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NWLTC Shreveport Set to Host Louisiana SkillsUSA Conference in April The 33rd annual Louisiana SKillsUSA Postsecondary Leadership and Skills Conference will be held April 21–22, at Northwest Louisiana Technical College-Shreveport campus, (NWLTCShreveport) 2010 North Market Street, Shreveport. Community and technical college students from across the state will come to Northwest LTC-Shreveport to compete in a wide array of skill areas, including allied health, automotive service technology, welding, collision repair technology, practical nursing and other in-demand career fields. In an effort to provide ample equipment
and lab space, competitions will also be held at NWLTC – Minden campus. The event is considered a “Workforce Olympics” of career and technical education in Louisiana. During the competition, students will match abilities against their peers in various contests designed and judged by experts from the local industry. “With the statewide focus on workforce development, this is an excellent opportunity for students, business partners and colleges to share ideas, and advance to the next stage of workforce development,” said Dianne
National Autobody Research (NABR) launched VRS Labor Rate Surveys in two more states; Arkansas and New Mexico. The Arkansas and New Mexico VRS Labor Rate Surveys were both
lease, the VRS Labor Rate Survey will provide collision repairers in Arkansas and New Mexico with an independent, third-party, trusted survey of state-wide labor rate data. The VRS reports the
See SkillsUSA Conference, Page 10
National AutoBody Research Launches VRS Labor Rate Surveys in Arkansas and New Mexico
true, market-based rate ranges throughout the states of Arkansas and New Mexico, based on shops’ actual prices, not on one artificially defined, singleprevailing rate for all repairers. See Labor Rate Survey, Page 16
Change Service Requested
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
15 total shops in Arkansas responding to date
sponsored by anonymous collision repairers in their respective states. The online survey is free for all Arkansas collision repair shops and can be found on the NABR website. According to a NABR press re-
VOL. 34 ISSUE 3 MARCH 2016
The Parable of the Crippled Mare: Loss-Of-Use Now Recoverable in Texas Total Loss Auto Cases by Gary Wickert, Attorney-at-Law
Many years ago, a lawyer argued that the long-standing Texas rule prohibiting recovery of damages for loss of use of personal property, unless the property was a total loss or destroyed, was unfair. City of Canadian v. Guthrie, 87 S.W.2d 316 (Tex. Civ. App. 1932). His client’s one-eyed, underfed mare lived a simple life. One night, however, she was caught roaming the city streets in search of food and was placed in the city pound. Her Gary Wickert owner failed to pay her board bill. Thus, she was put out of her misery. As the Court of Appeals then put it, “when Panhandle Pete’s
pistol popped, she petered, for which the pound-keeper paid Pete a pair of pesos.” Her owner protested her death and sued for damages, including $350 for the loss of her services in his occupation of hauling. The Court rejected that claim, holding that although “damages occasioned by the loss of the use and hire of an animal are recoverable where the animal is injured, no such damages are recoverable for the total loss or death of an animal.” Rather, “the measure of damages in the case of a wrongful killing of an animal is its market value, if it has one, and if not, then its actual or intrinsic value, with interest.” That rule, the owner’s attorney argued, made it “cheaper to kill a mare in Texas than to cripple her.” On January 8, 2016, the Texas See The Parable, Page 18
Progressive Says Nearly 9,000 Hours of Productivity Lost in More Than 190 Crashes in Denver Each Day Nearly 70,000 car accidents happen in the Denver, CO metropolitan area each year; thats more than 1,340 a week and 190 a day. And, while 43 percent of all claims handled by Progressive in the area are considered minor in terms of repair cost (causing less than $2,000 in damage to each vehicle), the time wasted and inconvenience caused are anything but minor. About 40 percent of drivers involved in crashes report spending four or more days managing the process of getting their vehicles repaired. This means area drivers collectively lose nearly 9,000 hours of time; that’s more than three years managing the claims/repair process. To help save drivers time, The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies, announced on January 30 the opening of its first Service Center in the Denver area. According to a company press release, drivers here can now receive a claims service that reduces the time each driver spends on the claims/re-
pair process from four days to about 15 minutes. And the service is not limited to just Progressive Direct or Drive Insurance customers. It’s also available to anyone involved in a claim with these customers. If drivers choose to use the new Denver Service Center, according to a company press release, they can drop off the damaged vehicle and, in about 15 minutes, can leave in a rental car assured that a claims representative will handle the process from beginning to end. This includes overseeing the work that the body shop does, and that the repairs will be guaranteed. Without this level of claims service, drivers have to spend several days doing everything themselves. “The Service Center approach is simple and it works,” said Franklin Duru, Denver Service Center manager for Progressive. The opening of the new Service Center at 6201 Broadway St. in Denver marks the 45th Progressive Service Center in the U.S. and the first in Colorado.
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