May 2018 Southeast Edition by Autobody News

36 YEARS

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Vol. 9 / Issue 3 / May 2018

State Farm Responds to Claims of Influencing Non-OEM Auto Repair

Todd Tracy’s 10 Ways to Avoid a $42 Million Verdict

by Katherine Coig, glassBYTEs.com

Attorney Todd Tracy’s recent lawsuit against a dealership body shop marks the start of a profound shift for collision repairers. Below is his list of 10 Ways to Avoid a $42 Million Verdict, co-authored by Gene Bilobram, who wrote “The Pre and Post Scan Revolution” featured in Autobody News last spring.

A jury recently found Texas-based John Eagle Collision Center liable for injuries sustained by Matthew and Marcia Seebachan following a 2013 crash because a repair was not done according to OEM specifications, according to the verdict. Now, State Farm is in the spotlight for its alleged role in influencing that repair. The couple is suing for negligence and breach of warranty. The lawsuit stems from a non-OEM roof repair, which used an adhesive instead of being welded as Honda’s

specifications outlined. According to John Eagle’s director Boyce Willis, State Farm wouldn’t pay the shop unless the repair was done according to its specifications as opposed to Honda’s. “No insurance company should ever dictate to a collision repair center or body shop how to repair a vehicle. To do so is extremely negligent, and shows a wanton disregard for human life and the safety of others,” said Todd Tracy, attorney for the plaintiffs. “John Eagle did not repair the subject 2010 Honda Fit to Honda’s body repair specSee State Farm Responds, Page 14

NC Body Shop Owner Among Four Killed in Two-Car Crash on US-501 by Beth Lawrence, The Laurinburg Exchange

A Scotland County, NC, man and three others were killed in a two-car

Christopher George Lockerlear

crash late on March 29 near the Scotland-Robeson line. Christopher George Locklear, 45, of Pressley Lane perished in the head-on collision, according to North Carolina Highway Patrol Sgt. Phillip Collins. The passenger in Locklear’s car, Patrick Lee, 45, of Railroad Avenue in McColl, SC, was airlifted to McLeod Regional Medical Center in critical condition. The identities of the occupants in the first vehicle have See Two-Car Crash, Page 12

by Gene Bilobram and Todd Tracy

1) Always Follow OEM Repair Specifications Refer to vehicle-specific (year, make, model) and repair-specific OEM repair manual information on every repair. Follow up by seeking any OEM position statement, Technical Service Bulletin (TSB), recall or general procedure applicable to the OEM and its vehicles.

2) Always Follow I-CAR OEM repair procedures do not always exist in a particular vehicle repair situation. In those cases, published I-CAR best practices should be sought out and followed to assure an industry best practices repair. After OEM procedures, always follow I-CAR. 3) Remember Who Your Customer Is The vehicle owner and future owners will live with the consequences of the repairs you make. Keep the customer informed about the high standard of repairs the shop is striving to provide with any insurer resistance to same. It’s the shop’s duty to involve the customer rather than make unilateral decisions which can compromise repairs. The shop’s overriding duty is to provide the safest repair See 10 Ways to Avoid, Page 10

Greed Drove $23 Million Auto Insurance Fraud at Chiropractic Clinics in FL by Paula McMahon, Sun Sentinel

Even Andrew Rubinstein admitted he was motivated by greed when he got involved in an elaborate $23 million auto insurance fraud that operated for years in chiropractic clinics in South Florida. His desire for a more comfortable life was part of a circle of fraud that federal prosecutors said cost the rest of us—by pushing up the cost of insurance for millions of drivers. Rubinstein, who was part of a corrupt group of clinic owners, chiropractors and attorneys that operated mostly in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, was sentenced March 21 to six years in federal prison. “He did it for greed. He did it because he wanted a better lifestyle. He did it for money,” prosecutor Jef-

frey Kaplan said. The crime ring raked in at least $23 million from 10 auto insurance companies in the seven years it operated, ending with a series of arrests in 2017.

Massive $23 million auto insurance fraud was an intricate operation. (l to r) Felix Filenger, 41 and Andrew Rubinstein, 48

The fraud involved ripping off auto insurance companies by illegally billing for Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance money under Florida’s no-fault law. See Insurance Fraud, Page 22

PERMIT #288 ANAHEIM, CA

PAID

Change Service Requested

P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018

Presorted Standard PRESORTED US Postage PAID STANDARD San Bernardino, CA U.S. POSTAGE Permit #2244

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

CONTENTS AAAS Wraps Up 2018 Capitol Day Events . . . . 21 Access Insurance Company Ordered Into Liquidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 American Technical Education Association Recognizes Chattanooga State in TN . . . . . . 22

Phillips - WIN Event Highlights Talent Development, Career Management in Collision Industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Sisk - Get to Know WIN’s 2018 MIW Honorees . 38 Yoswick - Problems With Non-OEM Radiators Led to CAPA Certification Program . . . . . . . 36

Atlanta I-CAR to Host 9th Annual Golf Tournament. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Auto Repair Shop Owner Found Murdered in Holtville, AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Caliber Collision Collects Donations for Annual Food Drive in SC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Caliber Collision Wants St. Augustine Road

NATIONAL ‘Who Pays for What?’ Survey: Increased Use of Materials Invoicing Systems . . . . . . . . . . 27 2 Great Danes Reign at Top Dog Garage . . . . . 56 ABAT Skeet Tournament is on the Horizon . . . . 24 Affectiva Launches Emotion Tracking AI

Site in Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

for Connected Car Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

D&V Autobody - Top VA Automaker Recognition. 18

Arizona Suspends Uber’s Driverless Car Tests . 60

Golf Ball-Sized Hail Damages Hundreds of Vehicles in Daufuskie Island, Hilton Head and St. Helena, SC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Greed Drove $23 Million Auto Insurance Fraud at Chiropractic Clinics in FL . . . . . . . . . 1 High School Auto Repair Program Gets Careers Into Gear in WV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 IGONC Triangle Chapter Learns About Protractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Katie Inge is the Woman in Charge at Chesapeake, VA, Auto Body Shop . . . . . . . . 24 Nashville I-CAR Committee Supports CREF With Golf Tournament, Career Fair . . . . . . . . 20 NC Body Shop Owner Among Four Killed in Two-Car Crash on US-501. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Painters Supply & Equipment Co. Acquires ACS of Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Registration Open for CREF 17th Annual Golf Fundraiser, Co-Hosted by PPG GA . . . . . . . . 12 SARC 2018 Showcases Collision Repair

The Elmore County, AL, Sheriff’s Office is investigating a murder. Investigators received the call about 6 p.m. April 16 about a man dead in the 500 block of Fern Road, Holtville, AL, said Sheriff Bill Franklin. They found Tony Carr, 55, dead in the garage behind his home, the sheriff said. “Mr. Carr had an auto repair shop, a garage, set up about 30 yards behind his home,” Franklin said. “That was his business. Two family members went to the garage to check on him and found the body. We’ll have to wait until we hear

ASA Endorsement of OEM Service Procedures . 43 Assured Performance Announces Business Development Summit at NACE

AUTOBODY

from forensics as to the exact cause of death, but it does appear that Mr. Carr did in fact receive some type of trauma injury to his head.” A possible motive was unknown the night of April 16, Franklin said. There had been no arrests made by 8 p.m. that night. “This is a congested neighborhood, and our investigators are going door to door developing leads,” he said. “We have some persons of interest, but no one has been charged.” This marks the first homicide reported in Elmore County for the year. We thank Montgomery Advertiser for reprint permission.

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UPDATED DAILY

Automechanika . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 CARSTAR Opens New Location in Howard, WI . 27 FedEx Reserves 20 Tesla Semi Electric Trucks . 59 How Self-Driving Car Policy Will Determine Life, Death and Everything In Between . . . . . . . . . 4 KS Consumers Asked to Check for Recall of Defective Vehicle Airbags . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 MO House to Repeal Auto Safety Inspections. . 22 Mopar Masters Guild Annual Meeting Mixes Business With Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 MSO Drops Use of PartsTrader, Remains on State Farm’s ‘Select Service’ Program. . . . . . 6 NATA Hosts Lunch and Learn on New OR Equal Pay Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 New Auto Aftermarket Insurance Provider Won’t Ding You On Premiums . . . . . . . . . . . 15 NV Body Shop Donates Handicap-Adaptive

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

REGIONAL

Auto Repair Shop Owner Found Murdered in Holtville, AL by Marty Roney, Montgomery Advertiser

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

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

Audi Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . 57

Axalta Coating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Launch Tech USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Lexus Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Carcoon America Airflow Systems . . . . . . . . . 39

Malco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Mercedes-Benz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Coggin Deland Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Mercedes-Benz Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 50

Dent Magic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Diamond Standard Parts, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 37

ECS Automotive Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Original One Parts™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

EMS Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Pohanka Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

EcoLean Level 1 Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 60

COLUMNISTS

Shelly Bickett Receives MIW Award. . . . . . . . . 56

Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,12

Attanasio - Assured Performance Develops

State Farm Responds to Claims of Influencing

GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Radley Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 SCACAR Will Learn to Spice Up Online Presence, Get Paid at May 17 Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Technology to Provide Shop Accountability. . 40 Attanasio - Fill the Void—How to Find and Retain Good Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Attanasio - Shop Owner Invents Revolutionary Repair Estimating Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Attanasio - The Amazing Art of Chris Harsh . . . 34 Ledoux - Duke, Dunk and DuPont . . . . . . . . . . 28 Phillips - Award-Winning MSO Experiences Tremendous Financial Growth, Expansion . . 44 Phillips - Following OEM Procedures Will Help Avoid Surprises, Injuries, Delays . . . . . . . . . 52 Phillips - Mitchell’s Comprehensive Database Provides Precise Dimensions Required for Proper, Safe Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Vehicle to Teen After Accident . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Robot Cars: Safety and Liability. . . . . . . . . . . . 55 San Antonio Hosting Sherwin-Williams

Non-OEM Auto Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Tesla Says Autopilot Was Engaged During Model X Fatal Crash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Todd Tracy to Speak at May AASP-MO Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Todd Tracy’s 10 Ways to Avoid a $42 Million Verdict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Toyota Suspends Self-Driving Test Program . . 58 Uber’s Former Self-Driving Chief Still Believes in Dream of Safer Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 WAC Signs Association Paperwork, Elects Officers at Recent Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 YANG’s 2018 Leadership Conference Schedule Released . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Gus Machado Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Naples . . . . . . . . . . . 42

GYS Welding USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Rick Hendrick MOPAR Southeast

H.E.W And Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Wholesalers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-17

Hendrick Automotive Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Riverside Ford-Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Hendrick Automotive Group of Charleston . . . 64

Robaina Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Hendrick BMW/MINI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

SATA Dan-Am Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Hendrick Kia Cary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Smith Kia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Hendrick Kia Concord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Southside Kia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts

Spanesi Americas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 32-33

Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . 43

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . 54

Symach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Intrepid Direct Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Tameron Hyundai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Jim Cogdill Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram . . . . . 26

Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Jon Hiester Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . 60

Kernersville Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram . . . . . . 8

West Broad Hyundai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

How Self-Driving Car Policy Will Determine Life, Death and Everything In Between by Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger, Motherboard

Self-driving cars are here. More are on their way. Major automakers and Silicon Valley giants are clamoring to develop and release fully autonomous cars to safely and efficiently chauffeur us. Some models won’t even include a steering wheel. Along with many challenges, technical and otherwise, there is one fundamental political question that is too easily brushed aside: Who decides on how transportation algorithms will make decisions about life, death and everything in between? The recent fatality involving a self-driving Uber vehicle won’t be the last incident where human life is lost. Indeed, no matter how many lives self-driving cars save, accidents still will happen. Imagine you’re in a self-driving car going down a road when, suddenly, the large propane tanks hauled by the truck in front of you fall out and fly in your direction. A split-second decision needs to be made, and you can’t think through the outcomes and tradeoffs for every possible response. Fortunately, the smart system driving your car can run through tons of scenarios at lightning fast speed. How, then, should it determine moral priority? Consider the following possibilities: 1. Your car should stay in its lane and absorbs the damage, thereby making it likely that you’ll die. 2. Your car should save your life by swerving into the left lane and hitting the car there, sending the passengers to their deaths—passengers known, according to their big data profiles, to have several small children. 3. Your car should save your life by swerving into the right lane and hit the car there, sending the lone passenger to her death—a passenger known, according to her big data profile, to be a scientist who is coming close to finding a cure for cancer. 4. Your car should save the lives worth the most, measured according to amount of money paid into a new form of life assurance insurance. Assume that each person in 4

a vehicle could purchase insurance against these types of rare but inevitable accidents, and then, smart cars would prioritize based on their ability and willingness to pay. 5. Your car should save your life and embrace a neutrality principle in deciding among the means for doing so, perhaps by flipping a simulated coin and swerving to the right if heads comes up and swerving to the left if it’s tails.

Credit: Shutterstock

6. Your car shouldn’t prioritize your life and should embrace a neutrality principle by randomly choosing among the three options. 7. Your car should execute whatever option most closely matches your personal value system and the moral choices you would have made if you were capable of doing so. Assume that when you first purchased your car, you took a self-driving car morality test consisting of a battery of scenarios like this one and that the results “programmed” your vehicle. There’s no value-free way to determine what the autonomous car should do. The choice presented by options 1–7 shouldn’t be seen as a computational problem that can be “solved” by big data, sophisticated algorithms, machine learning, or any form of artificial intelligence. These tools can help evaluate and execute options, but ultimately, someone— some human beings—must choose and have their values baked into the software. Who should get decision-making power? Should it be politicians? The market? Insurance companies? Automotive executives? Technologists? Should consumers be allowed to customize the moral dashboard of their cars so that their vehicles execute moral decisions that are in line with their own preferences? Don’t be fooled when people talk about AI as if it alleviates the

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

need for human beings to make these moral decisions, as if AI necessarily will take care of everything for us. Sure, AI can be designed to make emergent, non-transparent and even inexplicable decisions. But since the shift from human drivers to passive passengers in self-driving cars shifts decision-making from drivers to designers and programmers, governance remains essential. It’s only a question of which form of governance gets adopted. The scenario we’ve described is based on an old philosophical thought experiment called the trolley problem. In the original experiment, a person is faced with the decision about pulling a level to divert a trolley from one track to another and in doing so, save five lives but take another. MIT developed a modern interactive version called the Moral Machine. It’s not surprising that the trolley problem comes up in virtually every discussion of autonomous vehicles. To date, the debate has primarily focused on death-dealing accidents and raised important questions about who gets to decide who lives and dies. Some insist that the question of who decides must be resolved before autonomous cars are given free rein on the roads. Others argue that such decisions concern edge cases and should be deferred to the future so that innovation won’t be stalled. And some deny that the trolley problem scenarios are even relevant, once super smart braking systems are built into each car. The critical social policy questions need to be addressed proactively while systems are being designed, built, and tested. Otherwise, values become entrenched as they’re embedded in the technology. That may be the aim of denialists pining for perfectly safe systems (unless they’re truly deluded by technoutopian dreams). The edge case argument is more reasonable if you focus exclusively on the trolley problem dilemma. But the trolley problem captures one small, albeit important piece of the puzzle. To see why, we need to consider scenarios that don’t involve life-or-death decisions.

Let’s focus on accidents. Selfdriving cars will reduce the number of accidents, but again, do not be fooled by the siren’s call of perfection. There still will be accidents that cause:

• considerable bodily loss, such as the loss of limbs, but not death;

• considerable bodily damage that disables the injured person for 24 months;

• considerable mental damage that limits the injured person’s ability to ride in an automobile and forces the person to use less efficient modes of transportation;

• considerable damage to the person’s vehicle; or • damage and delays.

Assume that the smart system driving your car is presented with various options that allocate these costs according to the logics reflected in the death-dealing accident scenario. Again, there’s no value-free way to decide, and it’s not an ad hoc decision. Engineers will embed the ethics in decision-making algorithms and code. Again, society must determine how to proceed proactively. Keep in mind that this governance issue is not about assigning fault; it is only about how to determine moral priority and who should bear the social costs. (Of course, as we transition to smart transportation systems over the next few decades, determining fault may be quite important.) Now, put aside accidents, and still, there are many other costs and benefits that smart transportation systems will be asked to manage. Suppose weather causes a disruption and smart traffic management systems kick in. What should the systems optimize? Should the objective be to minimize congestion or the social costs of congestion? Perhaps letting some folks wait for a while on a fully congested road would allow other folks to get to their destination more quickly. Maybe people should be able to pay for higher priority, in which case their vehicles receive speSee Self-Driving, Page 47

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

MSO Drops Use of PartsTrader, Remains on State Farm’s ‘Select Service’ Program by John Yoswick

State Farm is allowing Caliber Collision centers participating in the “Select Service” program to remain on the program without using PartsTrader for State Farm claims. Caliber’s corporate office declined to comment on the change, but sources have told CRASH Network that Caliber CEO Steve Grimshaw announced at a company gathering in February that Caliber was curtailing its use of PartsTrader. “We’re now using PartsTrader only for The Hartford,” a source at a Caliber location in North Carolina confirmed. “I’m not sure if it’s a pilot for [State Farm] dropping PartsTrader, or what.” It is unclear whether the change was initiated by State Farm or Caliber. One source within Caliber said

AUTOBODY

that he expects the company’s use of PartsTrader for The Hartford to end in the near future as well. An estimator at a Caliber location in Georgia said he was happy with the change. “You still have to do your due diligence in searching for alternative parts [for State Farm claims],” he said. “But this saves us a lot of time. I’m not a PartsTrader fan myself. They say there’s some of those out there—PartsTrader fans—but I don’t know any.” Caliber locations in at least three other states also confirmed they are no longer using PartsTrader for State Farm claims, yet remain on the Select Service program. A State Farm spokeswoman said the company considers its agreements with repair facilities to be “confidential and therefore we will not be providing any comment.”

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UPDATED DAILY

Caliber Collision Collects Donations for Annual Food Drive in SC

Caliber Collision is asking its customers, business partners and the public to “fill ‘er up” by donating grocery bags full of food during its 7th Annual Rhythm Restoration Food Drive, starting now through May 11.

Donations from Caliber’s food drive locally in the Charleston, SC, area will help stock the shelves of Lowcountry Food Bank during the summer months, when many children who typically rely on school lunches go hungry when school is out. “We’re asking our communities to help us fill local food banks and fill those kids’ tanks, so they do not spend the summer running on empty,” said Steve Grimshaw, Caliber Collision CEO. “At Caliber, our purpose is to restore the

rhythm of life for our customers, and we are equally committed to helping restore the rhythm of regular meals for at-risk children over the summer.” Collection centers for food donations are located at each of Caliber’s six locations in the Charleston area. Online donations can also be made at CaliberDonations.com. Last year’s company-wide food drive, involving Caliber’s more than 10,000 teammates, resulted in nearly 3.5 million meals. The company’s goal is to exceed that amount this year. Currently, 22 million students across the country rely on reducedprice or free school lunches through the National School Lunch Program. According to Feeding America, one in five children in the United States live in food-insecure households, which means they lack consistent access to enough food.

www.autobodynews.com AUTOBODY

Painters Supply & Equipment Co. Acquires ACS of Georgia

Painters Supply & Equipment Co. (PSE) announced it has completed the acquisition of ACS of Georgia (ACS). The acquisition adds nine locations in Georgia and Alabama and expands PSE’s market reach into the Southeastern United States. ACS, based in Metro Atlanta, is the largest PPG Platinum Distributor headquartered in the Southeast, servicing customers throughout Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. “We’re pleased to welcome the ACS of Georgia team to PSE,” said Patrick Mayette, President and CEO of PSE. “ACS is one of the top-performing PBE Distributors in the country and they share the same high service model philosophy as PSE.” David Marlow and JP Uren, owners of ACS since 2007, will join PSE as equity partners and will assume the positions of Regional Vice Presidents. They will continue to deliver industry-leading products and services to their customers while focusing on expanding the PSE footprint throughout the Southeast. “JP and I are extremely excited about the future for all ACS employees as we join forces with PSE,” said David Marlow. Uren added that the deci6

sion was easy based on the relationship that they have developed with the PSE organization over the years. “PSE’s model of high service and strong integrity, matched with their commitment to aggressively grow throughout the country, made this a perfect fit,” Uren said. “We’re excited about the future growth Dave, JP and their team will bring to the organization,” continued Mayette. “This acquisition marks a significant milestone for PSE as we expand our footprint outside of the Great Lakes Region. We continue to focus on being an active acquirer of strategic distributors in the Midwest, Southeast and nationally to support our aggressive growth initiatives.” Founded in 1952 and headquartered in Taylor, MI, PSE has grown to 36 branch locations across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia and Alabama. PSE serves more than 6,000 customers, including collision repair shops, auto dealerships, fleet operators, and various other commercial and industrial accounts. PSE is the largest platinum distributor in North America and maintains strong market share across its footprint.

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Trust Pohanka Chevrolet for the Parts You Need When You Need Them.

Pohanka Chevrolet 13915 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy Chantilly, VA 20151

Parts Hours:

M-F 7am - 11pm Sat 7am - 7pm Sun 9am - 6pm

Parts: (800) 688-7006 Local: (703) 502-3729

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

SARC 2018 Showcases Collision Repair Industry by Chasidy Rae Sisk

The 2018 Southern Automotive Repair Conference (SARC) is scheduled to take place at the IP Casino Spa in Biloxi, MS, on April 20–21. Since it began in 2012, the SARC has served as a platform to showcase the collision repair industry and provide an opportunity for industry professionals to discuss the issues impacting their businesses with their peers. Hosted by the Alabama Automotive Repair Industry Society of Excellence (ALARISE), the Georgia Collision Industry Association (GCIA), the Mississippi Collision Repair Association (MSCRA) and the Tennessee Collision Repair Association (TCRA), the conference offers valuable training, information about new technologies, an exposition with industry vendors and more. Friday’s events will begin at 8 a.m. with a classroom training by Assured Performance Network and CCRE’s “Thinking Differently About Your Business,” both ending at noon. From 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., the options include AirPro’s Chuck Olsen’s presentation of “Diagnostics, Calibrations and Programming” and Enterprise’s

discussion of ARMS. On the main stage, the afternoon will proceed with a video welcome from Aaron Schulenburg of SCRS, an opening presentation by AMi President Jeff Peevy and CCC One

Tools of the Trade with Tony Nethery. Dave Luehr and Jeff Peevy will host “Having a Winning Mindset,” and the day will end with an evening reception following a memorial toast to industry icons Gene Hamilton, co-founder of GCIA, and Howard Batchelor, long-time Executive Director of GCIA, who both passed away last fall. Attendees will return to classroom training on Saturday morning. At 8 a.m., AP Digital’s “Effective Digital Marketing Strategy in Collision Repair” with Brent Betts and “Tactically Lean – Strategic Lean Implementation” by Lee Rush of Sherwin-Williams will be offered. At 9

a.m., the options are “From Vehicle Damage Analysis to Quality Repair Process Management” with Bill Romaniello of VeriFacts and “100% Disassembly,” presented by Collision Advice’s Scott Simmons. A session by Management Success is also planned. At noon on the main stage, Mitchell’s Wayne Krause will present a lunch and learn presentation on “Safe and Proper Repairs.” At 1 p.m., a panel discussion on “Researching Procedures and Scans” will be facilitated by AMi’s Jeff Peevy. Panelists include Rick Flores of Prices Collision, Wayne Krause from Mitchell International, Dave Luehr of Elite Body Shop Solutions, VeriFacts’ Andy MacDonald, Chuck Olsen from AirPro Diagnostics, Greg Potter from Equipment & Tool Institute, Scott Simmons of Collision Advice and ALLDATA’s Marcos Torres. Keynote speaker Dr. Rick Brinkman will educate and entertain at 2:30 p.m., and the SARC 2018 will conclude with Todd Tracy’s “The Anatomy of a Lawsuit.” Throughout Saturday, the hosting associations will

So. Virginia, Central & Western North Carolina

be holding prize drawings and announcing winners from the main stage. The exposition will be open on Friday from 1–9 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Exhibitors and event sponsors include AkzoNobel, Automotive Color, Axalta, Overnight Parts Alliance, PPG, Sherwin-Williams, Valspar Refinish, Advanced Equipment Solutions, Byrd’s Automotive, Car-O-Liner Southwest, Mike & Jerry’s Paint & Supply, ALLDATA, AMi, AMMSQ & Associates, AP Digital, Assured Performance Network, Audatex, BMW, CCC, CCRE, Collision Safety Consultants, Dave Luehr’s Elite Body Shop Solutions, English Color, Enterprise, GYS, ICAR, IMC Equipment, Kwik Bench, Management Success, Mitchell, NCS, Oasis Scientific, Original One Parts, Polyvance, RDA, Reverse My Fees LLC, Single Source, Southern Automotive Journal and Verifacts. Registration is available online for $40 or onsite for $50. For more information about the 2018 SARC or to register, visit http://SARC-collision .com.

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Caliber Collision Wants St. Augustine Road Site in Florida by Karen Brune Mathis, Jax Daily Record

Cross Development LLC of Carrollton, TX, wants to buy and redevelop a vacant warehouse at 3633 St. Augustine Rd. in Jacksonville, FL, into a Caliber Collision non-drive auto and truck collision/auto body repair center, plans show. It would create 20 jobs. The facility is designed to restore “unsafe, inoperable, seriously damaged vehicles” as opposed to Caliber Collision’s other shops that repair less damaged “fender benders,” according to a zoning application for administrative deviations. A damaged vehicle stays in a conventional shop for less than a week, while a car or truck could remain in a no-drive facility for three to four weeks because of the extensive amount of repair work needed and the large number of replacement parts that need to be ordered, the request states. Caliber Collision entered the Jacksonville, FL, market in 2015. Since then, it has built two centers at 7208 Golden Wings Road in Westside and 2079 Mayport Road. It also redeveloped three vacant

structures at 8320 Dames Point Road in Arlington, 8318 Atlantic Blvd. and 13051 Beach Blvd. Boxtown Bright Lite LLC owns the vacant warehouse on an acre along St. Augustine Road, off Philips Highway. The structure was built in 1958 and expanded by almost 9,000 square feet in 1996.

Cross Development seeks about a dozen deviations that include a reduction in off-street parking spaces, interior landscaping, the number of terminal island trees and the landscape buffer area. “By investing a substantial amount of capital to purchase and redevelop this vacant, deteriorating, unused warehouse, Cross Development, LLC and Caliber Collision

will improve the essential character of this section of the St. Augustine Road corridor, and in doing so help property values of its neighbors as well,” the application states. Caliber Collision Centers Chief Marketing Officer Greg Clark said the company has no comment about its real estate transactions. Caliber Collision operates more than 500 locations in 17 states and says it is the country’s largest collision repair company. Its website says it has about 10 non-drive locations. Boxtown Bright Lite, led by Roger Williams, bought the St. Augustine Road property in January 2017, property records show. Williams, Harbinger Sign CEO, and company President Steve Williams said the last time they used the building was when they bought the business called Brite Lite signs in September 2016. For efficiency, the business was moved by the end of that year into the Harbinger facility at 5300 Shad Rd. Roger Williams said the property sale to Cross Development could

be completed this spring. Steve Williams said Jacksonville customers, such as Gate Petroleum Co., Daily’s, Baptist Health and the Jacksonville Jaguars, among other companies, helped Harbinger expand. He said it has quintupled in size since 2010. The company has an office in Dallas, and the Williams estimate that 60 percent of its business is outside of Jacksonville. Roger and Steve Williams said they want Harbinger to continue growing in its hometown. “We are trying to get more business in Jacksonville,” Steve Williams said.

We thank Jax Daily Record for reprint permission.

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Continued from Cover

10 Ways to Avoid

available.

4) Up to Date Research Each repair plan should be researched with all available resources in existence, at the time, to achieve the best repair. Because the shop worked on the same or a similar vehicle before doesn’t make the prior repair information necessarily reliable. What was true 6 months ago may be superseded. What works on a 2015 model may not work on the 2016, even if the body style appears identical. 5) Proper Documentation and Record Keeping There is a memorable quote from Alonzo Harris, the detective played by Denzel Washington in the movie Training Day. “It’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove!” It’s crucial to document proper repairs with multiple photos and/or video plus any supporting documentation. If no specific repair information exists, it is prudent to document the at-

tempt. Keep good records! There are no excuses with today’s vast array of digital technology. So, ditch the shoe box of receipts and learn to digitize to back up your hard copies.

can suffer compromised safety and vehicle devaluation. Same goes for accepting imitation parts or skipping proper repair methods.

6) Reporting A key issue, early on in the John Eagle Collision case, was the omission of the repair on a CARFAX report. You may think, “What does it have to do with me” if an unsuspecting consumer buys a vehicle we repaired which was not picked up by CARFAX or other service? Perhaps these words from Eldridge Cleaver will change your mind, “There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you’re going to be part of the problem.” Ask yourself, would you rather be the problem shop or the solution shop?

8) Never Overpromise What You Can Deliver The repairer should never overpromise with outlandish statements like our repairs make a vehicle “better than new,” “good as new,” or “perfect,” as examples. The following appeared on the John Eagle Collision website, “....our goal is to achieve ‘better than new.’” Those words came back to bite them. When you overpromise, even a tiny speck of dirt in the paint can be a lawsuit in the making.

7) Never Put Profits Over Safety Besides the obvious ethical reasons, cutting corners to increase profits is not a sound long-term business strategy. The shop should not agree to repair a part based solely upon the insurer’s repair versus replace cost analysis. As a result, the customer

SCACAR Will Learn to Spice Up Online Presence, Get Paid at May 17 Meeting by Chasidy Rae Sisk

The South Carolina Association of Collision and Autobody Repair (SCACAR) will hold its next meeting on May 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the River Center at Saluda Shoals in Columbia, SC.

“We were so pleased with the turnout for our first meeting, and we are hoping we will have more people attend this meeting,” said SCACAR President Sarah MyersDaniels. “We established this association to be a voice on a state and national level to help the collision industry, to help keep up with all the new technology and to allow members of the association to bounce ideas or questions off one another.” SCACAR’s second quarterly meeting will feature two guest speakers. Keith Manich of Automotive Training Institute will de10

liver a presentation titled “I Want to Get Paid for What is Necessary” and Julie Stevens will discuss “Spicing Up Your Online Presence.” The meeting will also include a raffle for a PR-2 Multi-Task Welding System, sponsored by Ramey Enterprises. “We are just beginning this venture, and we need continued growth and support from everyone in our industry,” Myers-Daniels said. “I urge you all to get involved with SCACAR so that we may [expand] this association. Remember, it’s all about numbers. The more people we have, the more we can do! Please come to our meeting on Thursday, May 17 and support SCACAR!”

For more information on SCACAR, visit www.scacar.com. To attend this meeting, RSVP on the website’s event tab. The meeting is free for association members, and non-members can attend for just $20. The fee will be waived if they decide to join SCACAR during the event.

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

9) Never Allow the Insurance Company to Dictate the Repair “The Devil made me do it” is an excuse as old as time. It didn’t work for Eve in the Garden of Eden, it didn’t work for John Eagle Collision and it won’t work for you. We all know the misguided influence exerted on repairers by Insurance Company Bullies. However, you are ultimately enticed

by your own desires. Make it your desire to service the “true” customer (#3 above) and you can’t go wrong. 10) Be a HERO and Stand Up to the Insurance Companies Inform the insurance company and the customer in writing that the insurer’s approved repairs violate OEM repair specifications and can cause serious injury or death should the vehicle have another accident. Tell them you will not repair the vehicle in that manner knowing you are placing someone’s life at risk. If the insurance company still refuses to make equitable allowances to repair the vehicle to OEM specifications, tell them that YOU WILL perform the work required by the OEM, take what the insurance company pays and then SUE THE INSURANCE COMPANY FOR THE DIFFERENCE! This list is available in PDF file format at: www.oemprocedures.com.

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Continued from Cover

KS Consumers Asked to Check for Recall of Defective Vehicle Airbags

Takata, ended a multi-state investigation into the company’s failKansas Attorney General Derek ure to timely share known safety Schmidt recently asked Kansans to defects in airbag inflators that use check with their auto dealers or on- phase-stabilized ammonium niline to see if their vehicle airbags trate as a propellant. “These airbags, which are in many makes and models of vehicles, can be dangerous and sometimes deadly,” Schmidt said. “As part of the legal settlement, they can be replaced at no cost to the vehicle owner. I urge Consumer Alert: Kansas AG Derek Schmidt asks conKansans to take a few sumers to check for recall of defective vehicle airbags minutes to check whether are the subject of a recall following their vehicles are affected and, if so, the settlement of a lawsuit with the to arrange for a replacement.” airbag manufacturer. Schmidt encouraged all Schmidt said a settlement was Kansans to check the National reached surrounding the massive Highway Traffic Safety AdminisTakata airbag recall, which recalled tration’s website at https://www more than 8 million vehicles na- .nhtsa.gov/recall-spotlight/takatationwide. air-bags or with their local automoThe settlement between the bile dealers to see if their vehicles attorneys general of 44 states— are affected. including Kansas and Washington D.C.—and TK Holdings, Inc., We thank STL News for reprint perwhich is the U.S. subsidiary of mission. by Marty Smith, STL News

Registration Open for CREF 17th Annual Golf Fundraiser, Co-Hosted by PPG GA Registration for the 17th Annual Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) Golf Fundraiser, co-hosted by the automotive refinish business unit of PPG, and the LORD Fusor-sponsored Helicopter Golf Ball Drop are now open. Organizers anticipate the Golf Fundraiser selling out during the spring, so early registration is encouraged. The event supports the Education Foundation in its mission to provide support for collision repair programs at high schools and colleges across North America. The fundraiser will be held Monday, August 6, 2018. Golfers will enjoy a round of golf at Trophy Club of Apalachee, located just north of Atlanta in Dacula, GA, Trophy Club of Apalachee was named “Top 100 Places to Play” by Golf Digest and with new Champion Bermuda greens, is an exceptional setting for a round of unforgettable golf. The event will be held in conjunction with NACE & Automechanika events taking place that week in Atlanta. Brandon Eckenrode, Colli-

sion Repair Education Foundation Director of Development, said, “Our golf fundraiser is an incredible event that helps us raise funds to support collision school programs.” The online registration page also offers golf balls for the LORD Fusor-sponsored Helicopter Golf Ball Drop. $15 per ball, participants are not required to attend the fundraiser or purchase a ticket. If all 1,200 golf balls are purchased, on event-day, a helicopter will drop the golf balls over a hole on the golf course. The sponsor of the numbered ball that lands closest to, or inside of, the hole will win $9,000. Participants can register online through the Education Foundation’s website. Registration for the fundraiser includes 18 holes of golf, cart rental, beverages and snacks on the course, lunch, dinner, promotional items and opportunities to participate in contests throughout the day. Those interested in sponsoring the fundraising event, contact Brandon.Eckenrode @ed-foundation.org or 847-4635244.

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Two-Car Crash

not been released pending notification of the family. Highway Patrol received the call for a wreck at US-501 and Bethea Road in Maxton, NC, around 8 p.m., according to Collins. The scene of the accident is three miles from Stewartsville Volunteer Fire Department.

Patrick Lee

A Kia with three occupants was traveling east on US-501 when it crossed the center line and hit a Ford Mustang being driven by Locklear, the patrol said. The Kia then veered off the road to the left and struck the ditch before catching fire, officials said. It is not clear whether the pas-

sengers in the Kia died as a result of the fire. According to Collins, the driver of the Kia was believed to be exceeding the speed limit and driving recklessly before crossing the center line. Locklear is a native of McColl, SC, and his Facebook page lists him as the owner of Chris’ Auto Body Shop in McColl. Friends and family expressed their grief on social media in the wake of the news. “So many memories growing up, can’t believe I’m writing and seeing Rip Chris Locklear! You will truly be missed. Things will never be the same on Polston Street again without you at the garage,” wrote Lynn Cummings on Facebook. Lee’s Facebook page was flooded with well wishes for his recovery. “Please keep my family in mind today. Prayers are appreciated for my cousin Patrick Lee. He’s a fighter and we are all pulling for him to have a full recovery,” wrote Keith Todd. We thank The Laurinburg Exchange for reprint permission.

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Golf Ball-Sized Hail Damages Hundreds of Vehicles in Daufuskie Island, Hilton Head and St. Helena, SC by Stassy Olmos, WSAV 3 On Your Side

The short hailstorm that hit the Lowcountry in March damaged hundreds of cars, leaving auto body shops to deal with the dents.

Credit: John Fulford

Golf ball-sized hail came down across parts of Daufuskie Island, Hilton Head and St. Helena, SC. “We’ve seen several Porsches, hundred thousand dollar cars damaged with hail,” said Carl Stuckey,

owner of Dent Specialists International. “We go all over the world just doing hail damage on vehicles when the storm hits an area.” But this time, he doesn’t have to leave home for work. “We’re already scheduling cars almost out until May at some of the other shops,” he said, “Here, we’ve got more people coming. There’s a lot more damage than we expected.” Some cars have up to 400 small dents. Each one is removed by hand with a special tool under the panel, and a special light to see the damage. “Start working the metal back into its original shape ... little pushes by little pushes, until the damage is gone,” Stuckey demonstrated. “Once we have the damage flat-looking this way, we’ll turn this way and catch anything we missed or anything still low.” And in hard-to-get places, he uses a glue gun to pull up dents. “The Heritage had all the new BMWs from the factory. They all got damaged... 80 cars is what they

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

told me,” he said. Some cars are done in a day, while others can take a couple days. Stuckey said he expects work to keep him home for months to come. “Most people [will] see this [and be] like, ‘Oh wow, you’re done,’ but for us and our trained eyes, we still see little bits that aren’t

quite flat, so we have to make sure it’s 100 percent back to its original shape,” he said. Stuckey said if you were anywhere on the south end of the island during the hailstorm, you may have hail damage. The best thing to do is contact your insurance company—it will not affect your premium. We thank WSAV 3 On Your Side for reprint permission.

Continued from Cover

State Farm Responds

ifications due to State Farm’s instructions, threats and/or coercion.” State Farm attorneys have responded to the allegations, denying the insurer had any influence over the repair. “To the extent alleged, Defendant denies that it coerced or enticed any body shop to not follow vehicle manufacturer’s procedures, cut corners, take safety shortcuts, or do anything that jeopardizes members of the motoring public,” the response reads. “Defendant denies that it forced John Eagle to use deadly, dangerous, unproven, and untested adhesive rather than welds. Defendant also denies that it forced John Eagle to do anything in violation of OEM requirements.” State Farm is motioned to have the lawsuits dismissed, claiming the defense of unconstitutionality. A scheduling order for the case has yet to be filed. We thank glassBYTEs.com for reprint permission.

New Auto Aftermarket Insurance Provider Won’t Ding You On Premiums

Intrepid Direct Insurance welds industry experience with factory-direct pricing Intrepid Direct Insurance (Intrepid) is the option you wish existed when you shopped insurance last year. Better coverage, better service and better pricing all combined is their commitment. Headed by a

leader in automotive aftermarket and insurance industries, Intrepid is driven to provide quality insurance solutions for quality automotive business owners. A leader in auto aftermarket insurance for more than 25 years, David Willett heads up Intrepid’s new auto repair garage insurance operations. Willett helped form every customer touchpoint of the business, drawing from his knowledge of the complex landscape facing auto repair garage owners today. He designed Intrepid’s auto aftermarket division

to be a clear, efficient insurance op- they can make fast decisions and tion to add value to customers’ busi- have a single point of contact for all nesses. claims, no matter what line “Intrepid Direct Inof business. surance is auto aftermarket business insurance the • Better price: No midway it ought to be,” said dleman to pay means a David Willett, general lower price for customers manager, Auto Aftermardue in one monthly payket for Intrepid Direct Inment with no fees or fisurance. “We developed nance charges. David Willett an intuitive technology solution to create a better collision re- About Intrepid Direct pair business owner experience.” Insurance Better coverage, better service Intrepid Direct Insurance is a techand a better price at IntrepidDi- advanced, comprehensive direct rect.com/auto-repair all make In- insurance provider that saves custrepid a clear choice: tomers 15 percent on insurance, on average. Intrepid Direct Insurance • Better coverage: Customers maximizes ease by eliminating the personalize one bundle, choosing traditional buying process, providfrom garage liability, property, ing quotes in less than 48 hours, cyber risk, garage keepers, work- making purchasing, payments and ers’ compensation, owned auto- claims quick and easy. Owners can mobile, auto inventory, pollution start a free quote at IntrepidDirect liability, general liability, um- .com. brella and EPL, including discrimination/harassment. Contact: David Willett • Better service: Customers work Intrepid Direct Insurance directly with Intrepid. They are the dwillett@intrepiddirect.com agent and the insurance carrier so 913-217-4268

Todd Tracy to Speak at May AASP-MO Meeting

On Thursday, May 10, AASP-MO will host a meeting at Syberg’s Dorsett in Maryland Heights, MO, featuring Todd Tracy and his presentation “Anatomy of a Law-

suit,” focused on his landmark John Eagle lawsuit. The evening will begin at 6 P.M. with a Meet and Greet, including hors d’oeuvres, sponsored by Axalta, and the presentation will commence at 7 p.m.

For more information, visit aasp -mo.org. To register, contact AASP-MO Executive Director Ron Reiling at aaspmo@aol.com.

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High School Auto Repair Program Gets Careers Into Gear in WV by Alan Olson, The Intelligencer

Facing four challenging certification tests, two John Marshall High School students received certification from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence in March. The four tests for certification cover: painting and refinishing, structural repair, non-structural repair and electrical/ mechanical components. Senior students Beryl Blake and Ronnie Darrah passed these four tests, with others in the class passing three or fewer of the tests, which were said by instructor Joe Wendt to be strict and difficult. The students said relatively little on their success, though Darrah said he felt the certification could give them an edge over those who did not take the program and were entering the workforce without the credentials. “It kind of gives you a head start on everyone else who doesn’t have the same opportunity in high school,” Darrah said. “It’s important because this’ll help us with getting a job later on,” Blake added. “It took a good bit of studying.”

Darrah said afterward that he was taking the class to learn how to fix his own cars, rather than to pursue a career in the automotive industry.

John Marshall High School students Ronnie Darrah, left, and Beryl Blake, right, stand with instructor Joe Wendt at the John Marshall Auto Body Shop after passing all four certification tests through the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. Credit: Alan Olson

Blake, on the other hand, said he wanted to pursue a job in auto body and felt that his certification might give him an edge. “It’s to help me with my own stuff, so I don’t have to pay someone else to do it down the road,” Darrah said. The ASE certifications, Wendt said, form the basics of many specific

paths in the industry, with other certifications for brand-specific vehicles becoming more commonplace. However, the ASE forms a good basis for aspiring technicians. “Not all vehicles are technically built to the same standards anymore,” he said. “They’re not easy. I worked in the industry for almost 15 years before I came here, and it still took me a couple tries [to pass the test]. And these guys got it on their first try.” The students who passed certification tests received those certificates as well as a patch for their class uniforms, which the students wear as part of their Simulated Workplace programs. Wendt said the class takes in vehicles brought in by local residents interested in having them maintained and repaired, and the students work to provide cost estimates and perform some work on the vehicles. The income goes toward better outfitting the auto body shop. “We get phone calls just like the shop down the road,” Wendt said. “Most of the cars we service are sort of the older vehicles.” We thank The Intelligencer for reprint permission.

D&V Autobody - Top VA Automaker Recognition by Staff, LoudounNow

D&V Autobody in Sterling, VA, located at 42789 Trade West Drive near Arcola, has been certified by Assured Performance, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, for maintaining the tools, equipment, training and facility necessary to repair the participating automaker brand vehicles according to the manufacturers’ specifications. D&V Autobody is officially recognized by Assured Performance, FCA, Infiniti, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia. Less than 5 percent of body shops across the nation are able to meet requirements to become certified. “This certification supports our reputation for superior customer service serving our community...it is important to provide our customers with peace of mind that their vehicles are being repaired by highly trained professionals that care about them,” stated owner Kevin Maharaj. www.dandvautobody.com. We thank LoudounNow for reprint permission.

Assured Performance Announces Business Development Summit at NACE Automechanika

Assured Performance announced details for its 2018 Business Development Summit, to be held August 8–10, 2018 at the NACE Automechanika trade show in the Georgia World Congress Center. The main focus of the Summit will be on key elements for repair business success and excellence based upon the changing market and business demands. A unique twist to the Summit is the introduction of delegates and conducting issue-driven sessions. Certified repair provider “delegates” from all over North America will bring key challenges and topics up for discussion. They will be addressed by the collective group assembled throughout the Summit. Through a series of presentations, demonstrations and panel discussions with subject matter and industry experts, attendees will have the opportunity to gain insight into industry trends and growth and profit strategies; how to leverage business tools for greater business performance, quality integrity, growth and fi18

nancial success; and learn 20/20 Management-by-Numbers using the 5-Star Business Performance Program. Workshop topics will also touch on repair quality assurance and how to protect your business from litigation like John Eagle. The Summit is open to certified collision care providers, body shops, business development specialists and invited industry guests. The summit will include special networking receptions, dinners, luncheons and more. Pre-registration is required. Pricing is $1,250 per person and includes the Business Development Summit and registration for the NACE Automechanika trade show. Special programs are also included in the price. To register or learn more about the Summit, visit our website at assuredperformance.net /summit or call an account coordinator at (949) 221-0010.

To learn more about NACE Automechanika, visit the official website at naceautomechanika.com

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

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Atlanta I-CAR to Host 9th Annual Golf Tournament by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On April 25, the Atlanta I-CAR Committee will host its 9th Annual Golf Tournament at the Golf Club at Bradshaw Farm in Woodstock, GA. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF). Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start at 11 a.m. That morning will also feature several fun contests: the 19th hole experience, putting contest and helicopter ball drop. Dinner will be served at 5 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony and raffle drawings at 6 p.m. The Atlanta I-CAR Committee raised more than $52,000 in 2017 and has donated more than $250,000 to CREF over the years. The cost of registration is $125 for an individual golfer or $500 for a team of four. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. For more information or to register, visit icaratlantagolf.weebly .com.

YANG’s 2018 Leadership Conference Schedule Released by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On May 11–12, the Young Auto Care Network Group (YANG) will host its 2018 Leadership Conference at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, GA. Designed for young industry professionals under the age of 40, the collaborative learning event provides a forum for enhancing leadership skills, sharpening global perspective of the auto care industry and developing new relationships with peers. The YANG Leadership Conference is held in conjunction with the Auto Care Association’s Spring Leadership Days, providing YANG members an opportunity to participate in the parent organization’s meetings. The Conference will begin on May 11 at 1 p.m. with a Welcome Address, followed by a keynote presentation titled “The Master of the Tornado,” presented by Michael Hoffman, President of Igniting Performance. Next, Amy Antenora, Editor of aftermarketNews, will discuss “Our Industry: A Year in Review.”

Nashville I-CAR Committee Supports CREF With Golf Tournament, Career Fair by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On May 15 and 16, the Nashville I-CAR Committee will be showing support for the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) by sponsoring its annual golf outing and hosting a career fair. The Nashville I-CAR Committee will hold its Annual Golf Outing on Tuesday, May 15 at the Pine Creek Golf Course in Mt. Juliet, TN. Proceeds from the event benefit CREF and are reinvested into greater Nashville area high school and college collision school programs, instructors and students. Registration begins at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start an hour later. Kayla Clark, I-CAR Nashville Committee Chair and ABRA Business Development Manager, noted, “Those interested in supporting this event and Nashville area collision school programs are encouraged to contact us. Whether it’s registering a foursome team, participating as an event sponsor or donating items to our raffle table, please join us for these two days of connecting stu20

dents with industry employers and raising funds on the golf course.” The next day, CREF will host a Nashville Area High School & College Transportation Career Fair in collaboration with the Nashville I-CAR Committee and the TechForce Foundation. Scheduled from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m., the career fair will take place at TCAT Murfreesboro in Smyrna, TN, and will feature more than 20 industry vendors meeting with potential employees. More than 300 students are anticipated to attend. To RSVP for the career fair event, contact CREF Director of Development Brandon Eckenrode at: Brandon.Eckenrod@ed-foundation .org. The cost of registration is $125 for an individual golfer or $500 for a team of four. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. For more information or to register, visit app.eventcaddy.com /events/nashville-i-car. For more information on CREF, visit: collisioneducationfoundation .org.

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Afterward, “Future Trends: The Next Big Industry Issues” will be covered by Jim Dykstra, CEO of

Dytech Auto Group. After a brief networking break, attendees will participate in a Communicating with Influence Workshop. The day will end with an ACPAC Reception (by invitation only) and dinner.

Saturday’s sessions will begin with a Rapid Fire Session and Round Tables Discussion. YANG is still accepting applications for Rapid Fire session presenters. After a networking break, Ryan Jenkins will share “Next Generation Leadership: Keys to Working Across a Multi-Generational Workforce,” before the conference concludes with “How to be a Leader,” presented by Scott LeProhon, Executive Vice President of Global Procurement for Genuine Parts Company. YANG members can attend the 2018 Leadership Conference for $550, and non-members can attend for $750. Attendance includes dinner on Friday and breakfast on Saturday, and covers seven hours of education and CEU credits, which are awarded toward AAP/MAAP designation from the University of the Aftermarket. For more information about the conference or to register, visit http://autocare.org.

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IGONC Triangle Chapter Learns About Protractor by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On March 6, the Triangle Chapter of the Independent Garage Owners of North Carolina (IGONC) met in Raleigh for a presentation delivered by Scott Thorley of Automotive Management Solutions on Protractor, its new management system software. According to IGONC Executive Director Bob Pulverenti, “The event went very well. Scott got a lot of questions and a request to offer onsite training at his facility, so I would say there was a lot of interest. “This is a monthly community building event to keep our members in touch and current in the industry. Our members look to us to keep them informed so they have one less thing to worry about. They also like the support from their community and regularly work together on projects outside of the association.” For more information on IGONC, visit www.igonc.com.

AAAS Wraps Up 2018 Capitol Day Events by Chasidy Rae Sisk

The Automotive Aftermarket Association Southeast (AAAS) wrapped up its 2018 Capitol Day visits on March 7 in Montgomery, AL. Matt Ward, Director of Government Relations at AAAS, said, “It was a successful day in Montgomery visiting with members of the executive and legislative branches. Alabama was the last event for the 2018 legislative session, with previous events held in the state capitals of Mississippi, Florida and Georgia.” “The automotive aftermarket is a healthy and growing industry full of great people. The implementation of new technologies, such as telematics, embedded software and autonomous vehicles, will undoubtedly change the way business is being done in this industry. Educating our state representatives on the issues the industry faces is crucial to ensuring that this industry remains strong not only today, but into the future.” AAAS members enjoy these annual visits that allow them to get better acquainted with their state representatives and also to represent their industry’s interests with their government

officials. According to Keith West, AAAS Chairman of the Board, “Members of the state legislature have become very

could be more valuable than protecting the industry? These annual events go a long way towards maintaining a fair, open and competitive market for our

AAAS members visited Montgomery, AL, on March 7 as the last of the association’s annual Capitol Day events. (Pictured left to right: Brandon Jones, The Jones Group; Randal Ward, AAAS; LaKeshia Dotson, BBB Industries; Donald Hall, H&H Home & Truck; Alabama Senator Del Marsh, R-President Pro Tempore; Matt Ward, AAAS; Kiersten Turnock, LKQ Corporation)

receptive to AAAS, thanks to our annual visits. Educating these representatives about our group is very important should any future legislation arise that may impact our industry.” Ward added, “AAAS is always striving to bring the best possible value to its member businesses, and what

members to do business in. It is more important than ever to have a seat at the table when policy that could affect your industry is being discussed.” AAAS is already working diligently to secure dates for its 2019 Capitol Day visits. For more information, visit www.aaas.us.

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MO House to Repeal Auto Safety Inspections

The Missouri House Transportation Committee passed House Bill (HB) 1444. If enacted, HB 1444 would repeal Missouri’s vehicle safety inspection program. Despite testimonies in support of the Missouri safety inspection program from ASA-Midwest member Ben Steinman, the Missouri state highway patrol, AAA and other organizations at the Committee’s Feb. 7 hearing, the bill has continued to gather support in the Missouri House. ASA continues to oppose HB 1444 and encourages all interested parties in Missouri to visit TakingTheHill.com to contact their state representatives in opposition. The Automotive Service Association is the largest not-forprofit trade association of its kind dedicated to and governed by independent automotive service and collision repair professionals. ASA serves an international membership base that includes numerous state affiliate and chapter groups. Continued from Cover

Insurance Fraud

Rubinstein, 48, of Miami, and the self-confessed ringleader, Felix Filenger, 41, of Sunny Isles, have both been locked up in the federal detention center in downtown Miami since they were arrested in October. Both men pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge last year. The fraud involved paying kickbacks of $1,500 to $2,000—per patient—to tow truck drivers and body shop workers who illegally steered accident victims to chiropractic clinics that were secretly owned or controlled by Rubinstein, Filenger and their helpers. Some of the “patients” were also steered to attorneys who told them they might be able to receive compensation from the insurance companies by filing insurance claims or lawsuits. The so-called “runners” had access to what were supposed to be confidential crash reports when they towed or repaired vehicles. They used that opportunity to refer drivers 22

American Technical Education Association Recognizes Chattanooga State in TN

held recently in Kenosha, WI. With a goal of promoting highThe Tennessee College of Applied quality education, sharing trends and Technology (TCAT) at Chattanooga best practices in technical education, State Community College was the and building partnerships to enhance workforce development strategies, the American Technical Education Association (ATEA) is dedicated to quality of postsecondary technical education excellence emphasizing professional development. Byrd’s Automotive of Chattanooga received the Silver Star Award for its partnership with Chattanooga State’s collision repair program. Accepting the award were Darrel Bult, AkzoNobel district sales manager, and Tamara and Clark Presley, co-owners of Byrd’s Automotive. PresTim Chastain, associate instructor of collision repair; ent at the ceremony were Darrel Bult, AkzoNobel district sales manager; Tamara associate instructor of coland Clark Presley, co-owners of Byrd’s Automotive; and lision repair, Tim ChasDr. Jim Barrott, executive vice president of technical tain, and Dr. Jim Barrott, college executive vice president of recipient of two awards during the the technical college. 2018 ATEA National Conference, In addition, ATEA awarded the by Staff, TheChattanoogan.com

and passengers to the clinics. The fraudsters required the “patients” to seek unnecessary and excessive treatment, investigators said. Clinic workers then required the patients to make multiple visits— sometimes 15 or more. Workers at the clinics documented exaggerated pain levels and quickly billed insurance providers for the maximum $10,000 allowed for rapid emergency treatment under Florida law. Rubinstein, also known as Andrei Rubinsteyn, immigrated from Ukraine more than 20 years ago and became a U.S. citizen. He told the judge he sincerely regrets his crimes. “I’m truly sorry for my selfishness, which brought us all here today,” Rubinstein told U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom. We thank Sun Sentinel for reprint permission.

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MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

2018 Outstanding Technical Program of the Year to Chatta- nooga State’s HVAC/R Technician Program. This one-year diploma program provides learning experiences to students training to find career opportunities as air conditioning/refrigeration technicians; sales, retail, and wholesale representatives; installers; maintenance and service; engineer helpers; or operators. Instructor Houston Graham and associate instructor Kyle Lee accepted the award with Barrott. The Tennessee College of Applied Technology has a 96 percent average graduate placement rate. During the recent state SkillsUSA competition, collision repair program students earned gold and bronze medals, while a silver medal was awarded to a student in HVAC/R. For more information on available programs, call 423-697-4433.

We thank TheChattanoogan.com for reprint permission.

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UPDATED DAILY

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Katie Inge Is the Woman in Charge at Chesapeake, VA, Auto Body Shop by Sandra J. Pennecke, Inside Business

Ten years before Katie Inge was even born, her father was laying the groundwork for the business that would eventually become hers. A.J. Inge started working for Maaco in Richmond, VA, before he was transferred to a manager position in Chesapeake. He bought the franchise on Smith Avenue in 1983.

Katie Inge is co-owner of the Chesapeake, VA, Maaco on Smith Avenue. Credit: Sandra J. Pennecke

began accompanying her father to work. “He gave me an option to do whatever I wanted to do (for work),” Katie said. “I decided this is what I wanted to do.” It started with simple tasks— sweeping the floor and taking out the trash. Before long, she was working her way up and learning “the back of the shop,” too. “He made me learn all of the back of the shop … sanding, taping and all the steps in order to get the cars ready to be painted or the body work on them to get them fixed,” she said. “He’s hands-on, so he taught me everything.” In 2013—after two years of night classes while working full-time in the shop—she earned an associate degree in business management from Tidewater Community College. Wise beyond her years, Katie said she knows the importance of an education and said it helped her with the front end of the business. Being the only female in the

Maaco, which started in 1972 in Wilmington, DE, provides auto paint and collision repair at more than 500 locations nationwide. Katie, now 24, bought 10 percent of the business in 2015 and became her father’s partner. While he still comes in to the office a couple of times each week for an hour or two, Katie is the primary go-to person. “I’m so proud of her; she’s passed my expectations,” A.J. said. “She works Dominic Pangelinan works with Katie Inge sanding very hard. I don’t know what a wheel at the Chesapeake Maaco. Credit: Sandra J. Pennecke I’d do without her.” When Katie was a teenager at- shop seemed tough at first, but Katie tending school at Hickory High, she said she earned respect and credits a

ABAT Skeet Tournament is on the Horizon

It’s that time of year again. The Auto Body Association of Texas is ramping up for its 2nd annual ABAT Skeet shoot. Come out and “aim to win” or just to “shoot the breeze.” Either way, you’re sure to have a great time. ABAT Statewide meeting Friday, May 18th Time & Location TBD

ABAT Skeet Shoot Saturday, May 19th Elm Fork Shooting Sports 10751 Luna Rd., Dallas, TX 75220 24

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ABAT will give away thousands of dollars in prizes and top shooters and teams will win beautiful, mantleworthy guns. $2,000 for a team of four shooters; individual shooting positions will be sold for $500. Entry fee includes eye and ear protection, golf cart and scorekeeping. Shotgun rental, training and safety orientation available. Payments are due 5/11/18 and space is limited, so register online here. http://abat.us/2018/02/skeet/

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

than your big dealerships,” she said. “I like the upfront dealing with customers … looking at their car when it’s ugly and beat-up and then seeing their reaction when it’s completed.” The shop services between 60 and 70 vehicles in an average week. In August, the business was expanded to add a 3,500-square-foot truck fleet center with a 50-foot booth that can accommodate tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles. Although she spends six days a week working 11-hour Brian Printy, Maaco main shop manager; Alberto Lugo, days, Katie said she enjoys estimator; Katie Inge, co-owner; and Debbie Lewis, office being a small business owner. manager. Credit: Sandra J. Pennecke Love also bloomed at Several of the body work em- Maaco for Katie. She met her ployees have been there for close to boyfriend, Brian Zelinsky, when he 30 years. Office Manager Debbie worked there while a student at Lewis has been with Maaco for more Grassfield High School. Now Zelinsky is a small business than 19 years. Katie considers Brian Printy, owner too. He owns Grassfield Towthe main shop manager, her right-hand ing. man. “We give customers options here We thank Inside Business for reprint and try to work more budget-friendly permission.

great team of about 18 employees who not only work well together, but also play together. “We go out on fishing trips and picnics,” she said. “It’s very familyoriented here.”

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Georgia Expected To Pass Distracted Driving Bill by Kate Betts, Insurance Hub

Georgia is expected to join 15 other states that have passed laws that ban holding a cell phone while behind the wheel. Currently, Georgia law forbids texting and driving, but both talking on a handheld cell phone and dialing are still legal. HB673 aims to change that as an effort to reduce distracted driving accidents. What is HB673? HB673 basically prohibits drivers from holding a cell phone or another electronic device while they’re driving a car. The goal of the distracted driving bill is to make it easier for law enforcement to uphold driving laws. Since holding a phone to talk or dial is still currently legal, it’s difficult for police officers to prove that the driver in question was actually texting (and thus breaking the law) instead of just dialing or holding the phone. Of course, the bill is also intended to reduce accidents, injuries and fatalities on Georgia’s roads. The bill will raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving and hopefully discourage people from taking their attention off the road by looking at a screen. The stats: Since 2014, traffic fatalities in Georgia have gone up by 33 percent. The state alone faced 1,550 deaths last year, and it’s believed that cell phones are a big part of the jump. An estimate from Emory’s Injury Prevention Research Center puts the number of drivers on their phones at any given time at 7 percent. So. The reason for the bill is clear. The numbers don’t lie.

When will the bill go into effect? The bill has passed the Georgia General Assembly and now awaits Governor Deal’s approval (which it is expected to get.) The governor has 40 days from the bill’s passage on March 29 to sign the bill into law, veto it or let it pass into law without his signature.

Using a GPS or navigation app Smart watches

Reporting an accident, medical emergency, fire, crime or hazardous road condition

What’s not legal? Under the new bill, the following would be ILLEGAL:

Holding a cell phone, wireless device, or another electronic (like an iPod)

Writing, reading, or sending text (ex. text messages, email, IM or internet data)

Reaching for a device so that you are no longer in a proper seated driving position with seatbelt restraint  Watching a video or movie (other than navigation) Recording a video

The new distracted driving bill would make these actions while driving unlawful. Again, the goal is to reduce the number of car accidents caused by distracted driving. Under the new law, the first-time offense means a fine of $50, but it increases for each offense after that.

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AUTOBODY

What’s still legal? Certain things will still be legal and permissible. The following would be allowed while driving…

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MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Radios, CB radios, subscription-based emergency communication devices, prescribed medical devices, and in-vehicle security, navigation, or remote navigation Using a handheld phone while parked off the road in an area where parking is permitted (NOTE: This

does NOT mean being stopped at a traffic light.) Distracted driving and insurance premiums Distracted driving has contributed to an increase in traffic accidents and fatalities. And insurance companies look at statistics to determine car insurance rates. The higher the chance of an accident occurring, the higher the premiums drivers are likely to face. That’s why rates are often higher for people who have gotten speeding tickets or who have been involved in accidents. The decision to commit to being a safe driver can help you save money on car insurance, so the distracted driving bill might help lower your premiums. That’s the scoop on the distracted driving bill (HB673) that is expected to pass in Georgia. Hopefully, we will see a decrease in traffic-related injuries and fatalities and the roads will become safer for everyone. Take care and drive safe, Atlanta.

‘Who Pays for What?’ Survey: Increased Use of Materials Invoicing Systems

Although the majority of shops are still using a simple calculation of dollars-per-refinish-hour to bill for refinish materials on estimates, the first “Who Pays for What?” survey of 2018 found that the percentage of shops using materials invoicing systems to calculate these charges has increased. The latest of the four 2018 “Who Pays for What?” surveys, which focuses on not-included body labor operations, is open now through the end of April at https:// www.surveymonkey.com/r/XHZ67SD. The surveys are conducted by Collision Advice and CRASH Network. The survey conducted in January found that 23 percent of shops are using some kind of invoicing system to calculate their materials charges. That is up from the previous two years when about 19 percent of shops said they were using an invoicing system. Mike Anderson of Collision Advice said invoicing systems are becoming more necessary as OEM paint processes become more complex. “I think this is going to become increasingly important as we start to

see more 3-stage and 4-stage finishes, as well as more limited-use toners that shops may not stock because they are only infrequently used or have limited shelf life,” Anderson said. “This is why it’s important to research the paint code during estimating to find out if it’s 3-stage or 4-stage, or if it requires a limiteduse toner.” The survey, to which more than 900 shops responded, also showed that among those shops using invoicing systems, well over 50 percent of them are being paid based on those invoices “always” or “most of the time” by seven of the eight major insurers in the survey. Farmers and Nationwide all exceeded 60 percent, and more than 65 percent of shops reported that USAA pays “always” or “most of the time” based on materials invoices. In addition to asking about invoicing systems and refinish labor rates, the January survey asked shops about their billing practices—and insurers’ payment practices—regarding more than two dozen not-included refinish labor operations. The current survey focuses on

body labor procedures and includes some all-new questions to offer the industry even more helpful information. Shops can take the survey before the end of April by going to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ XHZ67SD Survey participants receive a report with complete survey findings at no charge, broken down by region, insurer and DRP vs. nonDRP. The report also includes analysis and resources to help shops better understand and use the information presented. Anderson said the survey, which will take about 15–30 minutes, should be completed by the shop owner, manager or estimator who is most familiar with the shop’s billing practices and the payment practices of the largest national insurers. Each shop’s individual responses are held in the strictest confidence; only aggregated data is released. The results of previous surveys are also available online (https:// www.crashnetwork.com/collision advice)

www.autobodynews.com

CARSTAR Opens New Location in Howard, WI

CARSTAR Auto Body Repair Experts announced the opening of CARSTAR Wilson Lineville, located at 1651 Brookfield Ave., Unit F6, in Howard, WI. This is a satellite location for convenient customer drop-off and pick-up, and supports CARSTAR Wilson Green Bay West, located at 750 Hansen Rd., Green Bay, WI. Kevin Wilson also owns CARSTAR Wilson Niagra at 785 Coolidge Ave., Niagara, WI 54154. He joined the CARSTAR family in 2014. CARSTAR Wilson Lineville offers free collision repair estimates, state-of-the-art unibody and frame repair equipment, bumper repair, expert color matching, towing assistance, vehicle pick-up and delivery, a nationwide warranty for most repairs and rental cars through Enterprise. The certified technicians at CARSTAR Wilson Lineville are trained to work on all makes and models and participate in ongoing education programs on the latest vehicle technologies and materials. Business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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In Reverse 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

Duke, Dunk and DuPont—Tales from the 1930s Duke Norman Unless you happen to be a student of the collision repair industry, you’ve probably never heard of Duke Norman. But if you are a shop owner, estimator or adjuster, you likely use or benefit every day from the product he helped create. In 1938, Norman began his career in the body shop at Robertson Buick in Chicago. He knew little about the business at the time, but became a fast study. At that time, the only reference for collision repair times were factory bulletins—times based on removing and replacing undamaged parts on undamaged cars—an operation performed with considerably more effort when the car was damaged. Shop managers were making estimates based on common sense and their own experience. When the insurance adjuster came in to review the car, the shop manager and estimator would both sit down and negotiate, in good faith, what was required to properly repair the car. Norman quickly saw that there was a need for some standardized times. Others in the industry had the same idea—but Norman did something about it. He began keeping track of the time it took to do a particular operation. He also noted that some technicians took longer or shorter times to do the same operation. After documenting the same operation 10 times, he calculated what the average time was to do that particular operation. At that time there were “a few” companies who began publishing repair data. National was one such company. Periodically, someone from National would stop by the shop, take Norman to lunch and pick his brain about what he was doing … and how he was doing it. Eventually, in 1950, National offered him a job and thus, Duke Norman, Body Man became Duke Norman, Editor. But coming up with proper times was not enough. Norman had an idea that the books he produced needed exploding drawings. National didn’t want to change—and 28

Norman felt frustrated. Then he met Glen Mitchell. Mitchell had a competing product to Norman’s—and hired him. In January 1958, Norman went to work for what would become Mitchell International. The Mitchell estimating books at that time were sold regionally, and Mitchell wanted to go national. Norman’s job was to build a sales force and figure out how to put illustrations in the manuals. With the proliferation of cars’ models in the late ‘50s and the need for more and better data, Norman’s former employer could not keep up and was ready to fold. Mitchell stepped in, picking up the National subscribers—and Mitchell was off and running as a nationwide collision industry provider of repair information. To ensure the times Mitchell was using were fair and equitable for all parties, Norman organized meetings all over the country for shop owners, technicians, dealer associations and insurance companies to review repair times and operations. These meetings continued from 1963 to 1968. By the mid-1960s, the team of Duke Norman and Glen Mitchell had grown to 130 people. In 1972, the company was sold to Cordura, a technology-based company, with the intention of bringing Mitchell into the 20th century with new technology. In 1973, Norman suffered a stroke. The travel and long hours had caught up to him. He returned to work later that year and retired in 1976.

Alfred Dunk Alfred Dunk died of pneumonia in California on March 6, 1936. He was only 61 years old. Few, if anyone, remember Dunk today, but if it had not been for him providing replacement parts to mechanical and body shops for early model vehicles, more cars would have hit the scrap heap at a much earlier age. Dunk was a pioneer in the replacement

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

auto parts field and single-handedly responsible for helping keep probably tens of thousands of cars on the road. No doubt, many mechanics and body men praised him for his simple but visionary idea. During the earliest years of the automotive industry, scores of car companies were founded, lasted a few years, sold a few cars, then went bankrupt or otherwise disappeared. This left thousands of “orphaned” vehicle owners and repair shops with no way to get parts for repair and maintenance. Enter Alfred Dunk. In 1908, two car manufacturers approached Dunk to set up a parts distribution system for them. The two companies would merge into a company called E-M-F and Dunk would handle parts distribution. Dunk then founded a company called Auto Parts Company and made himself president. By 1910, Dunk was doing such a good job, another car maker, Blomstrom, asked Dunk to distribute parts for them, which he did. Over time, and as more and more car manufacturers went out of business, Dunk found it advantageous to not only buy the manufacturer’s parts inventory, but also the blueprints and drawings so additional parts could be made. Dunk then formed another company called The Puritan Machine Company and began to manufacture parts as his inventory exhausted itself. A magazine article of the time touted that Dunk had parts or could make parts for 196 obsolete automobiles. In 1929, Dunk turned over to the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, records for parts for 756 companies. Many early auto repairers and early body men certainly knew and depended on his parts companies. Consider also that this pioneer of the auto parts business was born in 1875, the height of the cattle-drive era of the old west. DuPont Before it was known for its automotive refinish materials and a multitude of other diverse products, DuPont’s

main product was gunpowder. In April 1801 (yes, that’s 1801, not long after the American Revolutionary War), the DuPont company was born. In the summer of 1803, its gunpowder factories in America were ready. E.I. DuPont himself sent word to President Thomas Jefferson that his company stood ready to provide gunpowder to the U.S. military as needed. The company called its product “Brandywine Powder.” In the ensuing years, DuPont was a major supplier of gunpowder for the U.S. military as well as other purposes. Through the War of 1812, WWI and other skirmishes, DuPont was there to help defend America. But in December 1934, things turned ugly. DuPont was called before the U.S. Senate Munitions Investigating Committee to answer allegations of profiteering during WWI. Senator Gerald Nye, a Republican from North Dakota, chaired the committee. Ironically, between the end of WWI and 1935, DuPont had changed its product mix from 97 percent explosives to 95 percent non-explosives with a growing number of products aimed directly at consumers. DuPont had been, in a word, “burned” during WWI. They ramped up gunpowder production to a phenomenal level, expecting the war to last longer than it did. When it didn’t, DuPont executives decided they had better diversify. But the newspaper headlines didn’t see that part of DuPont’s business, and the company was viewed as a “merchant of death”—a public relations nightmare. Although some members of DuPont’s upper management still did not see the value in a positive corporate image, others did, and it was decided that something had to be done. In 1926, DuPont got into the sprayable lacquer business for auto refinishers with its Duco brand, followed by Dulux alkyd resin enamel and Lucite Acrylic lacquer. In early 1935, a positive public relations See Tales from the 30’s, Page 60

Mitchell’s Comprehensive Database Provides Precise Dimensions Required for Proper, Safe Repair manager, Auto Physical Damage at Mitchell International. “By building Autobody News recently visited our own database, Mitchell is better Mitchell’s Technical Research Cen- suited to respond to customer needs ter (TRC) in San Diego, CA, to learn and provide industry-leading solumore about how the company col- tions. The data we collect are critical to collision repairers and others, so that vehicles can be properly repaired.” Mitchell started measuring vehicles in 1986 for its Vehicle Dimension Manuals. The TRC with 3D scanning equipment originally opened in 2012 and relocated to a larger space about a mile and a half away about a year ago. Bachman and Gil Silva, Barbara Davies, co-owner and general manager of senior director, vendor relaAutobody News, received a demonstration of Mitchell tions at Mitchell, gave an Diagnostics from GeengYee Chong, product manager overview of the facility, and for Mitchell Auto Physical Damage then discussed the process lects automotive frame and unibody and 3D scanning technology used to measurements for the collision repair measure approximately 100 new vehicles every year. industry. “This facility and the data we capture are really unique to our inJohn and Gil, how many are dustry,” explained John Bachman, part of the team at TRC? by Stacey Phillips

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We have a team of five that works on this process of building the vehicle dimension database. Tom Beres is our supervisor and runs the day-to-day operations. This includes scheduling vehicles to come in for measurement. Timothy Simoneau, Dan Kovar and Ed Donohue are content specialists. They measure vehicles and then add the information to the database. Timothy is a database administrator, and Dan specializes in CAD and 3D modeling. Matthew Mayercin is a graphics specialist who works out of Mitchell’s main headquarters about a mile and a half away from the TRC.

Q: A:

What do the measurements include?

Not only are we collecting vehicle dimension xyz-coordinate data, but we also take digital photos as part of our products. We create a composite image of the underbody and then produce a technical drawing. I liken it to a blueprint of the vehicle’s underbody. Our 3D coordinate measuring machine (CMM) allows us to probe and scan points on the vehicles. After we probe, we are able to do a high-definition scan to generate a 3D virtual image of the vehicle.

Q: A:

Can you tell us about the 3D measuring equipment used?

The equipment we use is definitely unique. It’s very expensive and sophisticated, and typically, you wouldn’t see anything like this in a body shop.

There are three different pieces of equipment involved in the process. We use a CMM Arm, HD laser scanner and a spherical scanner. It’s basically a very precise 3D digitizer, and its primary purpose is to collect xyz coordinates and QA inspection. What are some of the main benefits of providing this level of detail?

Q: A:

Having that 3D data is a lot more robust, detailed and ac-

curate. Probably the most important thing is the accuracy of the equipment. We use very precise equipment that measures in microns, which are thousandths of a millimeter. It provides repair technicians the level of accuracy necessary for a proper and safe structural repair. The level of detail we are able to gather provides highly accurate information for our collision repair partners, who use the data to realign the vehicles and restore them to their original specifications.

Q: A:

What makes Mitchell’s process unique?

I believe we are the only company in the collision repair industry that collects this level of measurement data. We have measured vehicles for 30 years in different forms. We started out printing books with dimension diagrams. Then we began offering the information on CDs. At one time, the information filled 17 CDs! When DVDs were introduced, we transferred everything to those. Eventually, we began offering the information online in our TechAdvisor product. Mitchell standardizes the information for the industry and looks at the process from a collision repair aspect. We provide the same level of detail and information for all vehicles. Our goal is to be accurate, complete and easy to use.

Q: A:

Do you incorporate data from the OEMs?

We have access to OEM data as well. Some of the car manufacturers share information, but not in a database format. Often, the information is provided as a diagram and varies depending on the OEM. Others provide very little, if any, data. However, we do consider any OE data we receive. Occasionally, they will send us engineering data we can include. We collaborate with the OEM and share the same goal: to provide the information required to complete a proper and safe repair for all makes and models—the goal of everything we do related to vehicle repairs at Mitchell. See Mitchell’s, Page 47

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Mopar Masters Guild Annual Meeting Mixes Business With Fun With the ultimate goal of becoming better managers in order to During this year’s NADA Show in deliver the best service to its cusLas Vegas, held March 22–25, 35 tomers, MMG is always promoting members of the Mopar Masters Guild open communication. This year, they (MMG) converged to network, attend focused even more intently on the meetings, elect its officers for 2018 topic. and enjoy a little fun along the way. Some of the highlights during the annual meeting included presentations from FCA/Mopar executives and supporting vendors. “Our vendors play an important role and we are always anxious to meet with them and find out how they can help us as members and as an organization,” McDaniel said. “With six tier-one and seven tier(l to r) MMG Secretary Mike Opperman, President Susan two vendors on our roster, McDaniel, Barbara Davies from Autobody News, Vice they make us stronger and President Joe McBeth and Treasurer Don Cushing at more effective through their MMG’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, March 22–25 efforts and that’s why we MMG President Susan Mc- greatly value their participation.” Daniel was re-elected for another Subjects that MMG members two years, along with several other discussed at the meeting included a officers who represent top dealership wide range of marketing and effiparts departments nationwide. ciency strategies and systems to do a McDaniel is encouraged by what better job. MMG was able to achieve during the annual four-day meeting. “When we get together, we’re able to share ideas about best practices. That’s invaluable because we can take what we’ve discussed and use it to improve our departments,” said McDaniel, who is the parts director at Bill Luke The formula for every MMG annual meeting is to work hard Dealerships in Phoenix, and share ideas, but also have a little fun too! The week AZ. “Networking is a huge ended with a party at Drai’s After Hours, located in the part of every year’s annual Cromwell Hotel in Las Vegas meeting and this year was surely no exception.” “We talked about a new tire Mopar is the parts, service and marketing program that’s designed customer care organization that sup- to sell more tires; customer strategies ports Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for recalls; the wiADVISOR™ and (FCA). Established in 1992, MMG’s how to use it to process customers motto is “The exchange of informa- quickly and accurately and how to tion by like-size dealers in a non- get more customers to fill out surcompetitive environment.” veys and get better feedback from by Ed Attanasio

Call orwww.autobodynews.com Email Now for Rates:

AUTOBODY

800-699-8251

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MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

them,” McDaniel said. “In addition, we discovered phone techniques that can be used to more effectively get back to customers more promptly, especially when departments are

the year. “Currently, Don Cushing is working on our database and soon we will be making a big push to build membership,” McDaniel said. “We will reach out to eligible candidates through our members to let them know that joining MMG will benefit them on many levels. It all starts with our members reaching out to their colleagues and associates and getting the word out to the right people.” During the meeting, the following individuals started their two-year terms:

(l to r) Marvin Windham (longtime member of MMG and Executive Committee), President Susan McDaniel and Laura Windham network at MMG’s annual meeting

busy and backed up. These types of presentations foster better communication, and that is one of the main advantages of being a member of the MMG.” Another goal that the organization discussed at its annual meeting was a member drive to add 30 active members to the group by the end of

President: Susan McDaniel, Bill Luke CJDR

Vice President: Joe McBeth, Dallas Dodge

Treasurer: Don Cushing, Bald Hill DCJR

Secretary: Mike Opperman, Baxter Auto Group

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Please contact these dealers for your Honda or Acura Genuine parts needs. HO NDA A LA B A M A

F L O R ID A

FL O R ID A

G E O RG I A

Freeway Honda

Classic Honda

Rick Case Honda

Bi r mi n g h am

O rl an d o

D av ie

Bu ford/ Gw innet 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

Mi am i

Ga in es v il le

H u n t s v ill e

D el an d

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 R IDA

AutoNation Honda Clearwater C le ar wat er

G E O R G IA

Honda Mall of Georgia

Nalley Honda

Ed Morse Honda

Carey Paul Honda

Un io n Cit y

Ri vi e ra B ea ch

S n el lv i lle

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 ie tta

S avan na h

Cl e r m on t

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

H ol l ywoo d

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 Gre en a cres

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 u g us ta

Brade nt on

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. Laud e rd al e

888-792-7189 954-763-7157

M I SSI SS I P P I

Patty Peck Honda Rid ge la nd

800-748-8676 601-957-3400 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 pmartin@pattypeckhonda.com

D u lu t h

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 RA ALAB AMA

G E O R G IA

G EO RG IA

Jerry Damson Acura

Duval Acura

Jackson Acura

H u n t s vi l l e

Ja ck son v il le

R os w e ll

S avan na h

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

F or t La u de rd a le

M ar iet ta

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

FL O RI DA

Acura of Orange Park J acks on vi l le

888-941-7278 904-777-1008 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-8; Sat 7-5; Sun 9-3 msweeney@acuraoforangepark.com 32

F L OR ID A

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Southern Motors Acura

NO . CA RO LINA

Flow Acura Wi nst on -S al em

800-489-3534 336-761-3682 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-1 www.flowacura.com

N O . CA R O LINA

N O . CA R O L IN A

TE NN E S S E E

V I R G IN IA

Apple Tree Honda

Vann York Automall

Bill Gatton Honda

A sh e vi l l e

H ig h Po in t

B ri st ol

S tau nto n

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 D u 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 ar l ot 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 g h

800-868-6970 919-790-8228 Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:30-5 parts@leithhonda.com

McKenney-Salinas Honda Ga st on ia

888-703-7109 704-824-8844 x 624 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30 parts@mshonda.com

Metro Honda Ind i an Trail

866-882-9542 704-220-1522 Dept. Hours: M-F 6:30-6:30; Sat 7-4 www.copytk.com

N O. C AR OLINA

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-3 S O . C A R O LI N A

Breakaway Honda Gree n vi ll e

800-849-5056 864-234-6481 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-5 fmarshall@breakawayhonda.com

Midlands Honda Co l um bi a

877-273-4442 803-691-8585

B ar tlet t

Richmo nd

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

V I R G IN I A

Checkered Flag Honda Nor f o lk

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

An de r so n

800-849-5057 864-375-2082 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-5 swhite@piedmontcars.com TENNESSEE

Airport Honda Al co a

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 h es te r

800-564-9836 804-414-1960 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-7; Sat 8-4 rreese@i95honda.com

Hall Honda V irg in ia Be ach

800-482-9606 757-431-4329 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-7; Sat 8-5 fox@hallauto.com

Kn ox vi 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

T E N NE SS EE

Woo d br id ge Dept. Hours: M-Fri 7-6 Sat 8-5; Sun 10-4

V I RG IN IA

Hendrick Acura

Gary Force Acura

C h arl ot t e

Bren two od

Fa lls C hu rch

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 C ar y

800-868-0082 919-657-0460 Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-4:30 parts@leithacura.com

Valley Honda

Radley Acura

V IR GI NI A

Karen Radley Acura Woo db r id g e

800-355-2818 703-550-0205 Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30; Sat 8-3 coreythompson@radleyautogroup.com autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Day Job/Night Job

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.

with Ed Attanasio

The Amazing Art of Chris Harsh

lucky to meet Bryan Hilleary, who was willing to teach me how to paint. He told me that he would teach me everything he knows and pay me while I was learning, so it was a perfect situation. Over the years, we’ve worked together a few times at different shops, so we’ve been friends for a long time now.” Looking back on his career as a painter, there were a few obstacles along the way, but Harsh always stayed positive and focused on doing a good job wherever he worked. “I was painting camper shells for a while, and that’s definitely a completely different way of working,” Harsh said. “They prepped the shells and loaded them in the booth and I was spraying like a robot. It wasn’t challenging at all, but I could work fast and log eight hours after working only 4–5 hours.” A technical instructor at the AkzoNobel training facility in Always looking for a silver Orange, CA, Chris Harsh is also a highly talented artist lining in every cloud, Harsh Harsh, 41, who is married with used the camper shell job to learn anthree children, started painting cars other valuable skill that would later in high school back in the 1990s, but help him in his current position as a can still vividly remember his very teacher. first body/paint job. “Most of the preppers there “My grandfather left me an old were Hispanic, so I took the oppor1970 Chevelle,” he said. “He was the tunity to learn Spanish,” he said. original owner, so it needed some “Talking to them every day really work. But I got it running, so once I helped, and now I am completely got my license, I was ready to drive. I proficient in Spanish. I am officially worked on the car one summer in my friend’s garage and he showed me how to mix up some body filler. I started sanding the car, fixing dents and applying the primer, and eventually I painted it yellow. People to this day still remember that big yellow car.” Once he realized that he Harsh’s creations are hanging on walls all over the world liked painting cars, Harsh landed a job working for a collision a bilingual instructor, and recently I center in Huntington Beach, CA, was in Mexico City training the Akwhere he met his first mentor. zoNobel technical crew there. I have “I started working there the day met Spanish-speaking painters from I turned 18, so yes—I was ready to all over the country, and connecting work and learn,” Harsh said. “I was with them through language is very When he isn’t working as a technical instructor at the AkzoNobel training facility in Orange, CA, Chris Harsh is pursuing his passions—skateboarding, surfing and art. Thanks to his unique style and integration of different aspects of his background into his paintings, Harsh is getting rave reviews for his seascapes, tree images and even some abstract work that he’s been experimenting with recently.

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

rookie or a veteran,” he said. “If I can make them better painters and teach them something they didn’t know in one of our three-day classes or by coming to their shop, [that is] even more gratifying.” Back in 2002, Harsh was working at a Buick, Pontiac and Mazda dealership, where he became interested in pinstriping. “On the Buicks at that time, they featured handpainted pinstripes, so I started watching their pinstripper in action,” he said. “He gave me Some of his creations use AkzoNobel paint, which is applied some tips and some of his to paint can lids oldest brushes. I got a kit and AkzoNobel products was immedi- practiced, and after a while I got pretty good at it. That kind of fueled my art ately attractive to him. “I really enjoy what I’m doing career.” Seven years later, Harsh began because I am able to share my knowledge and experience with so many working with ink markers and penSee Chris Harsh, Page 42 different people, whether they’re a satisfying.” After 23 years on the body shop side, Harsh was ready to enter a new chapter. Teaching people how to use

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NV Body Shop Donates Handicap-Adaptive Vehicle to Teen After Accident by Teri Vance, Nevada Appeal

After four months of intensive-care treatment and rehabilitation following a rollover accident in Kings Canyon that left her paralyzed, Stefanie Schmidt is now home in Carson City, NV, adjusting to her new life. “This may not have been the path we chose, but this is the path we’re on now,” said her father, Mike Schmidt. “Out mantra is, ‘Always forward.’” Moving forward got a little easier for Stefanie on March 23 when Rupert’s Auto Body donated a handicap-adaptive 2000 Lexus to the 15year-old girl, who had just received her learner’s permit before the accident. “Driving has always been a goal of mine,” she said. “I’m excited to be able to do that.” In a ceremony in front of the auto body shop on March 23, city officials and first responders gathered to see Stefanie receive her new car and wish her well. “You are the reason why we are here and why we serve,” said Carson City Fire Chief Sean Slamon.

“Fighters like you make us realize it’s worth doing what we do.” Stefanie was one of seven students involved in a rollover accident

Stefanie Schmidt, 15, who was one of seven teens involved in a rollover accident in Kings Canyon in November, received a car from Rupert’s Auto Body on March 23. She was accompanied by her brother, Zach, 18; father, Mike; and sister, Arianna, 19. Courtesy photo

in Kings Canyon in November. Four of the teens were critically injured. Timothy Jones, of Dayton, later died of his injuries. “Tragedy struck in Carson City when seven of our finest were hurt,” said Mayor Bob Crowell. “When someone is hurt, this community stands together to help them heal.

“I want to say a special thank you to Rupert’s for extending the hand of friendship to Stefanie.” Rupert said the idea came together when a customer donated his wife’s handicap-accessible car. Employees fixed it up and offered it to the teen. “We found out Stefanie had a need and we could fill the need,” he said. “So we made it happen. We wanted to bring the community together to let her know she’s not alone.” Mike Schmidt said the car came at the right moment. “The rehab hospital said that this is perfect for her because she’s never driven before, so she doesn’t have muscle memory,” he said. “She’ll be set up for learning adaptive driving.” Before the ceremony, Carson City Sheriff’s Sgt. Bill Richards, who helped extricate Stefanie from the wreckage, approached her. “I’m glad to see you here,” he said, before giving her his card and instructing her to call if she ever needed anything. After seeing her that night, going in and out of consciousness, he said he was happy to see how well she was doing.

“I’m amazed,” he said. “She seems to have a great spirit.” Mike Schmidt said he and his family have been overwhelmed by all of the support from the community since the accident. “The outreach has been unbelievable,” he said. “My heart has grown four times from it. Carson City is probably the best place to live in America. And now to get this car— this is what stories are written about. We’re living in a fairytale.” School board trustee Ron Swirczek said Stefanie has given as much as she has received. “You are an inspiration to us all,” Swirczek told her. “You brought out the best in this community. We wish you the best going forward, and we’re going to be supporting you all the way.” We thank Nevada Appeal for reprint permission.

INSTAGRAM :

@autobodynews

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Historical Snapshot with John Yoswick

—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.

Problems With Non-OEM Radiators Led to CAPA Certification Program 20 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (May 1998) The Collision Industry Conference (CIC) task force considering alternatives to the current method of calculating shop compensation for paint materials has drawn up a list of proposed guidelines for any new paint materials calculations system. The task force, which includes collision repairs, insurers, auto and paint manufacturers and estimating system providers, has called for a system that: • is based on surface area of the part being refinished, as provided by the manufacturer of that part; • includes no caps; • uses a multiplier for repaired (versus new) panels; • includes as “refinish materials” only those items listed as such in the Mitchell guide; • includes all refinish surfaces or areas with no deduction for overlap of adjacent panels; • includes a blend allowance that averages 50 percent of materials calculated for full painting of a panel; and • offers different allowances based on the use of different VOC-content products.

Representatives of CIC and the task force said some members of the industry have voiced concerns about changing the current system. But Phil Cunningham of Motor Information Systems pointed out that the changes are inevitable. His company’s customers, he said, have asked Motor to create a refinish materials estimate system, just as Mitchell International has. “So we are going to develop one,” Cunningham said. “We [have] also been told that the current method that takes a rate multiplied by an hourly refinish allowance is not preferred. The method that is preferred is a rate times the surface area. They’re going to be competing refinish materials estimating products out there. The question to the industry is: Does the industry want to be involved in developing the methodology on 36

which material estimating is predicated, or do they prefer the three information providers go off and each develop their own methodology?” – As reported in The Golden Eagle. A wide variety of alternative methods of calculating refinish materials have been proposed over the years, but no single one has gained widespread usage; only about 1-in-4 shops, for example, report using an alternative materials calculator / invoicing system.

15 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (May 2003) The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) last month gathered industry leaders from around the country to discuss what they see as key issues facing the industry, and to draft “position statements” based on those discussions. About 80 people, including shop owners and representatives of SCRS state and regional affiliate associations, attended the National Industry Issues Forum and voiced support for five “resolutions” created during the meeting. Perceived problems associated with third-party claims auditing, sometimes referred to as “desk audits” or “remote audits,” were among the issues generating the most discussion during the meeting. The group agreed that a starting point in addressing the problem would be for the CIC to develop some definitions of such terms as “desk audit” and “third-party administrator,” which are often used interchangeably. Shop owners pointed out that “remote auditing” may actually violate some state laws, which can require physical inspection of the vehicle or licensing of claims adjusters, appraisers or estimates. Among the practices of some third-party claims auditors that the group listed to be addressed were: taking of arbitrary discounts without explanations; sending payment without explanation of what was charged on the estimate; not using one estimating system, but “cherry-picking” labor times or procedures from multiple systems; and seeking shop

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

agreement prior to providing paperwork to the shop. Shops at the event said they are again more frequently being told certain items are part of their “shop overhead” and thus not billable; again, the group felt CIC could assist by revisiting its definition or explanation of “overhead.” – As reported in Autobody News. 10 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (May 2008) Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty last week signed into law legislation backed by the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Minnesota (AASP-MN) that prohibits an insurer from “unilaterally and arbitrarily disregard(ing) a repair operation or cost identified by an estimating system (that) an insurer and collision repair facility have agreed to utilize in determining the cost of repair.”

The language was not as strong as that originally proposed which, without using the term “arbitrarily,”

In 2008, Judell Anderson of the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of Minnesota helped enact a state law prohibiting an insurer from “unilaterally and arbitrarily disregard(ing) a repair operation or cost identified by an estimating system.”

prohibited failure to use an estimating system in its entirety or refusing to compensate a shop for documented paint and materials charges identified through industry-recognized systems. Still, AASP-MN Executive DiSee Non-OEM Radiators, Page 43

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National Associations with Chasidy Rae Sisk

Get to Know WIN’s 2018 MIW Honorees The Women’s Industry Network (WIN) recently announced that four women will be honored as Most Influential Women (MIW) in 2018. They will be celebrated at the MIW Gala and Awards Ceremony, held during WIN’s Educational Conference in Indianapolis May 7–9. Originally established by AkzoNobel in 1999 and taken on by WIN in 2013, the MIW program aims to recognize women whose leadership, vision and commitment to excellence have enriched the collision repair industry. The 2018 MIW honorees are Shelly Bickett, Director and CoFounder of Fix Auto USA; Mary Mahoney, Vice President of the Insurance Replacement Division for Enterprise Holdings; Marie Peevy, Owner of Automotive Training Coordinators LLC; and Collisionista Petra Schroeder. While all of these women are involved with WIN, the association does not select the MIW honorees. Established criteria focused on industry influence, professional accomplishments, mentorship and community service are considered by an independent third-party company that reviews the nominations and selects each year’s winners. This year’s honorees all graciously agreed to discuss with Autobody News their careers, involvement with WIN and how they feel about receiving this recognition. After years in the corrugated box industry, Peevy began her collision repair industry career by chance when she relocated and needed a new job. She recalled, “I liked it from day one, but I began to love it after my first year when I attended an industry conference. I developed a tremendous respect for collision repairers, owners, managers, technicians—all of them. I found the industry interesting and challenging, [and] always providing an opportunity to learn. I have been in the industry since 2005, and I find it hard to believe those 13 years have gone by so quickly.

“It’s difficult for me to discuss my career without first stating I have five boys ranging in age from 5 to 32! I think this is important because, as most women know, your priorities revolve around your kids first. However, it is important you do something for yourself, so that you leave an example of what is possible for your children. Honestly, my real career accomplishments began when I took a chance on an idea. I saw collision repairers struggling to meet and maintain training requirements and all of the details associated with it. My passion for their struggles drove me to develop and continue to refine an approach that simplifies the process. Every day, I am excited because I know my company, Automotive Training Coordinators LLC, is helping collision repairers and making their lives just a little easier. I am grateful to the people who coached me and even for those that said I couldn’t be successful. Today, my company makes a difference every day.” Mahoney began her career with Enterprise as a management trainee in 1985, learning all aspects of the business and taking on increasing levels of responsibility until she moved to its worldwide headquarters in St. Louis in 1994. There, she spearheaded the company’s first insurance replacement department and was tasked with improving the communication process between branches, insurance companies and collision centers. The same year, she was involved with developing and implementing the Automated Rental Management System (ARMS®). She recalled, “After being part of such a significant milestone, I knew from then on that this was the segment of our business in which I belonged.” In 2004, Mahoney was promoted to overseeing the management of Enterprise’s insurance replacement and collision business throughout North America. “Each promotion at Enterprise has been a personal accomplishment

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

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.

for me,” she said. “What has been important within each promotion is that I’ve been fortunate to be part of the growth of the Insurance Replacement division and team as well. Being a leader and mentor to this team, many of them women, has been very rewarding, and I’m so proud of the work and advancements being made in the industry. I’ve also been fortunate to be part of important efforts such as NABC’s Recycled Rides and Progressive’s Keys to Progress. These initiatives play key roles in getting vehicles to individuals, [including] veterans, who wouldn’t have otherwise had one.” Mahoney also sits on the board of the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF). Bickett became involved in the industry in 1984 when she opened her first collision repair facility in Southern California, a business that

has since grown to include nine locations with more than 250 employees and more than $30 million in annual revenue. The shops are part of Fix Auto USA, which Bickett cofounded. She shared, “I saw the opportunity for success in an industry that was ready for improvement, both in processes, measurements and financial enhancement. My business knowledge, accounting expertise and process improvement training made this a good business venture.” Over the past three decades, Bickett has been on the cutting-edge of industry changes, participating in a variety of industry initiatives and serving roles in several associations. She was a founding member of Caliber Collision in 1991 and co-founded Fix Auto USA in 1997, a franchise that now includes 126 locations. She helped found CIECA, Cyncast and

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the Collision Career Institute and has spoken at several conferences. The breadth and extent of Bickett’s knowledge and experience are astonishing and surpassed by few industry professionals. After Schroeder finished high school, her father fell sick, so her parents recommended an apprenticeship that she began in 1969 at Herberts/Standox, a chemical company in Germany, with the intention of resuming her studies. However, she discovered an interest in the industry, sticking with the company to become the first female senior employee in 1992 and the first female assigned to an ex-patriot position in 1995 when she was sent to the United States. Her involvement with the company continued after it was sold to DuPont and then later to Axalta. She was recognized on many occasions, receiving a Clear Coat Technology Research and Marketing Award, a Double Duty Award and an award for Excellence in Customer Experience and Loyalty. In addition to acting as a judge for the Skills USA competition over the past four years, Schroeder has

volunteered with SCRS, NABC and WIN where she is now serving her second year as the association’s Chair. Additionally, she volunteers for Emmanuel House, Girl Scouts and other community service projects. “There were a lot of opportunities to just apply myself, and I have a great passion for this industry and the people in it, especially students and other females,” Schroeder said. Schroeder attended her first WIN conference in 2007 and became interested very quickly, volunteering on the association’s committees and joining its board in 2013. She has served as WIN’s Chair since 2016. “Networking with so many women provides steady and mutual learning,” she said. “There is not a conversation that I have without learning from someone else. WIN’s mission to encourage more females to join the collision repair industry fits perfectly with my interests and passions, and receiving the honor of being named a 2018 MIW makes me want to continue volunteering even more.” “I feel very honored, humbled

and excited to be recognized as an MIW. As WIN’s Chair, I’ve worked with former MIWs, and it’s great to be part of this impressive list of names. I think all of us who have been honored find that we like this work and we do these things because we have a passion for it; that it’s recognized is just icing on the cake.” Having been involved with the association since it began, Bickett is also passionate about WIN’s mission, which aligns with her involvement in the National Charity League. “Working with younger women in my business, I have watched them grow organically, but there wasn’t anything industry-specific that encouraged and developed women before WIN,” she said. “The women in this industry were mostly surrounded by men, but WIN gives us the opportunity to work together, promote each other and develop our careers and leadership skills.” “Like many women, I just want to get things done: work, improve businesses and take care of employees, business associates, family and friends. It’s nice to validate all of my contributions by being recognized in

this way.” Mahoney is inspired by WIN members and their efforts to work together to address the industry’s many challenges. “While there aren’t as many women in the industry as there could be, we are seeing women’s roles grow and advance,” she said. “We’re moving forward very quickly in all aspects of the automotive industry, especially the collision repair industry, and I am so excited to be a part of it.” “I am passionate about what I do every day, and I am passionate about helping others achieve personal and professional success. Being recognized by WIN as an influential woman is a great honor, and I am humbled. It tells me maybe I can make a difference in the industry and in the lives of women I meet on a regular basis. That is so important to me and to Enterprise. It is important that we continue to bring awareness to the collision industry and the criticalness of training and advancement that needs to continue [in] this area, and especially for women.” See MIW Honorees, Page 43

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Assured Performance Develops Technology to Provide Shop Accountability Scott Biggs, CEO of the Assured Performance Network, recently responded to our article from last month (OE Certifications, John Eagle Case Raise Questions of Accountability) to share what his company is doing for its member shops to help ensure they don’t end up like John Eagle Collision. Assured Performance is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that was created specifically to assist consumers identify certified collision repair providers that meet OEM requirements to properly and safely repair the next generation of vehicles using advanced materials and technology.

Q: A:

What did you think about the article?

Your article was a good callto-action, but it really didn’t offer a viable solution. Well, we have made huge strides in that regard and that’s why I wanted to respond to the piece. We’ve made a significant investment in technology to try and give our shops the ability to control and deliver a better quality output. Tell us about the technology you’ve developed to add accountability and transparency for your network members.

Five years ago, we approached several IP companies and other tech companies to build something, and they all said no. So, years later, we decided to build it ourselves, actually hoping that some other companies would predictably try to build something better once they saw it. This year, we are finally seeing some other companies coming up with pieces of the puzzle in an attempt to emulate or improve what we’re doing, and that’s fine because it just feeds the need. There are three main reasons and benefits for having this app, which we call our Quality Assurance and Control System (OE-OC). For one, if you think about the John Eagle case, how does a shop mitigate

their liability exposure and avoid it from happening to them? There are shops out there right now that are scared by this landmark case and are looking around for a solution. By law, you want to make sure as a shop owner that certain things take place. First, that all your technicians are following OE repair procedures and second, that everything is documented so that you have some sort of proof if you ever end up in court. Third, shops obviously don’t want re-dos, because that can cost them a fortune. If you have shoddy work going out the back of the shop, you’ll have a lot of unhappy customers and DRPs as a result, so shops are already motivated to do quality work for obvious reasons. The response from shops about the OE-QC system has been very positive, but now the challenge is to get their technicians to use it. It’s an integration process that will probably take a year or even more to get shops to use it on an everyday basis. As other companies come out with their own versions of this system, we have no issues with that. If someone has a better product in this space, we’re happy for them. We did it because it was desperately needed at the time, but we know it’s not going to be the only solution. We now require our member shops to adopt this tool or another tool that is functionally equivalent to cover them with documentation and prove that their technicians are following and using OE repair procedures. As a shop owner, you want to cover your act. [You want to] have accountability from your technicians and produce a better quality product—it is really that simple. So we built this tool and tried to keep it as simple as we could, because we know that if it’s too complex, no one will use it. [We decided to build] something that could allow the shop to quickly and easily identify what their technicians are doing through a limited number of clicks and by taking a few photos of the repair process. We also decided to create a quality checklist for all jobs based on the vehicle and the OE procedures that were used

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

in the repair. We made it easy for technicians to be assigned to a repair then document it all right in their hands. It’s very seamless and feeds to the smart app easily, plus it’s all electronic and based on the shop’s data available to them through their management or estimating system. We built it, and then we streamlined it and finally realized that we needed to develop a system where specific technicians can be assigned to specific jobs based on their skill sets. So we created that part of the app and released it two days after the John Eagle case was announced during our annual conference in Scottsdale, AZ. It was just serendipity, but the timing is indeed significant. If we wanted to charge shops for this app, it would cost them thousands of dollars every year. But because we internalized the cost of it and made it part of our certification, we’re able to give it to our certified shops at no cost. So now the shops will have the tools they need as OEs and insurers begin to jump onboard. As an example, General Motors recently announced that output quality documentation is fundamental to its future certification program. Our shops now have access to at least one tool to help them.

Q: A:

Tell us more about your repair compliance app?

This app transforms the shop’s estimate repair line information into an interactive checklist on the technician’s smart phone, tablet or desktop. Then in just seconds, the technician can use simple touch commands to take photos and provide other documentation as they follow OEM repair procedures in the proper and safe repair of any vehicle. It allows management to review and approve the technician documentation and see alerts when no documentation is provided. This provides the shops with an efficient and cost effective ability to conduct robust quality assurance programs and build quality into the repair process based upon fol-

lowing OEM repair procedures where they exist. [The program’s simple touch-screen functionality only takes seconds for the technicians to properly document so as to not put quality control at risk or leave it to an unlikely third-party and after-the-fact spot check.]

Q: A:

What is ShopOps?

ShopOps is like a business toolbox. Inside of the program, shops will find many critical tools they need to help run their business. The Quality Assurance Program is one, but there are others too. For example, every shop should have a skills inventory based on the staff they have employed, but how many shops actually know which of their technicians have what skills and are trained to repair what types of vehicles? That’s a pretty tall order for your average shop to do, so we’re working with I-CAR to give another tool to our shops as part of ShopOps. Inside this application there is a human resources feature functionality that enables the user to assemble and maintain a skills inventory for every employee they have. This way, they can keep track of each technician’s skills based on training or assessments they have, including I-CAR classes, OEM courses, ASE testing, and paint and equipment training classes. It becomes part of that particular shop’s skills inventory, which allows them to have the right mix of skills to accomplish the types of repairs they perform. That way, they can assign only the right technician to the job they’re trained to do and in the future, they can hire techs who can bolster their skills inventory while getting training for those who need more or specific knowledge and skills. This part of our efforts is focused on the foundation of this industry—employees and quality!

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Continued from Page 39

MIW Honorees

Peevy said she was nervous when she attended her first WIN conference in 2012 because she only knew one person. “[However,] it didn’t take long before many people were introducing me to others and taking time to help me feel like I belonged,” she said. “I found being involved with WIN and attending the WIN conferences provided a great opportunity to grow and learn. There’s an important lesson in this: get involved, take a few chances and engage others. Networking will help anyone take it to the next level.” “It’s humbling to be recognized as a MIW, especially when I think of all the past winners and even those wonderful women who also are being recognized with me this year. It is an honor to think you are being recognized for being a positive influence. It’s been difficult to believe because this industry is made up of some of the most amazing, kind and generous people you could Continued from Page 34

Chris Harsh

cils to create images, but quickly gravitated to paint. “I reached the point where I thought buying a set of oil paints or acrylics and a bunch of canvases might be my next move,” he said. “But then I thought, ‘Why don’t I just use the same paint I use at my job every day?’ So I started working with Sikkens Autowave, one of our waterborne products, and I loved how it worked. Then I discovered that I needed something to paint on, and for whatever reason, I started doing it on paint lids. I was around all of these paint cans, so why not put these lids to use? That’s how it began, and since then I’ve painted more than 400 images using automotive paint on paint lids.” After a while, Harsh’s art gained some local recognition, which fueled him to do even more of it, he said. “I have been a skateboarder my entire life, so one day I was at a local skate park and I ran into Steve Ca42

ever know.” All of this year’s MIW honorees agree that including women in collision repair is important because the industry truly needs a feminine perspective and a healthy balance, and they have all witnessed an increase in females in a variety of roles within the industry over the years. Each woman shared her views as well as advice for young women interested in pursuing a career in the automotive industry. “Women have a growing influence within our industry and we need to recognize those contributions, which are required for the industry to have the healthy balance it needs to succeed,” Peevy said. “Young women should know they will be respected if they show an interest in learning the industry, earning a place in it and respecting it. There’s tremendous opportunity for women in our industry, and by that, I mean there are literally hundreds of roles women can play. In fact, there’s really no role women can’t hold successfully.” Acknowledging that there are not as many women in the industry as there could be, Mahoney stated that ballero, a pro skater,” he said. “We started talking and I showed him some of my work, and he liked it. He then referred me to some of his friends and they liked it too, so they invited me to display my artwork at the Ventura Nationals, an annual car show. They gave me a booth and I sold a lot of art that day, including some art I created right on the spot. It was great to see that people wanted to purchase my stuff, and that inspired me to keep going.” Since then, Harsh’s art has appeared in art shows and other events. Many people have his images on their walls, but he still wants it to be a passion as opposed to a profession, he said. “I do it for the love of it, so I don’t ever want it to be like painting those camper shells,” he said. “I want to work on it at my pace and keep it a hobby, so that I won’t lose that great feeling every time I create a new piece.”

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MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

there have been definitive growth and advancements in women’s roles. She praised Enterprise for its promotefrom-within philosophy that rewards employees based on performance and has led to women being well represented in senior leadership positions throughout the company. “It can be a tough process, but it’s also fair and is opening doors for women in every one of our lines of business,” she said. “I think this industry offers a fantastic opportunity for anyone, but especially women, to have a career in so many areas, and I encourage women not to shy away from segments that haven’t historically been considered as a career opportunity for them.” “As I progressed throughout my career and considered each next big promotion, I often questioned whether I was qualified, but support and mentoring taught me that I’d never know what I could achieve unless I got outside of my comfort zone and took a chance. The opportunities are endless!” Bickett said, “The collision industry needs the diversity that women bring. We are different, and this is a

benefit to businesses because women bring different experiences and skill sets that complement men’s and can bring synergy to this industry. There are many opportunities for women in the automotive industry, and this can become a career with many avenues. Young women interested in working in this industry should engage with other women, but men also. Network and find a mentor. Have a clear career vision, and empower yourself.” Schroeder also mentioned that women and men offer different skill sets and different perspectives that complement one another, but she believes it’s important “to remain firstclass ladies instead of trying to be second-class men. It’s important to be aware of how you present yourself and women in general. Behavior, wardrobe and language are all important. You cannot demand respect, but once you show that you do what you say and you apply your knowledge and experience, respect will come.”

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ASA Endorsement of OEM Service Procedures

In January 2018, Indiana Sen. Mark Messmer, R-48, introduced Senate Bill (SB) 164 which unanimously passed the Senate Jan. 30 and moved quickly through the House Committee on Insurance. It returned to the Senate with amendments by a vote of 83–13 Feb. 28. The Senate balked and filed a motion to dissent in early March .An amendment, adopted by the House Insurance Committee, would allow a work-around for insurers by recommending adherence to “industry standards” as an alternative to the vehicle manufacturer’s repair procedures. The CDOC of the Automotive Service Association has reaffirmed ASA’s position endorsing the use of required OEM service procedures when such procedures are available. COC members recently discussed several legislative initiatives being monitored. Language in one such initiative in Indiana would have endorsed the use of vaguely defined “industry standards” over the recommended OEM service procedures in the course of collision repair.

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rector Judell Anderson views the legislation as a win for the industry. “Under this bill, insurers will no longer be able to selectively use these estimating systems,” she said. – As reported in CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com), May 12, 2008. CRASH Network in 2009 interviewed Minnesota shops about the impact of the law six months after it went into effect. “It’s still all over the board who is paying what, but we’re seeing changes,” one shop owner said. “It’s improved the awareness and understanding of the P-pages.” More insurers, he said, are paying for feather, prime and block operations, and for de-nib and polish. Another shop owner said, “Where it’s helped us is with wheel alignments and mechanical labor. Some insurance companies like to pay a flat price for wheel alignments or say that procedures designated in the (estimating system) as mechanical labor are body labor. Now I hold up the book and say we use the whole book and nothing

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but the book.” He pointed out the law allows for deviations from an estimating system if agreed to by the insurer and shop, so thought it probably hadn’t helped shops on DRP programs. “But it has helped shops that are not on the programs do a lot better in quite a few areas,” he said. “It allows me to say, ‘We’ve got a law, and we only deal with law-abiding companies.’” Montana lawmakers passed similar legislation in 2011. 5 Years Ago in the Collision Repair Industry (May 2013) Speaking at the Automotive Body Parts Association (ABPA) convention this month, Jack Gillis of the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) said his organization is working on certification requirements for air conditioning condensers and radiators. “We did some preliminary testing on very popular radiators, and we found there are some problems,” Gillis said. “There are great radiators out there and there are not-so-great radiators out there. One of the issues is that radiator failures generally occur six to 18 months down the road when the consumer has forgotten they even

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had the radiator put into their vehicle.” Gillis said CAPA compared nine non-OEM radiators to their OEM counterparts for the 2004–07 Chevrolet Silverado, the 2005–07 Honda Accord and the 2000–07 Ford Taurus.

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Seven of the nine, Gillis said, failed to match the OEM part. Problems found, he said, included radiator caps that failed pressure testing, premature corrosion issues, leaks dues to poor welding and tube fractures. – As reported in CRASH Network (www.CrashNetwork.com), May 27, 2013. Two years later, CAPA began certifying non-OEM radiators. Gillis retired from CAPA this year after nearly three decades leading the organization.

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autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

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.

Shop Strategies with Stacey Phillips

Award-Winning MSO Experiences Tremendous Financial Growth, Expansion Named one of America’s fastestgrowing companies in 2015 by Inc. 5000, New Look Collision has been referred to as a model collision repair center by its peers, customers and insurance partners. The family-owned-and-operated MSO specializes in repairing European vehicles and has received numerous accolades since it opened its first location in Henderson, NV, in 2004. In 2011, the company expanded its operations and opened an additional location in Shelbourne, located in the southwestern part of Las Vegas. In June 2017, Michael Whittemore and his wife, Theressa, bought out a competitor in Central Las Vegas. Their fourth location is adjacent to the Henderson shop and was built as an

Body shop owners, suppliers, equipment companies and the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce welcomed New Look Collision during the company's grand opening celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony in March

overflow facility. The Whittemores’ son-in-law, Paul Williams, is New Look’s general manager and is married to their eldest daughter, Jessica. Together, Paul and Jessica oversee the shops in Nevada. With four locations in Nevada, the MSO opened a new facility in Scottsdale, AZ, in March. Autobody News sat down with Michael during the grand opening celebration on March 27 to find out how this entrepreneur started out in the collision repair business and learn about the processes he has incorporated over the years to operate and expand a successful MSO. Can you tell us about the journey that led to the opening of New Look Collision?

I grew up in the business. My cousin owned an auto body shop, so I spent time helping him out. I also enjoyed restoring old muscle cars. In 1985, I enrolled at a trade school in Johnson City, New York called OTC—Occupational Training Center. After the first year, my instructor, Mr. Heier, told me that I had a knack for doing this type of work and encouraged me to pursue collision repair after I finished school. I graduated from the two-year program at the top of my class out of 50 students. I was 20 years old at the time. The experience prepared me to work in the collision repair industry, but I didn’t realize how green I was. OTC helped me find a job at a Porsche dealership in Vestle, New York. That’s when I found out that I was really green. I just knew the very basics. Fortunately, I had a couple of older technicians take me under their wing. After about a year, I worked at another body shop and then a Ford dealership. Theressa and I decided to move out west to Nevada where her family lived. I spent the next 20 years working as a technician. However, I always had a vision of opening my own shop. It was kind of hard though. In 2003, I was a good technician making a lot of money, but my four kids were pretty young at the time, so I didn’t want to take a risk. As they started getting older, I put a business plan together and with the help of my family and friends, we were able to raise $700,000 to open our first New Look Collision location in 2004 in Henderson. After about 10 years, Theressa and I bought out our investors and silent partners.

What prompted the decision to move into another state to open your fifth location?

Theressa and I always liked Arizona and we bought a cabin in the Flagstaff area of Northern Arizona two years ago. Many of the claims managers in Nevada are hubbed out of Phoenix, Arizona so

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

All of our locations are pretty much run the same way. We set them up like Ray Kroc set up McDonald’s. You can go into any of our shops and see the same processes: how the vehicles get checked in and tagged and how they run through the shop. There have been times when we’ve had to move employees from one location to another because they were on vacation or sick. Because the locations are run the same, an employee can work at another location with minimal training. Our employees know one another well and keep in contact. If one of our customer service representatives (CSRs) has a question, The team at New Look Collision’s new location in Scottsdale, he or she can call another AZ. This is the MSO’s first in the state of Arizona CSR or office manager at 23,000-square-foot facility has a the corporate location to find out the 17,000-square-foot shop workspace information needed. We also put toand the remainder is allocated to of- gether standard operating procedures fice space, which we will use as we (SOPs) for each of the job duties at the company, so everyone knows continue to expand in Arizona. what is expected. What are some of the challenges of operating in a differHow have OEM certifications ent state? benefited your business and what is your advice to other shops It definitely has its challenges. about obtaining them? There are different tax laws I started obtaining OEM cerand employee laws and we’re learntifications before they became ing as we go along. My advice to other shops thinking of moving into popular. A business advisor warned another state is to do your homework me about the recession coming. All and make sure that you understand of the key indicators were there. OE certification has helped set the laws before going in. The people here in Scottsdale and us apart from our competition; howArizona in general have been very re- ever, one of the challenges is the ceptive and welcoming, which is nice. cost. With some certifications, such Even during our grand opening today, as Mercedes-Benz and Audi, it’s neighboring body shops are coming to about a $1 million investment by the time you factor in the cost of the support us. We are part of the Nevada Colli- equipment and training required to sion Industry Association (NCIA) and be on the program. Not only is the training expenplan to join an industry association in Arizona as well to connect with the sive, but you also have to consider that your top technicians are going to industry. be away for seven to 10 days. It’s a What is the importance of set- large investment, but it has paid off ting up duplicable processes? See Award-Winning MSO, Page 51

we had already established a relationship with them over the years. They would often ask us about opening a shop in Phoenix due to our cycle time, quality and the fact that we score really well on our KPIs. That’s how we ended up opening our fifth location in Scottsdale. It took about two months to renovate the building to meet our needs. The

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Media and Publicity for Shops

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.

with Ed Attanasio

Fill the Void—How to Find and Retain Good Employees You’re short a technician and an estimator, and your last painter took a job to paint government vehicles for the city because they’re going to pay his medical insurance and offered him a pension. How can a small independent shop (or even an MSO, for that matter) compete with that? What happens when your business is booming and the cars are lining up to be repaired, and suddenly you don’t have the people in place to do the work? For how long can your existing employees work overtime and weekends to catch up before they suffer from major burnout? Comebacks caused by shoddy work are often performed by overloaded and exhausted techs, and after a while it becomes a vicious cycle. Your DRPs are unhappy and after a while, they will start looking elsewhere. Don’t feel alone. It’s getting increasingly more difficult to find the best people who can fit into your company culture and contribute to your organization. And once you have them on staff, what do you do to keep them onboard? I interview body shop owners all over the country all the time, and their #1 concern is how to find good techs, painters, estimators, front office people and customer service representatives. The shortage of talented and well-trained collision professionals is a problem that isn’t going to get any better, so proactive shops are now investing in marketing and recruiting efforts in a big way. So, here are some suggestions on how to find good employees and keep them in the fold, because in the end, you’re only as good as the people who work for you. Loni Amato, the owner of Ingenious Solutions, worked in Silicon Valley for many years and helped a wide range of different companies with their staffing and recruitment. By using several of the techniques listed here, Amato was able to find top talent and keep them onboard. “In any service-oriented, consumer-facing company, the strategies

are basically the same,” Amato said. “In the end, it comes down to identifying your needs and continually working to fill them with the best people you can find. Many shops find the right people and say, ‘Okay, our work is done.’ But that’s a mistake, because you never know when

ferences where they are likely to meet candidates you may successfully woo.

• Check job boards for potential candidates who may have resumes online, even if they’re not currently looking.

“In the end, it comes down to identifying your needs and continually working to fill them with the best people you can find” — Loni Amato

someone will move, find a better job or retire, for that matter. MSOs have a definite advantage over independent shops when it comes to recruiting and retaining talented people. One of the main reasons is that many chains maintain fully staffed human resources departments that mom-andpop shops can’t compete with.”

Assemble your own inventory of candidates Shops that hire new employees based on the candidates who walk in their door or answer an ad in the paper or online are often missing out on the best candidates. “Some of the best people in the collision industry are likely working for someone else and they may not even be considering a new position elsewhere,” Amato said. “So, here are several simple steps that can help you put more qualified names in your pool of job candidates. By assembling your own inventory of possible candidates, you won’t have to restart the hiring process from scratch every time. The key is to assemble your candidate pool before you need it.” • Invest time in developing relationships with tech school placement offices, recruiters and other organizations that help people find viable careers.

• Enable your current employees to actively participate in industry professional associations and con-

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

• Use professional association websites and magazines to advertise for professional staff. • Look for potential employees on LinkedIn and other social media outlets. Bring in your best prospects to meet them before you need them. “I do not encourage poaching em-

ployees from the shop down the street for obvious reasons,” Amato said. “Instead, the goal is for you to be in the right place at the right time when someone starts looking around to make a move.” Stay connected to your local schools Engage with the tech schools in your area and play a role as a mentor. If you can get young people to work at your shop, they will likely attract some of their classmates and/or graduates. “Some shop owners work with local schools through mentoring programs,” Amato said. “If you want to hire fairly inexperienced people and then train them to do the job your way, this is an ideal strategy.” Establish an employee referral program Human Resources departments at

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your current staff members feel their talents, capabilities and accomplishments are appreciated. Always post positions internally first. “I always tell shop owners to give potential candidates an interview, even if they are not currently looking for new people,” Amato said. “It’s a chance for you to know them better. They learn more about the goals and needs of the organization.”

large corporations have strong employee referral systems that have become their bread and butter for attracting and hiring top people. One shop owner told me that one of his technicians had brought him three top estimators and one highly experienced painter through his company’s employee referral program, earning more than $5,000 in bonuses as a result. Some of these programs offer generous bonuses, including things like all-expense paid vacations, tickets to concerts and sporting events, etc. for employees who refer their friends and associates. Instead of conducting “cattle calls” and interviewing semi-qualified people, why not find top candidates through the connections your existing employees already have established? You will quickly find out that good body techs hang out with other good body techs, as do painters, estimators, etc.

Be known as a great employer Amato makes a strong case for not just being a great employer, but also letting people know that you are a great employer. “This is how you build your reputation and your company brand,” Amato said. “You’ll want the best prospects seeking you out because they respect and want to work for your brand. Google, which frequently tops Fortune’s Best Companies list, for example, receives around 3,000,000 applications a year.”

Build from within and reward top work Providing promotional and lateral opportunities for current employees positively boosts morale and makes

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Mitchell’s

Q: A:

How is the information shared with the industry?

We are working with approximately a half a dozen equipment companies that license our database. They reference our data for an accurate structural realignment of the vehicle. The Mitchell dimension information is universal and can be used with any equipment found in collision ‘frame’ shops. This ranges from tram bars, mechanical systems and jig fixtures to modern 3D electronic measuring systems. These measuring systems are used in conjunction with a frame rack to pull or realign the vehicle structure to the correct dimension. The frame or unibody is the foundation of the vehicle, and it must be straight before the rest of the repair process can be completed properly and safely. Computerized measuring systems can reference the Mitchell database and document the dimensions and produce a damage report. Measuring before and after a repair is Continued from Page 4

Self-Driving Car

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cial treatment? Today, police cars, ambulances and buses sometimes get special treatment. But these narrow exceptions aside, our roads are managed without prioritization. Firstcome, first-served is the default. In the future, however, we will be able to make finer discriminations about the identities, destinations and activities of individual passengers. Armed with this information, would you place some folks in the fast lane and stick others in slower ones? Perhaps a woman on her way to a business meeting should get priority over a woman who is attending her son’s music recital. Or should it be the other way around? The decisions don’t end there. Suppose only one of the drivers is going to make her event on time and the other will arrive too late even if she speeds. Should the smart traffic management system determine who gets to go and inform the other person to stay home? Over time, these sorts of decisions can be

important for assessing damage, helps technicians repair the vehicle accurately and provides confidence in the quality of the repair. We also provide the information through Mitchell’s TechAdvisor product for our customers. Over time, Mitchell’s RepairCenter TechAdvisor product has evolved. It’s much more comprehensive and detailed than what we were able to provide in book form. Over the last 20 years, we have been building an interactive database that consists of 3D data and photos. TechAdvisor is cloud-based and provides collision repairers integrated access to critical repair data and OEM procedures. This offers technicians the ability to locate the information they need to return vehicles to their original specifications in the safest, most efficient way possible. We offer a “Gold Standard” database that collision repairers can use when comparing a damaged vehicle to its original specifications, so they can see where the deviation is and how badly the vehicle is damaged. The only way you can really assess and repair hidden damage is by measSee Mitchell’s, Page 56

expected to occur frequently. Traffic management is a form of social planning. Decisions that get made in any single instance of solving the trolley problem, or any of the other scenarios we’ve noted, reflect broader governing principles and ethical logics embedded in technology. These decisions aggregate and over time become social patterns. So, don’t be fooled when engineers hide behind technical efficiency and proclaim to be free from moral decisions. “I’m just an engineer” isn’t an acceptable response to ethical questions. When engineered systems allocate life, death and everything in between, the stakes are inevitably moral. Brett M. Frischmann is a Charles Widger Endowed University professor in Law, Business and Economics at Villanova University, and Evan Selinger is a professor of philosophy at Rochester Institute of Technology. They are co-authors of Re-Engineering Humanity, Cambridge University Press: forthcoming in April 2018. We thank Motherboard for reprint permission.

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Uber’s Former Self-Driving Chief Still Believes in Dream of Safer Roads by Aaron Aupperlee, TribLive.com

The former head of Uber’s self-driving car operations urged the entire industry to keep working through what he called a “tough moment” to achieve safer streets and roads for all. John Bares, who left Uber in August and returned to Carnegie Robotics, said he has not lost faith in Uber or the promise of autonomous vehicles. “The company and the dream of the employees is a mode of transportation that is safer and more efficient for everyone, and clearly events like this are a huge step back, but the dream is still there,” Bares said. “And we’re going to get there.” Elaine Herzberg was killed March 18 when a self-driving Uber crashed into her as she walked her bike across a street in Tempe, AZ. Herzberg, 49, is believed to be the first pedestrian killed by a self-driving car. Uber suspended its testing of self-driving cars in Tempe, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto following the crash. The fleets remained grounded March 26, more than a week later, as the investigation into the crash continued. Tempe police and officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. Uber has said it is cooperating with the investigation. The crash threw the self-driving car industry into a tailspin with critics asking whether development of autonomous vehicles is worth the

risk it poses to pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists as these cars are tested on city streets. Bares said the crash caused pain and difficult conversations not just at Uber, but across the many companies working in the field. More than 40,000 people died in traffic crashes in 2017. It’s a statistic that nearly anyone involved in selfdriving cars knows by heart and is working to lower.

producing autonomous vehicles, according to Reuters. Aptiv, which bought nuTonomy last year and has a large engineering center in Pittsburgh where it is developing self-driving technology, did not stop tests in Las Vegas and elsewhere, a company spokesman said. Argo AI, which is testing cars in Pittsburgh for Ford, has also continued testing, a Ford spokesman said. Waymo CEO John Krafcik, talking about the Tempe crash at the National Automobile Dealers Association in Las Vegas, said its self-driving car could have “handled that situation,” according to Forbes. Waymo, Google’s self-driving car company, is planning to begin an autonomous car service with no driver behind the wheel John Bares, director of the new Uber Advanced Technologies in the Phoenix area this year. Raj Rajkumar, a longCenter in Lawrenceville, speaks during a panel discussion of the closing plenary June 3, 2015, at the ITS (Intelligent time autonomous vehicles Transportation Systems) America’s 25th Annual Meeting researcher at Carnegie Meland Expo at the David Lawrence Convention Center. lon University, told USA Credit: James Knox, Trib Total Media Today that the Uber’s lidar “It’s going to be tough on peo- and sensors should have picked up ple emotionally,” Bares said. “As an the woman long before the car hit industry, we have to pull through. her. “Clearly there’s a problem,” RaFor the longer good of humanity, we jkumar said. “Maybe it’s the sensors have to pull through.” Toyota announced the week of not working correctly or the hardware March 18 that it was halting its self- that processes it, or the software.” In an email to Bloomberg, Marta driving operations in the wake of the crash. Boston’s mayor last year asked Thoma Hall, the president of VelonuTonomy and Optimus Ride, two dyne, which makes the lidar sensors self-driving car companies testing in used by Uber, wrote the crash “bafthe city, to pause testing. Hyundai, fled” the company. “Certainly, our lidar is capable which partnered with Aurora Innovation this year to develop self-driving of clearly imaging Elaine and her bicars, said it is cautious about mass cycle in this situation. However, our

Access Insurance Company Ordered Into Liquidation by Katherine Coig, glassBYTEs.com

A Texas district court judge has issued an order of liquidation of Access Insurance Company, an auto insurer incorporated in Texas but headquartered in Atlanta, after the Texas Insurance Department found the insurer unable to pay off its debts. The company, which was founded in 1994, has license to do business in 22 states, including California, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. 48

According to the California Insurance Department, the insurer’s unaudited 2017 preliminary statutory income statement reflected a negative $27.6 million policyholder surplus as of Dec. 31, 2017, and its unaudited 2018 preliminary statutory income statement reported that its policyholder surplus was a negative $29 million as of Jan. 31, 2018. Additionally, the insurer neglected to file its required yearly statutory statement. Only two states out of the 22

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

have reported on how many policyholders in their respective states will be affected. Pennsylvania Insurance Department released a statement citing the insurer has 42,785 policies in the states. South Carolina Department of Insurance director Ray Farmer said the insurer has approximately 15,500 private passenger auto insurance policies, in a statement from the state’s insurance department. Access policyholders had until

lidar doesn’t make the decision to put on the brakes or get out of her way,” Hall said. The New York Times reported that Uber’s tests in Arizona were struggling and the team was scrambling to prepare for an upcoming visit from new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who at first wanted to shutter the self-driving car project. The safety driver inside an Uber had to take control more often than the company would like. Bares said he was not concerned about Uber’s self-driving program when he left. Uber lured Bares away from Carnegie Robotics, a company he helped found, to start its Advanced Technologies Group. Improving safety and saving lives has been at the core of Bares’ nearly 40 years of work in robotics. In the early 1980s, Bares worked on robots that went into Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station after its partial meltdown. Carnegie Robotics designed robots to detect land mines and improvised explosive devices. At Uber, Bares wanted to prevent traffic deaths and injuries. “Can we make our roads safer?” Bares asked in a 2016 interview. “That’s the thing that tugs me, and I think we can do that over time.” Bares left Uber in August and returned to Carnegie Robotics. He said he was thrilled with his time at Uber. He said Uber’s operation grew to the point where he wanted to return to the small company he helped start. We thank TribLive.com for reprint permission.

April 12 to find new coverage. We thank glassBYTEs.com for reprint permission.

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Product Innovation

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco, California. He can be reached at era39@aol.com.

with Ed Attanasio

Shop Owner Invents Revolutionary Repair Estimating Tool Justin Forkuo, the owner of 290 Auto Body, Inc. in Worcester, MA, is now the proud father of a baby girl named Mia, 7 lb., 14 ounces. Another creation he is proud of is a tool called Crash Point Systems. Crash Point Systems makes taking photographs for estimates and appraisals on a vehicle faster and less problematic than ever before by taking

no need to write or attach anything to the vehicle’s surface, thereby reducing prep work. The tool also aids those who have difficulty taking good pictures, regardless of their level of experience. “Most of my technicians speak some type of Spanish and their English is very limited, so that’s when I started using the color-coded wands,” Forkuo said. “Right away, I could see that we were saving time, because we weren’t going back and forth with the insurance companies over the phone. Instead of sitting on hold, which is highly unproductive, my guys were able to keep moving and getting more down.” The color-coded wands are simple and direct, the way Forkuo likes it. Repair is designated with the color Justin Forkuo is the owner of 290 Auto Body, Inc. in yellow. Replace is red; ReWorcester, MA, and the creator of Crash Point Systems move and Install (R&I) is language barriers out of the process, green; Point of Interest (POI) and according to Forkuo. Paint are represented by the color “This tool provides a clear solu- blue. By using the system for 18 tion for the problem of taking colli- months, the crew at 290 Auto Body sion photos that previously were is communicating more effectively difficult to interpret,” Forkuo said. “I than ever. Forkuo’s invention is stripfirst tried it here at my shop to see if ping out language and documenting my crew would embrace it, and I was every aspect of the repair more presurprised by how well it worked. I cisely by using the wands. was looking for a better method to Forkuo wasn’t destined to be a perform vehicle appraisals by creat- collision repair lifer. He began working a standard process for taking ing for a restoration shop and later for photographs and taking all of the a body shop after graduating from colguesswork out of the equation.” lege, and liked the industry right away. Three years ago, Forkuo began “It was a great education belooking for an uncomplicated device cause at the restoration shop I learned designed with maximum efficiency how to use body filler and do metal in mind. Based on a series of wands fabrication,” he said. “Then when I that are becoming better known as started working at a collision repair crash pointers, he devised a one- shop, it was more like changing parts, handed ambidextrous design that al- but it was also a valuable experience. lows for greater mobility. The Instead of fixing an entire car at the lightweight, durable plastic polymer restoration shop, I was fixing panels. reduces fatigue and resists wear dur- It was a completely different busiing heavy usage. The five wands are ness.” color-coded and use known industry One day, Forkuo decided he terms to relay accurate information wanted to do everything he could to to everyone involved in the repair open his own shop. His inspiration process. was monetary, he said. As a touch-less system, there’s “I was replacing a hood on a

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Honda Accord and when I saw the final bill, I thought, ‘Wow, there is a lot of profit here,’” he said. “I did the math and told myself that one day I was going to have my own shop. I still had a lot to learn about the industry, but I was confident that I could do it, so I changed my whole mindset that day and started thinking about going out on my own.” A few years later, Forkuo rented a small shop where he did it all by himself, and surprised many when he achieved $1 million in sales. In 2010, he opened 290 Auto Body, Inc. in Worcester, a city well-known for its bad drivers. “The roads here are not as congested as in surrounding areas. I think that leads to excessive speeds and a lot more accidents,” he said. “Cities like Baltimore and Boston are higher on the list, but we get a lot of accidents in a town of approximately

200,000 people. So I knew the work was there and the market would handle another shop in the area.” Crash Point Systems is now selling its wands in three sizes to accommodate several applications. “For estimators out on the road, we have a set of 7-inch wands that are pocket-size,” Forkuo said. “We also offer them in 18-inch and 25inch sizes, depending on how they’re being used. For example, many people like the 18-inch wands because they allow you to get close enough to touch the area you’re pinpointing, but far enough way to get a clear shot.” The Crash Point System wands also help estimators learn how to take effective photos of damaged areas that adjusters, techs and even painters will be able to decipher easily. “It’s also a teaching tool, because once you use the system a few times, See Estimating Tool, Page 55

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Award-Winning MSO

tremendously for us. My advice for shops, especially the smaller ones, is to focus on one certification at a time and then add on.

I think our DRPs in Nevada know they can trust us. We’re honest and we make sure to put every customer back in a safe car, so we can all sleep at night. We also have the dealerships pushing cars on us. Now, when people get into a wreck, they usually call their dealership before the insurance company. Some of the cars have a

Congratulations on being named one of the top three body shops in Henderson in 2018 by ThreeBest Rated. How has your team managed the shops, the growth and the DRPs so successfully?

Basically, it’s because we have good people working for us. That’s the key. Having good peoWhere does most of your busiple, training them well and ness come from? giving them a competitive wage definitely make a difWe’re currently contracted ference. We also look out with 22 insurance partners, for our employees and prowhich include small DRPs that give vide perks that other shops us about five vehicles a month to don’t offer, such as a nice relarge DRPs that give us more than tirement package and health 100 a month. We used to be heavily benefits. dependent on DRPs, but now it’s Many of our employees about 60/40—60 percent is DRPs come from big MSOs and and 40 percent is from dealerships haven’t received training. and OEM certifications. The techs themselves have There are some DRPs we don’t (l to r) Owners Michael and Theressa Whittemore with had to pay for it. Word gets work with because they want too their daughter Jessica, son-in-law Paul Williams and around and they hear that many concessions. We still repair their grandchildren New Look pays a great rate their cars, but we charge our door rate. I think DRPs are always going button, such as Cadillac, so the car per hour, trains employees and offers to be there in some form, so it’s im- prompts the owner to the nearest cer- health benefits. We try to be fair and portant to build that relationship with tified collision center. Other car man- foster a safe environment where they your local claims managers and ad- ufacturers are moving toward that as feel comfortable to work and earn money to take care of their families. well. justers. All of our techs are ASE- and ICAR-certified and our shops are ICAR Gold Class. I believe we are one THE LARGEST INVENTORY OF FORD • LINCOLN of only two shops in the state that is MERCURY PARTS IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY Class A with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. “Class A” is a higher level of licensing where we provided proof of having the necessary equipment to repair cars properly and have ongoing annual training. Not only do these certifications set us apart from our competition, but our customers can rest assured that they are going to a premier collision repair shop. • OE COLLISION PARTS, MECHANICAL I think our employees like the REPAIRS AND HEAVY REPAIRS PARTS culture we have built. Every day isn’t • SPECIAL PRICING FOR COMPETITIVE going to be perfect or 100 percent for COLLISION AND MOTORCRAFT PARTS them, but they know we’re looking • EXPERT COUNTER LOOK-UP WITH MASTER CERTIFIED COUNTERMAN out for them.

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Prior to joining AkzoNobel’s Acoat Selected performance program, we weren’t even using an integrated management system. We’re now using the CCC ONE estimating and management system, which has helped us run multiple locations and track everything.

After the first group meeting we attended, we also realized that we had to increase our door rate. I was nervous about doing that because I thought I’d lose customer pay work. However, I quickly found out that I didn’t lose any pay work. It ended up driving up 5 percent profit right to our bottom line. Performance groups are priceless. They give you the opportunity to talk to other shops across the country about similar challenges you are facing. What I like best is that you have the opportunity to hear other people’s solutions to the same problems we’re having and we can work together to improve the industry.

Can you tell us about the Mobile Estimating application you created?

We created Mobile Estimator in 2008. It took a while for the app to gain traction, but we spent time advertising it and getting the community to use it and have found that it has been very beneficial. It gives customers an option to have some freedom and be able to get a quote with the simple use of their cell phone or electronic device. The best part is that consumers do not have to download anything to their phones to use it. If they visit newlookcollision.com and click the red button labeled “Get a Free Estimate,” it takes them directly to the Mobile Estimator. Once there, all they have to do is provide their information and upload a few images of the damage. Once done, the data is quickly sent to an estimator and the estimator will reply within three business hours. Most of the time, it’s much faster.

Q: A:

What are your company’s expansion plans?

We already purchased property in Flagstaff to build another location and we’re breaking ground in less than a month. We’re learning every day. The eventual goal is to open new Arizona locations in Mesa, Queen Creek and Tempe. I still enjoy fixing customers’ cars and seeing that smile on their face when they pick them up. Something about that keeps driving me. I’ve been doing this for 34 years and I still have that passion.

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Following OEM Procedures Will Help Avoid Surprises, Injuries, Delays by Stacey Phillips

Now more than ever, it is crucial to follow OEM procedures and focus on the operations of every vehicle during the repair process so there are no surprises, according to Jake Rodenroth, director of industry relations for asTech. “If certain procedures aren’t followed, you could either injure the person working on the vehicle or cause additional damage, which can lead to bill payer friction and delays,” Rodenroth said during a Guild 21 podcast in March, sponsored by Verifacts Automotive. During the podcast, Rodenroth, along with Doug Kelly, CEO of Repairify, and Bram Paris, director of calibration at asTech, shared information about some of the new vehicles and technology being introduced to the market. Kelly and Rodenroth spoke about pre- and post-scanning and recalibration during a prior Guild 21 podcast in January. “There are things that I think as repairers, we’re missing the boat on—fundamental skills that we’ve overlooked throughout the years,” said Rodenroth. “This is not going to get any easier. It’s going to get more complex.” He mentioned common repair procedures such as battery disconnects, changing a headlight and taking off a mirror. “These are all steps that we do every day, but what we fail to realize is that in the last couple of years, those steps have changed,” he explained. “Scanning is the precursor to something much bigger and more complex on the calibration front,” said Kelly. “Cars produced today need this activity done and many people don’t understand it.” Paris highlighted Mazda’s Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) system to demonstrate the importance of doing the necessary research to ensure a proper repair. “Even though the system is described the same way and, from a vehicle owner’s perspective, behaves the same way, actually Mazda has three different variations of the same BSM system,” he said. “However, it wouldn’t be obvious to anyone look52

ing at the vehicle.” All three versions are part of Mazda’s I-Activsense package and use the same icons and indicators; however, the vehicle detection pattern is different between version one and versions two and three. Although the three systems don’t outwardly look any different to consumers, Paris said they work differently, react to the environment differently and are calibrated differently. BSM Version 1, mainly on Mazda’s models prior to 2016, uses radar-based detection. The sensing area on these early builds is small,

these types of vehicles. BSM Version 3, used on 2016 CX-9 Mazdas and future models, is very similar to Version 2 in the way it functions. It has the same detection area and technical benefits and uses Doppler radar. The difference is the way in which it calibrates. Version 3 uses the same reflector as Version 1. Paris said that with all three versions, there are detailed procedures required to set the reflector or Doppler simulator in a very specific place to test the vehicle and know it is within OEM specifications and calibrated correctly.

“Scanning is the precursor to something much bigger and more complex on the calibration front. Cars produced today need this activity done and many people don’t understand it.” — Doug Kelly

approximately 23 feet, which Paris said isn’t a lot of space to pick out a car in a blind spot. “Because BSM is subjective to a person’s blind spot, 23 feet may or may not detect a vehicle in that person’s blind spot,” he said. A vehicle with Version 1 cannot detect a car coming into the blind spot or leaving, and only senses a vehicle in its detection area. It is unable to detect speed or distance. One of the most important differences between this version and Version 2 is that a reflector is required to calibrate the system. BSM Version 2 is only applicable to 2016–2018 Mazda XC-3 and MX-5 vehicles and uses Doppler radar. Another difference between Versions 1 and 2 is that the detection area is significantly larger—about 164 feet. “The system is much more intelligent,” he said. “It can actually detect a vehicle entering and exiting that zone.” This version can monitor the speed of the Mazda and detect the speed and distance of a vehicle entering the blind spot. Rather than using a reflector, Version 2 requires a Doppler simulator for a radar test to determine if the sensors are mounted correctly and working as designed. This device is specific to

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

“It’s very important that the OEM procedures get followed and OEM equipment is used to do that,” he added. Rodenroth then shared examples of three new vehicles with complex technology: the 2018 Cadillac CT6, the 2018 Audi 8 and the 2018 Buick Regal. 2018 Cadillac CT6 With multiple substrates on this vehicle, Rodenroth said joining methods need to be followed correctly, or else a repairer will fail to have electrical continuity throughout the car. A fully loaded CT6 is equipped with a Bose Panaray sound system, which includes 34 speakers in the vehicle. “I think about collision repairers and the amount of interior trim that we take out for protection and welding operations,” said Rodenroth. “Did we plug them all in? These are things that can easily be missed that will cause heartburn when we deliver that vehicle.” The CT6 also includes a Super Cruise capability, which allows for hands-free driving on “approved” highways. “It’s a very intelligent system and uses a concert of sensors in the car to make sure the system is working properly,” he added.

2018 Audi 8 Considered a mild-hybrid vehicle, the 2018 Audi 8 has a 48-volt electrical system onboard. Historically, it has been an aluminum vehicle since 1992, but a hybrid construction is expected in 2019, which Rodenroth said will change how the vehicle is repaired. The Audi A8 uses a nineand-a-half horsepower electrical supercharger, which he said is the first engine of its kind in a production vehicle. “This is where those fundamental skills that we have to research play such a big role,” he said. “Things like battery disconnect and making sure our employees aren’t electrocuted when they are servicing a vehicle like this.” 2018 Buick Regal The Buick Regal uses a “rope” impact sensor, which is embedded inside of the absorber ahead of the rebar behind the bumper cover. “When you look at it, you need to treat these systems very much like a live airbag system,” said Rodenroth. The vehicle requires a very specific enable-and-disable procedure similar to airbags. The front bumper cover on the Buick Regal is not repairable. If damage is found, the bumper fascia or sensor system will need to be replaced. In addition, the hood, hinges and two actuators will need to be replaced if there is a deployment. “Think about a technician who happens to be leaning on a bumper cover and the system is not disabled,” said Rodenroth. “There could be a deployment and cause damage to the car.” Although very few people will have the opportunity to work on some of the more complex vehicles being introduced, Rodenroth said it gives repairers some insight about what they can most likely expect to be included in the mainstream cars of the future. “All of this technology is coming out like a fire hose and affects us in the repair center when we are trying to repair-plan around all of this,” he said. “This will change the entire repair cycle, claims process and even the customers shops interface with on a daily basis,” he said.

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WIN Event Highlights Talent Development, Career Management in Collision Industry by Stacey Phillips

The Women’s Industry Network (WIN) held an industry networking event in March at Pacific Elite Collision in Downey, California. During the event, attendees had the opportunity to learn more about WIN, listen to an interactive panel discussion about talent development and career management in collision repair, as well as network with others in the industry. “This was a great opportunity to not only network with local females in the collision repair segment, but also to learn more about WIN and the WIN mission,” said Denise Kingstrom, the

5 how-to’s for women in the collision repair industry based on the panel discussion: How to communicate effectively with male counterparts: Panelists discussed female communication styles in the workplace and offered tips on how to better communicate. These included communicating logically and in a linear fashion as well as avoiding emotion and understanding that everyone has a prejudice of some sort. “We are there to do a job and to stay laser-focused on what the goals of our position are,” said Wagner,

During the WIN event, attendees had the opportunity to learn more about WIN and listen to an interactive panel discussion

North American refinish distribution director for BASF Corporation. Industry panelists represented a cross-section of experience and included Nicole Wagner, Group Talent Acquisition manager at Enterprise Holdings of Southern California; Liz Stein, VP of Business Development & Marketing at Assured Performance Network; and Andie Rittinger, sales representative for BASF Corporation. During the panel discussion, the representatives talked about some of the challenges they have faced and why they decided to join the industry. Panelists also provided advice for those looking to work in collision repair. “I think as women, building credibility is much more difficult and it can be constantly exhausting to have to prove yourself,” said Rittinger. “I think if you are persistent, consistent and can add value, you can get anywhere.”

AUTOBODY

who has 23 years of experience in the auto rental industry and represented the HR/talent acquisition perspective.

How to be viewed as an expert: Attendees talked about the issue of women who feel they need to “prove themselves” in the industry, both externally with customers and internally with male co-workers and supervisors. After sharing stories of their own, the panelists stressed the importance of demanding to show expertise by demonstrating knowledge with customers and coworkers and ignoring overt biases at times.

How networking can make a difference: “Being part of professional associations and networking with organizations like WIN can help both professionally and personally. It is a great way to learn more about the industry and get outside your comfort zone,” said Kingstrom.

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MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

Wagner shared information about two professional organizations she belongs to outside of her company and how that participation is valuable.

“It has helped me navigate situations and network with people in my field,” she said. “Have a no-fear attitude about approaching women you respect in the field and never underestimate the value of a mentor.”

How to deal with work-life balance: Each of the panelists talked about work-life balance and what it meant to them personally, then reminded attendees to define their own balance as well. “Working mothers tend to shoulder a lot of guilt and feel like we are never good enough at home or on the job because time is so limited,” said

Wagner. “We have to release the guilt and focus on the example we are setting for our children by being mothers and providing for our families.”

How to manage others: Rittinger said that as a millennial, it’s important for her to have a purpose. “That doesn’t mean someone has to give me one. I want my manager to explain the ‘why’ to me, which allows me to find my purpose,” she said. She said rather than receiving “marching orders,” it is more motivating to understand why a decision was made. WIN is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging, developing and cultivating opportunities to attract women to collision repair while recognizing excellence, promoting leadership and fostering a network among the women who are shaping the industry. To join WIN or renew membership, visit https://thewomensindustry network.site-ym.com/default.asp and click on “Join WIN” at the top of the page.

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Robot Cars: Safety and Liability

fallback in case the automated system fails. Others are being designed never The robots are coming—robotic cars, to allow human intervention by physthat is. Are they safe? Will they be an ically removing the steering wheel and pedals. However, all of these veeconomic boon or bust? According to the National High- hicles will share one defining characway Traffic Safety Administration, in teristic—when the automated driving system is engaged, any 2015, the last year for which human being in the vehicle it had final statistics, car acis no longer in control. cidents were the leading Removing humans from cause of death in the U.S. for the wheel does not necessar16- to 23-year-olds. That ily guarantee safety. Today, year, 2.44 million people we already see stories about were injured in car crashes. the trouble automated vehiIn nearly one-third of all Adam Blank cles have with bridges, turnmotor vehicle fatal accidents, alcohol played a role. Automated driving left, bicycles or animals in the ing vehicles are being pitched to the road. Their vision systems can be public, legislators and regulators by easily tricked or hacked. Virtually every automaker has industry groups on the premise, but not yet on the promise, that if we take embarked on some sort of auaway the drunk, drowsy and distracted tonomous driving program, scramhuman element and shift to automated bling to resolve technological issues to get to market. To date, little has driving, crashes will be eliminated. Vehicles equipped with auto- been done on the regulatory side to mated driving systems will come in ensure that these vehicles will not many varieties. Some will need a crash when, say, a sensor fails or a human driver, either to get to where dense fog rolls in. Some players in the the automation can take over or as a car industry have lobbied intensely to by Adam Blank, Westfair Online

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avoid responsibility for their vehicles on the road, seemingly hiding defects in their system by failing to comply with reporting requirements and fighting efforts that would allow consumers to hold them accountable for collisions they cause. Legislation must be crafted to allow these manufacturers to bring automated cars to the masses while ensuring that manufacturers are responsible when their vehicles fail. Safety depends on accountability. If manufacturers are allowed to evade accountability, they have incentive to create a potentially dangerous vehicle. This is a fraught time for the auto industry—fortunes will be made and lost in automated driving, and without proper rules the public may be the greatest victim. But, if we can get the rules right, this technology has the potential to save millions of lives. Even if robotic cars can be made safe, the question of their economic impact still looms. Business and government must consider the impact these cars will likely have on them, their employees and their constituents. If, as anticipated, this technology can avoid all car crashes, it likely will alter insurance—potentially changing the profit structure of insurance companies and putting a dent into the business of auto body shops, insurance adjusters, medical professionals and attorneys. Theoretically, these vehicles will not violate traffic safety laws, so the $3 billion to $6 billion of revenue that governments receive annually from traffic tickets will evaporate and the police officers who write tickets will no longer be necessary. Continued from Page 50

Estimating Tool

you can pick it up [and] people get better at taking good photos quickly,” he said. “It saves us time and money and assists us with every aspect of each repair. The other ways that were available to us before we developed this tool weren’t working. Highlighting the damage with markers, stickers and magnets was problematic at times. We also needed a clean and dry surface, requiring prep time. In addition, we are

About 300,000 taxi drivers and upwards of 2 million truck drivers could be made jobless. Driverless cars coupled with ride-sharing systems, such as Uber and Lyft, may mean fewer privately owned vehicles and more fleets, hurting local car dealers and lessening demand for urban parking—a substantial revenue stream for municipalities and private businesses who have invested in costly parking structures. Automated driving vehicles also should have many positive economic benefits. Traffic congestion should lessen substantially; this, coupled with a decline in travel costs, should make it easier for employers to hire employees from a wider geographic area. Shipping costs should decrease with the elimination of human drivers and the ability of robotic trucks to communicate with one another and travel in a “train” formation. An entirely new market will emerge for technology, entertainment and data companies as they compete to improve the car-riding experience by harvesting data on occupants and advertising to them, providing an “office” or “living room” on the road. The robots are coming. Whether they are safe or not, and how we maximize their economic potential, remains to be seen. Adam Blank serves on the State of Connecticut Task Force to Study Fully Autonomous Vehicles and is an attorney at Wofsey, Rosen, Kweskin & Kuriansky, where he practices in the areas of land use and personal injury law.

We thank Westfair Online for reprint permission. often outside doing estimates in inclement weather, which was also a problem when we were using those other methods.” Now, developing software to accompany his wand system, Forkuo is excited about the future of his company and the viability of his secondnewest baby. “It’s all about education through communication and making processes easier as a result,” he said. “A lot of shops need this product, but they don’t know it yet. Once they use the wands in action, they’re sold.”

autobodynews.com / MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS

Continued from Page 47

Mitchell’s

uring the vehicle. If you can validate the integrity of the vehicle before you start the repair process, you can better understand what’s going to be involved in the repair. This aids in the collision repair blueprinting process.

2 Great Danes Reign at Top Dog Garage

Shelly and Rod Cotton, the owners of Top Dog Garage in Halendale, CA, (also known as Silver Lakes) have two Great Danes—Hercules (6.5 years old) and Scarlett (3.5 years old)—that are well-known for running their shop.

How long does it usually take from the time the vehicle is measured until the information is uploaded into Mitchell’s product?

It usually takes one to two days to collect all of the measurements, photos and 3D scan data. Then we process the data over the next few days at our headquarters before adding it to TechAdvisor. All of the information is then available to customers online. Currently, we are processing the data monthly. Eventually, we expect it will be available in “real- time,” as soon as the data processing is complete. For more information, visit: Mitchell TechAdvisor.

an NBA center (7 ft. 2 in. when standing on his back paws), but he is starting to slow down. Now, his #1 job is taking long naps, although he still maintains his I-Canine certification. Scarlett has quickly exhibited some amazing abilities to connect with customers and many people ask about Scarlett before they inquire about their vehicles. “’Where is Scarlett?’ they ask,” Shelly Cotton said. “From the beginning, I could see that she loved meeting the customers and our crew

Even working dogs are entitled to two 15-minute bone breaks

Scarlett greets customers at Top Dog Garage in Halendale, CA

Doing primarily collision repair and some restoration work on classic cars in a little town with a population of fewer than 6,000, Top Dog Garage gets 5-bark reviews from the locals for its doggone good work. When the shop opened in 2012, Hercules was there to help wherever he could. Now, however, Scarlett is the lead dog working with customers and chasing away some insurance adjusters if needed. Hercules could be

Hercules helped to open the shop six years ago, and now he’s semi-retired. (Pictured with Co-owner Rod Cotton)

loves her too. I think she could be a great therapy dog, so we’re thinking of maybe getting her certified to help

WAC Signs Association Paperwork, Elects Officers at Recent Meeting by Chasidy Rae Sisk

During the March 13 meeting of Women in Automotive and Collision (WAC), the association signed the documents required to make the group official and elected officers. According to WAC President Shelly Jones, “The main purpose of this meeting was to elect officers, finalize the organization’s structure, discuss marketing/branding and vote on membership dues. I’m very excited to see how much trouble we can stir up on behalf of the automotive industry. And by trouble, I mean career awareness!” In addition to electing Jones as WAC’s President, members chose Jess Crump as Vice President, Peggy Vorwald as Secretary and Julie Hemann as Treasurer. Tricia Belz will fill the role of Social Media Manager, while Suzie Collum will be WAC’s Marketing Coordinator. WAC’s meeting began by thanking everyone who has supported them, talking about their rules of engagement and recapping their previous meetings. The group revised its mission statement to be 56

people and work with our DRPs.” Already, Scarlett has impacted the lives of many customers, including a young child who was frightened by dogs for years.

simpler and less limiting: “Passionate women in the automotive industry collaborating and leading members to create industry career awareness.” Jones said, “Everyone participated by sharing ideas, asking questions and electing officers. I was so

WAC members gathered on March 13 to sign official association documents, elect members and much more

impressed with the group. I absolutely love that we have dialogue and share ideas like we have known each other for years. Some of us met just that night, and others have met throughout the group’s creation. We got a lot accomplished.” After creating bylaws and setting up a bank account, WAC agreed on a membership fee and discussed branding and marketing initiatives. Jones explained, “During the meeting, we discussed having mem-

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

bership dues of $100/year. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was unanimous that we should have dues. Most wrote a check or paid cash on the spot. This money will give WAC the opportunity to promote industry career awareness at April events. We will get our swag, collateral, and table cloth made. Members will buy WAC shirts to promote the group. Without membership dues, we would have to wait for the execution of our fundraiser over the summer.” Two new faces joined WAC at its March 13 meeting and joined the group. Jones noted, “This group is growing. We will keep reminding people that it is never too late to join. Too many people fall into this industry vs. seeking it out as a student— including myself, my sister and a lot of women in our group! You should become one of the rock stars that are going to have fun changing that.” WAC’s next meeting will be held on April 17 at 5:30 p.m. at Gateway Motorsports. Dinner will be sponsored by ABRA.

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“When this little boy came into the shop, you could see he was reluctant to greet Scarlett. But she slowly walked toward him, and it was so touching to see the transformation,” Cotton said. “She did her natural thing and as a result, this little boy is now okay with dogs. Her presence here is so calming and people pick up on the vibes. While some customers wait for their cars, Scarlett will jump up on the couch right next to them and explain things like the difference between solvent and waterborne paint and why we try to use O.E. parts whenever we can.”

Shelly Bickett Receives MIW Award

Fix Auto USA is excited that cofounder and franchise partner Shelly Bickett has been recognized as one of the Women’s Industry Network’s (WIN) Most Influential Women of 2018. She will formally accept her award during the 2018 WIN Educational Conference gala in Indianapolis in May. In addition to being actively involved in the development and growth of Fix Auto USA, Shelly’s decorated career includes the management of an eight-location body shop organization in Southern California, the birth of Collision Career Institute, participation in various corporate boards, leadership roles within industry associations, numerous speaking engagements at industry events and active involvement with the National Charity League. “It’s an absolute honor to be recognized as one of the most influential women in our industry, alongside my colleagues Mary, Marie and Petra,” Bickett stated.

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Tesla Says Autopilot Was Engaged During Model X Fatal Crash Tesla recently released an update confirming that Autopilot was activated on the ill-fated Model X when the SUV crashed into a concrete barrier in March near Mountain View, CA. According to the company’s update, the Model X’s Autopilot was engaged with the car’s adaptive cruise control set to minimum in the moments leading up to the crash. Tesla also noted that the Model X’s driver received several visual and

The aftermath of a fatal Tesla Model X accident. Credit: ABC News Radio/Twitter

one audible hands-on warning earlier on in the drive. The driver’s hands were not detected on the steering wheel for six seconds before the accident occurred as well. Ultimately, Tesla stated that the driver of the ill-fated Model X had about five seconds and 150 meters of unobstructed view of the concrete divider before the accident took place. Logs from the electric SUV, however, revealed that no action from the driver was taken. Tesla also highlighted that the absence of a crash attenuator—a highway safety device designed to absorb the impact of a collision— was a key reason why the fatal Model X crash was so severe. Tesla noted that it has “never seen this

level of damage to a Model X in any other crash.” As Teslarati noted in a previous report, the crash attenuator, better known as a crash cushion, was destroyed in a vehicular accident 11 days before the fatal Model X crash. This is in line with an image that Tesla provided on its first blog post about the incident, when the company showed a picture of the damaged crash cushion a day before the Model X’s collision. Local news agency ABC7 News was able to get in touch with the driver of the vehicle that collided with the crash cushion 11 days before the Tesla accident. According to the news agency, the previous crash involved James Barboza, who was driving a 2010 Toyota Prius at 70 mph. Barboza walked away from the crash with lacerations on his face and complaints of pain all over his body. The Toyota Prius driver was eventually arrested for driving under the influence. In a statement to ABC7, Steven Lawrence, a lawyer who specializes in highway safety, stated that the crash cushion, which could have saved the Model X driver’s life, should have been repaired long before the accident. According to Lawrence, 11 days is far too long to fix a crash cushion, especially in areas where the Model X accident took place. “Some states have as short as a three-day repair time for high traffic locations. And if you look at the material in California, this thing should have been repaired within a week. Again, there are a lot of questions about what happened and what went wrong, but it should have been re-

Toyota Suspends Self-Driving Test Program by Brandy Betz, Seeking Alpha

Toyota Motor Corp. has halted its Chauffeur self-driving system test program after the fatal pedestrian accident involving an Uber autonomous vehicle. Toyota’s statement to Bloomberg: “Because we feel the incident may have an emotional effect on our test drivers, we have decided to temporar58

ily pause our Chauffeur mode testing on public roads.” Toyota was doing on-road testing in Michigan and California and, before the accident, was discussing plans to team with Uber on autonomous driving. Toyota shares are up 1 percent to $129.12. We thank Seeking Alpha for reprint permission.

MAY 2018 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com

paired in under 11 days,” Lawrence said. On March 29, CalTrans issued a statement to the local news agency

The aftermath of a fatal Tesla Model X accident. Credit: ABC News Radio/Twitter

addressing the delay in its repair of the road safety device. While CalTrans admitted that the crash cushion should have been repaired within seven days after the 2010 Prius collided with the crash attenuator, the agency noted that storms in the area delayed the repair. “Once our maintenance team has been notified, the department’s goal is to repair or replace damaged guardrail or crash attenuators within seven days or five business days,

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depending on weather. These are guidelines that our maintenance staff follows. “However, as in this case, storms can delay the fix. In this incident, as soon as maintenance was aware of the damaged attenuator, efforts were made to place cones or safety barricades at the site, and the replacement work was scheduled.” As noted in a previous report, the Tesla Model X has a 5-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) because of its safety features, such as its 12-airbag system and its huge crumple zone. Roughly 85,000 successful autopilot trips have been done by Tesla owners in the same stretch of road as the illfated Model X since the driver-assist feature was introduced in 2015, with around 200 trips being conducted every day. We thank Teslarati for reprint permission.

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Affectiva Launches Emotion Tracking AI for Connected Car Drivers by Sooraj Shah, Internet of Business

Affectiva, an MIT Media Lab startup, has launched the Automotive AI service. The service enables the manufacturers of connected vehicles and in-car systems to track drivers’ and passengers’ emotional responses. The system is designed to boost road safety. Affectiva said that its AI model offers a deep understanding of driver and occupant emotions, cognitive states and reactions to the driving experience, including joy, surprise, fear and anger. More significantly for road safety, it can also identify drowsiness, yawning and other signs of fatigue. It does this by measuring facial expressions and voice tones in real time. The system tracks heads, faces, emotions and eye movements to understand the states of mind of both drivers and passengers. Affectiva said it is working with the likes of Porsche, Daimler, BMW, robotaxi startup Renovo and vehicle safety system providers such as Autoliv, as well as hardware providers NVIDIA and Intel. This suggests that new connected cars will come

equipped with the AI in the near future. Affectiva’s aim is to combine its software with other onboard systems to make for a more connected drive. For example, the AI could trigger au-

Credit: JasonDoiy - Getty Images

diovisual alerts or seat belt vibrations to ensure that the driver remains engaged, or intervene in dangerous driving situations that may stem from fatigue or distractions. By sensing fatigue, anger or frustration, the AI can determine if an autonomous car should take control from its driver—and when it is safe to pass back that control. The software could also call upon a virtual assistant to guide drivers through alternative “road ragefree” routes if they seem angry, or play a soothing playlist to calm them down.

The system isn’t just focused on drivers: passengers are equally important, said Affectiva. Passenger reactions could be used to personalize music or video playlists, or adjust heating and lighting, while the autonomous driving style could be altered if passengers seem anxious or uncomfortable. Affectiva used a database of 6 million faces from 87 countries to build its AI model. The startup has also developed a voice analysis tool for the makers of AI assistants and social robots. Internet of Business says: This innovative mix of AI, incar systems, connected cars and autonomy holds great promise for the future of safer motoring for all—if these systems are designed and deployed sensitively. Too intrusive or insistent a presence in cars may trigger some of the problems that AI is designed to solve. At heart, both driving and personal transport are about people; too machine-like an experience, and many car owners or users may begin to feel that the humanity is being taken out of the picture. We thank Internet of Business for reprint permission

FedEx Orders 20 Tesla Semi Electric Trucks

FedEx Corp. recently announced it has placed a reservation for 20 Tesla Semi trucks. The fully electric trucks, which are scheduled to begin production in 2019, will be operated by FedEx Freight, its less-than-truckload unit. “FedEx has a long history of innovation and incorporating sustainability efforts throughout its global network,” said FedEx Freight President and CEO Mike Ducker. “Our investment in these trucks is part of our commitment to improving road safety while also reducing our environmental impact.” Tesla said its new big rig will deliver a far better experience for truck drivers while increasing safety and significantly reducing the cost of cargo transport. Its advanced technologies, such as surround cameras and onboard sensors, help aid object detection while also enabling Enhanced Autopilot for automatic emergency braking, automatic lane keeping and lane departure warning. The company also touts electric energy cost savings that are half that of diesel.

NATA Hosts Lunch and Learn on New OR Equal Pay Act

Oregon Equal Pay law,” Webb said. “There are many specifics that comOn March 15, the Northwest Auto- panies [of all sizes] in Oregon need motive Trades Association (NATA) to comply with. Tom went over hosted a Lunch and Learn event in many of the main features of this Portland, OR, featuring Tom Engel bill. Members asked many questions and the event was very successful. Tom also offered his services for an HR review to anyone who needed it to make sure they would avoid any possible finds by the state for non-compliance.” These types of events are important for association members because “many of our members Tom Engel of PBS Vantage spoke to NATA members about are smaller companies and cannot keep track of the upcoming Oregon Equal Pay Act all the regulations and of Vantage PBS to discuss compli- laws, so NATA steps in to help them ancy with the upcoming Oregon deal with these issues,” Webb exEqual Pay Act. plained. The event attracted a full house of around 25 NATA members. NATA For more information on NATA, Executive Director Cathi Webb felt visit www.aboutnata.org. attendees responded “very well” to the information about the new government regulation. “Tom talked about the new www.autobodynews.com by Chasidy Rae Sisk

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Continued from Page 28

Arizona Suspends Uber’s Driverless Car Tests by Mark Huffman, Consumer Affairs

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has ordered an indefinite suspension of Uber’s public road testing of driverless cars. The decision comes in the wake of a fatal accident involving one of the cars. Uber voluntarily suspended its tests a day after the accident, but the ride-sharing company will not be able to resume its tests until Ducey lifts his suspension. A 49-year-old female pedestrian was struck and killed as she pushed her bicycle across a four-lane highway at night in Tempe, AZ. Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir said her initial investigation, based on the Uber car’s video, showed the woman abruptly step in front of the autonomous vehicle. A different view Apparently, Ducey had a decidedly different impression after viewing the video. In a letter to Uber, released to the media, the governor called the accident “an unquestionable failure” on the part of the technology. “In the best interests of the people of my state, I have directed the

Arizona Department of Transportation to suspend Uber’s ability to test and operate autonomous vehicles on Arizona’s public roadways,” Ducey wrote.

Credit: JasonDoiy, Getty Images

Arizona initially welcomed Uber with open arms in 2016 when the company ended road tests in California because of a disagreement over regulations. Uber issued a statement March 26 saying it hoped to work with the governor’s office to clear up any issues. Consumers aren’t asking for selfdriving cars The automotive and technology industries have collaborated to push development of self-driving cars, despite public opinion surveys that consis-

tently show consumers aren’t asking for them. In fact, many surveys suggest consumers have qualms about their safety. In February, a survey conducted by Solace found nearly 60 percent of consumers who drive “connected cars” featuring smart technology said they wouldn’t buy a self-driving car, even if money weren’t an object (these cars cost around $250,000). Consumer and highway safety groups charge autonomous vehicles are being rushed onto America’s roads without adequate testing. In June 2017, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety issued a statement urging lawmakers to slow down. “As the proverbial way is paved for AV (autonomous vehicles), it is critical to ensure public safety and that industry not be given free rein on our roads and highways without a system of basic safeguards and oversight in place,” the group said in a statement. “Also, states should not be preempted from taking action to protect their motorists in the absence of federal oversight and regulation.” We thank Consumer Affairs for reprint permission.

Tales from the 30’s

campaign was launched. One of the main initiatives was an entertainment program developed and sponsored by DuPont called Cavalcade of America. It started as a radio show and eventually went to television in 1952, lasting until 1957. The show advertised DuPont non-explosive, consumer-oriented products and made a point to promote ingenuity and patriotism. Out of this PR campaign came the now-familiar motto, “Better Things for Better Living—Through Chemistry.” But despite all the positive messages and slogans, perhaps nothing did more to rejuvenate DuPont’s image than the development of nylon hosiery for women.

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San Antonio Hosting Sherwin-Williams EcoLean Level 1 Workshop

Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes announces the next EcoLean™ Level 1 workshop will be held May 22-23, 2018 at the Omni La Mansion Del Rio in San Antonio, Texas. The San Antonio workshop will also include a group tour of the Toyota Tundra assembly plant, one of the industry’s most efficient manufacturing facilities. Sherwin-Williams exclusive EcoLean Level 1 workshops are offered to collision repair center owners and managers, as well as dealer fixed operations managers from across the United States and Canada. They are designed to educate attendees about how to maximize profitability by improving production and eliminating waste throughout their facilities. “The EcoLean curriculum was developed specifically with collision shop operators in mind,” says Lee Rush, Manager of Business Consulting Services, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes. “We give our workshop attendees an extensive and comprehensive look at how they can build a lean culture in their shop from 60

the ground up.” TheEcoLean Level 1 workshop curriculum includes:

● An overview of lean production and its practical application in collision repair ● Approaches to making a collision facility more efficient and effective ● How to build a lean culture from the ground up

“There’s a reason we continue to sell out our EcoLean workshops; as owners and managers are feeling more and more industry pressure every day, their necessity to perform in both the front office and on the production floor continues to be a challenge,” says Rush. “Those who take our training and deliberately implement the teachings have proven to be incredibly successful within their markets.” To register online for the upcoming San Antonio EcoLean Level 1 workshop, go to sherwin-automotive.com. For more information on EcoLean workshops, call (800) 798-8572.

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