Service King’s ongoing national growth strategy and strategic expansion across the greater Atlanta market. “This is certainly an exciting start to the year as we march forward in our mission to be the collision repair operator of choice for our local customers and business partners,” said Mike Lecoq, Service King Market Director. “We look forward to the enhanced service this new location will provide and continuing to grow the Service King brand into the trusted name for collision repair for customers across the market.” Service King now provides customers with a robust network of 338 repair centers in 24 states across the U.S. The company backs all repair work with a written lifetime warranty. The new Cumming, GA, Service King location is outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and 15,500 feet of overall production space.
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 9
First Female Painter in Bradenton, FL, Car Dealer’s History Earns MTC Diploma In the roughly 80-year history of Alex Karras Lincoln, a venerable Bradenton, FL, vehicle dealership at 6760 14th St. W., only one woman has ever had the job of spray painting cars in the body shop.
On Jan. 24, Stewart, who doesn’t mind being an inspirational figure for women who might shy away from pursuing a career perceived as predominantly male, joined 172 fellow Manatee Technical College students who got their diplomas during MTC’s 2018
Samantha Stewart, 24, graduated Jan. 24 from Manatee Technical College’s Automotive Collision Repair & Refinishing Program. She already has a job. She’s the first woman in the history of Bradenton’s Alex Karras Lincoln to paint cars in the dealership’s body shop. Credit: Richard Dymond
Viewed from the second floor staircase in Cantrell Hall on the campus of Manatee Technical College, hundreds of parents and supporters are seen seated behind and next to blue-robed graduates during MTC’s Winter 2018 graduation Jan. 24. Credit: Richard Dymond
by Richard Dymond, Bradenton Herald
That woman is Sarasota’s Samantha Stewart, 24, who is working at the dealership now after learning her trade at Manatee Technical College’s Automotive Collision Repair & Refinishing Program. Wearing a mask over her face to protect her from toxic fumes in the paint, Stewart makes $19 an hour putting the color back on vehicles that have been repaired after crashes.
Winter Graduation at the school at 6305 State Rd. 70 E., Bradenton. “Oh, I hope so,” Stewart said about being a role model for women. “There are so many job opportunities out there in this field. Women actually see color better than men. It’s been scientifically proven. So they make awesome painters.” Stewart, who also spoke at the
10 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
graduation, said in an interview just before walking on stage that while her mother, Shannon Stewart, was excited about her career choice, her father, Fredrick Stewart, was apprehensive. “He was worried because they say (a body shop) is a man’s world and I might get treated a little differently because of the atmosphere that it is,” Stewart said. “But everyone’s been really lovely and super supportive.” “I have not encountered sexism, but maybe height-ism,” Stewart added with a laugh. “They say, ‘You’re too small to get that. Let me get that.’ But that’s about it.” Stewart attended Booker High School in Sarasota with a career as a fine art painter in mind, but worried she wouldn’t actually make a living. She thought about it and realized she likes cars, a trait she acquired from her mother who took her to car shows when she was little. So, she decided to pursue collision repair because it involved painting. Stewart said the starting salary for a car painter at a dealership is $15 to $17 per labor hour. For information on enrolling in Automotive Collision Repair & Refinishing, call MTC at (941) 751-7900. We thank Bradenton Herald for reprint permission.
Gerber Collision & Glass Opens Repair Locations in Florida
The Boyd Group Inc. announced the January 19, 2018 opening of two collision repair locations in Collier County, FL. These centers were previously operated as Autocraft Enterprises and Autocraft Naples and are located on Marco Island and in northern Naples. Marco Island, the largest of Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands and Naples, one of the most prosperous cities in the United States, are two of the most popular tourist destinations in Southwest Florida. “These Gulf Coast locations simultaneously enhance synergies and broaden our footprint,” said Tim O’Day, President and COO of the Boyd Group. “The northern Naples center is positioned between our existing Naples and Estero locations, while the Marco Island location expands our presence 18 miles south towards Florida’s Everglades.” “We are proud to now serve our customers and insurance providers from more than 60 centers in Florida and over 500 locations across North America,” added Brock Bulbuck, CEO of the Boyd Group. “I would like to congratulate our corporate development, operations and all corporate support teams on this significant milestone achievement. We will continue to support their work as they execute on our goal of doubling our business by 2020.”
Consumer Warning: Car Sound Louder? You May Be the Victim of a Crime vulnerable because there is more room to get access to the underside Police in North Carolina continue to of the vehicles, Chapel Hill police report an uptick in instances of a said. crime that could make your car How can you tell if your catalytic sound different overnight. converter has been stolen? The Chapel Hill Police Depart“Your car will sound a lot louder ment said Feb. 6 that it has seen a in the middle of the car than it previously sounded,” Chapel Hill police wrote in social media posts. “In that case, if you’re able, look underneath the vehicle for evidence of a theft.” The Raleigh Police Department issued a similar statement. After 52 cases of catalytic converter theft were reported in Raleigh in 2017, Chapel Hill police posted this photo to social media as an there were 12 this January example of what a missing catalytic converter looks like alone, police said. on the underside of a vehicle. Credit: Chapel Hill Police “The vehicles targeted rise in catalytic converter thefts, like are primarily Honda Accords and many other municipalities in the Ford vans,” Raleigh police said. state. “They have been parked in apartment Thieves are interested in those complexes, random business parking emissions control devices for the pre- lots and auto repair shops throughout cious metals they contain—including the city. The incidents have occurred platinum, palladium and rhodium. on various days of the week and typHondas are being targeted more ically overnight.” than other vehicles, several reports Investigators in Fayetteville resay, but trucks and SUVs are also ported 17 stolen catalytic converters by Aaron Moody, The News & Observer
just from Jan. 26 through Jan. 29, according to ABC11. Kernersville-area businesses also saw an increase in the thefts since last fall, F0X8 reported, and Greenville had several instances, according to The Daily Reflector.
Chapel Hill police offer these pointers to reduce the chance of catalytic converter theft: • Park in areas that are well lit and don’t offer easy access underneath your car.
• Call the police if you hear the sound of a saw or see someone working under a vehicle late at night.
• When in shopping centers, park near the entrance or main road where traffic would be greatest. We thank The News & Observer for reprint permission.
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IGONC Holds January Triangle Chapter Meeting by Chasidy Rae Sisk
On Jan. 9, the Independent Garage Owners of North Carolina (IGONC) held a meeting for its Triangle Chapter at the Walker NAPA Warehouse on Industrial Drive in Raleigh, NC. Walker NAPA gave a presentation on struts, shocks and suspensions, plus they gave away several small prizes in addition to two flat-screen televisions. According to IGONC Executive Director Bob Pulverenti, “The meeting was even better than expected, in large part due to our sponsor. Attendees really enjoyed the time to get together, and they found the presentation very informative. The door prizes were a big treat, and they were really impressed with NAPA’s facilities.” Attendees also enjoyed a catered meal courtesy of NAPA. Pulverenti shared, “This monthly event is for our members to network and stay on top of the latest information and trends in the automotive industry. It is important for our members to feel support in their industry.” For more information on IGONC and its monthly chapter meetings, visit www.igonc.com.
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Finding Beauty With the Right Tools at Wiregrass Tech College in Valdosta, GA There’s beauty in discovering a new life and purpose in something otherwise considered non-valuable or junk. Wiregrass Tech student Olivia Gilliland has found her passion in life through the college’s Auto Collision Repair program in Valdosta, GA. Gilliland enrolled in the college after working as a customer service agent for car dealerships. She felt hemmed in this position from not seeing any advancement, but it was more than that. She felt stuck—there wasn’t any passion for what she was doing. During breaks at work, she found herself watching the technicians work on damaged vehicles and bring an old car back to its original state. “I dreamed to one day have the tools and knowledge to repair cars and paint awesome designs,” Gilliland shared. Her dream of bringing beauty back to old or damaged vehicles has come true. Since entering college at Wiregrass Tech in the Auto Collision Repair program, she has been very busy. Last fall, her instructor, Mark Whitson, nominated her for the college’s GOAL (student of the year) program, where she made it to the top 4. She is a member of the Student
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Cobbs Creek
John, Connie and their three children— Jonathan, Nathan and Heather. The business started out in a single building offering body repair and painting. But the car repair business was competitive, said John. “We knew we had to find a niche—go after something somebody else wasn’t already doing,” he said. That something, they decided, was heavy trucks. So in 1981, John’s brother, Michael Lowe, joined the business, and it was decided that their father would get out of the shop and go on the road as a salesman for the company. Raymond Lowe, who had raised his family in Norfolk before moving to Mathews to start his business, went after the Southside Virginia beverage delivery market—both beer and soft drinks—and that decision proved to be fortuitous. The first two companies Lowe signed contracts with were RC Cola and Hoffman Beverage on the Southside, and when word spread that there was a company in Virginia painting and reconditioning large trucks and
Government Association and the student advisor for the Auto Collision Repair program. She is also a member of SkillsUSA through Wiregrass and competes in SkillsUSA Competitions. This March, she along with the other members of the Wiregrass SkillsUSA team will represent the college
Wiregrass Tech’s Auto Collision Repair Technology student and SkillsUSA team member Olivia Gilliland used the skills she learned at Wiregrass along with her artistic abilities to create life-like metal day lilies for the City of Adel as a project by the Cook Leadership group
at the state competition in Atlanta. Her artistic talent and skills came in handy again when she designed and airbrushed the turrets for a Star Wars pinball game used at the college’s an-
offering pick-up and delivery service, business began pouring in. Soon, the Lowes had a lucrative contract with UPS in Washington, D.C., and before long, they were picking up and delivering trucks for companies all across Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and D.C. More recently, they have begun painting area school buses. Although Jonathan did a short stint in the Marine Corps, where he trained in welding and fabrication, he has been involved in the business for 20 years. Nathan worked at the shop until he became certified as a firefighter/paramedic and began working for Newport News Fire Department. However, he continues to be involved with the family business, operating a tow truck as needed on his days off. Heather left Mathews in 1994 when she married into the Air Force, but her husband retired 10 years ago and they moved back to the area. Two years ago, she came on board to fill in after Secretary Valerie Norum, who had been with the business for 32 years, retired. Over the years, the Lowes have expanded to become involved in a See Cobbs Creek, Page 51
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nual Wired Up event last fall. She recently participated in a community project where she was able to couple her artistic flair with the skills she’s learned in auto collision. She air brush-painted metal day lilies as a SkillsUSA community project led by the 2017-2018 Cook Leadership Group for the City of Adel. “It was an honor to airbrush the day lilies—one is almost 8 feet tall. I’m so proud of the work I’ve done,” she said. Other programs involved in the day lily project include: Welding, Auto Collision Repair and Machine Tool Technology. Students from the Cook Campus Cosmetology program helped raise funds for the project. When asked what her plans were for the future, she grinned and said, “The American Dream.” Even though this term has been used a lot over the decades, it held some nostalgic value when she said it. You could hear her passion for what she’s doing now, her confidence in her abilities and the skills she’s learned at Wiregrass, and you see her smile. After graduation, she would like to start her career at a local automotive body shop with long-term goals to own her own working auto-
motive garage. “I love my future career. I’m excited and honored to do something that has given me a new reason to live,” she shared. She credits Wiregrass for helping her rebuild her future. With the multiple financial aid programs like WIOA (Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act) and other financial aid options, she is able to attend college and stay clear of accruing any student load debt. “I’m forever thankful that Wiregrass has given me the tools and strength to repair and refinish my life instead of totaling it,” she said. For more information on the Auto Collision Repair program and/or other programs the college offers, visit wiregrass.edu. Wiregrass is currently accepting new students for Spring Bterm classes. B-term classes start Feb. 14, 2018.
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Cautionary Tale
man restoration shop where Alex started working at age 12. After high school, Alex took a six-month course on automotive repair, learning a lot of things he already knew, he said. “In the Bronx, people fix their cars right out in the street, and I started working on my friends’ vehicles while I was in high school,” he said. “Back then, we learned by doing, so when I went to auto tech school, I knew a little more than just the basics.” Father and son worked side-byside restoring primarily classic American cars, and pretty soon, the quality of their work brought them more and more customers. After a while, they moved the business out of the city and continued flourishing. “We moved upstate to Prattsville, NY, where we opened J. Alonso Body Shop in a small facility,” Alex said. “I learned how to do it all—disassembly, sandblasting, painting—you name it. We would turn around our restorations in 4–6 weeks on average, which meant that we were working all the time, but the shop was literally 3 feet from our house, so it was convenient. I would take multiple photos at every stage and put together an album for every customer with 200–300 pictures of their restoration, and they loved it! We built a reputation for quality and [fast work].” In 1989, Alex and his father moved to Montevideo, Uruguay to run a restoration and body shop, where the Continued from Page 4
Last Mile Delivery
and affordable deliveries, combined with returns made easy, will meaningfully improve people’s daily lives. “Deliveries are the perfect first application for autonomous vehicles,” said Daniel Laury, CEO of udelv. “Customers simply open the locker with a press of a button on their mobile device, and the vehicle heads on its way to the next delivery or back to the store. “This is a historic revolution in transportation. We are reinventing deliveries. McKinsey estimates that 80 percent of all package deliveries will be autonomous in the next decade. I am very proud that udelv is first and leads this revolution.” “Our customers are very tech-
business took off despite issues along the way. “We worked on cars for the Israeli, Russian and Spanish embassies on mostly high-end European cars,” Alex said. “Armed guards would come and inspect the vehicles after the repairs and stick mirrors underneath them to make sure everything was safe. They called us the gringos and used to tell us, ‘You gringos do good work.’” Uruguay doesn’t make it easy for collision repairers to do their job, Alex said. “There are a lot of DRPs available to shops in the U.S., but in Uruguay, there is just one insurance company and it is owned and operated by the government,” he said. “The insurance adjustors had all the power and they were a nightmare to deal with. They had a monopoly, so they were rude and nasty all the time and we had to fight with them on every supplement—It was awful.” In 2000, Alex moved to Florida, where he had to go back to square one upon his return. “By the time I got back, it was a different ball game and I couldn’t get a job without a work permit,” he said. “So, I had to take a course and prove what I could do, and then the only job that was available paid $8 an hour. I was working in the hot sun outside painting cars for a shop that charged $300 for a paint job. Luckily, I became friends with a couple of the paint reps there and they helped me get a better job. After a couple years, I was making $1,200 a week working flat rate for a savvy,” said Richard Draeger, owner, Draeger’s Market. “We look forward to adding the udelv autonomous vehicle and its cost reduction factor to our delivery fleet.” The company, with several technology patents pending, is planning to test dozens of udelv vehicles on the roads in a few states within a short timeframe. udelv is planning to use a subscription business model to roll out its vehicle fleet. Led by Laury and CTO Akshat Patel, former Tesla and Apple special projects engineer manager, udelv is listed on the California DMV Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program under the name of CarOne LLC. The company is funded by a group of investors that includes prominent U.S. and international venture capital funds as well as private investors.
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top shop.” In 2012, Alex experienced back pain, so he went to a chiropractor— but it didn’t solve the problem. Finally, he got an MRI. When he went to the orthopedist to find out the results, they met him at the door. “They told me that I had a tumor in one of my kidneys and that I needed to go to the doctor right away,” Alex said. “They removed it and I thought I was out of the woods, but I was wrong.” Today, Alex has stage 4 kidney cancer and the doctors give him 1–2 years to live. The last doctor he saw told him that he wasn’t willing to do any more surgery at this point, because it would possibly make his condition even worse. He is battling for his life and taking chemo pills every day, keeping his hopes up and proceeding as best he can. “I can’t prove it and I’m not blaming anyone, but I know that the risks I took over all the years finally caught up with me,” he said. “I was a mechanic when I was younger and always elbow-deep in all kinds of transmission fluids, brake fluids, motor oil and carburetor cleaner—you name it. I never wore gloves or any protective gear, because when you’re young, you
think you’re a superhero. But all of that stuff gets into your blood, and where do you think it ends up? Your kidneys—that’s right.” After 25 years in the paint booth, Alex also realizes maybe a little too late that wearing a breathing respirator and a full suit is a must, he said. “In Florida, it gets really hot and humid, so sometimes I would either wear a half-suit or take it off and not wear gloves at all,” he said. “I tell painters now to put that mask on; don’t be stupid the way I was. In the early years, some of the equipment wasn’t all that great, but now with all of these oxygen-supplied air respirators, a painter can be safe all the time. Some shops stay on top of it and make safety a priority, but when things get busy and there are a lot of cars in the shop, it can be discarded very easily.” Staying hopeful and positive, Alex wants painters out there to know that their safety and health should be more important than any paycheck. “I am hoping that painters will read this and learn from my mistakes,” he said. “Don’t take shortcuts and compromise your health, because life is precious and no one is indestructible.”
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GCIA Kicks Off 2018 with Presentation by Attorney Erica Eversman by Chasidy Rae Sisk
On Jan.18, the Georgia Collision Industry Association (GCIA) held its 2018 kickoff meeting—the group’s first meeting since the passing of Executive Director Howard Batchelor last fall. Despite a highly unusual dusting of snow that caused business closings for several days, around 40 collision repair industry professionals braved the inclement roads to learn how to protect themselves from litigation and be properly compensated for completed repair operations during a presentation from industry attorney Erica Eversman. The meeting was held at Wyndham Atlanta Galleria in Atlanta, GA. Association Secretary Gregg Goff feels association meetings like this one are important in order to “provide information to shop owners and managers that help them promote a more professional and complete repair process. Many do not have time during their day to catch up with recent events or news from the collision repair industry.” Goff opened the meeting by discussing several upcoming events for the association: the 2018 Southern Au-
tomotive Repair Conference (SARC) in Biloxi, NACE/Automechanika in Atlanta later this year and GCIA’s 2018 golf tournament, scheduled to take place this fall. After reminding association members to update the VRS
Labor Rate Survey, he introduced three candidates for the office of Insurance Commissioner in the 2018 election: Tracy Jordan, Jim Beck and Shane Mobley. Goff then introduced Erica Eversman, Chief Legal Counsel for Vehicle Information Services, who presented “Providing Customers Safe, Proper Repairs and Recent Lawsuits Exposing Insurer Interference with that Goal.” Eversman stressed the importance of following OEM procedures and documentation during the repair process. “Erica discussed the difference between a cost estimate (insurer estimate) and the damage analysis,” Goff shared. “Cost estimates are done by insurers to verify and document the loss while allocating funds internally
18 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
to be available for the payment of the claim, and the damage analysis should be completed by the shop as the blueprint for the repair. She discussed how DRP arrangements are seen by legal means as ‘electing to repair’ by insurance companies and puts liability on them for the repair completed, along with the shop. As such, the insurance estimate should not even be considered for the repair process; this keeps the authority in the hands of the shop where it belongs.” Further exploring the implications of shop liability, Eversman cited the following court cases as evidence of the importance of shops following the correct procedures and standing up for themselves and their customers: Cook v. State Farm (KY, 2004), Smith v. American Family S. W. (MO, 2009), Progressive v. North State Autobahn Greg Coccaro (NY, 2011), Seebachan v. John Eagle Collision Center (TX, 2017), and Nick’s
Garage v. Progressive/Nationwide (NY, ongoing). Goff recalled, “As vehicles evolve with ADAS options, they are becoming more and more complicated to repair. Shops must invest in training, equipment, scan tools, OEM procedure information and an internal documentation and auditing program to indemnify themselves in case of legal ramifications relating to repair. Shops must follow OEM repair procedures to protect themselves and their customers.” After her presentation, Eversman engaged in a question-and-answer session, which elicited insightful feedback from attendees. She concluded with, “The real question is whether you, as the repairer, would be willing to repair your child’s vehicle in the same way and feel safe with them on the road.” For more information, visit www .gcia.org.
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Tupelo, MS, Body Shop Owner Brings 35 Years’ Experience
shop, but things didn’t work out. But my wife, Kim, and I had been talking about With more than 35 years of experience opening my own shop for years—and in automotive body repair, Tim Hol- this is it.” comb opened his own business last Tupelo Auto Body and Collision fall. Repair is in a familiar spot—it was the “I’ve been messing around with old longtime home of Tupelo Auto Sales, cars all my life. Dad kept an old car, and and the building that serves as Holthat’s where I learned to turn wrenches,” comb’s office was the original TAS Holcomb said. “I fell in love building that sat where with cars and I’ve been workTellini’s is today. ing with them ever since.” “They brought the buildHolcomb opened Tuing from there to this spot pelo Auto Body and Collision when they bought the land,” Repair in October on South Holcomb said. Gloster Street. A vehicle is one of the He’s worked other jobs, biggest investments a person but his love of cars and trucks can make, and if it becomes Tim Holcomb, has never left him. scratched, dented or damaged owner of Tupelo “I worked with a comin some way, it’s not only a Auto Body and pany that made pipeline valves blow to the psyche, but oftenRepair on South where I was a painter,” he said. times a blow to his or her fiGloster Street. “We worked with some exotic nances. Holcomb realizes the Credit: Thomas paints and heavy duty work situation is never easy, and Wells there. I’ve also been doing having worked in the business auto body work for over 30 years.” for so long, he can easily empathize. The Monroe County native worked “I enjoy working on cars and inat a couple of shops in Amory before teracting with people,” he said. “When coming to Tupelo in the late 1980s, a person comes to see me, they’ve alworking at a dealership before working, ready had a bad day. I try to make their and eventually managing, a body shop day, their situation, as comfortable and in the city for 25 years. as easy as I can. Vehicles are a big part “I decided to go out on my own,” of our lives, and it’s a big inconvenhe said. “I was interested in buying that ience when we’re without one.” by Dennis Seid, Daily Journal
At his business, Holcomb works on all manner of collision repair, paintless dent removal, headlight restoration and door hinge repair. Towing services also are available. The business also has a sterilized paint room using a state-of-the-art PPG paint system. Holcomb said the mission statement of Tupelo Auto Body and Collision Repair perfectly explains what he’s trying to do with his shop on South Gloster Street: “We understand your car is kind of a big deal. It’s a big machine, a big expense and it’s a big part of life as we know it. So, when we talk to you about your car, we take it pretty seriously. We believe in doing the repair right the first time. We believe one mistake is one too many. We are not OK with just OK. We believe in listening before talking, thinking before acting and showing our cards—all of them. “We understand it may look like the car repair business, but it’s really the people business. And for us, that is a big deal.” And with business growing, Holcomb said he’s hoping to hire some community college collision repair graduates in the near future. We thank Daily Journal for reprint permission.
Body Shop Reports 2 Vehicle Thefts in Ocala, FL by Andy Fillmore, Ocala.com
Two vehicles were stolen at different times Jan. 27 from a fenced-in area at an auto body shop on Maricamp Road in Ocala, FL. According to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office report, a 2006 Toyota 4 Runner valued at $10,000 was taken from the property of International Auto Body in the 4000 block of Southeast Maricamp Road around 6 a.m. The business manager reported hearing the crash of a gate and realizing the SUV had been taken. The vehicle was later recovered. It has sustained about $5,000 in damage. A second MCSO report indicated that around 8 p.m. that night, the owner of the business was in his office, heard a crash and saw a 2016 Red Nissan Rogue being driven out. The Nissan, valued at $14,000, was found abandoned near some railroad tracks. It has suffered about $2,000 in damages. About $1,000 in damage was done to the fence during the second theft, reports stated. We thank Ocala.com for reprint permission.
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 19
Hey Toby!
Kool Tools: SEMA 2017 with Toby Chess
It’s that time of the year again for Kool Tools of SEMA 2017 & more. Kye Yueng and I walked the floor of SEMA last November looking for unique and helpful tools that will benefit the collision industry. We purchased all the tools (except for the Prospot welder and Dent Fix Maxi) to give them a try. I will tell you that some of the tools that we purchased did not meet our criteria for ease of use or did not work as advertised. Let’s start with the Mason Battery-powered rivet gun. I have purchased a number of pneumatic rivet guns (criteria: Take a ¼” rivet and pull over 4,000 lbs). Some worked great (Taurus 4 from Reliable Automotive Equipment is the Ferrari of rivet guns) and one jammed after two rivets. Some would not pull 4,000 lb structural rivets, and the ones from Mason and Dent Fix worked well (if the Taurus 4 is a 10, the Mason and DentFix are 8+). I came across a battery-operated pull rivet gun from Mason.
Fig 1
The specs on this gun are as follows: 1.181 in. (30.00mm) Stroke, 4,600 lb. (20.46kN) Pull Force, approximately 30 min Recharge Time,
20V / Li-ion / 2.0 Ah Battery Pack, Fastener Type: 3/16 Inch to 1/4 Inch Open End Blind Rivets. This rivet gun worked as advertised. It had no
Toby Chess is an I-CAR program instructor, Training specialist, and former salvage yard operator. Toby is universally known in the collision industry for his work with first responders and advocacy for body shops and consumers. He can be reached at tcspeedster@gmail.com
problems pulling a 4,000 lb. structural rivet (I rate this battery powered unit as a 10). It is not on any manufacturers’ certified programs, but it should be. Here it is in action. (Fig 2-5) Call 800-826-2884 for a quote and tell them that you were sent by Toby and Kye for a special SEMA price. The next Kool Tool is from NES.
Alpha Tools has a flush-cutting blade. See Fig 9.
Fig 9
I used this with a 4 ½ grinder to remove structural blind rivets. It will cut the rivet head off and mandrel can be punched out. It does score the aluminum. See Fig 10.
Fig 6
This is the complete kit from NES Tools (www.nes.co.il/products/). We listened to the sales pitch from one of the salesmen at SEMA. He stated, “These hand tools automatically adjust to any threads diameter and pitch, can be used on left and right hand threads, both inch and metric, and need no prior measurement of the thread. Often the thread of component is damaged at the end of the thread, preventing the use of taps or dies for carrying out the repair. Nes external and Nes internal thread restorers have the capability to enter BELOW the damaged area and work outwards to complete the repair.” Kye purchased the complete kit and used it the next week in the shop. He has a rivet gun (cost over $450) and if the jaws are not screwed down
tightly, the threads are severely damaged and not repairable. In other words, a new rivet gun would have to be ordered. Kye used the internal thread restorer and was able to fix the gun. The kit was paid for with just one repair. See Figs 7-8. NES Tools contact number is 905-812-9090. Moving on to the next tool from Alpha Professional Tools.
20 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Code=1850. Moving on to our next item from 3M. 3M came out with a 360 degree wand kit for its cavity wax. See Fig 12.
If you tilt the cutter at an angle, it will grid the head right off. Here is the web site - www.alpha-tools.com/ Pages/ProductDetails.aspx - Page-
The Kit has three lengths for various applications. See Fig 13. When you are finished, hang the wand back into the plastic container and the material in the wand will drain to the bottom. The next product we want to look at is from Q Bond. There are a number of these “super” glues on the market and they are all very good, but Q bond is a step above them all. See Fig 14. Q Bond can be used just as an adhesive or with See Kool Tools, Page26
Faster & Easier Steel & Aluminum Repair SMART RESISTANCE SPOT WELDER
NEOPULSE 300-T2
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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 21
Please contact these dealers for your Honda or Acura Genuine parts needs. HO N D A AL AB A MA
FL O RIDA
FLOR IDA
GEO RG I A
Freeway Honda
Classic Honda
Rick Case Honda
B ir m in g h a m
O r l an do
Davie
Bu f ord /G wi nnet t
800-987-0819 205-949-5460
888-893-4984 407-521-1115
877-544-2249
678-318-3155
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5 greg_thomas@freewayhondaal.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 8-4 parts@classichonda.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:30-4 robbutton@rickcase.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7-5 cdunlap@penskeautomotive.com
South Motors Honda
Milton Martin Honda
Jerry Damson Honda
Coggin Deland Honda
M ia mi
Gain esv ill e
Hu n t svil le
D e la nd
800-264-1739 256-382-3759
800-758-0007 386-626-1811
888-418-3513 305-256-2240
770-534-0086 678-989-5473
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-5:30; Sat 8-4 Rkeel@damson.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 gbennett@cogginauto.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 8-7 mfranceschi@southhonda.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6 robertthomas@mmhonda.com
FL O RI D A
AutoNation Honda Clearwater Cle a rwa t er
GEOR GIA
Honda Mall of Georgia
Nalley Honda
Ed Morse Honda
Carey Paul Honda
Un ion City
R i v i e ra B ea ch
S ne ll vi ll e
800-232-1098 561-844-8089
770-985-1444
866-362-8034 770-306-4646
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7-6 gperkins@careypaul.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-7; Sat 8-5 hondawp@nalleycars.com
Ed Voyles Honda
Southern Motors Honda
888-205-2564 727-530-1173
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 7:30-5 tonyrocha@edmorse.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 8-5; Sun 10-3 santosr1@autonation.com
Headquarter Honda
M ar i e tta
Savann ah
C l e r mo nt
AutoNation Honda Hollywood
800-497-2294 407-395-7374
800-334-3719 770-933-5870 Direct
888-785-8387 912-925-1444
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7-6 hondaparts@edvoyles.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-5 angela@southern-motors.com
Ho ll ywo od
800-542-8121 954-964-8300 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7-5; Sun 9-5 hernandeze@autonation.com
Braman Honda of Palm Beach G re en a c re s
888-479-0695 561-966-5185 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-4:30 parts@bramanhondapb.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 8-7; Sat 8-5 pepe.guevara@headquarterhonda.com
Gerald Jones Honda Hendrick Honda Bradenton
A ugus ta
B rad e nto n
800-733-2210 706-228-7040
877-706-2021 941-752-2123 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-7; Sat 8-4 Kris.kitzman@hendrickauto.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 tdunn@geraldjoneshonda.com
Gwinnett Place Honda Holman Honda of Ft. Lauderdale F t. L au de rd a le
888-792-7189 954-763-7157
M ISS IS SI PP I
Patty Peck Honda Rid g elan d
800-748-8676 601-957-3400 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 pmartin@pattypeckhonda.com
Dul uth
800-277-8836 678-957-5151 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 gphwholesaleparts@hendrickauto.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5:30 rguido@holmanauto.com AC U R A AL AB A MA
FL OR IDA
GEOR GIA
GEO RG I A
Jerry Damson Acura
Duval Acura
Jackson Acura
Hu n ts vi lle
J ack so nv il le
Ro swe l l
Savann ah
800-264-1739 256-533-1345
800-352-2872 904-725-1149
877-622-2871 678-259-9500
800-347-0596 912-232-3222
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-5:30; Sat 8-4 Rkeel@damson.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 8-5 Cecil.adams@duvalacura.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 7:30-6 kmcmillan@jacksonacura.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 travis.morrison@southernmotors.com
Rick Case Acura
Nalley Acura
FL O RI D A
Acura of Orange Park J a cks on v ille
888-941-7278 904-777-1008 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-8; Sat 7-5; Sun 9-3 msweeney@acuraoforangepark.com
F o rt La u de rda l e
M ar i e tta
800-876-1150 954-377-7688
800-899-7278 770-422-3138
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 rubenramos@rickcase.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7-5 byoung@nalleycars.com
22 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Southern Motors Acura
N O. C AR O LI NA
Flow Acura Win st on -Salem
800-489-3534 336-761-3682 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-1 www.flowacura.com
NO . CA R O LI N A
NO . CAR OL INA
TEN NE SS EE
VIR GIN I A
Apple Tree Honda
Vann York Automall
Bill Gatton Honda
Ash ev ill e
High Point
Br is to l
Stau n ton
800-476-9411 828-684-4400
336-841-6200
800-868-4118 423-652-9545
800-277-0598 540-213-9016
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-1 hondaparts@billgattonhonda.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 9-5 bwimer@myvalleyhonda.com
Wolfchase Honda
West Broad Honda
Dept. Hours: M-F 8-5; Sat 8-4 appletreeparts@hotmail.com
Crown Honda Southpoint Du r h am
855-893-8866 919-425-4711 Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7-11; Fri 7-6 Sat 7-5; Sun 11-5 www.southpointhonda.com
Hendrick Honda Ch a r lo t t e
800-277-7271 704-552-1149 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 8-5 rob.thomas@hendrickauto.com
Leith Honda R al ei gh
800-868-6970 919-790-8228 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:30-5 parts@leithhonda.com
McKenney-Salinas Honda G as to n i a
888-703-7109 704-824-8844 x 624 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30 parts@mshonda.com
Metro Honda I nd ia n Trai l
866-882-9542 704-220-1522 Dept. Hours: M-F 6:30-6:30; Sat 7-4 www.copytk.com
NO. C AR O L IN A
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-3 SO . CAR OL INA
Breakaway Honda G ree n vi ll e
800-849-5056 864-234-6481 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-5 fmarshall@breakawayhonda.com
Midlands Honda C o l u m bi a
877-273-4442 803-691-8585
Ba r tle t t
Rich m ond
800-982-7290 901-255-3780
800-446-0160 804-672-8811
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7 ekerr@wolfchasehonda.com
Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7:30-6:30; Fri 7:30-6; Sat 8-3; Sun 11-3 wbhonda@aol.com
VIRGINIA
Checkered Flag Honda No r fo l k
Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7-4 www.copytk.com
800-277-2122 757-687-3453
Piedmont Honda
Dept. Hours: M-Sat 7:30-6 honda.checkeredflag.com
A n de r so n
800-849-5057 864-375-2082 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 swhite@piedmontcars.com TE NNES SEE
Airport Honda Alcoa
800-264-4721 865-970-7792 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:30; Sat 7:30-5 parts@airporthonda.com
AutoNation Honda West Knoxville
Colonial Honda C he ste r
800-564-9836 804-414-1960 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-7; Sat 8-4 rreese@i95honda.com
Hall Honda Vi rgi ni a Be ach
800-482-9606 757-431-4329 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-7; Sat 8-5 fox@hallauto.com
K n ox v i l l e
Hendrick Honda Woodbridge
800-824-1301 865-218-5461
703-690-7777
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6 rossd1@autonation.com
TE NNE SS EE
Wo o db ri dg e Dept. Hours: M-Fri 7-6 Sat 8-5; Sun 10-4
VIRGINIA
Hendrick Acura
Gary Force Acura
Ch ar lo tt e
B ren two od
F a ll s C hurch
800-768-6824 704-566-2288
800-653-6723 615-377-0500
800-550-5035 703-824-5785
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 justin.taylor@hendrickauto.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-2 jtrail@garyforceacura.com
Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-6; Sun 10-5 jimgraf@radleyauto.com
Leith Acura Ca r y
800-868-0082 919-657-0460 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-4:30 parts@leithacura.com
Valley Honda
Radley Acura
VI RG INIA
Karen Radley Acura Woo d br i d ge
800-355-2818 703-550-0205 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-3 coreythompson@radleyautogroup.com www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 23
Career, Tech Classes Play Role in Consolidation Talks in TN straints. “We want vocational school onHigh school students take many differsite so little Johnny can take Algebra 1 ent career paths once their school cafirst period, go take welding second reer is over. Some go to college, while and then be back for something else others head straight into the workforce. third,” he said. “Now our kids—We Preparing those students for life run a bus that leaves from each high beyond school is the job of the Greene school a little before 8, so they’re runCounty School System in Greeneville, ning the a.m. run. They take the kids TN. down there, stay and wait on them, When the Greene County Board and they bring them back to the high of Education voted to approve build- school about 10:30 or 10:45 a.m. and ing a single high school for a cost of then they run another run in the after$79 million in December, being able noon at 11 a.m.” to offer classes in career and technical McLain said it takes valuable time education at the new school was criti- out of the student’s day to transport to cally important to getting it passed. and from the site. And with state manAt least one board member said dates, such as requiring a student to CTE programs offered at a new high take four math and four English classes school was his top priority when the before graduating, time is more valuBOE was first presented with the sin- able than ever. Another hindrance for gle high school option. students is the implementation of a program called Response to Instruction and Intervention, or RTI, at the high school level. There is nothing wrong with the technology center— In fact, it offers a lot of high quality programs, McLain said. Some of those programs include automotive repair, collision repair, computer science, cosmetology, criminal justice, culinary, emergency Logan Richards tinkers with a robot during a class at medical services, industrial the Greene Technology Center on Jan. 26. Credit: Nick electricity, machine tool techShepard nology, nursing education, “To me, my biggest thing was getpre-engineering, robotics and welding. ting that CTE onsite at our schools. Even though the center offers a Whether it was two schools or one— wide range of classes, only 9 percent make them both the same,” board of high school students in the county member Nathan Brown said during a system attend the center. Out of 635 called meeting on Oct. 30. “This career students who attend Chuckey-Doak and technical education, to me, is key High School, 53 make the trip to the for Greene County.” center. Currently, the Greene County The numbers are similar with School System and the Greeneville the other county high schools. North City School System jointly operate a Greene has 20 students out of 391, combined facility for CTE classes: the South Greene has 34 out of 482 and Greene Technology Center. Students West Greene has 88 out of 638. from all four county high schools and On top of those numbers, utilizaGreeneville High must commute tion for the school has been declining every day, either in the morning or the last two semesters after reaching afternoon, to the center for vocational almost 90 percent capacity during the classes. fall semester of 2016. No other school in any of the surMaximum capacity for the tech rounding counties operates CTE classes center is 480 students. Only 332 in this way, officials said. were enrolled during the fall semesDirector of Schools David McLain ter last year, for a 69 percent utilizasaid the reason the school system would tion rate. like to have vocational classes onsite at a Those numbers could go back up. new high school is due to time conOnly 323 students went to the center by Nick Shepherd, The Greeneville Sun
24 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
in the fall of 2013, but two years later, 425 students were enrolled in vocational classes. After discussing the issue with school principals, McLain said more students would be inclined to participate in vocational classes if they offered those classes in the same school. “I firmly believe [that by] having it onsite, you’re going to get more kids involved,” he said. “People may say, ‘Why don’t more go down there?’ Well, I was a high school principal for six years, and kids don’t want to leave their home school.” Another aspect of the CTE center is funding. McLain said county schools are sending approximately $1 to $1.5 million to the Greene Technology Center every year. But Greeneville City Schools are the fiscal agent for the center. Dr. Jeffrey Moorhouse, director of Greeneville City Schools, said there were still too many unknowns regarding a new county high school to really know how it will affect the technology center. “From our standpoint, it’s a little difficult to answer at this juncture with-
out knowing what programs they were looking to put into their high school,” he said. “I understand that they want to have a comprehensive vocational program, but if they put in programs that aren’t robotics or aren’t welding, some of those things that are high-dollar things, and they put in criminal justice ... it may have zero impact on Greene Technology Center.” The location of the new school could also play a factor, because the school may be located in the center of the county. Moorhouse said he has been told the tech center is located in the geographical center. If the new high school is similarly located, then it may have no impact, Moorhouse said. He said that not knowing those factors would make it premature to understand what impact the building of a new high school would have on the technology center. Tech Center Principal Randy Wells declined to comment for this story, also saying it would be premature for him to make a comment on the matter. The question of whether to fund the new high school will come before See Tech Classes, Page 48
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Continued from Page 20
Kool Tools
reinforcing powders that will allow you to repair almost anything. Uses :
Fig 14
Black powder to repair bumper, grilles, radiators, motorcycle fairings, electrical switches, door handles, dis-
tributor caps and so much more. You sprinkle a little of the reinforcing power on the area that you want to bond and then add the glue for an unbelievable adhesive joint. Kye repaired a trim panel fastener that has broken. See Fig 15 & 16. I checked it out after it had been repaired, and it was just like new (strength-wise). Available on Amazon. The next item was not at SEMA 2017 (could not make the deadline for obtaining a booth at SEMA), but both Kye and I want to show it—a car dolly from Ajon. See Fig 17.
What makes this system different is that it bolts to any frame rails (front or rear) and the double wheels articulate for moving a vehicle over uneven surfaces. See Fig 18 with a vehicle being loaded onto a flat bed truck. Contact John at 714-981-760. The next tool from SEMA 2017 are the “Spring Tools” Here are the specifics:
• Double-ended prick punch utilizes small cylinder for controlled slight indentation for spot marking: center punch utilizes large cylinder for maximum impact that creates deep indentation for drilling • Hammerless action ensures accuracy and precision control for superior results • 3,500 lb. of impact-striking force • Outstanding precision and control while being safe and easy to use Available from Amazon or company website (springtools.shptron.com).
Next item is from GRYPMAT These material trays hold tools up to a 70 degree angle with no magnets. The high-friction material protects surfaces and tools alike. Works great when disassembling or reassembling a vehicle. Fig 23 is the Tape Caddy
aisle, the demo on the next item caught my eye. It is a rubber sleeve
gether, whereas with the body pins, you can only use one at a time to pull. The body pins heat up the metal on the backside to over 1,600 degrees
Fig 28
Fig 25
that fits on anything that has a handle. It is called Re-Grip. See Fig 25 Re-grip comes in three sizes and installs in less than a minute. It adds comfort and efficiency to any handled tool.
Fig 26
Fahrenheit and will destroy any corrosion protection on the backside of the panel being repaired. DentFix manufactures a dent-pulling system called the “Maxi” that has been on the market for a number of years. See Fig 28. It has the pulling pins, wiggle wire and single pulling rod. A very
Fig 27
Here, I installed on one of my hammers. Available from Amazon. A couple of years ago, I reviewed this dent pulling system from Prospot International. It uses low voltage to secure the pulling keys (very little burn-through on the back side). You are able to place the keys close to-
Fig 29
nice compact system, but has older technology and is not as efficient as See Kool Tools, Page 50
Fig 23
from Collision Edge (https://www.collisionedge.com) The Tape Thing is an exciting, patented MAGNETIC tool that sticks tape to booth walls, prep carts, tool boxes, or any other metal surfaces. Tape spools off easily from your hand too! Use this in conjunction with Collision Edge’s other product, The Tape Caddy, and keep everything a paint tech uses directly on the hip. They can be reached at 770-328-5666. The next kool tool is from Aria Tools.
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Fig 24
These are stainless steel and can be rebuilt. They work on both industrial and automotive air fittings. They also have high flow for HVLP air guns. Aria Tools can be reached at 510-730-2584. See Fig 24. As I was walking through the
26 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Local 804.755.6167 804.755.1888 Fax
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 27
Southeast Associations
NCACAR Enters 2018 With a Bang with Chasidy Rae Sisk
On Thursday, Jan. 25, the North Carolina Association of Collision and Autobody Repair (NCACAR) hosted its first meeting of 2018 at the NOAH Event Center in Charlotte, NC. The event was explosive with nearly 200 attendees and a dozen business partners in attendance to witness presentations from Texas attorney Todd Tracy and Mike Jones, President of Discover Leadership Training. NCACAR President Brian Davies promised to “kick off the new year with a bang,” and the association’s first meeting of 2018 certainly delivered. During check-in and registration, attendees had the opportunity to browse NCACAR merchandise and interact with industry vendors supporting the association. A buffet-style pasta dinner was served at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting commenced shortly after 6 p.m. Eli Winans, NCACAR Board
Chasidy Rae Sisk is a freelance technical writer from Wilmington, Delaware, who writes on a variety of fields and subjects, and grew up in a family of NASCAR fans. She can be contacted at crsisk@chasidyraesisk.com.
member, welcomed a full room of at- next 18 months to crash-test vehicles tendees, noting it as the association’s and visit every state twice in an effort largest meeting to date. After reading to engage the industry. He expressed the anti-trust statement and leading the his hope to “get the insurance industry group in the Pledge of Allegiance, he out of your back pocket. You’ll make stressed the need for more shops to get more money and you’ll be able to engaged and become associasleep at night because you’re tion members. doing the right thing.” Winans introduced the Tracy continued, “You evening’s first presenter, have a moral obligation to Texas attorney Todd Tracy, your customers, and you who recently became wellneed to care about this safety. known for the $42 million You’re not repairers—you’re John Eagle lawsuit. safety professionals. You Texas attorney Todd “Todd Tracy has been a Tracy encouraged know there are real-world vehicle safety lawyer for 25 consequences incumbent in attendees to get involved with years, and has tried more vebringing the vehicle back to changing the hicle crashworthiness lawits OEM condition, but there industry for suits than any lawyer in the are companies out there who the better world,” Winans reported. refuse to let you safety proTracy began his presentation, fessionals do your jobs because they “Anatomy of a Lawsuit—What We hold the money and power, and they Uncovered in the $42M John Eagle make you choose between who surCollision Center Verdict” by announcvives—your company or your cusing his plan to spend $5 million over the tomer.”
28 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Noting that insurance companies only care about money, not the shops or the customers, Tracy urged shops to educate consumers and hit insurance companies where it counts. He claimed, “It’s okay to get knocked down. It’s about how hard you can get hit, get back up and keep fighting.” Defining vehicle crashworthiness as the science of preventing or minimizing serious injuries or death following an accident through the use of the vehicle’s safety systems, Tracy identified five principles of vehicle crashworthiness: maintain occupant survival space; manage, distribute and channel collision energy away from survival space; provide proper restraint throughout the entire accident; prevent post-crash fires; and prevent ejections. When Tracy began to investigate the Seebachans’ Honda Fit, the vehicle in the John Eagle case, he found that something didn’t add up. Ruling
out a manufacturer defect, he found OEM specifications by refusing to pay that the roof panels were missing 108 the bill. welds and found no evidence of a “Customers suffer when shops prior accident. When he spoke to the are bullied into not following OEM previous owner, he learned that the repair specifications. By dictating imroof had been replaced due to hail proper vehicle repairs for decades, indamage and was able to ascertain that surance companies have seriously John Eagle Collision Center had glued injured and killed thousands of custhe new roof on instead of welding it tomers who were driving around in as required by OEM procedures. time bombs. Each one of these victims Admitting how uncomfortable it is a needless angel in heaven. Each was to prosecute a lawsuit against his time you were bullied into an imneighbor’s business, Tracy shared deproper repair, did you endanger your tails about how he won the customer? We will not be case by exposing John Eagle’s bullied. We’ll get the insurwebsite claims as false, provance industry out of your ing that the 3M glue SOP inbusiness so you don’t suffer structed users to follow OEM the consequences of getting welds, and using science and bullied and taking shortcuts.” expert witnesses to prove that Some of the tips Tracy John Eagle’s attorney was Mike Jones shared shared for keeping sharks being dishonest and manipu- tips on becoming a like him out of shops ingame changer lating data. cluded following OEM pro“I tried the case like a vehicle cedures and I-CAR guidelines, crashworthiness case and stressed the taking care of the customer, and importance of protecting families, being a hero by standing up to the inwhich put the jurors in the Seebachans’ surance companies and insisting on shoes,” he said. “John Eagle’s Shop performing proper repairs to OEM Director suggested that OEM specifistandards, and pursuing short pay litcations were just recommendations, igation when forced. but he really angered the jury when he He noted, “Life’s about defining said the insurance company can trump moments, and this is a defining mo-
ment in your industry right now.” market parts and non-OEM repair Changing topics to the three methods destroyed designed-and-enHonda Fits he crash-tested in Decem- gineered safety systems and increase ber 2017, Tracy noted that the tests the likelihood of serious injury.” followed IIHS moderate overlap test Tracy intends to share the final protocol to the letter. The vehicle re- results with SCRS so the entire induspaired with aftermarket parts resulted try will have access to his findings, in a structural collapse underneath the and he promised to continue his tests. occupants, which caused inHe stressed, “Aftermarket jurious vertical loads. It exparts are not crash-tested! It’s perienced structural failures easy to have plausible deniathat the other two test vehibility if you stay ignorant, cles did not. The vehicle with but at some point, the shops a roof repaired with adhesive have to take responsibility showed injurious loads due to and stop using aftermarket the frame buckling under- NCACAR President parts. Complete the repairs neath the driver, and excescorrectly and fight the short Brian Davies sively higher forces resulted pay battle.” spoke about his passion for the in more intrusion. There was Tracy concluded his presindustry. no frame damage under the entation by stressing, “This is driver in the OEM test. In the first two not a North Carolina problem. It’s a tests, the damage indicated a higher United States problem, and we’re chance of the driver losing his/her legs. going to put a stop to it! We owe it to The aftermarket and glue roof ve- our customers, and we owe it to you hicles also showed that the restraint safety professionals. I hope you’ll system performance was less effec- stand with me in this fight.” tive, causing a higher probability of President Davies took the stage to head and neck injuries because the ve- share his passion for the industry and hicles failed to properly distribute en- stressed that “making a paradigm shift ergy. will take a concentrated effort.” He Based on these results, Tracy then introduced Mike Jones, Presiconcluded, “The tests prove that afterSee 2018 With a Bang, Page 30
Start Fixing “The Right Way” IInvertaSpot Inv nvvertaSpot p GTT FFully lllyy Automaticc Full SSpo Spot p po ot Welderr D Developed De eveloped p d According A Acccording g to Carr Manufacturers M SSpecifications. p .
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SCACAR to Hold 1st Official Meeting on March 8 by Chasidy Rae Sisk
The newly formed South Carolina Association of Collision and Autobody Repair (SCACAR) will hold its first official meeting on Thursday, March 8 at the Dave & Buster’s in Colombia, SC. SCACAR Director of Membership Josh Kent stated, “The time has come to have our first official state association meeting in SC, and we want to invite anyone who’s interested to attend and get involved.” Doors will open at 5 p.m., dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 6 p.m. The meeting will feature “The Time is Now!”, a seminar by asTech’s Jake Rodenroth, as well as a presentation on industry-specific news by meeting sponsor Enterprise. NCACAR President Brian Davies will also be in attendance to speak about the new association, alongside SCACAR President Sarah Daniels. The meeting will end with a raffle drawing. Questions and RSVPs can be directed to Kent at 704-998-8553 or josh.kent@elite-salesgroup.com. Continued from Page 29
2018 With a Bang
dent of Discover Leadership Training, who presented on “Becoming a Game Changer and Unleashing Your Untapped Potential.” Jones began by stressing the importance of focus and personal responsibility, sharing anecdotes about previous programs he had facilitated. Talking about creating patterns and habits, he emphasized the need to play like a rookie, not like a veteran. “Veterans deliver based on stimulus and patterns,” he said. “The future is predictable, so they miss opportunities to be present in the moment. Playing like a rookie requires being present and in the moment.” Jones discussed reactive listening and used examples to demonstrate that everyone views the world through their own lenses and operates on their own truths. “It’s important to understand that your map isn’t the whole territory,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you say. It matters what they hear. You have to accept responsibility to ensure they heard what you meant.”
Darrell Allen Body Shop in Burlington, NC, Wins National Award The shop on Hanford Road celebrated with a lunch for its 43 employDarrell Allen Body Shop of Burling- ees Wednesday, Feb. 7, and a ton, NC, bested thousands of others presentation from Nationwide offiacross the country to win the Nation- cials. wide Insurance Showmanship of ExPatrick Burnett, Nationwide’s nacellence Award. tional vice president for damage claims, said that Darrell Allen Body Shop received an average score of 4.8 out of 5 from 500 customer reviews. He said that he had never seen numbers like that before. “It is one thing to do well when someone is watching you,” he said. “It is another thing to do well because you know it is the right thing to do.” Mayor Ian Baltutis noted (l to r) Co-owners Andy Emerson and Steve Burlington would soon be celebratStallings received first-place awards for ing its 125th anniversary the next Showmanship of Excellence in North Carolina week, and that businesses such as and nationally from Nationwide Insurance Darrell Allen Body Shop have been during a luncheon at Darrell Allen Body Shop on crucial to the city’s success. Feb. 7. Credit: Steven Mantilla, Times-News Rhonda and Mike Terrell Nationwide has affiliations with owned the business for more than two 4,300 body shops in the United States. decades after buying it from Darrell It rated them on metrics such as cus- Allen. They said that Steve Stallings tomer service and community service. and Andy Emerson were the ideal Darrell Allen first won for the buyers for the shop, and they sold it Carolinas region, then competed to them last March. against six other businesses for the The shop repairs about 350 cars national designation. each month. by Bill Cresenzo, Times-News
Jones also spoke about the value of a positive attitude. “It’s absolutely possible to be perfect in your attitudes,” he said. “Any time you aren’t, you’ve made that choice. In every second of the day, you have a choice to be positive or negative, so why would you choose to be negative? Choose to believe in yourself and accept the personal responsibility to produce the outcome you want, and you can play the game differently.” After Jones left the stage, Winans, Davies and Director of Membership Josh Kent introduced NCACAR’s Board of Directors and Business Partners, which include PPG, 3M, AkzoNobel, FinishMaster and Collision Safety Consultants, among others. Kent also announced that NCACAR had seen a significant increase in membership recently, from 45 members four weeks prior to 70 members as of that evening. The association also raffled off prizes, including a camera, work gloves, gift cards, a 3M Accuspray paint gun and a grand prize QPI self-contained dent puller. For more information on NCACAR, visit www.ncacar.com.
30 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Stallings credited the Terrells for the award, saying that they sold them a well-run business where good people
work—people like Torrey Roach, a painter who has been with the company for 18 years. “It’s awesome,” he said about the award. “Being a national award winner is something special. I have been blessed to be part of this establishment for so many years.” We thank Times-News for reprint perimssion.
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Lanier Tech Hands Out Student, Teacher Awards in GA by Nick Bowman, Gainesville Times
The young, aspiring machinist and manager Christian Johnson had to take some time off work on Jan. 24 to collect an award from Lanier Technical College—just what the college wanted to see. Johnson, the 20-year-old son of local chefs Bruce and Kim Johnson, was given the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership by Lanier Tech on Jan. 24. The GOAL is the highest honor a student can receive from the state’s technical college system. During the same ceremony, Lanier Tech automotive collision repair instructor Damien Anderson was given the Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction. He’ll be a booster for the college and his own program for the next year. Johnson was one of four finalists for GOAL—all of whom had remarkable personal histories. Others in the running included Rodica Nemes, a practical nursing student who came to the United States from Romania in 2006; David Tapia, a prospering cosmetology student who found his way into the college after dropping out of a four-year degree program; and Melissa Thornton, an accounting student who has put her life back together after struggling with addiction. Johnson reflects the changing demographic face of the college, which is becoming younger as more high school graduates pursue technical disciplines. At 18 years old, Johnson purposefully chose Lanier Tech for his continuing education instead of a fouryear degree program. Now, he’s two years into a four-year apprenticeship crafted on the German model—getting paid to work during the day while taking classes at Lanier Tech at night. Fittingly, he’s an apprentice at IMS Gear, a German firm with a Gainesville plant that produces gears and a large number of industrial products, including robotics. “I’m learning everything, from the basics of hand tools to the machine side of—how to work CNCs and mills— going toward how to build and operate assembly lines and how to program … robotics,” Johnson said after being given the award. “At the end of it, I should be able to fully understand all aspects of the robotics and automation.” He’ll also have an associate’s degree from Lanier Tech, be certified as a journeyman in his field and have a German trade certification. And all the
while, he’s been getting paid instead of paying other people for his education. As an apprentice, he started at $10 and is eligible for two raises a year based on performance. “I love building things anyway. I love anything physical with my hands— putting things together,” Johnson said.
(l to r) Automotive collision repair instructor Damien Anderson shakes hands with Lanier Technical College President Ray Perren. Credit: David Barnes
“The ability to be paid [while learning] how to do more complex things really intrigued me.” After graduating from high school, Johnson said he bought into conventional wisdom and was making plans to attend a four-year degree program until one of his science, technology, engineering and math instructors, Ley Hathcock, encouraged him to look into technical college. His parents supported the decision, and Johnson is now two years away from a high-paying, secure job in the STEM field. In the long term, the 20year-old said he hopes to stay in the area working as a manager of assembly lines and robotics. Johnson was raised in Gainesville until he was 9 years old, when his father lost his job. The family moved to the Caribbean, then Texas, then finally back into Gainesville. The Johnsons own a restaurant in Lula. The young machinist is not the only student at Lanier Tech headed for a nice payday with his technical education. When accepting his teaching award, auto collision repair instructor Anderson talked about one of his recent students now working in Savannah. Anderson told the audience at the Gainesville Civic Center about the opportunities open to those who work hard in a technical program. A graduate of Lanier Tech about three years ago, Stanley Page came to Anderson, his former teacher, last semester wanting to take him out to lunch. “This is one of my favorite stories, and I love telling it,” Anderson said. “... My students don’t ever want
32 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
gree program and getting saddled with student loan debt. He has rededicated his life to pursuing his passion and getting back on the right track. Thornton will graduate next year with an accounting degree—a remarkable achievement given what she’s had to overcome in her life. An adopted child, Thornton became pregnant at a young age, has been married three times and has five children. The state took her children from her home because of her struggles with drug addiction. The student relapsed after her mother died of cancer, sending her deeper into her troubles, she told the audience. But, determined to get her life together, she got herself clean and enrolled in Lanier Tech. She’ll graduate in the next year. “If you leave here today and you haven’t been touched by what these students had to say, what our instructors had to say, then we need to check your pulse,” Lanier Tech President Ray Perren told the audience after the nominees’ speeches.
to take me out to lunch, so I immediately accepted. He wanted to tell me all about his new job that he had just accepted managing a body shop down in Savannah—they started him out at $100,000 a year.” Page had graduated debt-free from Lanier Tech and been working in auto shops for just over three years. “If that doesn’t motivate you as a person, as a teacher, I don’t know what else will,” Anderson said. But Jan. 24 was a day of motivation for the people involved with Lanier Tech, as the three other GOAL contenders talked to the audience about their backgrounds. Nemes was born and raised in Romania under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. She came to the United States in 2006 after years working as a nurse in her home country, Europe and New Zealand, and she speaks English as a second language. She’s going through Lanier Tech’s nursing program in order to work in Georgia, which she said doesn’t recognize her previous certifications. Tapia is working his way through the school’s cosmetology program after dropping out of a four-year de-
We thank Gainesville Times for reprint permission.
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Body Shop Owner, Son Bond Over Racing in Lebanon, TN by Larry Woody, Lebanon Democrat
Scott Fetcho of Lebanon, TN, retired as a race driver several years ago, but remains active in the sport as he assists his son, Dylan, with his high-speed aspirations. “The sport is time-consuming, expensive and often frustrating, and I probably wouldn’t still be in it if it wasn’t for Dylan,” Scott said. “He enjoys it, he’s good at it, and I remember how I felt about racing when I was his age. It’s something we can do together, so we’ll keep going as long as he’s interested.” That could be awhile. In addition to running another full season at Nashville’s Fairgrounds Speedway, Dylan plans some races this year in Montgomery, AL, and will enter the prestigious Snowball Derby this winter in Pensacola, FL. “I’ve loved to race [for] as long as I can remember, and that hasn’t changed,” said Dylan, who began driving go-karts at age 4. “We’ve spent all winter working on our car and getting ready for a new season,” added the Wilson Central High senior. “I can’t wait to get started.” Dylan is considered one of the area’s top young talents. He finished
an impressive fifth among 44 drivers in last season’s championship standings in the premier Pro Late Model division. That was just one position behind two-time Daytona 500 winner
years and captured a Legend Series title at Highland Rim Speedway two years ago, said he intends to be more of a hard-charger this season. “At times last season, I wasn’t aggressive enough,” he said. “That’s one of the lessons I learned.” Knowing first-hand that one crash can destroy a race car and wipe out a season, Dylan acknowledges that he has to walk—or drive—a fine line between aggressiveness and caution. “That’s something every race driver has to do,” he said. “You can’t win races if you’re not aggressive, but at the same time you have to Lebanon’s Scott Fetcho and his son, Dylan, are a keep yourself out of trouble. successful team on the racetrack Sometimes it’s not easy to and four-time track champion Sterling do. That’s part of the learning process Marlin. that comes with experience.” Another young Wilson County Scott is the owner of Fetcho’s Preracer, William Hale, finished seventh cision Auto Body Repair in Lebanon and won Rookie of the Year. and, as he quips, that’s a good business Reflecting on the past season, in to be in for a racer. Crumpled sheet which his best finish was second place, metal goes with the territory, and one Dylan said, “It wasn’t bad. It was al- bad crash can demolish a $40,000 race right, but I expect more this year.” car, for which there is no insurance. Dylan, who has won more than “Racing has always been expen150 races in various divisions over the sive, and gets more so every year,”
36 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Scott said. “It requires a considerable investment.” A sponsorship by Big Machine Records is helping pay the bills, founded by Scott Borchetta, a longtime friend of Scott Fetcho and a fellow racer. Boasting some of the music industry’s top stars, such as Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw, Big Machine Records attracts attention to the team. “Scott (Borchetta) is a former racer who knows the sport first-hand,” Fetcho said. “His support means a lot.” Dylan said he is aware—and appreciative—of the support from his parents, and agrees with his father that racing forms a strong bond. “My dad and I work on the cars together and he coaches me when I’m on the track,” he said. “He makes a lot of sacrifices to support my racing, and without him I couldn’t do it. He knows how much I appreciate it.” We thank Lebanon Democrat for reprint permission.
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42 Apprentices Join Service King’s Training Program
Service King Collision Repair Centers announced it has officially accepted and welcomed 42 new auto body repair technicians to its growing Apprentice Development Program at locations in five different states across the U.S. “The entire Service King family is thrilled to welcome the latest class of apprentice technicians,” said Tyra Bremer, Service King Vice President of Talent Development. “It is exciting to witness our apprenticeship program continue to grow and provide immersive training opportunities to aspiring technicians from across the country. We look forward to equipping and training each of the 42 technicians who joined our family this week to prosper in the next chapter of their careers.” The immersive approach to Service King’s Apprentice Development Program features a proprietary curriculum developed with insight from master auto body technicians, management and leading experts from across the industry. The Apprentice Development Program officially launched in 2015, placing more than 125 certified auto body technicians into its workforce.
Collision Repair Program Starts Simulated Workforce in AL by Lauren Wester, Franklin County Times
For 14 years, Steve Watts has taught collision repair at Franklin County’s Career Technical Center in Russellville, AL, which recently introduced something new to help students: a simulated workplace.
Joseph Welch (standing) and Nathan Hallmark work on sanding down one of the vehicles in their collision repair class at the Franklin County Career Center
Every day that students attend Watts’ class, they have to clock in and out like they would in the actual workforce. “Everything that they do comes through my computer, and I can see it. It holds them accountable and prepares them for future work,” Watts said. They also have a shirt they wear in class each day of the week, like
they would a uniform at a job. Watts said he teaches his students a wide variety of skills because “each job is a process.” “We take each project from start to finish—old paint to new paint,” he explained. That includes fixing dents, hubcaps, fenders, bumpers and doors. The students also learn how to sand, weld and mix paint. “They all try to jump straight into the paint because that’s the fun part, but I have to show them all of the steps that come before that,” Watts said. While the students are learning through hands-on experience, they are also doing book work and working on modules. Watts explained there are 14 modules students have to complete in order to become credentialed. After completing each module,
they also receive a certificate. “It’s all about getting them ready to go to work and preparing them for the workforce,” he said. Several of the students said that this is the type of work they wish to pursue after high school, but even if they don’t, it’s useful information to have regardless. They also said they enjoy the opportunity of experiencing hands-on learning. “I learn more from doing handson work than I do just sitting in the classroom,” student Kyler Blackburn said. According to Watts, the class is a different experience from what the students think it’s going to be when they start—but it’s a basic learning stage on which they can continue to build. We thank Franklin County Times for reprint permission.
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Stacey Phillips is a freelance writer and editor for the automotive industry. She has 20 years of experience writing for a variety of publications, and is co-author of “The Secrets of America’s Greatest Body Shops.” She can be reached at sphillips.autobodynews@gmail.com.
Tips for Busy Body Shops
Enterprise Shares Company’s Successful Recruitment Strategies with Stacey Phillips
Just over 60 years ago, Jack Taylor Ranging in age from 16–38 (dependfounded Enterprise Rent-A-Car in St. ing on the source), the millennial genLouis, Missouri. eration wants to make a contribution He opened the small business in to the company they work for and unthe basement of a Cadillac dealership derstand why they are doing what they with just seven vehicles. A decorated are doing and how it has an impact. At naval pilot, Taylor named the company the same time, learning new things is after the WWII aircraft carrier on which a priority as well as having access to he had served—the USS Enterprise. additional development and training. Since then, the company has grown to According to a study conducted by include 100,000 employees and nearly LinkedIn and Snagajob, an online em10,000 locations in more than ployment website specializing 90 countries worldwide. The in the hourly marketplace, 71 Taylor family acquired Napercent of the hourly worktional Car Rental and Alamo force is under the age of 30. Rent A Car in 2007 and fully The majority of those who integrated all three car rental were part of the study said brands two years later under they value scheduled flexibilthe corporate parent name En- Pam Webster, AVP ity in a job; 59 percent felt that terprise Holdings, which is flexibility would result in talent acquisition for Enterprise still privately held. higher job productivity. Over Holdings Taylor’s philosophy was half said that learning new to take care of employees and cus- things or having access to professional tomers first, and profits and growth development opportunities would enwould follow. Pam Webster, AVP tal- courage them to stay at their job. ent acquisition for Enterprise HoldClose to 90 percent of millennials ings, said Taylor’s philosophy still said that a reward system during their holds true today. training would boost their engagement, “He never intended for Enterprise and half said that having friends in the to be the largest; he wanted us to be the workplace would motivate them and inbest,” said Webster. “Jack always said crease productivity. They also value regwe’re in the people business—not the ular feedback from their employer about car business.” how they are performing, and 33 percent Webster said an important aspect prefer recognition over higher pay. of the company’s success has always What are some of the issues been a focus on building a talent stratcompanies are facing in terms of egy. With an extensive background in recruiting? recruiting, Webster shared Enterprise’s successful approach during an AkRecruiting is not easy, and can be zoNobel Acoat Selected performance challenging in the collision regroup meeting held in San Diego, CA. pair industry due to a shortage of skilled This included the recruitment process, labor and an aging workforce. New veemployee engagement, training and hicle technologies are driving significant development. changes in vehicle repairs, which ultiThe following information is based mately requires more extensive training on Webster’s presentation, “Building a for technicians. Currently, more people Talent Strategy — Enterprise’s Apare leaving the workforce than entering proach to Solving Our HR Opportuniit. Whether you are a large or small ties,” which was part of AkzoNobel’s company, not having the talent you need early bird training sessions held prior to to grow and support the business you are the performance group meeting. running can make a big impact. How would you define today’s Job seekers today want to work typical job seeker? where they want, when they want and how they want. This is often referred to The largest workforce we have as the “free agent” mentality. It’s a chaltoday—estimated to be about lenge, especially for brick-and-mortar 77.2 million—is Gen-Y, millennials. types of businesses, such as collision re-
Q: A:
Q: A:
40 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
pair shops that don’t offer that flexibility. For many job seekers, it is now socially acceptable to change jobs. According to a study by Monster, 70 percent of the workforce is willing to do this. Typically, a 20-year-old will have seven different jobs during their twenties. That makes it tough for employers because turnover is expensive. It costs you money and time, and it impacts your ability to deliver on the services you provide—namely, getting cars repaired and back to their owners. Work/life balance has been found to be more important to today’s job seekers than how much they earn. Employers are finding that workers prefer more flexibility, fewer hours and to make less money. That can be a big challenge.
have to step back and put the candidate hat on. Think about how job seekers who want to work in the collision industry search for jobs. The largest job board today is Google. It’s where most people start their job search. Google is based on keyword relevancy. This determines how information about your company shows up in the search results. Therefore, when you’re posting a job on a job board or aggregator, take time to think about what keywords job seekers will search for. Glassdoor and Indeed are two of the top online sources for potential hires. The majority of job seekers go to these sites to do their research. Glassdoor started as a job review site and expanded to become a job aggregator, while Indeed started as an aggregator and is now a job review site.
are job seekers looking Q: forWhere employment? You mentioned that Enterprise is As a business owner trying to Q: in the “people” business. How A: find a new hire, sometimes you See Enterprise Shares, Page 48
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National News
Chasidy Rae Sisk is a freelance technical writer from Wilmington, Delaware, who writes on a variety of fields and subjects, and grew up in a family of NASCAR fans. She can be contacted at crsisk@chasidyraesisk.com.
Management Success Shares Shop Resolutions That Stick with Chasidy Rae Sisk
On Wednesday, Jan.10, Management Success Senior Consultant Jim Saeli presented a webinar on “Secrets to Success: Shop Resolutions that Stick.” He began by noting, “You probably set goals at the beginning of your business and have achieved them, improving your business and acquiring better control of it. But as time passes, we all tend to lose focus and fall back into old habits and may ask ourselves, ‘What am I missing?’” While it’s easy to think it’s all “fine,” Saeli considers this a bad fourletter word. “If you’re not expanding, you’re contracting,” he said. “If things are just fine, they will catch up with you.” It’s easy to lose focus, so he suggested looking at the shop's basics, some of which are so basic that they’re easy to overlook until it’s too late. It is important to monitor all aspects of one’s business because it’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day actions of shop production and to stop seeing everything, until someone else points out the change. “When you first opened your shop, you set a goal and worked to achieve it, but it’s important to set new goals once you reach your first goal,” Saeli encouraged. “Or maybe you set a goal and had a hard time focusing on the new goal because things changed. There will always be these types of situations in a business, such as changing employees, but you have to figure out how to keep your eye on the ball, and with the start of the New Year, this is a great time to sit down and establish goals for 2018!” Saeli suggested getting in the habit of looking back at goals to determine if they were achieved. He stressed the importance of writing down goals and also encouraged attendees to write down their vision and look at it occasionally. “Your business will always be a work in progress, and your vision will change as your business grows,” he said. “Your job as the owner is to set goals for your business so that you’re the one directing the shop, and you do this by planning. “The owner’s responsibility is to improve the existing situation and
move it toward the idea or vision you have for your business.” He polled attendees to determine how often they plan, suggesting it’s important to decide what each person wants to accomplish this year and emphasizing the importance of writing down plans.
Asking how shop owners track their progress, Saeli informed them that they should be tracking their KPIs and using these numbers to determine whether they’re heading in the right direction. Keep your KPIs up-to-date, look at them weekly, and then make corrections based on that information. According to Saeli, “Your KPIs are a roadmap that allows you to see the past and plan for the future. It’s helpful to put them into graph form to evaluate them quickly. Not having them is like trying to diagnose a check engine light on a car just by listening to the vehicle—and none of you would ever do that! Call this your scan tool; it’ll help you figure out what’s going on with your business.” Figure out your goals by starting with a sales target, broken down into sales for a month and a week, and then figure out the billed hours needed to achieve this goal. Saeli believes that working out weekly targets is a great start, but next, shop owners must share this information with their employees and remind them of it on a regular basis. “This is one of the reasons to have weekly meetings,” he said. “It allows you to go over your targets and reinforce your expectations, plus it helps get everyone behind you, working towards those goals.” When an employee is not producing the way they used to, Saeli advised the shop owners to sit down with them to find out why, suggesting that the employee may need help establishing goals, they may simply need to be pointed in the right direc-
42 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
tion or they may require additional training to improve their competency. “Talking to your employees is a win/win/win situation,” Saeli noted. “They are better able to help the customer, the shop and make more money themselves. It’s important that we do not become so engrossed in the day-today that we forget about training. “Have you reached your goals? Have you lost your passion for the business? You must see when you reach your goals and set new ones to have something to reach towards, to look forward to. Goals are key, and having them written down helps visualization.” Some ideal targets Saeli suggested for both the individual and their businesses are sales targets, turning over responsibilities to associates and spending a certain number of days away from the shop to do enjoyable things. “Money helps you get things, but time is very valuable,” he pointed out. Noting that all professionals have
coaches to point them in the right direction, Saeli asked attendees about who helps them keep their eyes on their business goals, point them in the right direction and keep them focused and successful. He then shared information on Management Success’ Shop Business Analysis product, which is designed to help in this aspect. As the webinar concluded, Saeli observed, “The more training you receive, the better equipped you are to handle situations, and you become more competent at running your business by setting up a training plan. It’s important to identify the key actions that must occur in order to achieve your goals.” Due to the positive feedback received from this webinar and an overflow of attendees, Management Success will be presenting a live webinar on the same topic with a different presenter and a guest shop owner on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
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Historical Snapshot
—John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contact him by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.
5 Years Ago, CT Shops Still Hopeful That Judgment Against Insurer Would Hold with John Yoswick
20 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (March 1998) A credible study of the true costs and savings of using non-OEM crash parts could be a solution to the ongoing parts debate. That was one point of apparent agreement among panelists discussing parts-related issues during the Automotive Service Association’s annual meeting in Florida in March. “Cycle time is probably the key buzzword that we’re going to hear in the next two or three years,” said Joe Sanders, the former director of ASA’s Collision Division. “That’s really going to drive everything that changes in our industry in the future. Aftermarket parts are probably the worst villain to cycle time you can imagine. So when we get sophisticated enough to measure the economic impact that aftermarket parts have on cycle time, I think we can finally settle in and put those parts in
the right place.” Insurers don’t deny that non-OEM parts can result in costly delays, Sanders said. “But the insurers don’t know whether the cost-saving of streamlining your production will eventually
In 1998, former shop owner Joe Sanders said the industry needed a study into the true costs—including reduced cycle time—of using non-OEM parts
equate to lower costs to repair the cars,” he said. “So sooner or later, it’s going to take some entity to do a
44 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
good, strong study to figure out how to measure what it cost us in production delays, and what it costs the insurers in rental cars. Then I think we can sit down and revisit this issue.” – As reported in The Golden Eagle. Twenty years later, the debate over the true costs and savings of using non-OEM parts continues.
15 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (March 2003) Two years ago, Caliber Collision Centers’ CEO Matthew Ohrstein was quoted as saying that many in the collision repair industry seemed to have an incorrect assumption about the speed with which consolidation of the industry would take place. “Three or four years ago when we started, back in 1997, I think there was this expectation in this industry that consolidation would be this huge wave that would take over the industry,” he said. “But look at other indus-
tries. It can take 20, 30 or 40 years to consolidate just 30 percent of an industry.” Ohrnstein’s words may have provided some comfort to independent shops convinced the torrential pace
In 2003, Matt Ohrnstein was the CEO of Caliber Collision and accurately predicted that consolidation of the industry would take decades
of consolidator acquisitions in the late 1990s was set to continue. And he certainly set the tone for the two
years that have followed in which consolidators for the most part have appeared to focus much more on integration, implementation and dramatic growth. – As reported in Autobody News. Ohrstein later left Caliber (the company added 68 shops during his seven years there) and formed Symphony Advisors consulting firm; he died in 2013 at age 57. But his comments about the likely speed of consolidation of the industry have been proven out. Twenty years after he pioneered the entry of large investors into the industry, the Big 4 consolidators still have less than 25 percent of the market, a share one analyst predicts they won’t reach until 2021.
10 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (March 2008) Eileen Sottile of the Quality Parts Coalition predicted that without changes to U.S. patent law, the increasing number of OEM patents on crash parts could lead to the “extinction” of the non-OEM parts industry and independent repairers (because higher OEM parts prices would total more cars). But Brad Mewes of Craftsmen
Auto Body in Cerritos, CA, pointed to a 2005 European study that found that pricing for replacement parts was on average 7.3 percent higher in countries without such design protections.
In 2008, Eileen Sottile of the Quality Parts Coalition predicted dire outcomes for the industry if federal patent protection on OEM crash parts wasn’t amended
In a letter to Mewes last week, Sottile says the European study is flawed because it looked at list prices for OEM parts, not the “typically much lower” “market prices.” The study, she said, also mischaracterized the level of patent protection in two European countries. Given this, Sottile said the study should have shown that OEM parts prices are actually 3.6 percent lower in
countries without design protection. – As reported in CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com), March 17, 2008. Ten years later, the non-OEM parts industry continues to fight for federal legislation that would slash design patent protection automakers’ hold on crash parts, though the nonOEM parts industry is still thriving and the percentage of vehicles being declared a total loss has remained fairly steady—between 14 percent and 17 percent throughout the last decade. The prospects of the federal legislation moving forward took a hit in January when Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah), the bill’s chief sponsor in the Senate, announced he is retiring at the end of this year, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.), the bill’s chief sponsor in the House, announced his retirement as well.
5 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (March 2013) At last weekend’s East Coast Resolution Forum and Leadership Meeting, the president of the Auto Body Association of Connecticut said that more than three years after an associationled class action lawsuit resulted in a jury award of $15 million against The Hartford, no money has been received.
A jury essentially found in 2009 that unfair trade practices by the insurer led to suppressed shop labor rates. Tony Ferraiolo was unsure why there has been such a long delay in the judge’s issuing of a final judgment on the verdict in the case, but said that he expects that to happen soon, which would also bolster a similar lawsuit pending against Progressive Insurance. He said attorneys continue to pursue the Progressive lawsuit despite not having received payment in either case. “That’s telling you these class action lawsuits might have some merit for all of us when they pan out, but you’re talking 10 years before they are done,” Ferraiolo said. “That’s a long time. One of the named plaintiffs in the case has sold his shop in the meantime. So these class action lawsuits are important, but not our total answer. We’re committed to keeping them going.” – As reported in CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com), March 18, 2013. In 2015, the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s judgment against The Hartford. The jury in the case found that The Hartford violated the state’s unfair trade practices act by See 5 Years Ago, Page 48
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Media and Publicity for Shops
Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.
Too Many Shops are Advertising When They Should Be Marketing with Ed Attanasio
Ryan Taylor is a former body shop owner who invented Bodyshop Booster in 2009, an app that streamlines the estimating process for both customers and shops. He advises collision repairers all over the world on marketing, the customer experience and how to generate more business by using his tools.
Why do many body shops Q: stumble when it comes to marketing and advertising, while others
Why is it dangerous for shops Q: to rely heavily on their DRPs for the majority of their revenue?
Back in 2011, one of our major A: DRPs (28 percent of our total volume) contacted us with a “courtesy
call” that was far from being courteous. They told us that they were going to give all of their work to a consolidator
seem to push all of the right buttons all the time?
Experts claim that word-ofQ: mouth is the best way to get new customers, but how can you man-
A:
When I owned my own shop and business started to lag, I thought I could offset it by marketing my business aggressively, so I spent $100,000 on things like radio advertising, and it didn’t even move the needle. I was shocked, so I brought in a lot of experts, and we tore the collision repair industry apart. We found out that when people get in an accident, it’s an on-demand purchase, which is different from an impulse purchase, where people are motivated and engaged. An on-demand purchase is like finding out your house is flooded or you have diabetes—it’s not an acquisition that you wake up in the morning anticipating. I’ve never heard anyone say, “Wow, I hope I get in a wreck today!” Most marketing firms provide services to companies that sell products or services that fall into the impulse decision category, such as new cars, vacations, electronics—things that get people excited. So, if you’re working with a conventional marketing company, they probably don’t know enough about the collision repair industry to be effective. Their experience is buying media (such as print, radio and TV broadcast advertising) because that caters to the entire market. But, as a body shop, your customers are limited, so why are you wasting money to advertise to everyone? In summary, remember that your customer does not want to be your customer, and secondly, there is a very small marketing footprint to get to that customer when they need you—all things I learned the hard way.
emerge. In North America, 44 percent of all repairs are what we call Type 1 repairs, which require 11.9 hours or less to complete the job. With all of the new collision avoidance systems, we are seeing more and more of these types of repairs. So, many of these are now customer pay. If the consumer has a $1,000 deductible, for example, and the job is going to cost them $1,500, that’s now within their threshold, so they’re going to pay it rather than call their insurer.
age this and reap the benefits?
Ryan Taylor, the creator of Bodyshop Booster, advises collision repairers all over the world on marketing and advertising
with 300-plus locations, so we lost nearly one-third of our business with one phone call. Every shop knows that this is an exposure spot for us, but we usually think that it will happen gradually or taper off over a 5–10 year period, rather than in 30 seconds. So, after losing that big DRP, we started looking for ways to diversify our business, and one of them was fleet work. We charted it out and found out that customer pay has been growing. In 2008, it was 5 percent and today it’s 20 percent—and there are a lot of reasons for that. Our analysts are telling us that it will be around 30–38 percent by 2020 and eventually, the DRP system will go away altogether. There are a lot of reasons why the insurance companies can profit by eliminating their DRP programs, and they’re starting to figure it out. So, we see a major shift in DRPs and a lot of this new technology (Allstate’s new photo app, for example) is aiding them in this shift. In Canada, shops are very DRP-dependent, so we haven’t seen this change there yet, but we believe it will happen there too within the next 3–5 years. Another change we’ve seen is that now with deductibles going up ($500– $1,000 on average), the market will split and more cash-pay customers will
46 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
The latest studies show that A: every happy customer has the potential to affect 4.1 other people
around them. The challenge is how to get them to refer you. Extensive research shows that your average cus-
tomer will only drive 15 minutes to get an estimate, but they will travel up to 35 minutes for a repair. By harnessing the power of technology, you can get customers who are outside the 15-minute window to commit to a repair appointment and thereby expand your market reach. Studies show that 74 percent of customers make their decision based on convenience. All over the world, deductibles are on the rise, causing customer pay to be more and more common, so capture more work by making the estimate process easier, because ease of doing business is why 83 percent of people will go online to check out repair shops. Supply them with what they are looking for, and you will capture new business. Customers are afraid to make an insurance claim because they fear drastic premium increases. Capitalize on that by making the estimate process smooth and educational.
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Continued from Page 40
Enterprise Shares
do you ensure your company hires the right individual for the job?
Everything we do starts with A: hiring the right people and making sure we are committed to the long-
term when we make a selection. Sometimes, it’s hard to think this way when you have an immediate need in your business, but we’ve always focused on the long-term. We don’t want to just hire somebody and fill a seat on the bus. Instead, we want to ensure we are hiring the right people because it really does impact the culture if you have constant turnover. We’ve found that it will impact morale and engagement of the other employees. When our business started to grow in the 1980s, we built a formal talent strategy that focused on the entire lifecycle of an employee: selection, onboarding, training and development, performance management and career progression. We knew that if we dropped the ball on any one of these stages, it would impact the business and the bottom line. Because our phiContinued from Page 45
5 Years Ago
requiring its appraisers to enforce an artificially low labor rate determined by the insurer rather than approaching the appraisal “without prejudice against, or favoritism toward, any party involved to make fair and impartial appraisals.” But The Hartford argued in its successful appeal that the “parties involved” were the insurer and insured, because an appraiser “could not possibly owe a duty of impartiality or reasonableness to the very shops with whom he is negotiating on behalf of an employer.” The state Supreme Court agreed that the unfair trade practices act does not “regulate the conduct at issue” in the case. “It would be patently unreasonable…for us to conclude that the [insurer] is lawfully permitted to determine the hourly labor rate that it is willing to pay for auto body repair [but] that [its] apprais-
losophy is to promote from within, we have a commitment to grow our talent. We asked employees about why they work here, what they like/don’t like, what they are looking for in a company that we don’t offer, as well as what our competitors are offering. Then we defined our employee value proposition. That is what makes us unique as an employer. We built that into our brand and incorporated it into all of our communication, including recruitment marketing and messaging. Once somebody is hired, we focus on their learning path, regardless of the job position. We look at their skills and how we measure them, ensure there is a clear understanding of expectations and what they should deliver each day, build in mentoring and coaching, and have a rewards/recognition program in place. The bottom line is employee performance. If we hire the right people, engage them, and offer training and development, we’ll have better sales, service and growth. 10 best practices for hiring and retaining employees based on the Enterprise model: • Build consistent interview guideers are ethically required to disregard that determination when negotiating on the [insurer’s] behalf,” the Court wrote in its unanimous decision. Shops, the
In 2013, Tony Ferraiolo of the Auto Body Association of Connecticut was still hopeful that a $15 million judgment against The Hartford would hold (but it was later overturned by the state’s Supreme Court)
Court said, are capable of representing their own interests and “certainly are under no obligation to accept insurance-related work that is not sufficiently remunerative.”
www.autobodynews.com
UPDATED DAILY
48 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
lines and questions • Set clear expectations and be transparent about your company • Know what your competitors are doing and what they are offering to their employees • Create a recognition program for workers where they can be recognized by leadership • Foster a team-building culture, whether that’s internally with work-related contests or a friendly competition outside of the workplace, such as forming a sports team • Empower employees, regardless of their role, and give them autonomy to make decisions • Look at the core competencies for all jobs, such as empathy, resilience, good communication, work ethic and flexibility • Devise a consistent process across the company • Set up a mentoring program and teach managers how to manage and motivate employees • Continually measure the effectiveness of your hiring process, as well as training and development programs For more information, message Pam Webster at www.linkedin.com /in/pamwebsterrecruit4eh.
Continued from Page 24
Tech Classes
the Greene County Commission during the next few months. But no matter what happens, educating and preparing students for the future is always the main goal. “If we’ve got 40 to 50 percent (of our students) going off to college ... I guess my question is, what’s happening to the other 50 percent?” McLain said. “That’s the kids that also concern me. Are they work-ready? Are we putting them out there to give them an opportunity or a skill?”
We thank Greeneville Sun for reprint permission.
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MIG/MAG method with double pulse is faster than traditional MIG welding
Continued from Page 30
Kool Tools
the newer pulling systems, like the ProSpot unit. The other advantage is the cost, which is lot less than the key pulling system. Well Dent Fix came out with some upgrades for its MAXI at the SEMA 2017 Show. They developed a hand-held puller, a key attachment bracket and a pulling bar to augment the MAXI. These are great additions to the current MAXI dent pulling equipment. Available from DentFix (https://www.dentfix.com). The next item that premiered was its latest MIG welder. See Fig 30 and 31
Fig 30
This welder is a dual pulse MIG Welder. Why dual or double-pulse welding? Welding with the use of MIG/MAG method with double pulse allows us to achieve a high level of weld bead (scale effect). See Fig 32 Benefits of double-pulsed welding: 1. Welding with the use of the
Fig 31
2. Welding with the use of the MIG/MAG method with double pulse achieves aesthetic standards as high as the TIG method (same look achieved with TIG welding).
Pulsed MIG
Fig 32
3. Welding with the use of the MIG/MAG method with double pulse causes smaller deformations than the traditional MIG welding.
The welder has a hot-start function and a crater fill function---same as the Foroius welder, Chief double pulse welder and Car-O-Liner’s double pulse welder. You say, “What is the big deal?” Well, all these welders along with ProSpots SP 5.3, are 220 volt 3 phase machines and this welder works on single phase. I have used this welder, and found that it is extremely easy to learn and produces a great-looking weld. Another great tool I found was portable short wave infrared heat lamp from Global Refinishing Solutions (520-808-9118). See Fig 33. This heat lamp is all that is advertised and more. This powerful, lightweight tool is ideal for fast spot repairs, but can also be used for a variety of other applications. With the REVO Handheld, you can soften glass seals, heat up a damaged bumper, cure plastic filler in three minutes or less, heat up aluminum to repair aluminumbody vehicles, push out a dent, or remove emblems, vinyl graphics and adhesives. The REVO Handheld allows the technician to get more repairs done faster. I sprayed on high build primer from Kent Automotive on two panels. The first panel allowed it to air
So. Virginia, Central & Western North Carolina
paper, and there was no primer transfer on the sandpaper. The first panel was still flashing off when the second panel was cured and sanded. Think about this ladies and gentlemen—A small repair can be primed and sanded in the repair stall and is ready for paint with virtually no down time (for drying) in the paint department. You can also roll-on the primer (needs an additional 5 percent reduction) and the primer is not special product, but your same brand that you use on a daily surface. See Fig 34.
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our technicians have trouble with their vision. To compensate for this problem, I carry in my truck welding masks with magnifiers. See Fig 35. The problem is the majority of the welding masks being used do not have magnifier holders built into the mask. So here is a simple solution from Kent Automotive. Magnified safety glasses See Fig 36.
Fig 34
have added for additional information. The last item is from Kent Automotive (800-YES KENT). Fig 35
I have conducted the I-CAR welding certification test for over 14 years. The biggest problem I have is
Fig 36
These glasses are scratch resistant safety glasses that have a 2 times magnifier built into the lense. Ideal for MIG welding when the welding mask can not be fitted with a Doppler magnifier. Less than $20.00 So this ends another Kool Tools from SEMA 2017. Kye and I hope that you will find these items beneficial to your shop and we are always on the hunt for new and exciting products.
Continued from Page 12
Cobbs Creek
number of other businesses, including brief stints in real estate and construction. Since the mid-1990s, they have operated a used truck dealership, NIMTRAN, buying and selling commercial trucks in association with representatives in Hilton Head, South Carolina and Scottsdale, Arizona. Last year, they got into the 24-hour towing and recovery business, and both Jonathan and Nathan became licensed tow truck operators. Over the years, the company has been involved in a number of special projects, such as painting a prototype truck for Budweiser to display at a large event on the East Coast, painting a Miller Coors truck that race car driver Brad Keselowski used to pose in front of at a Richmond race, and painting the Zamboni for the Richmond Coliseum. At one time, Cobbs Creek Body Works had as many as 15 employees, said John, but today the 10,000-squarefoot facility makes do with 10 people, including family members. John said that one of his employees, Mark Perigny, has been with the
company for 25 years, while another, Charles Howard, has been there for 20 years. There are customers that have been with them even longer—Hoffman Beverage of Virginia Beach for 38 years and M. Price Distributing of Hampton for 35 years. All three members of the third generation of Lowes spent their summers growing up with the business, and now their children are showing an interest in it, as well. Heather’s son, Conner, works there in the summer when he’s home from college, and Jonathan’s young daughter, Addison, helps install decals and insists she’s going to learn to drive a forklift. While the family has had its ups and downs working together over the years, Nathan said, “Show me a family that works together all day that doesn’t. I wouldn’t change it for nothing. It’s been fun.” Heather chimed in, “You can laugh at those things at the end of the day.” “I had no idea when this started that I’d still be here 40 years later with all my family,” said John. “It’s been a family experience, without a doubt. That’s what it’s all about.” We thank Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal for reprint permission.
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public that there will not be a charge for Secure Share, now or in the future.” He said the reversal is not entirely CCC’s Mark Fincher said the altruistic on CCC’s part. The platform changes were a result of ongoing dis- benefits from expanding the number cussions throughout last year with the of industry trading partners it contask force, industry associations and nects, he said, and eliminating the fees customers. He said it became and other changes will likely clear that the announced fees increase participation in Sewere going to be a barrier to cure Share. entry for companies adopting He also said CCC has “abSecure Share, and that those solutely no plans” to disconcosts were going to be passed tinue users’ ability to transfer on to CCC customers. estimate data in the EMS for“Both of those things mat. Mark Fincher were not intended outcomes “We think obviously at that we expected or wanted from Se- some point in the very distant future cure Share,” Fincher said. “So we that our customers will decide there’s made the decision to eliminate those not a need for EMS,” he said. “But fees.” we’re not going to make that decision He said it also became clear as to sunset EMS.” 2017 was drawing to a close that with the announced April implementation More observations of Secure Share, “it was inevitable Speaking at a Society of Collision Rethat there was going to be a potential pair Specialists (SCRS) board meeting disruption to our customers,” some- in Palm Springs, Aaron Schulenburg, thing CCC “absolutely did not want to the association’s executive director, be the outcome of Secure Share.” said most repairers in the industry “didn’t and still don’t understand the implications” that CCC’s plans for SeWhat about the money? Fincher was asked about CCC’s will- cure Share could have had on their ingness to step away from the revenue businesses nor “how significant CCC’s the Secure Share fees would have gen- decision to reverse their approach is on erated, which some have estimated as the future of [shops’] businesses as hundreds of millions of dollars. well.” “This has never been about the CCC’s announced changes, he revenue for us,” Fincher said. “I think said, “are exactly why every collision some of the estimates around the revrepairer should be part of a national enue opportunity were a bit overinassociation.” He said whether that’s flated. This was never a revenue play SCRS or another group, the changes by for us. This was truly about securing CCC are a case study for why every the data. The fee structure was put in shop should be part of some “organiplace for us to be able to recoup, with zation that can be your voice, when some level of profit as we stated, the you’re busy getting your customer’s costs that we put into Secure Share. It car out at 5 p.m. on a Friday, an organwas a significant investment to put the ization that has your back and underinfrastructure in place to process thoustands the concerns and understands sands of transactions a minute, and who to communicate with and how to process those in sub-second response communicate in a way that can be eftimes. We decided it was best to just fective.” take on those costs ourselves, not pass Risley also said that although the that along to our customers or the CIC task force was originally formed [third-party] app providers. We think to address issues raised by CCC’s anit’s the best thing for the industry.” nounced plans for Secure Share, the Risley told Fincher that some may topic of “data security” doesn’t go view this as CCC backing off for now away now that CCC made changes to on fees after facing a year of public its plans. criticism, but that in a year or so it may “It’s not about somebody hacking re-implement some of the changes it is into a shop’s data and grabbing it,” Rishalting for now. ley said. “That’s a concern, but the big“We don’t have that kind of fortiger concern is something that happened tude,” Fincher said, drawing laughter a few months ago: The John Eagle Colfrom CIC attendees. “We’re not going lision lawsuit. That shook the dust off through this again. We made it very the rafters for a lot of folks.” Continued from Cover
CCC’s Changes
52 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
He said that lawsuit over how He did some research and found decisions were made and how re- that if the blind spot system on the vepairs were documented is now at the hicle is working, the indicators’ lights forefront of discussion within the in- on both doors are supposed to come dustry, and will be the topic on with a key cycle. On the of a presentation at CIC in rental vehicle, he said, only Atlanta in April. one of those lights came on. “There’s a tremendous He then found “questionamount of exposure for this able” color match, peeling industry, and you need to be paint and “reassembly isaware of it,” Risley said. “We sues” on the rear of the vehias an industry need to figure cle that clearly indicated the Jake Rodenroth out a way to address it.” vehicle had gone through previous damage and repairs. He scanned the vehicle and found multiExample of consequences Also at CIC last month, Jake Rodenple fault codes indicating the blind roth of asTech (which offers a remote spot and cross-traffic alerts were not vehicle scanning system) shared an exactive. ample of potential consequences when “If I had changed lanes, expecting a shop “deviates from the [OEM] rethe blind spot system to warn me, pair procedures, ignores the [OEM] powhat would have happened?” Rodensition statements and [doesn’t] do the roth said. “This stuff is happening scans.” today, and as an industry, we have to Rodenroth said he recently rented act upon it.” a 2017 Nissan Maxima with 3,000 miles on it, and though there wasn’t a clearly recognizable dash warning FOLLOW US ON light for someone not familiar with INSTAGRAM : Nissan’s systems, he said he realized the blind spot detection system was @autobodynews not warning him about traffic on the freeway.
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In Reverse
John Loftus – The Dragon Slayer with Gary Ledoux
Gary Ledoux is an industry veteran with 48 years’ experience in the automotive and OEM collision parts industry. His column appears exclusively in Autobody News. He can be reached at YesterWreck@yahoo.com
“In the early 1980s, body shops had it a lot of travel. tough,” said industry veteran John Loftus continued, “I certainly Loftus in a January 2018 interview. stayed in plenty of hotels. But I often “They needed someone or some- stayed in the homes of shop owners thing to pull them together and repre- and industry colleagues—a great sent them on a national scale. They respite from a hotel room. They knew needed some cohesion. Every shop I was working hard for them, and they owner was fighting their own individ- treated me like family. I always tried ual battles with insurance companies.” to return the favor. One of the shop At that time, auto body associaowners even flew me around the Midtions operated at the state level. One rewest in his private plane. gional association, IASA, represented “The organization back then never both the collision and mechanical sides had a lot of money. But we got by. And of the business in 13 states. In fact, if I was asked to speak somewhere, Loftus spent about three years somehow we found a way to as the Collision Industry Dipay for it. In fact, the first time rector for IASA after spendI was asked to speak in Euing 13 years as the owner and rope, I almost turned it down because I didn’t know how we operator of Hawthorne Auto would pay for it. But someBody in Hawthorne, CA, and several years serving in varihow it got done. ous volunteer roles for the “When I first started, John Loftus California Autobody Associsometimes it was hard to get ation. Loftus was a key player in the through to some shop owners. They formation of the CAA for southern Caljust didn’t get it. I told them they had ifornia and spent a year as the director. to start looking at their own costs, like ASA was around at that time as a nathe insurance companies look at theirs. tional organization. They were wasting so much money. At Loftus knew change was coming, one of my first speaking engagements, but it needed help. Other industry I talked for an entire hour and got zero leaders realized it too. So they formed reaction. At another place, I wasn’t a new industry organization, and gave getting through, so we pulled the table Loftus the reins. On Sept. 25, 1982, cloth off one of the tables where we the Society of Collision Repair Spe- had just had dinner, and I stood up on cialists (SCRS) was formed with goals the table and spoke! Some shop ownof providing body shops with techni- ers had to hear me say the same thing cal training and management educa- a couple of times before it sunk in.” tion, improving the quality standards When asked about how many of collision repair services, raising the places he had visited and where he professional standing of those en- spoke, Loftus noted that he had been gaged in the collision repair industry to 44 states and 20 different countries. and securing the financial position of “I stood in front of an industry individuals within the industry. It was group in England [on my first trip to Euthe first national organization dedi- rope] and told them how things worked cated solely to the collision industry. in the U.S. and the battles we had with When asked what SCRS was like insurance companies and adjusters,” he in its early days, Loftus responded, “The said. “They all sat there nodding, beSCRS office was wherever I said it was! cause it was no different an entire ocean I had a home in Texas, a home in Caliaway. Then we went to France, and then fornia, and some friends in Missouri— Germany and then Canada… everywhere we went, the industry problems Bill Wicklund of Wicklund’s Auto Body, where I stayed occasionally,” Loftus were the same. We went to Russia— noted. “I was there so often, I became an that was almost comical. They were still ‘honorary Wicklund.’ If I had access to a repairing cars there like it was 1950.” phone and a fax machine, that’s where Laughing, Loftus said, “I don’t my office was. We made it work!” think they wanted me to speak—I think Back then, as it does today, the they wanted me to teach them modern position of SCRS Director called for repair methods!”
54 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
In the 1980s, the OEs generally were not as attuned to the collision industry as they are today. But Loftus was quick to point out that SCRS had a good relationship with Toyota back then, as they were some of the first to produce and widely distribute collision repair manuals. He noted that GM was also part of the collision landscape at the time. If there is anything John Loftus is famous for, it’s his self-proclaimed mantra, “Working together is the most important work we do”—and he lived that every day. Loftus is a very one-onone guy and liked to work with individuals. If shops called to tell him that they were having issues with a particular insurance company or a particular adjuster, he would visit them or get the parties on the phone and work things out. “We never threatened to sue them,” said Loftus. “We were never condescending to any party. I always treated the shop and the insurance company
with dignity and respect, and we always came to a resolution because I listened to all parties, and we kept the customer in mind. The consumers spent a lot of money in insurance premiums—now it’s time for the insurance company and the shop to make things right for them because that’s what they paid for.” Loftus remembered one particular instance where an insurance company wanted a shop to clip the rear end of a car. The shop knew it was an unsafe repair, refused to do it, and the shop was removed from that carrier’s DRP program. The shop called Loftus to see what could be done. In a short time, Loftus had talked the insurers into totaling the car, the shop was reinstated in the insurer’s DRP program and the adjuster was exposed for having some ulterior motives for wanting the car clipped. When asked about his “finest moment” as SCRS Director, Loftus pointed to a brochure called “Insured Motorists’ See John Loftus, Page 62
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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 55
Shop Strategies
Stacey Phillips is a freelance writer and editor for the automotive industry. She has 20 years of experience writing for a variety of publications, and is co-author of “The Secrets of America’s Greatest Body Shops.” She can be reached at sphillips.autobodynews@gmail.com.
How to Build Customer Loyalty, Prepare for the New Customer Mindset with Stacey Phillips
According to surveys conducted by Phoenix Solutions Group (PSG), close to 80 percent of body shop customers choose a collision repair facility that they feel has their best interests at heart. Nick Schoolcraft, president of the Illinois-based company, said shop owners and employees need to stop worrying about what their insurance partners and competitors are doing and how they are marketing. Instead, he stressed the importance of understanding how to best interact with customers and connect with them emotionally. “A collision is an extremely emotional event. We really need to focus on building a strong relationship with customers as soon as they walk in the door,” said Nick during a presentation he gave this past November at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, NV, as part of the SCRS Repairer Driven Education Series. He told conference attendees that taking the time to build this type of relationship will help shops
gain repeat customers, referrals, inNick. “Truly understanding your cuscrease sales and ultimately, run a more tomers is the only way to build loysuccessful business. alty.” Nick’s father, Steve, founded PSG During his SEMA presentation, in 1988 following a car accident. “The Time Has Arrived for Change,” “The experience was so horrible, Nick discussed the new consumer he set out to change the industry,” said mindset. Nick. “Customers are expecting Since then, the company different types of experiences has concentrated 100 percent than they used to,” he said. of its efforts on developing “They are no longer delineatmarketing strategies for repair ing between a retail store and facilities. Part of that focus ina body shop.” cludes surveying collision Instead, they are expecting clients, which gives the com- Nick Schoolcraft, the same type of experience president of pany tremendous insight on they receive from forwardcurrent industry trends and Phoenix Solutions thinking companies, regardGroup ensures shops have a multiless of the industry. dimensional understanding of the voice “Eighty-seven percent of conof the customer. sumers measure all brands against Based on PSG’s research, the comApple, Amazon and Netflix, so having pany found that most shops focus on a deeper understanding of the voice of quality. the customer is critical for businesses “Quality isn’t a differentiator or operating today,” explained Nick. motivator—it’s an expectation,” said PSG surveys specifically focus
on gathering this type of information for the collision repair industry. “Gone are the days where quality and efficiency led the charge for how people chose a body shop,” he said. “Those reasons are actually 1 percent of the total decision that we see in our data.” Nick said customers are now choosing where to take their vehicles based on past experiences, reputation, honesty and additional factors that lead to a really great customer experience. “What’s even more interesting is that in the past 10 years, we’ve seen a 750 percent increase in the number of decision factors that people go through when deciding on a body shop,” said Nick. “More people want the opportunity to make a decision on their own. They don’t want to be told what to do or where to bring their cars.” He pointed out that this movement toward consumer choice is becoming
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apparent with insurance companies too, which has been demonstrated by the recent closing of estimating facilities and the implementation of mobile estimating applications. With an extensive background in marketing, Nick joined Accenture six years ago as a subject matter expert focusing predominantly on customer and employee experience strategies for Fortune 100 brands. “The best type of marketing today is word-of-mouth—interactions with human beings,” he explained. “The ability to connect with a human being is the best way to sell anything. You typically want to buy from those you care about.” Typically, after individuals have been in an accident, they go through a series of processes such as calling the insurance company, the police and the rental car company. When it comes to making a final decision on which shop they ultimately go to, they reach out to those they are closest to, such as friends and family, as well as do online research. “By understanding what your customers want, how they are feeling and what they are looking for, you have the opportunity to differentiate yourself
through empathy,” said Nick. “This ensures a shop has a leg up when selling its services.” He also recommended offering customers an experience that is unmatched. “The problem is that a lot of body shops believe it’s all about getting the vehicle in and out,” said Nick. PSG surveys have consistently shown that customers expect that the car will look the same as it did before the accident. “The differentiator is the shop’s ability to connect one-on-one with the customer,” Nick said. By taking the time to really understand customers and learn exactly what they want, Nick said shops can drive a better marketing strategy and enhance customer interactions. Being courteous, shaking hands, looking a customer in the eye and keeping customers informed about the repair process all contribute to connecting with them emotionally. Nick said that a mutually beneficial relationship with customers in which they feel part of the repair process has been shown to drive best-in-class experiences. Over the last year, a large part of what PSG has set out to do is under-
stand the areas of the business where it could enhance interactions with customers. This has led to three top priorities for 2018: social media, employee engagement and dynamic marketing. “We are keeping my dad’s legacy as close to heart as we can and finetuning it to be more adaptive to today’s industry’s needs,” said Nick.
1) Social media “I believe a lot of people in the industry today don’t necessarily understand how to use social media effectively,” said Nick. “The misnomer is that many believe that social media should be used as a conversion tool, but the real goal of social media is to create awareness and have a social conversation with those who are following you.” As more people become interested in what you have to say, Nick said, a better social media following will result. Deep customer insight is also critical for businesses, according to Nick. PSG uses the insights gathered from its unique survey to build a robust social media marketing strategy for customers. This involves creating captivating, unique content to drive engagement.
“Social media is only beneficial when the content is relevant to its followers—not through generic, recycled content about cars. If you are posting the same thing that your neighbor is posting or other shops in the country are, your relevancy isn’t really shown,” he explained. “Google and the other search engines pick up on that and it hurts you in the long run.” In addition, he recommended having a consistent look, tone and feel with all social media posts. “This requires a lot of work and insight, but the benefits are far greater when done the correct way,” he said.
2) Employee engagement Another key focus this year for PSG is offering dynamic online learning and training for shops. The company recently invested in a learning management system that will assist collision repair facilities in choosing the training courses that best meet their needs. “The training will be individually tailored to each shop and be directly related to the metrics PSG gathers,” said Nick. He said this will help customers better understand the information the See New Customer Mindset, Page 62
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OE Shop Certification
Gary Ledoux is an industry veteran with 48 years’ experience in the automotive and OEM collision parts industry. His column appears exclusively in Autobody News. He can be reached at YesterWreck@yahoo.com
OE Shop Certification Programs: Audi’s Mark Allen Interviewed with Gary Ledoux
For this month’s OE certification profile, we spoke with industry icon Mark Allen, Manager of Collision Programs/Collision Training and EV After Sales for Audi.
ABN: Does your program have a specific name?
Audi: It’s called the Audi Authorized Collision Repair Program. It was first started back in 2003, received a major overhaul in 2006 and another one most recently in 2015.
ABN: What is the main purpose of the program?
Audi: Audi is big on controlling the total customer experience. Despite the bad situation an accident brings, we don’t want to make it worse for our clients with a bad shop and a bad repair. So for us, it’s all about customer retention, and making sure the car is fixed properly. ABN: What are the program requirements?
Audi: All shops receive a plaque. Technicians that complete our welding course get a special jacket. All certified shops are on the towing program, so any Audi owner using their Roadside Assistance program due to an accident can have their car towed free to an Audi Authorized shop. Audi Authorized shops are also the first shops of choice to
repair any of our transportation-damaged cars, show-damaged cars or any cars that are corporately owned that suffer an accident. And of course they can promote themselves as an Audi Authorized shop. ABN: What shops are eligible?
Audi: We welcome dealer-owned shops, independent shops and MSOs, but the standards and requirements remain the same. We don’t cut anyone any slack. Right now we have a 60/40 split—60 percent are independent and 40 percent are dealer shops. The dealer percentage is perhaps higher than other OEs, but that is because of our focus on customer retention.
Audi: We focus on three areas: tools, equipment and training. For training, we don’t now require that the shop be I-CAR Gold Class, but many are simply because they are the better shops and are Gold Class by default. Mark Allen However, in the near future we will be requiring all shops to be ABN: Must an independent shop be Gold Class. Then we also have our sponsored by a dealer? If so, has that own classes; some on structural repair, caused any problems? others are model-specific. We also have a 10-day aluminum class and Audi: Yes, a dealer must sponsor an inclasses on carbon fiber. Also, we have dependent shop and the shop must be two levels of training for two levels of in its own market area. If our focus is shops. The hybrid training is the more on the customer experience and rebasic with limited classes. The ultra- taining customers, it makes no sense advanced training includes all classes for a dealer to sponsor a shop that is and is meant for the ultra-advanced 50 miles away. A customer will never drive 50 miles to a body shop. shops. One other thing about Audi training: most of it is hands-on training. ABN: Can a dealer sponsor more than The technicians like it because this is one shop? what they do all day. They can relate better and learn better rather than Audi: Yes, but that rarely happens. The units in operation must warrant more watching a video or reading a book. than one shop in any given dealer’s area of influence. ABN: What are the program benefits?
58 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
ABN: Are any shops specifically ineligible?
Audi: Our program is limited to dealers and shops in the U.S. A few years ago we used to handle what few participating shops and dealers we had in Canada. Now that there is more participation, Audi Canada handles it
themselves, although we still provide a good part of the training materials.
ABN: Do you have any program partners, such as Axalta, VeriFacts, Summit, Assured Performance or others? If so, what role do they play? Audi: We have VeriFacts handle the information technology for us.
ABN: What is the fee for the program? Does the program run on an annual basis? Audi: Independent shops pay $7,500 for the first year and $4,000 for each succeeding year. Our dealer charge is proprietary information. ABN: Do you inspect every shop and if so, who does the inspections?
Audi: Yes, Axalta conducts the annual inspections for us. We also look at feedback from Audi employees and other Audi corporate people who have cars repaired at these shops. They should have the same good experience and the same proper repair as any Audi customer. On top of that, I travel quite a bit and when I do, I make a point to make a few unannounced visits to Audi Authorized shops. ABN: Is there an optimum number of shops you want to have and if so, how close are you to reaching that number? Audi: The optimum number is about 250. Right now we are at about 192 with about 100 being the ultra-ad-
vanced shops that work on all models, and the rest are hybrid shops that only work on certain models. Of course, that number fluctuates as shops come and go. We will put on more shops, but we want to do it strategically, placing the shops only where they are needed based on units in operation. ABN: Have you had any shops drop out and if so, why?
Audi: We are big on training because we want the cars fixed properly and our customers to drive a safe automobile. I want to be able to stand up in front of a group of people at an industry meeting or show, talk about training and know all of our shops are properly trained. So if a shop can’t or won’t meet our requirements and complete the proper training, we have to part ways. Of course, we give the shop plenty of opportunity to take the training. We call and let them know when the training will take place and ask if we can sign them up at that time.
ABN: If the shop is removed from the program due to a training lapse, and they later take the training, are they allowed back into the program?
Audi: We address that on a case by case basis. It is a lot less work to allow that shop back into the program than to go out and find another shop and start from scratch. ABN: Do you have a field force?
Audi: We have Area After-Sale Managers who work with both dealers and shops, but they are not collision-dedicated. ABN: What has been the biggest challenge in establishing the network?
Audi: Today in 2018, most people in the industry know about high-strength steel, aluminum and such, and know that vehicles with these substrates require different tools, equipment and procedures. When we started back in 2003, this was a foreign concept to most people—even those in the industry. See Shop Certification, Page 64
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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 59
Hyundai Showcases World’s 1st Self-Driven Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle
A fleet of Hyundai Motor Company’s next-generation fuel cell electric cars has succeeded in completing a selfdriven, 190-kilometer-journey from Seoul to Pyeongchang. This is the first time in the world that level 4 autonomous driving has been achieved with fuel cell electric cars, the ultimate eco-friendly vehicles. Until now, autonomous driving has been demonstrated at a limited speed on some sections of domestic roads, but this is the first time autonomous cars have driven such a long distance at 100 km/h-110 km/h, the maximum speed allowed by law on Korean highways. Five Hyundai vehicles completed the journey. Three vehicles are based on Hyundai’s next-generation fuel cell electric SUV NEXO, scheduled to be released in Korea next month, and the other two are Genesis G80 autonomous vehicles. All vehicles are equipped with level 4 self-driving technology, as defined by the SAE international standards, and 5G network technology. The vehicles used for the demonstration are “futuristic vehicles” that closely represent Hyundai’s three visions for future mobility: con-
nected mobility; freedom in mobility; and clean mobility. The demonstration started in Seoul on Feb. 2 with the ‘CRUISE’ and ‘SET’ buttons being pressed on the autonomous-driving steering wheel of each vehicle, at which point the cars immediately switched to self-driving mode and began the 190-km journey to Pyeongchang. Entering the high-
them to recognize surrounding vehicles more accurately and make better judgments at junctions and at branching roads, navigate through toll gates by accurately calculating the toll gate’s width and position, and precisely pinpoint the vehicle’s position on a map by using external sensors fitted for situations when the GPS signal was interrupted, such as going through
way, the vehicles moved in response to the natural flow of traffic. They executed lane changes, overtook maneuvers and navigated toll gates using Hi-pass, South Korea’s wireless expressway payment system. Building on the successful demonstration of Hyundai’s vehicles, which drove autonomously in Las Vegas during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), these cars featured a number of advanced technologies that enabled
long underground tunnels. Hyundai conducted a significant number of highway test drives amounting to hundreds of thousands of kilometers traveled, which enabled them to accumulate a vast amount of data that helped enhance the performance of its self-driving vehicles. “Hyundai’s philosophy for developing autonomous driving technology is to provide the highest level of safety combined with a high standard of con-
“Hyundai’s philosophy for developing autonomous driving technology is to provide the highest level of safety combined with a high standard of convenience that our customers expect,” — Jinwoo Lee
venience that our customers expect,” said Jinwoo Lee, head of the Intelligent Safety Technology Center at Hyundai Motor Group. The exterior and interior of selfdriving vehicles used for this demonstration look similar to Hyundai’s other mass-produced models, but they are equipped with various cameras and LIDARs. Adding a small number of sensors to mass-produced vehicles has enabled the realization of fully autonomous driving technology, and thus brings the company a step closer to the commercialization of self-driving technology. Autonomous driving processes a high volume of data, which requires a lot of power. The fuel cell electric model is able to produce electricity through a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel cell stack, making it the optimal vehicle model choice for this test. The NEXO fuel cell electric SUV can drive more than 600 km on a single charge, which takes approximately five minutes. The model boasts a worldclass system efficiency of 60 percent, durability equivalent to internal com-
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bustion engine-driven vehicles and a load space of 839 liters. Connectivity Enhanced Infotainment System: Utilizing the 5G network of KT Corp., a Korean mobile service provider, the vehicles deliver five new advanced information technologies, all accessed through a user interface (UI) that provides an intuitive user experience.
Passengers in the rear seats can use “Home Connect,” a car-to-home technology that enables the user to access and control IoT devices installed in their smart home. They can view home camera images in real-time, control the lighting, remote door lock or TV, and even manage home energy systems. Hyundai plans to phase in the home-to-car and car-to-home tech-
nology to its vehicles from the first half of 2018 and from 2019, respectively. “Assistant Chat” is a technology that allows users to ask a Chat Bot questions with simple voice commands and receive answers in the form of text or images. “Wellness Care” can monitor health information of passengers seated in the rear of the vehicle, such as their stress level, heart rate, and mood state. They can also access relaxing therapeutic services, and they can be connected with a health consultant through a real-time video call. In addition, the vehicle also provides “Noise-Away” cabin noise reduction technology, and “Mood Care,” which provides rear door mood lighting when the music player or Wellness Care is active. The Korean karaoke application “Everysing” also allows passengers to sing along to music on their journey, and it’s possible to stream video to the rear-seat entertainment system. Lastly, users can receive real-time traffic information notifications, supported by
multiple languages, including Korean, English and Chinese. These advanced infotainment features enable drivers to make the best use of their time spent in autonomously driven vehicles, making them more than a simple means of moving from one location to another. Hyundai Motor Group, which includes flagship units Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, is preparing for the commercialization of the SAE standard Level 4 compliant autonomousdriving system in smart cities by 2021. To this end, the company announced plans at CES 2018 last month to jointly develop self- driving technology with Aurora Innovation, a U.S.based autonomous driving startup. Hyundai also plans to commercialize the technology for fully autonomous driving by 2030. Furthermore, since August last year, Hyundai has been researching and building its V2X infrastructure. As a founding member of the American Center for Mobility, an American research institute for future mobility, Hyundai Motor Group last October invested $5 million in the ACM-led construction of state-of-the-art testing facilities.
SCRS Releases Video of ‘Kool Tools From 2017 SEMA Show & More’
In January, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) held an open board meeting in Palm Springs, CA, including a presentation from the SCRS Education Committee on “Kool Tools” that may provide assistance or convenience in collision repair tasks. The presentation, led by committee member Toby Chess and SCRS Chairman Kye Yeung, was inspired by the wide range of products and offerings exhibited during the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, NV. Each year, the SCRS Education Committee walks the SEMA Show looking for unique tools, equipment and offerings to the collision repair industry that they feel provide notable value in fixing today’s damaged vehicles. Kye Yeung and Toby Chess purchased these tools, tested them and shared some of their favorites during the live presentation at the SCRS Open Meeting in January. SCRS encourages you to subscribe to the association’s YouTube channel SCRSCollision to be notified as new material is released. For more information about SCRS, or to join as a member, please visit www.scrs.com, call toll free 1-877-841-0660 or email us at info@scrs.com.
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Continued from Page 57
New Customer Mindset
company supplies and provide employees with tactics on how to improve performance metrics. “We want to ensure our customers’ employees feel as though they have the tools they need to become better educated, and we also want to put in measures for the ownership team to better understand how their employees are doing and the competencies that are occurring within their shops,” he explained. The courses will be focused on management skills and what Nick referred to as the “soft skills” of the industry. “PSG has always been focused Continued from Page 54
John Loftus
Rights.” One of the things that insurance companies had customers do was get three estimates from three different body shops, then make them choose the lowest estimate. Customers found that irritating. Legitimate shops found it counterproductive and less-then-ethical shops used it to low-ball customers to get the work. SCRS worked hard to eliminate that practice. Loftus explained, “For the first time, we had a ‘tool’ that shops could use to fight the ‘three estimate’ practice.” Continued from Cover
Holland’s
purchased old signage for the shop. I just like the look of it.” When he found gas pumps bearing the old “Gulf” logo online three years ago, he said, he knew one day he would do something with them. He began collecting items along similar lines, and when he made the move from his original business on Alabama 59 south of Robertsdale to the new location at 18394 Krchak Lane, he began working with an architect, Larry Ellison, “who made it all come to life.” While the look of the business is old-fashioned, Holland said, he has gone to great lengths to ensure that the new facility is state-of-the-art. “We put a lot of thought into the design of the repair shop to make it easier to access and better for the employees and the customers,” he said.
on the front of the house instead of the back of the house, and our focus will continue to remain there,” he said. These include courses on topics such as how to set proper expectations up front for customers, how to communicate effectively throughout the repair experience and how to follow up with customers after delivering their vehicles. The courses will be based on the metrics PSG gathers from shop customers and are expected to be available within the second quarter of 2018. “One of the things that my father always wanted to do is be everything for everybody at every point of the day,” said Nick. “This is our way of extending that to the industry.” Many of the trainings will resemble what Steve created, while being
3) Dynamic marketing PSG also plans to offer shops the ability to market to their individual customers dynamically by personalizing post-repair follow-up letters. Currently, PSG assists shops by sending out hand-signed letters that are focused on particular parameters. “The future letters we send out to customers will change based on the feedback we gather,” said Nick. “They are going to be highly personalized to the individual while incorporating elements the shop wants to market, which will garner a much better response and build trust.” Nick said that this will help address the needs of customers more di-
For more information about Phoenix Solutions Group, contact Nick Schoolcraft at 847-764-8079 or visit www .phoenixsolutionsgroup.net
Loftus then went state-by-state, working with the local state-level affiliated associations, getting them to speak with their respective state insurance commissioner to make sure they could distribute their “Motorists’ Rights” brochures. In Illinois, the state insurance commissioner was very difficult to meet with. Finally, the commissioner was due to be at the Chicago airport for a morning flight and told Loftus he would meet him at the airport at a designated time if he wanted to talk then. Loftus hopped on a red-eye flight and made his appointment with the commissioner. The “Motorists’ Rights”
brochure was approved 10 days later. When asked if there was any work he had left undone at SCRS—anything he wanted to do but never had the time or resources to accomplish—Loftus replied, “We did as much as we could every chance we got. We never worried about the resources—We would find some way to get things done. It was a rewarding time for me, and people appreciated what we did. I have no regrets or work left undone.” Loftus was the SCRS Director for 19 years, retiring in 2000, when the reins were turned over to industry icon Dan Risley. In 2003, Loftus and his friend,
Larry Martin, began Loftus and Martin Long Range deep-sea fishing excursions out of San Diego, each trip escorting 23 anglers on a two-week cruise. And that thing about the “Dragon Slayer”… when Loftus retired he was presented with a huge sword in a wood and glass case by the Kansas City and Topeka Chapter of SCRS, where he was deemed to be the “Dragon Slayer Extraordinaire”… the “dragon” being all the issues and problems Loftus tried to address and resolve during his time as SCRS Director. John Loftus was truly a champion of the industry—a Dragon Slayer Extraordinaire.
“We’ve basically doubled our work space. We’ve widened each bay by 10 feet and it’s constructed to allow access from both sides, making it easier to get in and out.”
one-stop shop for all of your automotive needs.” A native of Silverhill, Holland said auto repair was not the family business, but he got bitten by the bug at an early age. “Much of what I know about the auto repair business I learned from Pete Kulicka at Dixie Auto Paint and Body,” he said. “He’s the one that gave me my first job and he really took me under his wing, teaching me all he could about auto repair and about the business.” After working for several auto repair places around the area, Holland was able to lease the old Epp’s property on Alabama 59 in Robertsdale, where he served the community for more than 13 years. While he has always been in the auto repair business, Holland said, offering mechanical services evolved over time. “People were always coming into
the shop, asking if we could fix something,” he said. “They knew we didn’t do that type of work, but they knew they could trust me to do it right and I would always try to find a way to help them. Eventually, I decided that we could do everything here. It’s not about the money. It’s about providing the best service that we can to help our customers.” Two years ago, he and his wife got the opportunity to purchase the property on Krchak Lane, but it took a chance meeting to get the financing necessary to make owning his own shop a reality. “I went to three different banks trying to get a loan, and just wasn’t making any headway,” he said. Then one day, Chad Yarbrough came into the shop to have some repairs done, overheard a conversation and made him an offer. “He said, ‘I think I can make this
Bobby Holland greets customers during open house at the new Holland’s Paint & Body Shop location in Robertsdale. Credit: Gulf Coast Media
While it is a better work environment, Holland said, he and his eight employees bring the same commitment to the customers that evolved when he opened his first shop in 2003. “We offer full collision and auto repair, along with a full-service mechanic,” he said. “I want this to be a
62 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
updated to industry standards and expectations.
rectly as well as allow more freedom in choosing the types of messages sent. “Ultimately, it enables a more personalized experience for shops and their customers,” he said. “Our mission for 2018 is transformation—solidifying the core that my dad created over the past 30 years, which is ensuring we are 100 percent focused on the collision facilities and delivering best-in-class types of products for them. Not only do we want to stay true to the industry and their needs, but we are trying to find ways to incorporate that everchanging customer mindset.”
See Holland’s, Page 65
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www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 63
Mike Anderson to Host Free Webinars on Locating OEM Procedures
Trainer and consultant Mike Anderson of Collision Advice will host a new series of free monthly webinars, titled “Learn to Research, Research to Learn,” throughout 2018. The webinars are designed to help shops more easily research and find OEM collision repair procedures. Most will include an automaker representative, and attendees will have an opportunity to text in questions during the live webinar, to be answered by Anderson or the OEM representative. “I’ll be focusing on a different automaker each month, and I will walk shop owners, estimators and technicians through the process of using that OEM’s specific website to locate the repair procedures, information and position statements they need,” Anderson said. Anderson has long been a proponent of shops checking OEM repair procedures for every job, and believes far too few shops are doing that. “Once you understand the automakers’ websites and begin using them, it becomes a much faster and
easier process, and these webinars will help shops do that,” he said. “Repetition is key.” The first of the free monthly webinars will focus on Toyota’s Technical Information System (TIS), and will be held at 2 p.m. (Eastern) / 11 a.m. (Pacific) on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Visit the following URL to register: http://bit.ly/2EQiDk7 Collision Advice is a full-service training and consulting firm offering collision repairers’ businesses of all sizes assistance with virtually every aspect of business management and production, including estimating, SOP development, lean principles, accounting, sales and marketing, customer service, negotiating, workforce development, websites and social marketing. Anderson and his Collision Advice team offer dozens of workshops and seminars throughout the country each year, and provide business and shop operational consulting services for individual collision repair businesses. Collision Advice also conducts quarterly “Who Pays for What?” surveys in conjunction with CRASH Network.
Continued from Page 58
Shop Certification
First, I had to convince our own corporate team at Audi that changes were necessary. Then we had to convince our dealers. They wanted to continue fixing cars the same way they learned 25 years ago. It was a challenge in 2003, but we eventually started changing minds. ABN: What is you biggest challenge in maintaining the network?
Audi: Our biggest challenge is maintaining communication with our shops. It seems the technician base in our shops is pretty solid—few people come and go. The “curn” is with management people in the shops. It’s a real challenge to get them to keep their profile current so we know who we are talking to when we call. It’s also a challenge to keep everyone’s training current. ABN: What do you see for the future of OE certification programs?
Audi: I think it is inevitable that all OEs will have some sort of certification pro-
gram. Those that don’t have a program now will start one. Those that have an existing program will put more teeth into it. In the future, I think OEs will make their customers more aware of their programs and find ways to drive more vehicles to their shops. Also in the future, I think insurance companies will pay more attention to certified shops and give them more credence due to liability concerns. ABN: Any final thoughts?
Audi: We have a lot of other ideas to enhance the program. Some are under development, some are still just ideas. But we will continue to move forward with the industry.
Your leading source for SOUTHEASTERN Collision Repair News! southeastern.autobodynews.com
PPG Funds Refinish Student Scholarships Through CREF
Repair Education Foundation’s effort to promote careers in the collision industry and assist future professionals as they train for a career. It is more important than ever to showcase the industry as a rewarding career option for students and, through these scholarships, we can help remove some of the financial barriers they face during their technical education.” Industry members interested in working together with the Collision Repair Education Foundation in supporting secondary and post-secondary collision repair students, instructors and their school programs should contact Director of Development Brandon Eckenrode at 847463-5244 or Brandon.Eckenrode@ ed-foundation.org.
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The PPG Foundation has provided $20,000 in funding for the Collision Repair Education Foundation, which will be awarded to students who have demonstrated a career interest in automotive collision repair and refinish. The scholarships, $5,000 each, are awarded annually to full-time students attending a post-secondary school with a focus on degree programs in collision repair. The funds may be used to assist the students with educational expenses such as tuition, books, tools and equipment. Scholarship award winners will be announced later this spring. Domenic Brusco, PPG Automotive Sr. Manager, MVP Business Solutions & Industry Relations, said, “PPG proudly supports the Collision
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Continued from Page 62
Industry Invited To Sponsor Uniforms for Collision Education Students The Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) is facilitating a uniform donation program between collision repair businesses and high school and college collision repair programs for the 2018–2019 school year. Uniforms will create a more professional learning environment for students, preparing them for potential careers in the collision industry. Each local student can be sponsored for $50, which provides the student with a Cintas work shirt and pants. Businesses that sponsor more than 20 uniforms can have their corporate logo featured on a patch on the front of the uniform shirts. Students of Barry Roopnarine, a teacher in the collision program at Edison Technical High School, received donations from The Collision Centers of New York Inc. for the 2017– 2018 school year. Roopnarine said, “The sponsorship… allows the students to maintain a professional look. It also makes them aware that the collision industry is taking their education seriously, as they are the future of the industry.” Participating businesses can sponsor schools of their choice, or they can choose to be paired with a school in need by the Education Foun-
dation. The donation program can lead to long-term relationships between professionals and school programs that are preparing the next generation of collision industry employees. Madison Larson, Human Resources Representative from The Collision Centers of New York Inc., said, “As we move into 2018, it’s important to invest and encourage our next generation of technicians. These uniforms for the Thomas E. Edison auto body program allow the students to feel like they are a part of something special. It creates confidence and excitement for the program. The program is very dedicated to its students, and we are thrilled to be a part of that.” Sponsorship and donations are facilitated through the Collision Repair Education Foundation, but sponsoring businesses are invited to visit the school to meet the students and distribute the new uniforms. Roopnarine said, “Having members from the Collision Centers visit the classroom allowed students the opportunity to explore career options and gain a deeper understanding of the importance of their education.” Zachary Concepcion, a 12th
grade collision student at Edison Technical High School and recipient of uniform donations in 2017, said the donation shows him and his classmates where they can find opportunities in the industry. “It gives us a reason to never be unprepared… and makes us look really professional as a class,” he said. Companies interested in sponsoring the uniform donation program through the Collision Repair Education Foundation for the 2018—2019 school year should contact Collision Repair Education Foundation Director of Development Brandon Eckenrode at Brandon.Eckenrode@ed -foundation.org or 847-463-5244. Roopnarine said, “Through partnership between collision education programs and collision industry associates, it can lead to opportunities to help fill the technician shortage. Without the efforts of the Collision Repair Education Foundation, this opportunity would not have been possible as they help form a link between collision repair schools and the collision industry.”
www.autobodynews.com Chuck Sulkala Scholarship Fund to Honor NABC Founder
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NABC Chairman Darren Huggins presents Chuck Sulkala, with commemorative plaque honoring his years of service
“We know of no better way to thank and immortalize Chuck’s significant contributions and impact than to help ensure that a future generation of collision repair professionals will benefit from the many opportunities created during Chuck’s labor of love to transition the image of body shops into today’s respected collision repair industry,” said Darren Huggins, NABC Chairman. The Sulkala scholarship fund, which will be administered by the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF), was announced at the National Auto Body Council’s Annual Member Reception in Palm Springs.
Holland’s
happen for you,’” Holland said. It turned out that Yarbrough was a loan officer with United Bank. “We got the financing, and here we are today,” Holland said. Holland opened for business at his new location in December, and held an open house in appreciation of his customers on Friday, Jan. 12. The shop is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 251-947-9630 or visit the Holland’s Paint & Body page on Facebook.
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Autobody News CARSTAR North America Launches U.S., Canada 1st Brand Campaign
This year, CARSTAR North America will launch a new brand campaign across the U.S. and Canada —its first-ever integrated campaign for North America. A new television spot titled “It’s Your Car” will be unveiled in February, airing for the inaugural time during the Winter Olympics across all of Canada. CARSTAR stores in the U.S. will air the spot in local markets. The commercial shares the story that at CARSTAR, “We care, we are efficient and we are accountable. It’s not just a car. It’s YOUR car.” “Our key findings reinforced our understanding that we know no two accidents are the same,” said Michael Macaluso, President, CARSTAR North America. “Every car is different, and each deserves to be treated with care. That’s why we are committed to making every job count. Because when it’s your car, it matters most. At CARSTAR, we work with you to find a solution that best fits your needs, and make sure that when your car is returned, it’s exactly what you expected.”
www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS 65
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Call or e-mail now for rates: 800-699-8251 or ltedesco@autobodynews.com 66 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
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Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Charleston 1500 Savannah Hwy. › Charleston, SC 29407
Hendrick Honda Charleston At Hendrick Honda of Charleston we maintain a comprehensive inventory of high quality, Honda Genuine parts. Parts Dept. Hours
Parts: 800.868.2746 Fax: 843.769.2729 Mon-Fri: 8-6:30 • Sat: 8-5 brandan.carnes@hendrickauto.com
Mon.-Sat. 7:30am - 6:30pm
Start something special! Phone:
866.486.9938
Fax: 843.402.6584
1478 Savannah Hwy. • Charleston, SC 29407
ONLY ORIGINAL MINI PARTS MINI OF CHARLESTON 1518 Savannah Hwy. Charleston, SC 29407 843-402-6544 Fax: 843-573-8302 Hours: M-F: 7:30 - 6 / Sat: 8 - 5 ©2017 MINI, a division of BMW of North America, LLC. The MINI name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.
Rick Hendrick Fiat of North Charleston 8355 Rivers Ave. › N. Charleston, SC 29406 Parts: 800.456.5337 Fax: 843.553.0657
Mon-Fri: 7:30-6 • Sat: 8-5
Rick Hendrick BMW Charleston Original Equipment BMW Replacement Parts
1518 Savannah Hwy., Charleston, SC 29407
Lexus of Charleston 2424 Savannah Hwy. › Charleston, SC 29414 Parts: 843.852.0333 Fax: 843.852.4834
Mon-Fri: 8-6 • Sat: 8-5
Volvo of Charleston 1518 Savannah Hwy. › Charleston, SC 29407
Parts: 843.402.6516 Fax: 843.402.6520 Mon-Fri: 7:30-6 • Sat: 8-5
Toyota Scion of North Charleston 7151 Rivers Ave. N. › Charleston, SC 29406 VOLVO GENUINE PARTS
68 MARCH 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
Parts: 800.342.9682 Fax: 843.553.5723
Mon-Fri: 7-7 • Sat: 7-6
Parts: 800.763.0283 Mon-Fri: 7:30-6 • Sat: 8-5
Fax: 843.763.8493