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I-CAR Wants to Get OEM Info to Techs and to Educate Consumers about Tech Training

organization saved perhaps its most significant news for a presentation at A glimpse at future vehicle technol- NACE the following day. ogy and what it may mean for colliThere, Jason Bartanen unveiled the new “Repairability Technical Support Portal,” I-CAR’s effort to put repair procedures and vehicle information as close to technician’s as the nearest computer, tablet or smartphone screen.

“We really want to put this information into technician’s hands,” said Bartanen, director of industry technical relations Jason Bartanen presents the Repairability Technical for I-CAR. “They may not Support Portal on the NACE Show Floor walk up to the front of the sion repairers and insurers filled much shop to ask a technical question. But if of the agenda at I-CAR’s annual con- they have the answer in their pocket, ference in Detroit in late July, but the See I-CAR Wants, Page 38

by John Yoswick

VOL. 32 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2014

Louisiana AG Buddy Caldwell Files Suit Against State Farm Alleging Unsafe Business Practices Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has filed a lawsuit against State Farm Insurance alleging the nationwide insurer has engaged in a pattern of unfair and fraudulent business practices aimed at controlling the auto repair industry and forcing unsafe repairs on vehicles without the knowledge or consent of Louisiana consumers.

Attorney General Caldwell said, “State Farm has created a culture of unsafe business practices in which consumer vehicle repairs are performed with cost-savings as the primary goal rather than safety and reliability.”

The suit, filed in Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court, alleges State Farm violated Louisiana’s Unfair Trade Practices Act and Monopolies Law by

using scare tactics to steer Louisiana consumers to State Farm’s preferred repair shops and forcing shops to perform vehicle repairs cheaply and quickly, rather than in accordance with consumer safety and vehicle manufacturer performance standards.

The lawsuit alleges that State Farm steers consumers to direct repair See LA AG Files Suit, Page 4

NACE Coverage Online at autobodynews.com

Technology & Telematics Expo Hole in One Winner at CREF Expo Overview and Sessions NABC and Recycled Rides Media Debriefing After Show Show Photos on our Facebook

Assured Performance Network Makes the Case and Details Growing OEM Insistence on Being Part of Repair and Certification in the Future, NACE Attendees Clearly Impressed

Ronald Doerr, new Senior V.P. of Strategic Initiatives (l) and Scott Biggs point out the features of the new Chrysler app.

P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018

NACE is known for new product releases, fast breaking technology and fancy classic cars, but it’s also a place to get the latest news in the collision industry. Scott Biggs, the charismatic CEO, President and Founder of Assured Performance Network in Irvine, CA, delivered the goods when he spoke to a full room at this year’s NACE show. The message Biggs conveyed concerned the present and

growing importance of manufacturer certifications and the associated referral programs that will soon become prevalent in the collision industry. His speech was both timely and relevant to any body shop, whether it’s a small independent all the way to a large MSO. The times are a-changing and you don’t need to be Bob Dylan to see it, accord-

Change Service Requested

by Ed Attanasio

ing to Biggs. “You need to know that this isn’t your grandfather’s or even your father’s certification program.

The biggest difference is that now the automakers are rewarding the shops that invest in compliance with customer referrals.

OEM’s have already begun to refer their vehicle owners to these forward-thinking shops for their collision repair needs, and this will only increase over the coming months. The

playing field has changed and business as usual is over. The biggest automakers with mass-produced and mass-market brands are using a very aggressive referral approach and that will place the certified shops at a whole different level.”

That Ford is leading the pack with this body shop certification program is a clear indication of where things are headed, Biggs explained. “Ford has made a new truck (the best selling vehicle in the country for 30 years) that cannot be fixed in the old-fashioned way—period. Following suit are other OEM’s. If you want to repair any of these vehicles, and there will be millions of them soon, you’re going to have to do it the right way—which requires new tools, equipment, training and facilities. Shops who do not embrace these changes put themselves and their customers in a very tenuous and unsafe position. So, certification really isn’t even elective in this See Assured Performance, Page 12

Presorted Standard US Postage PAID San Bernardino, CA Permit #2244

2 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Austin Body Shop Said to Have Taken

Woman’s Handicap Van For Months. . . . 4

Caliber Opens New Collision Repair Center

Third Party Adminstrator from CA

Expands Into Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

COLUMNISTS

In Houston Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Attanasio - How Can I Squeeze More

As Body Shop of the Year in Texas,

Attanasio - Is Your Reception Area Making

Collision King Honored By Farmers Insurance Sherwin-Williams Congratulates. . . . . . . 6

a Good First Impression? . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Attanasio - MCRS Lobbyist Represents

Dallas DA Allegedly Mishandled Car Crash

Luehr - Better Blueprinting, Part 1:

Former Texas Prosecutor Asks State to

Sisk - Repair Documentation Series,

With Settlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Pardon in Fatal GM Crash, Accident

Already Listed by GM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Handheld Cellphone Ban Considered

in Austin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Industry Trends Seminars Scheduled

in Texas August 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Louisiana AG Buddy Caldwell Files Suit Against State Farm Alleging Unsafe

Why is Blueprinting Important? . . . . . . 16

Part 2: Assignment of Proceeds and

Writ of Replevin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

92-year-old Owen Crist Auto Body

closed July 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

ABRA Auto Body & Glass Continues

Tennessee Expansion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Purchase Crash Photos Online . . . . . . . . 6

Insistence on Being Part of Repair

Insurance Claims in Nederland, Texas . . 9

the Case and Details Growing OEM

and Certification in the Future, NACE

Attendees Clearly Impressed . . . . . . . . . 1

Milstead Automotive & Collision partners

Attanasio - ICRA Lobbyist Defends Rights

National Autobody Parts Warehouse in

Attanasio - Master Painter JoAnn Bortles

with Enterprise Rent-A-Car on-site . . . . 29 TX Receives Outstanding Ratings

During ISO Certification Review . . . . . . 46

New Law Against Junked Vehicles Being

Enforced in Lafayette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Service King Awards Four Scholarships,

Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Service King Sponsors Dallas Collision

Repair Career Expo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Sisk - ABAT Holds Second Meeting . . . . . 22

Sisk - HABA Holds Meeting, Co-Hosts

of Iowa Body Shop Owners . . . . . . . . . 26

Gets Dose of Reality on Motor City

Absolute Mitsubishi-Hyundai . . . . . 33 BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 37 CCC Information Services . . . . . . . 21 Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 31 Chevyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13 Classic BMW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Dallas Dodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Dent Tools Direct USA . . . . . . . . . . 14 Dominion Sure Seal, Ltd. . . . . . . . . . 4 Don Carlton Auto Group . . . . . . . . . 30 Equalizer Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . . 8 Finnegan Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . 2 Ford Wholesale Parts Dealers TX, OK, LA, NM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Fowler Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Freedom Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram. 17 Gillman Acura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 GlasWeld Systems, Inc . . . . . . . . . . 10 GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 45 Honda-Acura Wholesale Parts Dealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25 Huffines Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge Lewisville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Huffines Hyundai Plano . . . . . . . . . 20 Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 43 Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 35

Tech Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

NABC Members Collaborate at Fundraising Event for Collision Repair Education

Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

PartsTrader Hits 1,000,000th Order

Milestone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Sisk - ASA-NW Members Enjoy

658 Plaintiffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Sisk - IADA Holds 46th Annual Conference,

OSHA Fine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Sisk - Wheels to Prosper’s Annual

Texas Troopers Check Close to 2000

Vehicles During Roadcheck Campaign. . 12

Autobody News

and to Educate Consumers about

Car Care Clinic, Sept. 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Texas Plastics Maker Hit with $174K

Serving Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico 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. ©2014 Adamantine Media LLC. Box 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 (760) 603-3229 Fax www.autobodynews.com Email: news@autobodynews.com

I-CAR Wants to Get OEM Info to Techs

Sisk - ASA-AZ Serves a Big State

Texas Lawyer Sues GM on Behalf of

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy Hayhurst General Manager: Barbara Davies Contributing Writers: Tom Franklin, John Yoswick, Janet Chaney, Toby Chess, David Brown, Rich Evans, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy Sisk, David Luehr Advertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, Bill Doyle, David Petro (800) 699-8251 Sales Assistant: Louise Tedesco Art Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Business-Building Events. . . . . . . . . . . 34

Spring, TX’s Milstead Automotive Offers

Wexford, PA

NATIONAL

Assured Performance Network Makes

Man Guilty of Wire Fraud Related to

Roslindale, MA

Collision Repairers in Big Sky Country . 40

Business Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Louisiana State Police Offer Option to

Lexington, KY

Out of My SEMA Experience?. . . . . . . . 18

Convicted Killer of Houston-area Cop and

Body Shop Owner Sentenced to Death . . 19

Boulder, CO

with Diverse Interests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Summer Retreat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Hopes to Attract New Members . . . . . . 42

Giveaway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Southwest

REGIONAL

How Does Industry Pay Compare?

Indexof Advertisers

Contents

LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Mac Haik Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Mazda Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 45 Mercedes-Benz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Mike Calvert Toyota. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Mitsubishi Wholesale Parts Dealers . 41 MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 27 North Freeway Hyundai . . . . . . . . . 38 PreFab Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Ray Huffines Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . 29 Reliable Chevrolet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Replica Plastics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . 18 Scoggin-Dickey Buick . . . . . . . . . . 32 SEMA Trade Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 South Pointe Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge. . 7 TG Products, Inc. - The Rail Saver . 10 Toyota of Fort Worth . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Toyota of Laredo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Toyota Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . 43 Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Volkswagen Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Volvo Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 44 Young Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

Austin Body Shop Said to Have Taken Woman’s Handicap Van For Months A Hutto woman and her disabled son are desperate for a solution nearly eight months after their van was sent to a North Austin body shop to be fixed, according to a story produced by KVUE-TV. Their van was damaged in a car accident back in January when Sarah Gaskins lost control on the icy roads.

After filing a claim with her insurance, she took the van to D-Town Auto Body Shop in North Austin.

Since then, however, she has been unable to pick up her van because the owner of D-Town Body Shop, Darren Wydermyer, has yet to completely fix it.

Every time Gaskins calls the shop, she says Darren tells her it will be ready “next week.”

“It’s never ready next week.

That’s been going on for over five months,” Gaskins told KVUE-TV. Her son Jacob has normal function, but he was born with cerebral palsy after an accident during delivery.

They rely on the van to take him anywhere he needs to go, including doctor’s appointments.

“Where it’s really complicated is with Jacob’s doctor’s appointments. I’ll schedule an appointment, and Darren will say it’ll be ready next week so I’ll say okay and reschedule the appointment for next week,” she explained.

Continued from Cover

LA AG Files Suit

providers that have signed agreements with the insurance company. As part of the terms of the agreement, those repair shops must comply with the standards for repair laid out by State Farm. The insurance company, not the repair shop, dictates how long the repair should take, what types of repairs are made and the quality of replacement parts. In many cases, the repairs are completed with sub-standard parts without the consent of the policy holder.

“In some cases, we’ve found that these parts are nothing more than used junk yard parts. In others, we’ve found them to be foreign knock-off parts of questionable quality,” said Caldwell. “Auto repair is not an in-

KVUE asked Darren if it normally takes six to eight months to do this type of body work.

His response? “No, this is a rare situation.”

Darren explains that there was extensive damage so the repairs are taking longer than usual.

He also claims there has been some confusion over the insurance, but Gaskins says he has already been paid for work he has not completed.

Gaskins said Darren was handed the check in February and cashed it immediately.

After phone calls each week and still no van, Gaskins son’s trust, an Austin law firm, issued a letter authorizing a tow truck driver to go to the shop and pick up the van to take to a different auto body shop.

Charlie Lincoln, a representative of Austin Mobility where Gaskins purchased the van, volunteered to help and visit the shop himself.

Lincoln says Darren ignored him, and then asked him to leave.

“He said it was none of my business why the van had taken so long, and I had no business on his property,” Lincoln said.

Lincoln said a tow truck driver tried on three separate occasions to

dustry where you can cut corners to save a little money,” he said. “It could be a matter of life and death.”

Caldwell says the suit aims to change the culture of unsafe business practices led by State Farm in the auto insurance and repair industry. State Farm currently holds the largest share of auto insurance policies in Louisiana.

In 2012, State Farm wrote one third of all auto insurance policies in the state totaling over $1 billion in premiums.

“Each month Louisiana consumers give their hard earned money to State Farm under the assumption that the insurer will take care of them if an accident occurs. This simply isn’t happening. Quite frankly, State Farm has been there for State Farm, not the Louisiana consumer,” Caldwell stated.

A PDF copy of the lawsuit can be found at www.autobodynews.com.

92-year-old Owen Crist Auto Body closed July 31

Owen Crist Auto Body Service in Des Moines closed its doors on July 31, ending a 92-year-old business, according to reports in the Des Moines Register. Closing the business is bittersweet for owner Larry Crist, who auctioned off the contents

of the business Aug. 9. “This is great for Des Moines and great for the northern part of the city,” said Crist, 82. Crist planned to sell six or eight vehicles, air compressors, frame racks and auto body and towing equipment.

4 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

pick up the van and each time he was unsuccessful.

KVUE asked Darren why he wouldn’t release Gaskin’s van to the tow truck driver. He says he will not release it until the work is done and he is paid additional money for work he says he did, on top of the insurance money he has already received.

REPORTER: “You’re saying the insurance company owes you more than the $15,000?”

DARREN: “Yes, there [are] a few more items they need to pay for. That’s something you usually tally up at the end.”

REPORTER: “So you weren’t going to let them take the van until you had tallied the extra work on top of the $15,000?”

DARREN: “You do all that at the end. Of course I’d want to get all the money I’m owed before I release the van.”

Sarah says the insurance will pay the additional money and has in fact offered to pay more in the past but she says Darren had refused the money and didn’t mention the additional work required until now.

She is hoping the work will finally be finished soon so her son’s life can go back to normal and she won’t

have to spend more money from Jacob’s trust on a lawyer.

“To pay an attorney, it’s going to be more money that’s going to come out of his trust and the insurance has already paid them. He should not have to suffer anymore. It’s not fair to him, because it’s coming out of his money that has to last his whole lifetime.”

Darren told KVUE he expects all the work to be completed within the next two to three days.

Darren also called Gaskins and told her it would be ready by next week.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 5

Spring, TX’s Milstead Automotive Offers Car Care Clinic, Sept. 11 Milstead Automotive & Collision is inviting women to attend its last installment of its Lipsticks & Dipsticks car care series, Thurs., Sept. 11 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. where car and image experts will explain how drivers can improve their image and their ride. Milstead Automotive & Collision is located at 29707 W. Hawthorne in Spring, TX. Amy Milstead, president of Milstead Automotive & Collision, created the Lipsticks & Dipsticks clinics to reach out to women of all ages to get familiar with their cars; from changing a tire, checking the charge of a battery or replacing an oil filter. “It’s important that women know what their options are in terms of car care and maintenance. There are so many things that women can do to improve their vehicle without replacing it; whether they are mechanical or aesthetic changes.” Milstead Automotive & Collision can provide everything related to automotive needs – scheduled maintenance to collision repair to detailing is all in one location, she added.

While Milstead and her automotive team talk about improving the image of your vehicle inside and out, Monette Smith, CEO and publisher of reviewit, Flair and Vida Social Maga-

zine, will speak about improving your professional image.

Smith, an accomplished motivational speaker and women’s business leader has headlined seminars, luncheons and discussions to help area businesses define their strengths to be successful and profitable.

According to Smith, “No matter what your job may be, it is important to always look and feel your best. If you aren’t confident in your own skin, it is going to show. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so you have to make it count.”

Milstead also created Milstead Automotive’s Last Call service aimed at preventing drunk driving and has spearheaded Milstead’s Video Ambassador Campaign against texting and driving. “I am very excited to have these opportunities to host clinics where we can impart some automotive knowledge for people in our community, especially women,” Milstead added.

The Lipsticks & Dipsticks event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Reservations are not required, but encouraged.

All guests who RSVP will be entered into a drawing for a free oil change. If you would like to attend, please RSVP

Collision King Honored By Farmers Insurance As Body Shop of the Year in Texas, Sherwin-Williams Congratulates

In the collision repair industry, quality work and dedicated service are the keys to a satisfied customer. Farmers Insurance annually recognizes top shops for service excellence with the Body Shop of the Year award. Sherwin-Williams would like to congratulate Collision King Auto Body Repair Center in Lubbock, Texas for being the state recipient of this award for the year 2013.

This latest award will be one among numerous other accolades for Collision King including being named “Best Auto Body Repair Center in Lubbock” for nine straight years and “Best Body Repair Center” in KCBD Channel 11’s “Best of the West” campaign since 2010.

“We feel a great sense of pride,” said owner Steven Tisdale, “and its humbling to be recognized this way.

We are in a smaller market compared to areas like Dallas, Houston and Austin. We often fly under the radar getting overlooked by the larger markets in Texas. But we have a great team, we utilize team work and empower our people to make good decisions and think on their feet.”

Established in 1998 by Tisdale, Collision King’s management staff

brings more than 100 years of combined experience to their work, utilizing the latest technology, including Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes’ primer and topcoat systems to ensure precision work.

“Sherwin-Williams products have been great for our shop,” said Tisdale. “But more important than the products is the ongoing support we get from them. In addition, our local jobber, West Texas Auto Colors, is top notch and the manager, Anthony Palomo, has helped us implement lean process and goes the extra mile any time we need him.”

“At Sherwin-Williams, we truly value our long term relationship with Collision King and are committed to continue to support them in their pursuit of excellence,” adds Glenn Lane, Director of Sales-Southwest, for Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes.

For more information on Collision King visit the company website www.collisionking.com or call 806794-5990.

For more information on Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes visit www.sherwin-automotive.com or call 1-800-798-5872.

6 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

by calling Elizabeth Williams at 281367-3535.

In conjunction with this event, Milstead Automotive & Collision is running a Facebook contest to honor women in the military. Milstead is soliciting stories of incredible military women who are deserving of a total makeover provided by Blo The Woodlands. For more information or to make a nomination, visit Milstead Automotive’s Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/millsteadautomotive.

Milstead Automotive Group is a family-owned and operated full-service automotive repair facility serving Montgomery and Harris Counties. The company was founded in 1971 by Dick Milstead where he offered customers honest, quality auto repair from his two car garage. Since that time, Milstead has grown into a 29-bay facility and offers automotive, transmission, collision, towing, RV and fleet services.

For more information on Milstead Automotive & Collision’s services, visit milsteadautomotive.com.

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Louisiana State Police Offer Option to Purchase Crash Photos Online

Louisiana State Police say the option of ordering crash photographs through its website is now available to the public.

The agency says such photos are available online at www.lsp.org. Once on the website, visitors should click on the LSP statewide crash reports and photos link for photographs and/or reports.

To order, the driver’s or pedestrian’s first and last name, parish of the crash, and date of the crash must be provided. Fatality photographs will not be available online.

Officials hope the new system, announced Thursday, will increase accessibility to crash photographs and streamline the purchasing process.

Photographs can also be purchased by mail or phone through the LSP Photo Lab at 225-925-3518.

The cost for each photograph is $10.

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 7

Former Texas Prosecutor Asks State to Pardon in Fatal GM Crash, Accident Already Listed by GM

A former Texas prosecutor has asked the state to pardon a woman who pleaded guilty in a 2004 car crash that killed her fiance, saying she now believes the accident was caused by a faulty General Motors ignition switch.

Candice Anderson was driving a 2004 Saturn Ion in November 2004 when the car suddenly veered off a road and ran into a tree in Van Zandt County, southeast of Dallas. Her fiance, Gene Mikale Erickson, who was 25, was killed. Anderson, then 21, was severely hurt.

Because there were no skid marks, authorities believed Anderson was at fault and charged her with negligent homicide. Anderson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years of probation and 260 hours of community service.

GM has said the faulty switches – which have resulted in 17.1 million vehicles being recalled – have caused 13 deaths. GM spokesman Jim Cain said Wednesday the automaker is not “confirming the identity of any of the accident victims out of respect for their privacy.”

But Anderson’s attorney, Robert Hilliard, said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in May confirmed for Erickson’s mother that

the crash was caused by a bad switch.

In an email to Rhonda Erickson, Kevin Vincent, chief counsel for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, wrote that although his agency “does not have direct information from GM about individual identities, we understand that GM counts Mr. Erickson’s death in its list of thirteen deaths.”

In a letter written this week to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Leslie Poynter Dixon, a former Van Zandt County district attorney, said she would have dismissed the case against Anderson if she had known about the crash’s true cause.

“It is my opinion that no action or omission of Ms. Anderson was the cause of the accident that led to her criminal charges. Had I known at the time that GM knew of these issues and has since admitted to such, I do not believe the grand jury would have indicted her,” Dixon wrote.

Dixon, now in private practice, did not immediately return a phone call on Wednesday.

“I feel it is important that, at this point, we come together to do whatever we can to alleviate any further damage and pain that this horrific tragedy caused her,” she said in the letter.

8 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

NABC Members Collaborate at Fundraising Event for Collision Repair Education Foundation

Members of the National Auto Body Council (NABC) are joining forces with industry colleagues to promote the professionalism and integrity of the collision industry to the next generation of experts and leaders at the “Cars, Careers & Celebrities Expo.” The event, Saturday, August 16, in Arlington, Texas, is expected to be one of the largest fundraisers for the Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF).

A highlight of the day’-long event will be presentation of NABC’s signature Recycled RidesTM program by the Van Tuyl Group which refurbished vehicles provided by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hertz and Allstate. The Recycled Rides vehicles will be donated to three deserving families in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

“Recycled Rides epitomizes the spirit of collaboration as repairers, insurers, rental car companies, parts suppliers, manufacturers and others in our industry work together to give back to local communities,” said Rick Tuuri, Chair of NABC’s Recycled Rides program, and a board member of both NABC and CREF. “Showcasing Recycled Rides to our next generation of industry professionals exemplifies the standards and

values that are prevalent in our industry today.”

Sponsors for the CREF fundraising event practically mirror the Diamond membership roster of the NABC, further testament to the commitment by today’s industry leaders to collaborate and join forces.

NABC members supporting the event include: 3M, 800 Radiator, AudaExplore/Hollander, ABRA Auto Body & Glass, Axalta Coating Systems, Caliber Collision, Dent Zone/PDR Links, Enterprise Rent-ACar, Gerber Collision & Glass, Hertz, PPG Automotive Refinish, Service King Collision Repair Centers and Van Tuyl Group.

“The efforts of the Collision Repair Education Foundation are critical to the future of our industry. We look forward to more opportunities such as this upcoming event to participate and partner with our colleagues at CREF to reinforce our mission to promote professionalism and integrity in our industry,” said Nick Notte, NABC Board President.

For updated information about “Cars, Careers and Celebrities,” visit www.CollisionEducationFoundation.org/Dallas-Event.

Dallas DA Allegedly Mishandled Car Crash With Settlement

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins’ office used money from an asset-forfeiture fund to pay about $50,000 to the driver of a car that Watkins hit while driving a countyowned vehicle, according to a television station’s report.

The settlement was disclosed Aug. 14 by WFAA-TV, which also reported that Watkins’ office did not follow county policy on handling repairs for the accident last year. Watkins’ office denied it did anything wrong.

Watkins spokeswoman Debbie Denmon said the settlement was handled legally and using money collected through investigations rather than from taxpayers. She said Watkins was on his way to a speech and glancing at his re-

marks at the time of the wreck.

“There was no secret here. This was out in the open,” Denmon told The Associated Press on Friday. “And there was no duty here to go to the county commissioners, again, because no county funds were used.”

Watkins was driving a county-owned Ford Edge SUV on the Dallas North Tollway in February 2013, when he ran into the back of another vehicle. A police report cited Watkins for “reading information” on his phone at the time of the crash.

Rather than turning the SUV into county employees responsible for repairs, the television station reported, Watkins’ SUV was towed to a body shop, where it remained for five months until it was taken to a private mechanic in Dallas.

The head of Watkins’ civil division, Teresa Guerra Snelson, acknowledged that she didn’t know at the time about county policy on vehicle crashes, but that she notified a county official about the wreck. Denmon said Snelson turned over a police report, but not a specific form for accidents.

“It’s an accident. Accidents happen, and it was handled appropriately and in the normal course of business and within the authority that the DA and I have,” Snelson told WFAA. Robert Reckendorf, owner of the Parts Express body shop that repaired the vehicle, said the SUV’s frame had been bent and the transmission damaged. He estimated the cost of the work at more than $11,000.

“That should have been one that you don’t want to fix,” he said. “Any insurance company would have told them that.”

The DA’s office eventually settled with the driver for $47,500, and his company for an additional $4,500. The money came from asset forfeiture funds controlled by the district attorney’s office. Use of those funds by prosecutors’ offices has come under scrutiny due to what detractors call a lack of oversight.

Watkins, a Democrat, has won acclaim for his office’s work to free wrongfully convicted inmates. But he has been enmeshed in local controversy over earlier reports of an FBI investigation and complaints that he has mishandled his official duties. He is running for re-election this fall.

Man Guilty of Wire Fraud Related to Insurance Claims in Nederland, Texas

A Nederland, TX, man has pleaded guilty to wire fraud according to a news release from U.S. Attorney John M. Bales.

Antonio Govea Figueroa, 42, entered the guilty plea Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith F. Giblin.

According to information presented in court, from June 2008 to November 2013, Figueroa, the owner and operator of Tony’s Kustom & Colli-

sion in Port Arthur, Texas, electronically submitted claims to Farmers Insurance for collision work. Farmers became suspicious of the invoices submitted by Figueroa. The inspection of 44 claims revealed Figueroa claimed repairs that were not actually done and claimed to use new parts when salvaged or inferior parts were actually used without the consent or

knowledge of the insured.

According to 12News file stories, Tony’s Kustom & Collision was raided by agents with Homeland Security and the Department of Public Safety on December 4, 2013. At the time of the raid officials could only say it was in connection to a twomonth long investigation.

Figueroa faces up to 20 years in

federal prison and restitution of $118,013.34 at sentencing.

A sentencing date has not been set.

This case is being investigated by Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Farmers Insurance Significant Investigations Unit and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher T. Tortorice.

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 9

ABRA Auto Body & Glass Continues Tennessee Expansion

Just four months after entering into Knoxville, Tennessee, ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a leading national damaged vehicle repair company, announced it had expanded once again with the purchase of Tennessee Collision Repair. The new center is located in Alcoa, Tennessee, about 20 minutes south of Knoxville. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ABRA is one of the collision industry’s largest multi shop repair operators. The company uses an operational excellence philosophy that significantly improves its operating metrics; distinguishing it from competitors. Today’s acquisition increases ABRA’s repair center portfolio to 239 in 19 states.

Duane Rouse, ABRA’s President and Chief Executive Officer said, “Tennessee Collision Repair has deep roots in the Alcoa community.

We are excited to announce our expansion in Tennessee which reinforces our growth strategy. We are focused on markets with favorable demographics and economic growth.

We look forward to strengthening our ability to meet the collision repair demands of customers and insurance partners across the country.”

David and Brenda Maples, owners of Tennessee Collision Repair

welcomes today’s Transaction and acknowledges the tremendous benefit to the community. “We are proud to have serviced our customers for nearly three decades. This is a tremendous opportunity for our employees and a great cultural fit for the city of Alcoa.”

Building on its increasing success, ABRA plans to continue expanding in the months and years ahead as part of its aggressive national growth strategy. It is actively seeking new opportunities to acquire repair centers and integrate them into its industry-leading operating system. Interested parties in major markets should contact Scott Gerling, Vice President of Corporate Development (sgerling@abraauto.com or 763.585.6210).

For franchise opportunities in small and midsize markets contact Mark Wahlin, Vice President of Franchise Development/Relations (mwahlin @abraauto.com or 763-585-6315).

ABRA is committed to conducting business based on responsible business practices including implementation of environmentally sustainable initiatives, health and safety, and a commitment to the communities in which it serves.

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PartsTrader Hits 1,000,000th Order Milestone PartsTrader announced that it has successfully processed its 1,000,000th collision repair parts job since it launched its online marketplace in February 2012.

On August 7, Bowman’s Auto Service Inc. of Flatwoods, Ky. opened a repair order on a 2011 Ford F-150 and used PartsTrader to source and order the required parts, marking the 1,000,000th repair job that has been supported by the PartsTrader system in the last 30 months.

“I’ve been working with PartsTrader for over a year now,” said Doyle DeLawder, Bowman’s Parts Manager. “This system makes it easier to send out quotes and receive responses. It really cuts down on my workflow.”

Since the initial product launch, the PartsTrader team has worked through many product updates and enhancements, all driven by user feedback such as from Bowman’s Auto Service, Inc. “Our 80 plus US-based associates have worked very hard for the last few years to get us to this point, and we’re pleased that an ever growing number of repairers across the country are turning to us for their parts sourcing needs,” said Dale

Sailer, PartsTrader’s Vice President of Business Development.

There are currently more than 7,500 collision repair businesses and 8,500 suppliers active on the PartsTrader system, using the online marketplace to process more than $1 billion in parts orders annually.

“We’re thrilled to be the onemillionth parts job!” said DeLawder.

Sailer contacted Bowman’s to notify them of the milestone and purchased lunch for all of the shop’s employees to commemorate the occasion.

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Continued from Cover

Assured Performance

case—it’s essential to be on the playing field in the future.”

Assured Performance has positioned itself right in the middle of this obvious game change. They are a legal co-op, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization and management company. Combined, they operate as a third-party administrator for body shop certifications and marketing programs for Ford, Nissan, Chrysler, Enterprise, GM and others. They also provide consumer awareness to thousands of media outlets and manage various vendor rebate programs. Uniquely, Assured Performance has the distinction of administering more than $13.5 million dollars of supplier rebate rewards to their members since 2004 which helps shops reinvest in their business.

“We’re helping all of the shops to keep pace with a rapidly changing marketplace. We welcome those that want to be a part of the future; our best estimate is that, to-date, only about 1 in 10 shops have already begun this journey,” Biggs said. “Our industry needs to urgently embrace this challenge to

meet the repair needs of today‘s vehicles.

The company has already enrolled nearly 1,600 shops in their joint-effort OE Certification program and is well on their way to their objective of 2,000 shops by year-end 2014 and 3,000 by year-end 2015.

Ford, Nissan, Chrysler and others now have similar coverage by leveraging the Assured Performance platform.

Regardless of where a consumer lives or travels, they will have a Certified Collision Repair Provider choice, according to Biggs.

To handle the anticipated further growth of its third-party certification program, Assured Performance has added several industry veterans to its team. A significant recent addition for Assured Performance is Ronald Doerr, the company’s new Senior V.P. of Strategic Initiatives. Through 30-plus years working for GM on the OEM parts side, he brings a broad industry perspective and is respected across multiple market segments.

“I’ve known Scott Biggs and witnessed the evolution of his company over many years,” Clark said. “Scott has asked me to help the company in See Assured Performance, Page 30

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Texas Troopers Check Close to 2000 Vehicles During Roadcheck Campaign

Texas troopers have sidelined nearly 1,900 vehicles as part of the threeday nationwide safety effort called Roadcheck 2014.

The Texas Department of Public Safety on Wednesday reported doing more than 8,700 commercial motor vehicle inspections during the June 3-5 safety push.

About 21 percent of the 18wheelers, buses and other commercial vehicles inspected were taken out of service for safety violations, pending repairs. Issues with brakes and defective lighting were among the common problems.

DPS required 263 drivers to stop operating their vehicles for violations related to incorrect logging of on-duty time and not having the proper licenses.

Overall troopers issued 2,715 citations and nearly 25,000 warnings.

The Roadcheck program is sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

Handheld Cellphone Ban Considered in Austin

Austin, Texas, officials have proposed banning nearly all handheld cellphone use while driving.

The Austin Public Safety Commission approved a recommendation Monday night to stiffen the city’s No Driving or Texting ordinance. The commissioners recommended to the city council that it become illegal to talk, text or use a cellphone behind the wheel of a vehicle. That change includes vehicles stopped at lights or in traffic.

Drivers would still be able to call 911 or talk while parked in a lot or on the shoulder.

It’s already illegal to text and drive in the Texas capital, but police say the law is hard to enforce.

The council held a hearing on Aug. 7 regarding the changes.

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Texas Plastics Maker Hit with $174K OSHA Fine Plastic Systems LLC in El Paso, Texas, was cited by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 21 safety and health violations, including six repeat, for failing to develop adequate lockout/tagout procedures to control the unexpected startup of the company’s plastic injection molding machines. Proposed penalties total $174,240.

The inspection was conducted in February 2014 after a safety referral was made during a health inspection initiated under the Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program.

The six repeat violations, with a penalty of $112,860, were cited for failing to address specific lockout/ tagout techniques for the servicing and maintenance of machinery and conduct annual inspections of these techniques and procedures. The employer failed to ensure workers had operable portable fire extinguishers and were trained to use them. Im-

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proper maintenance resulted in electrical hazards, including conductors with damaged insulation.

A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Plastic Systems was cited previously in a 2011 inspection at the El Paso facility.

The remaining 15 violations, including 11 serious with a penalty of $61,380, were cited for failure to ensure workers knew the type and magnitude of energy that needed lockout control; provide machine guarding on injection molding machines; maintain electrical components and equipment in a manner that complies with safety requirements; properly record injuries and illnesses; adequately distribute portable fire extinguishers; and replace damaged circuit breaker boxes.

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Third Party Adminstrator from CA Expands Into Texas

Calif.-based Athens Administrators, a full-service, third-party claims administration services provider since 1976, is expanding into Texas and appointing Vance A. Root as executive vice president, in charge of driving expansion and operational efforts in the Southern United States Region.

Athens’ move to the Texas market maintains its national growth strategy.

Root has over 25 years of experience in the claims and commercial brokerage arena and has developed claims programs for some of the largest accounts in the U.S. In his role as executive vice president, Root will lead the company’s new business development and expansion initiatives into Texas and surrounding states, as well as provide management and oversight of Athens Administrators’ liability claims unit.

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Caliber Opens New Collision Repair Center In Houston Area

Caliber Collision Centers has announced the opening of a new location in the greater Houston area.

Caliber’s new Tomball location, with over 15,000 square feet of space, opened for business on Aug. 18. It employs the latest innovations in collision repairs with 19 service bays, two heated paint booths and more than 30 parking spaces for Caliber’s customers and partners.

“Today’s Tomball opening allows us to restore even more Houston-area customers to the rhythm of their lives, as we deliver on our commitment to expand customer choice while providing industryleading metrics in every market we serve,” said Caliber CEO Steve Grimshaw.

Added Mark Sanders, Caliber’s president and chief operating officer, “Our new Tomball center brings Caliber Collision’s total number of Texas locations to 63 and 182 across the Caliber network as we continue to grow into the collision repair provider of choice in the eight states we now serve.”

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 13

Texas Lawyer Sues GM on Behalf of 658 Plaintiffs A Texas lawyer has filed a lawsuit against General Motors on behalf of 658 people who were injured or killed in crashes allegedly caused by faulty ignition switches.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan in New York City names 29 people who were killed in crashes and 629 who were hurt. All the crashes occurred after GM emerged from bankruptcy protection in July of 2009. That makes them exempt from GM’s efforts to shield itself from claims due to crashes that occurred before the bankruptcy, attorney Robert Hilliard said in a statement.

Hilliard also said he will ask judges for permission to file another 248 cases

from before the bankruptcy, including 21 deaths.

“It’s certainly not a legal given that GM will be successful in its attempts to use this ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ bankruptcy card,” said Hilliard, of Corpus Christi, Texas.

The lawsuit alleges that GM knew about the defective switches that can cause engines to stall since as early as 2001, yet it didn’t recall any cars until this year. The switches can cut off the engine, knocking out power steering and brakes and disabling the air bags, which wouldn’t protect people in a crash. The lawsuit seeks in excess of $75,000 in damages for each plaintiff.

The filing comes just days before compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg

is to start taking injury and death claims on behalf of GM. Feinberg, who handled claims for the BP Gulf Oil Spill and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, has said GM has placed no limit on the total amount of money he can spend to compensate victims. Feinberg is to start taking claims on Friday and will accept applications through the end of the year. Those who settle with Feinberg must give up their right to sue.

GM recalled 2.6 million small cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt for defective switches starting in February, touching off a recall crisis at the company that has ballooned to 29 million recalled vehicles. Of those, 17.3 million are to fix defective ignition switches. But only owners of the orig-

Service King Sponsors Dallas Collision Repair Career Expo

The National Autobody Council together with the Collision Repair Education Foundation will host the annual North Texas summer industry event entitled “Roadmap: Collision Industry and Careers Expo” Saturday at Vandergriff Toyota in Arlington.

The one-day event is scheduled from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and is open to both the general public and members

of the collision repair industry.

Industry leaders seek to use the event as a platform to educate and inform future collision repair professionals on the opportunities available in the ever-growing field. Activities include an industry trade show, celebrity appearances, a Recycled Ride vehicle presentation, silent auction and raffle table, product demonstrations and in-

New Law Against Junked Vehicles Being Enforced in Lafayette

Lafayette, LA, police are once again enforcing a law against rusting and broken-down vehicles. The move comes seven years after a lawsuit put the antiblight effort on hold and forced a reworking of the city’s junked vehicle ordinance.

Police Chief Jim Craft tells The Advocate officers have investigated 82 complaints of junked vehicles since reviving enforcement about three months ago.

Of that number, Craft says enforcement action has begun for 25 of the vehicles, which could be towed at the owners’ expense if not removed voluntarily.

He said 28 cases are still open, and 29 ended with owners removing the vehicles themselves after being told they were in violation of local law.

“Many of the owners contacted (by police) are cooperating and are trying to make arrangements to move the vehicle,” Craft said.

The Lafayette City-Parish Council passed a new junked vehicle ordinance in November, but Craft said it has taken several months for his department to work out a standardized enforcement process, to determine who in the department will be in charge and to print the stickers used to tag junked vehicles for removal.

City-Parish Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux, who pushed to get a retooled law back on the books, said he is eager to go “full throttle” on enforcement.

“We have put it back in effect, and because of the layover, there were a number of violations out there,” Boudreaux said.

Enforcement had been on hold since 2007, when a man filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the city’s seizure of vehicles on his property.

City-parish government paid $70,000 to settle the lawsuit in 2012, and the legal staff then began crafting a new version of the law to address the legal questions raised in the case.

The law calls for police officers to notify property owners of a violation and give them a chance to remove the vehicle or fix it.

If nothing is done, city-parish government can tow the vehicle and bill the owner.

For a violation under the revised law, a vehicle must be inoperable, be at the same site for more than 30 days and show signs of disrepair, such as missing parts, body damage, broken glass or rust.

The new law also removes an exemption in the old law for vehicles kept in a garage, shed or other enclosure.

14 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

dustry awareness opportunities for local high school and college collision repair students.

All funds collected at the event will benefit the Collision Repair Education Foundation, which seeks to promote, qualify and properly train employees entering the collision repair industry.

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inal 2.6 million small cars are eligible for compensation through Feinberg.

GM says the small-car switches have caused at least 54 crashes and 13 deaths.

Hilliard’s lawsuit includes crashes involving the original 2.6 million cars as well other cars with faulty switches.

He called the exclusion of some ignition switches from the compensation fund “GM madness at its best.”

GM spokesman Jim Cain wouldn’t comment on Hilliard’s lawsuit, but said the company wants to do the right thing for people harmed by ignition switch issues with the Cobalt and other recalled small cars. “That’s why we engaged Kenneth Feinberg to independently design and administer a compensation program,” Cain’s statement said.

Level sponsor of the event and one of the fastest growing collision repair centers in the country, operating 28 locations in the Dallas area and 78 across the state of Texas.

More information on the Collision Repair Education Foundation and Saturday’s career expo can be found by visiting: http://collisioneducation foundation.org/dallas-event/

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 15

Lean Operations

David Luehr is the owner of Elite Body Shop Solutions, LLC, a collision business consulting firm based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a 30 year veteran of the collision repair industry.

David is an expert in Body Shop Operations and specializes in Lean, and Theory of Constraints methods. Email him at dluehr@msn.com

Better Blueprinting, Part 1: Why is Blueprinting Important? with David Luehr

In the collision repair business, the only time the shop makes money is when the technician is actually working on the car. So for a shop to optimize profitability, systems must be put in-place to ensure that wasteful delays are eliminated. Some of the more common delays are.

■ Techs wandering around looking for parts, fasteners, or information ■ Missing, damaged, or incorrect replacement parts ■ Waiting for approval and parts on supplemental (missed) damage A great way to reduce or eliminate such delays is through the process of damage analysis or “blueprinting.”

Blueprinting is one of the most important processes a shop can implement to reduce or eliminate delays and can have a dramatic effect on important KPIs such as cycle time, customer satisfaction and profitability.

The Goal of this Article Blueprinting is not a new concept by any means, but many shops still fail at either successfully implementing it, or if they have implemented it they are not getting the results they expected.

My goal is to guide the reader through some reasons why shops fail at Blueprinting and then in part two give some proven simple techniques that are being used by shops that do have successful Blueprinting programs.

Why Shops Commonly Fail at Blueprinting We Make it Too Difficult for the Real World When lean concepts including Blueprinting were first introduced to our industry, the initiatives were often led by well-intended paint companies that had over-complicated curriculum.

Lean was the “new kid on the block” and came with all the bells and whistles; in many cases, too many bells and whistles. When concepts such as these are taught to us by people from the manufacturing industry from a 30,000 foot level, many of the basics were over-looked or misconstrued. So as the years progressed, most people stopped doing Blueprinting, a lucky few figured out better and simpler ways of performing it. Those that were successful

found ways of using lean thinking and applying it to Blueprinting in a “real world” manner, a manner that would work on the shop floor and not from a philosophical 30,000 foot high vantage.

Lack of Visual Mistake Proofing Systems As someone that has been teaching Blueprinting for many years, I hear excuses all the time why damage was missed during Blueprinting. The one that kills me is “We are only human.”

Tell that to a surgeon or a Blue Angels pilot some time. The point is, that yes, we are human, so in order to be successful at Blueprinting, we have to put systems in place that make mistakes VISIBLE so that we can catch them before it’s too late. This is an old trick introduced by Japanese manufacturers.

This mistake proofing is a technique called “Poka Yoke.” So if you want to have a successful Blueprinting program, mistake-proof it by using some of the “Poka Yoke” techniques in this article.

No Written Repeatable Process The lucky few that were able to achieve Blueprinting success at some level often doomed the process from future success by not carefully documenting the Blueprint system they worked so hard on into a Standard Operating Procedure. Because of this lack of standardization, the program was susceptible to failures caused by new employees, lapses of memory, or many other reasons. If a process has simple written instruction, and people are well trained, the likelihood that the vital steps needed to produce a consistently accurate Blueprint is increased immensely.

Technicians are hired to Repair Vehicles, Not Write Supplements To this day, most shops continue to ask their body technicians to perform a teardown and then write a supplement. This IS NOT Blueprinting!

Please keep in mind that the only time a shop is making any money is when the technician’s hands are touching the car. So if we ask them to perform supplement writing for us, not only are we inviting problems with esti-

16 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

mate accuracy, we are also not making money! Technicians are a very integral part in the Blueprinting process, and can offer a lot of insight into good damage analysis, but their involvement should be limited to collaboration during the disassembly plan, and damage analysis, then disassembling the vehicle and placing the damaged or R&I parts in their designated areas.

A Common Misconception Having a dedicated Blueprint Analyst or Department always causes bottleneck delays The reason that many say that they don’t like having a dedicated Blueprint Department or Analyst is because it often causes a bottleneck and delays.

All the repair jobs have to go through one resource, so by definition the Blueprint guy is a bottleneck, but here’s what some people don’t understand.

Every system is going to have a bottleneck that dictates the shops throughput

ability and that is okay, the problem is that shops continue to bring all their work in on Monday. If smarter scheduling was practiced, the bottleneck will manage to produce the needed amount of work. This misunderstanding of production management is another main reason people abandon their Blueprinting attempts. In the real world, even when using good scheduling habits, bottlenecks do become a problem at times. When Blueprinting starts getting behind schedule, it is extremely important to stick to the program with discipline and not abandon it. Instead additional resources or extended hours may occasionally need to be dedicated.

In next month’s continuation of Better Blueprinting by David Luehr, we will discuss how to setup a proper Blueprinting area regardless of the size of your shop, and then we will discuss some great techniques that will allow you to get consistent and positive results with your Blueprinting efforts.

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National Associations with Ed Attanasio

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

How Can I Squeeze More Out of My SEMA Experience?

Trade shows are huge right now and that’s why SEMA is more popular than ever. If you’ve ever attended one of these events, you know they’re frenetic, fun, packed full of things to do and your time is usually limited. So, that’s why we’re offering some invaluable tips about how to take full advantage of any trade show, but specifically the upcoming SEMA show, in Las Vegas November 3-7.

When the economy took a hit in 2008, many body shops started dialing down their participation in industry conferences, but now that the economy seems to be a little healthier, this is a smart time to re-engage. The main question for any business owner considering SEMA is this –will the money and staff that I will invest into a show like SEMA really pay off in the long run?

After discussing the “SEMA Experience” with collision professionals from all over the country for at least

the past decade and attending many as an automotive journalist, I’ve heard a wide range of responses about the

ers getting wiped out at the tables and other foolishness were probably halftrue when originally told and undoubtedly pure fiction by now.

On the serious side, I’ve heard things like “Too crowded and we spent too much time trying to find the right booths;” “The classes were either packed or not suited for us;” or “Now we’re back to work and we need to take a vacation just to recuperate from SEMA!” But in the end all of them said the same thing about the show— Peter Macillvray, VP of Communications and Events for “It was useful and we did SEMA and his staff work hard to make the show a winhave a good time!” win for both attendees and exhibitors Since SEMA is an indusshow, both positive and negative. Be- try-only show, you’re obviously not cause the setting is Las Vegas, many going to get any customers from of these anecdotes are not suitable for SEMA and that’s not the goal. The this article, but you can imagine. Tales main reasons you attend conferences of quickie marriages, body shop own- such as SEMA are to connect with

18 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

current and prospective vendors and to learn about new technologies or products that will influence your future.

The first step is to make a list containing your goals with realistic objectives, while determining the costs involved. For example, you may want to visit a dozen equipment companies, paint companies and other suppliers. If you’re going to be at the show for three days, you will obviously need to visit at least four every day, pacing yourself and hydrating continually.

To decide if SEMA is right for you and your business, ask yourself these questions: ■ Is SEMA going to offer you the most cost-effective way of sourcing products, services and information in the collision industry?

■ Is SEMA the best forum for you to keep up- to-date on the collision industry’s newest technologies, state-

of-the-art products, innovations and new developments in your market?

Are you going to encounter a highly targeted audience of your fellow industry professionals?

■ If your answer is yes to more than one of these questions, SEMA is probably a slam dunk for you, your manager and even other members of your crew as well.

Peter Macillvray, VP of Communications and Events for SEMA, offered some helpful tips about how to squeeze the most out of your SEMA experience. “We’re extremely vested in making sure that all of our attendees and exhibitors will leave here with a year’s worth of new business ideas.

We’re committed to doing everything we can to bring value to your time

here at SEMA. We want you to make more money by using what you’ve learned at SEMA, so that’s we’ve created a whole range of things to make it happen.”

Everyone’s goal at any trade show is different, so the first thing you need to do is define what success means for you at SEMA. Before you jump in, make a list and plan your show. “We call it ‘shaping’ the show and it’s so valuable,” Macillvray said. “Too many people jump on a plane and don’t register until they get here and then start wandering through the aisles without any real plan. Time is so precious and by aimlessly walking around you’re losing opportunities.

Being prepared at any trade show or industry event is imperative, so

map it out and don’t leave anything to chance.”

To get more out of your SEMA, take a few classes and learn things you can take back to your business. “We have top companies that have partnered with us on these classes,” Macillvray said. “We’ve got some of the world’s top experts on things like marketing, technology and management.

Everything taught at SEMA is created with two words in mind—useful and relevant.”

If you’re looking for cutting-edge products and equipment that can help your shop and make your life a little easier, SEMA is the place to be. “This show is always about unveiling new technology and we’re proud to lead the way,” Macillvray said. “Our New

Product Showcase is always a huge attraction and a great place to get an overview of what’s new. Many products that have won awards at past SEMA shows are now used by body shops all over the world and the first time anyone saw them was here at SEMA.” SEMA has two ways to help you as you navigate through the show—by calling on their popular Pocket Guide, available almost anywhere at SEMA, as well as by using their 2014 SEMA app, available for free at any Apple Store or online, sponsored by Showcase.

“We have been fine-tuning our app over the years by listening to our customers and we believe it’s stateof-the-art,” Macillvray said. “It contains some planning tools that can really help you to get more out of the show while also allowing you to stay in the loop about the show yearround. Lots of people walk around with the app open on their iPads and iPhones and refer to it during the entire show. We want to offer every tool we have available to us to help you, and that’s why we’re heavily involved in social media. You can like us on Facebook, connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. We have the largest social media following of any automotive show in the world.”

Convicted Killer of Houstonarea Cop and Body Shop Owner Sentenced to Death

A jury returned a death sentence for a man convicted of capital murder in the deaths of a Houston-area police officer and an auto body shop owner on July 24.

The Harris County jury deliberated about 12 hours over two days before reaching its sentence for 23-year-old Harlem Lewis III. The jury found Lewis guilty of capital murder in the killings two years ago of Bellaire police Officer Jimmie Norman and auto body shop owner Terry Taylor.

Twelve jurors—nine men and three women—agreed that Lewis should pay with his own life for shooting and killing Cpl. Jimmie Norman, 53, and Maaco shop owner Terry Taylor, 66, at the end of a police chase on Christmas Eve. Taylor knew Norman and came out to try to assist him. As the officer was trying to pull Lewis from his car, Lewis shot him. He then aimed the gun at Taylor, killing him also. www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 19

The Legal View

Erica Eversman is an attorney, frequent speaker and author on automotive legal topics.

She has been quoted in such publications as The Wall Street Journal Online, USA Today, Kiplingers Personal Finance, Cars.com, Yahoo! News and other trade magazines.

Repair Documentation Series, Part 2: Assignment of Proceeds and Writ of Replevin with Erica Eversman

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

Repair documentation plays an important role in your collision repair business, but many shop owners are not very familiar with what they need to protect their interests, so I’ve turned to an industry-leading attorney to provide crucial information on what you need to know about documentation in the collision repair industry. Last month, Erica Eversman, Chief Counsel for Vehicle Information Services, Inc. and founder of the Automotive Education and Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization geared toward educating consumers, explained how collision repair facilities can use the Authorization to Repair and Repair Contract to receive proper compensation from insurers in legal battles.

While those two documents are extremely important, they may not be the only documents you need to successfully pursue a shortpay case in a courtroom. Here, Eversman explains the relevance of an Assignment of Proceeds and Writ of Replevin in these situations.

The purpose of the Assignment of Proceeds is to create a bridge between the insurance company and the collision repair shop, and this is especially important when you have a consumer who is unwilling or unable to pursue proper compensation via a shortpay lawsuit on the shop’s behalf. Though the insurance company owes their customer the duty of indemnity and the customer thus expects their insurer to pay the shop that repairs their vehicle, many consumers simply do not know or care enough to pursue litigation in instances of shortpays. By asking your customers to sign an Assignment of Proceeds, your shop creates a necessary bridge to the insurance company, giving you the right to step into the consumer’s shoes (for purposes of collecting the full repair costs), force the issue and get paid.

The “devil is in the details”, so your first step is going to be hiring an attorney with experience in the collision repair industry who can assist you with properly wording the document. Eversman cautions, “you don’t have the right to sue on the con-

sumer’s behalf for everything, such as diminished value; because you’re only being assigned the rights to proceeds, you can only sue the insurance company to collect proceeds for the repair.

You need to understand what this industry is about, clarify exactly what’s going on, and specify which rights are being assigned to you.”

Though a Power of Attorney (POA) would also serve this purpose, customers are less likely to agree to sign this type of document. The problem with the POA is that, while it gives a repairer more power, it is also more complicated, leaving the repair facility with the burden of making all decisions for the customers, so Eversman discourages the use of the POA. While every insurer has an anti-assignment clause written into their policies, most states permit the use of post-loss agreements, making the Assignment of Proceeds a viable option.

It also makes sense for the shop to assume responsibility for prosecuting the insurance company, if necessary, since it requires less action on the part of the consumer.

Once you get to the point of pursuing litigation in order to receive proper compensation, you must remember that the burden of proof falls on you, the plaintiff. In court, you should try to avoid allowing the insurance company to present their estimate as evidence because part of your battle entails proving that their estimate is meaningless – as the collision repair professional, YOU are the one with the right to determine how the vehicle should be repaired, while the insurer is merely obligated to pay for the repair, not to control the process (unless the insurance company has elected to repair).

In order for an Assignment of Proceeds to be legitimate, it is imperative that the consumer understand what they are signing, so it is also a good idea to ask your customers to sign a separate document confirming their comprehension of the Assignment of Proceeds. When constructing your Assignment of Proceeds, begin by defining what it is and how it will be used. The purpose of the document is to allow “a transfer of property or

20 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

other rights from one person (the assignor) to another person (the assignee) which confers a complete and present right in the subject matter to the assignor… Essentially, this means that the assignee stands in the shoes of the assignor,” Eversman explains.

Because the assignment serves as a contract between the assignor and the assignee, it is thus subject to contract law and interpretation. An important item that must be included in Assignments of Proceeds is a definition of the assignable rights which will identify causes of action issuing from a wrong that causes injury to property or from tort by which property is diminished or damaged; both of these are generally assignable. It is also vital to inform your customers that they can assign their right to recover damages to their property without conveying the title to that property.

For an Assignment of Proceeds to be valid, it must contain clear evidence

of the intent to transfer rights in addition to a description of the subject matter in question. The assignment must be clear and unequivocal and be noticed to the obligor. While there are no formal requirements regarding the verbiage used in this document, the language must clearly indicate the owner’s intention to transfer the claim.

Valuable consideration is essential to support the assignment, and while the word “consideration” doesn’t necessarily have to appear on the document, Eversman recommends it as evidence of the exchange required to make an Assignment of Proceeds valid. Essentially, this allows you to take possession of the vehicle without receiving payment if the document is signed, but you are also agreeing not to sue the consumer for money owed as part of the assignment.

In your supporting documents, you should also include an AssignSee Documentation Series, Page 44

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Southwest Associations with Chasidy Rae Sisk

ABAT Holds Second Meeting On Tuesday, July 29, the Auto Body Association of Texas (ABAT) held its second official meeting in Tyler, TX at Hi Way Auto Parts, a local recycled parts vendor who also provided refreshments for attendees. The twohour meeting attracted 58 attendees from shops throughout Eastern Texas,

Attendees listen attentively to guest speakers

as well as several shops from the Dallas/Fort Worth area who recently learned about ABAT, in addition to various paint companies and vendors.

Burl Richards, President of ABAT,

was pleased with the turnout because “this is a huge thing to have happen as the DFW area is obviously large, and we are working together with these shops to help unite the collision repair industry here in Texas.”

The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a benediction and review of Anti-Trust guidelines. Next, Richards introduced local State Representative Travis Clardy who is serving as ABAT’s attorney, and Clardy discussed the details associated with his role as a State Representative. He also described the process of introducing legislation, an avenue that the association may choose to get involved with in the future.

Richards then introduced Craig Barker, owner of Hi Way. Hi Way is a member of the Premium Recycled

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.

practices in restoring vehicles to their pre-loss condition. Richards says, “this is a survey that CSI has never done, but we have been working with them in an effort to get it accomplished, and CSI believes this will be a great survey that can possibly be repeated in others areas across the U.S.” Since the meeting, Richards has been contacted by one of the Dallas shops that attended, and he and a few other ABAT members are planning a trip to ColAttendees enjoyed refreshments courtesy of Hi Way leyville to discuss the possiAuto Parts bility of that shop becoming dicating ways that the two associa- a Charter Member of ABAT. ABAT plans to hold their next tions can collaborate to effect positive, meaningful changes in the collision meeting during the second half of September. For more information about repair industry.

ABAT or their upcoming plans, email ABAT members then broached Burl@BurlsCollision.com. the topic of possibly having CSI conduct an independent survey regarding www.autobodynews.com certain short pay items and necessary Parts trade association (PRP), and Barker discussed his previous role as the President of PRP. He also drew parallels between PRP and ABAT, in-

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Wheels to Prosper’s Annual Giveaway

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Saturday, July 26, Wheels to Prosper shops across the country gave away 15 vehicles to deserving people in their communities. Dino DiGiulio, owner of Body Best Collision Center in Sonoma, CA, and founder of Wheels to Prosper, notes that it is “mind-blowing to be able to change people’s lives in this type of way” and wonders “how big it could be if we got all the shops in the country involved?”

This year, Body Best awarded their car giveaway vehicle, a 2004 Saturn L300, to Irene Morgan. DiGiulio’s son, Chance, helped Body Best’s technician with the body repairs as his senior project, which his father proudly reports received a grade of “A”.

In 2010, DiGiulio took a public relations class at Management Success, and he admits “I didn’t realize how important it was until I took the class.”

When the topic of car giveaways came up, DiGiulio thought it seemed like a practical way of giving back to the community. His friend, Jody Gatchell who owns A & J Collision Repair in Conway, AR was involved with a sim-

ilar concept through Recycled Rides, and when DiGiulio saw an emotional video about a giveaway recipient, he knew he had to do it.

Chance DiGiulio poses with winner Irene Morgan in front of the car he helped repair for his senior project

After acquiring information about the program from Gatchell, including how to organize a car giveaway, DiGiulio began planning Body Best’s first Car Giveaway with the initial intention of donating two to three vehicles yearly. Rather than choosing a person in need, DiGiulio put together a committee to choose a winner, enlist-

ing the aid of a diverse panel of public officials and community leads to select a deserving individual. Early on, DiGiulio decided to choose winners who deserved a vehicle, rather than simply donating to someone in need, because “need is always there,” he explains. “We wanted to help people who help others. Everyone has to do their part, and this is my way of volunteering. By helping this person, he or she can help so many others.”

Gatchell suggested Wheels to Prosper as the name for DiGiulio’s giveaway, and Management Success advised DiGiulio to secure the name and website, helping him build the site. The idea behind Wheels to Prosper was to establish a program to help shops begin the process of sponsoring car giveaways, and when he pitched the idea for a national giveaway to 30 shops in hopes of getting more interest in the program, 11 shops signed up that same day. “We laid out some parameters and established a process, including marketing – there’s a lot of marketing you can do for free because people want to help,” DiGiulio states.

In the four years since its inception, Wheels to Prosper has increased to include 34 shops donating around 25 cars annually, but the program is growing consistently; DiGiulio hopes, by next year, 100 shops will participate in Wheels to Prosper’s annual giveaway because “Jody and I cannot do as much alone as we can when we involved the entire industry. Wheels to Prosper is all about telling shops how easy it really is.”

Though Wheels to Prosper is expanding to include non-Management Success shops, shops interested in participating in the program need to acquire approval from DiGiulio and the program’s administrator, Jim Anderson, because they want to elicit involvement from shops committed to giving away at least one car each year.

Anderson, owner of Anderson Automotive in Marion, IA, did a giveaway called “Wheels of Change” several years before DiGiulio began his program, but Anderson joined Wheels to Prosper’s board as their administrator because he wanted to be part of something bigger.

See Annual Giveaway, Page 46

www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 23

24 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

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Midwest Associations

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

with Ed Attanasio

ICRA Lobbyist Defends Rights of Iowa Body Shop Owners

R. Scott Weiser, 58, is the lobbyist for the Iowa Collision Repair Association (ICRA) and works closely with the organization’s Executive Director Janet Chaney to act on behalf of its members throughout the state.

Weiser established Capitol Strategies Group, Inc, (CSG) in 1998 and seven years ago he began working with the ICRA. He has been a registered lobbyist with 33 years and CSG is a full-service lobbying, consulting, and advocacy company providing services at the statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa and in Washington, D.C.

Q: Some lobbyists are attorneys, but others are full-time lobbyists and not lawyers. Which are you and describe the difference?

A: I am not an attorney. Some lobbyists are lawyers and some aren’t. Attorneys are usually seeking negotiated outcomes, but when you’re an advocate like I am, you don’t always get negotiated outcomes. There are winners and losers, so it’s an interesting dynamic. Sometimes we’re for something or opposed to it and that’s all there is to it. There’s no room for negotiation when it comes to many of these situations, especially in the collision industry. So, that’s how a lobbyist can differ from an attorney.

Q: What do you do specifically for the ICRA? A: I represent a wide range of business groups here in town. I took on the ICRA as a client several years ago because I like these people and I’ve stayed with them because I really enjoy working with them. They’re hard-working honest folks and top business people and not afraid to fight, so I enjoy working on their behalf at the State House.

The ICRA has recently had some successes and that’s really important to any association in terms of building membership and visibility and tracking other winners. We had a tax issue here about three years ago now. Our body shop guys were one of the last businesses in Iowa that were still being taxed on the products they use on their repairs. In other words, tape

and putty and fillers and other ancillary products that they need in order to complete the work for their clients was being taxed.

They were paying six per cent on that and we were able to secure an exemption for them for the past three years. That was a R. Scott Weiser nice rallying point is the lobbyist for for our members the Iowa Collision and I think our Repair Association group is stronger (ICRA) and the president of Capitol now than it has Strategies Group, been in years beInc. in Des Moines, cause of that vicIowa tory. We got that handled and it’s definitely a shot in the arm for the collision industry in Iowa, because now the body shops can take the six per cent and put it in their pockets.

Q: Is it difficult for the body shop owners in Iowa to be heard by their legislators?

A: No, not really because the ICRA, has an excellent reputation for gaining access over at the State House.

We built a three-pronged approach to how to solve problems here in Iowa and it works. We have our legislative work which involves committee work and testifying and those sorts of things. We also are working on the regulatory side to engage our Insurance Commissioner and our Attorney General as it relates to things like PartsTrader and other things that begin to be issues for them as well as the industry.

Q: What are some of the hotter issues right now for you and the ICRA? A: During this past session, we introduced some legislation after carefully looking at some other states to see what they’re doing and how they’ve had successes. So we looked at a couple of issues, one of which involves the use of aftermarket and recycled parts in repairs and the other concern is with short pay. It was our first shot out of the box addressing the short pay issue and it wasn’t as fruitful as we imagined. We have a

26 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

very large insurance presence here in Des Moines. We’re second only to Hartford, Connecticut for insurance company headquarters, so we’re very insurance-friendly here. Almost all of the insurance companies are right here and of course they show up at the State House whenever you introduce a piece of legislation and they tend to have data–lots of data.

On top of that, we currently have one of the lowest auto rates in the nation here in Iowa, so we began to testify. The problem is that when our members are asked to testify on something such as short pay, for example (involving what we believe includes things such as safety issues and other issues) we don’t have any data on our side. We’re giving them individual stories from our members and they’re valuable, but here in Iowa it’s difficult to pass bills without the data. Our members are pretty sophisticated over here and they work it

Welcome to the ALL NEW

pretty hard. So, right now we’re regrouping and during this past year, we’ve been working pretty hard to capture and quantify short pay issues that are going on right now in the collision industry in Iowa. We’re going to have some good, solid, well-supported and documented cases of short pay and will be able to go toe to toe with the insurance companies. We’re going to professionalize our approach more, so by owning the data that we’re assembling it’s really going be a key thing for us here.

Q: What are the main issues surrounding short pay?

A: Well, first off–the consumer is being short changed here—the customer is not being made whole. There are safety concerns when certain parts of the vehicle are not paid for or used appropriately. In many cases, our own elbow grease is being short paid, but See ICRA Lobbyist, Page 29

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Northwest Associations with Chasidy Rae Sisk

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.

ASA-NW Members Enjoy Summer Retreat During the weekend of June 19 through 22, ASA-Northwest held their Semi-Annual Summer Retreat and Management Conference at the Red Lion Hanford House in Richland, WA. The four-day event featured educational seminars, industry roundtable discussions, networking opportunities and general fun for all present. Jeff Lovell, President and Executive Director of ASA-NW, noted that the event went very well with around 80 participants, though this year’s retreat was smaller than in the past were attendance was closer to 100 individuals, a fact he attributes to many graduation ceremonies taking place that weekend.

On Thursday, attendees had the option of enjoying a free day or playing golf with their peers, and those who chose to golf seemed to immensely enjoy the day in the sunshine.

Later in the day, a group of ASA-NW members traveled to the Bombing

Range Sports Complex in West Richland for their “Hogs & Dogs” event where over 2000 motorcycles were on display.

sues in the industry as well as their biggest challenges. Lovell shares, “most agreed that finding good technicians is one of the biggest challenges currently facing the automotive industry today. Our members shared information on how they advertise for employees and where technicians come from. Another topic was the challenge of running a family-owned business; how do you fire your son? Being the boss can be tough on families!”

During the roundtable disRick White of One Eighty Business Solutions presents cussions, the Ascettes played Communicating for Success a game of croquet in the courtOn Friday, the group gathered for yard, and in the evening, the Cool their Board of Directors meeting Desert Nights event allowed attendees where conversations ensued about the to enjoy two hours of classic cars cruising past the hotel. From 9-11PM, the association in general and their financial plans, followed by a Mechanical evening concluded, as did all others during the trip, with ASA-NW’s Hosand Collision Roundtable which alpitality Suite, allowing members to inlowed members to discuss common is-

dulge in hors d’oeuvres and adult beverages while socializing with their peers in a relaxed setting which provided “an excellent networking opportunity,” according to Lovell.

On Saturday morning, Rick White of One Eighty Business Solutions presented a seminar, approved by the Automotive Management Institute (AMI), entitled “Communicating for Success.” Lovell states, “the seminar was great, and everyone loved Rick… He praised ASA-Northwest as one of the most fun associations he gets to work with!”

When the group gathered for lunch, Joel Baxter, Past Board Chairman, presented plaques to Brian and Zoya Johnson as well as ASA Honorary Member Ron Willand. Current Chairman Todd Black also presented the “Hunt Endowment” to Travis and Renee Mosley of My Auto Pro. That afternoon, ASA-NW members gathered for a productive General

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Business Session, while the Ascettes held an equally fruitful business meeting. Saturday evening’s main event was a barbeque in the hotel courtyard where attendees partook of ribs and chicken while playing lawn games

nated by Jude and Lindsy Larson of CompTrek Consulting, Brian and Jen Smith of Gig Harbor Automotive, Beven Weeks of ICM, Mark and Sara Simons of Rolf’s Import Auto Service, Bryant and Melissa Kelley of Valley Automotive Electric, Janel Black of Unlimited Services, and Janae Schindler of Rod’s Japanese Auto Care. Between the live auction and the raffle, the Ascettes raised over $2300 towards their scholarship fund.

ASA-NW is grateful to the members who took time from their busy schedules to make ASA-NW members enjoyed a weekend filled with the event such a success. socializing and discussions Lovell believes everyone had such as croquet and ladder ball. Dura great time networking and dising the barbeque, the Ascettes auc- cussing the issues, and he looks fortioned off a “Pamper Yourself” basket ward to the next retreat this winter. donated by the Ascettes, a two-person fishing trip donated by Scott and ASA Northwest Rachael Tveten, and a Butter Pecan 7403 Lakewood Drive W, Suite 7 cake donated by Casey Hall; the cake Lakewood, WA 98499 was so popular that a second one was 253-473-6970 also auctioned off, to be supplied at a www.asanorthwest.com later date.

At the Hospitality Suite later Satwww.autobodynews.com urday evening, the Ascettes held their CHECK IT OUT! raffle prize drawings with prizes do-

Continued from Page 26

Milstead Automotive & Collision partners with Enterprise Rent-A-Car on-site

ICRA Lobbyist

Milstead Automotive & Collision has become a one-stop shop for clients in need of car repairs. In addition to collision, automotive, transmission, towing and fleet services, Milstead now provides customers with access to quick and easy car rentals from North America’s largest car rental brand, Enterprise Rent-A-Car. In this unique partnership, Enterprise Rent-A-Car has set up a neighborhood site at Milstead Automotive, 29707 W. Hawthorne, Spring. “Setting up car rentals where our clients live and work is just one more way for us to help our customers,” said Amy Milstead, president of Milstead Automotive.

Both Milstead Automotive & Collision and Enterprise Rent-ACar are family owned and operated companies known for their exceptional customer service. However, Milstead noted that today, you can’t just be customer-friendly. Now, you need to offer true convenience.

RAY HUFFINES

sometimes it’s other things and so I think we’re hoping by the end of December we’re going to have a pretty good documentation to use.

Q: What does the future of the ICRA hold for you and your members?

A: Our body shop members have done a great job politically here in Iowa, but it all comes down to the fact that we have to help ourselves ultimately. That’s where we find ourselves right now. Our Executive Director Janet Chaney is doing an excellent job and that’s important, because these body shop owners can’t do it alone. We’ve got some good things happening right now with the ICRA and with Janet onboard, they’re definitely headed in the right direction. I am paid to be an advocate for this organization and it’s a pleasure because they take their own time, energy and money to try and make a difference and by achieving things for them is very fulfilling personally and professionally.

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Continued from Page 12

Assured Performance

getting all of the pieces together as we move forward in the certification aspect of the business. As a former member of the OEM Roundtable, I’ve seen first-hand how these programs have grown and changed. Multiple carmakers building multiple vehicle models that require multiple shop repair capabilities have created a confusing and unmanageable environment for most shops.

“Cars have become so much more complex that certification is going to be more and more integral to the day-today operations of a body shop, regardless of where they are or what their business model is,” Doerr explained.

“Assured Performance has interpreted and simplified the many moving parts, leveraging their commonalities instead of the exceptions. Assured Performance’s program has struck a chord with the OE’s and the industry because they all see a definite need. Shops can get the certification they need and in return, the OE’s are stepping up with things like referral programs.”

To ensure that the company has first-hand shop knowledge and experience, Assured Performance has five former shop owners and MSO managers onboard. Aaron Clark is one such former body shop owner. He is now Assured Performance’s V.P. of Certification and Network Development. Clark sold his seven shops at Aaron Clark is the the end of 2012, company’s new anticipating retireV.P. of Certification ment, but started and Network Development. working for Assured Performance a few months later.

He‘s happy and excited to be with a growing company during an ideal time in the collision industry’s history, he said.

“The certification arm of this company is gaining more and more momentum every day because getting onboard with this program has quickly gone from an option to a necessity for body shops.” Clark said, “I was prepared to step away from the business after selling my shops, but when this opportunity was presented, I could not resist. We have a chance to reinvent this industry in a positive way and work to create something that never existed before.”

At NACE, Ford representatives discussed the details of repairing the 2015 F150 and their National Body Shop Network program and Clark elaborated on it. “As the maker of the number one selling vehicle representing nearly 700,000 sales per year, it was no wonder that all of their presentations had standing room only over three days,” Clark said. “The highpoint of the presentation was how shops would be rewarded with official Ford certification—recognition for making the investment to become retooled, re-trained and re-equipped.

Further, shops that can make the grade will ultimately receive referrals from not only Ford, but Nissan, Chrysler and others through their aggressive OEM consumer-facing awareness and marketing efforts.”

Chrysler, Nissan, and Ford are the first ones to announce a referral program and others will be unveiling their programs Scott Biggs, right after the first President and of the year. Clark Owner of Assured sees the referral asPerformance Network in Irvine, CA pect of these certifications as a real shot in the arm for the collision industry as a whole.

“These are 100% OE-driven customer referral programs that didn’t exist before, so it’s huge,” he said. “There is no question here—you will have to fix these new vehicles differently and therefore shops are going to have to invest in the training, tools and equipment. If you’re going to have to do all those things regardless, why wouldn’t you want to be recognized for it and receive referrals for doing it?”

The standard certification-recognition requirements used by Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, etc. are those developed by Assured Performance in cooperation with many OEM’s. Assured Performance supports the open competition approach to procure the tools and equipment required. This key aspect is illustrated well in Ford’s aluminum repair requirements for the new F150. To be Ford certified-recognized through 2015, the shop must become “aluminum capable” including having separate aluminum repair tools, a separate area (curtains or walls) for aluminum work, and specific repair training and welding certification provided by ICAR. While Ford has these requirements, the shop can buy from several good choices where competition exists.

30 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Assured Performance’s approach to body shop certification is unique in other ways as well. Instead of a surprise “pass-fail” test, Assured Performance uses a business development process. Even before the shop enrolls for the first time, they are able to evaluate their readiness by following the online capabilities assessment referred to as the “Pre-flight Checklist.” Shops interested in becoming certified are able to complete the “Capabilities Assessment” to review the requirements, see their deficiencies, and generate a business development plan, helping them get from where they are now to where they need to be, according to Doerr.

The turnkey system designed by Assured Performance even develops a shop—specific calendar, budget and equipment matrix with vendors listed to help the shop streamline the entire process. Even I-CAR working in conjunction with Assured Performance has developed a program called “Road to Gold” to address the evolving needs in the area of training. Equipment and tool vendors have also joined the effort, providing expedited online ordering and pricing to simplify and streamline the

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process of retooling for the shops willing to make the journey.

“Every aspect of this program is administered by Assured Performance, starting with the enrollment process, the shop capability assessments, their business development plans, the annual on-site physical audit-inspections, necessary online support systems, proof of compliance documentation, and even shop marketing,” Ron Doerr said. “Assured Performance’s joint-effort approach eliminates redundancy in equipment and duplication of the fees and the overall cost for a body shop to become certified.

The cost savings for each shop is in the thousands of dollars, annually – a huge windfall by Ronald Doerr is any calculation.

Assured Network’s new Senior V.P. of And, in aggregate, Strategic Initiatives the OEM’s are probably saving millions in non-core expenses - they can focus on building great cars and trucks and promoting the certified repair network while Assured Performance quarterbacks the improvements in repair business capabilities - truly a best path forward for all.”

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www.autobodynews.com | SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 31

Master Painter JoAnn Bortles Gets Dose of Reality on Motor City Masters

by Ed Attanasio

Renowned automotive and motorcycle painter JoAnn Bortles was eliminated at the conclusion of episode #3 on Motor City Masters (Tuesday nights, 10 p.m. PST on truTV) a re-

ality series that pits 10 mega-talented designers from different parts of the automotive industry against each other week after week in the ambitious task of creating concept cars based around a different theme.

One by one, designers who fumble their role during each weekly build will be sent home by the judges until one lone Motor City Master will remain. The winner gets $100,000, a new 2014 Camaro Z28 and becomes a Chevy ambassador for the carmaker.

Bortles is a 33-year veteran painter, the owner of Crazy Horse Custom Paint in Waxhaw NC and an

author of seven books about automotive painting and airbrushing techniques. Known as a leader in custom hot rod and motorcycle paint, Crazy Horse Painting has been producing show winning and road worthy paint jobs for 33 years. Known as the “Queen of Flame”, Bortles has won numerous awards for her work including some of the top custom painting awards in the country. In 1998, 2005, and 2012 her work won Best Motorcycle Paint of the Year and in 2006 she won PPG’s Top Five Most Outstanding Paint Award.

Bortle’s paint work has been featured in Street Rodder, Hot Rod Milestones, Hot Rod, and other automotive publications. Her paintwork has appeared in nearly every bike magazine and on the covers of many magazines, including American Iron, Easyriders, VTwin, Biker, In the Wind, Auto Graphics. Her custom chopper was featured on the cover of Easyriders in Sept 2004, making her the first woman to have her own personal bike appearing on the cover.

ABN interviewed Bortles the morning after the world discovered

that JoAnn had been eliminated during episode #3 of Motor City Masters.

She sounded a little down, but appreciative of the fact that she was asked to be on the reality series.

“Yes, it was frustrating, but a lot of good things have come from it,”

JoAnn Bortles is an award-winning custom painter, airbrush artist, car builder, journalist, and book author with over 30 years of experience in the automotive industry

Bortles said. “My approach to my work is by always focusing on the future, so I’m not going to dwell on what happened on Motor City Masters.

I’ve been getting a steady stream of new followers on Facebook and people have been really great. One of the main themes of the show stressed my leadership skills and my positive approach to everything I do. I thought I made some solid decisions about the design elements, especially on the truck we designed in episode #3. As soon as we were doing trucks, I wanted to do suicide doors; I wanted to give our team’s truck a step side look, so we did the suicide doors immediately and everyone took my concepts and ran with them. After that, it was all about keeping my team going to make sure they had what they needed so that we could build a nice vehicle. But in the end, you’re depending on three other people you don’t know and you can’t do it all by yourself.”

What was her overall impression of Motor City Masters in general? “I love reality television personally and I

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selves to the limit, both mentally and physically. We had very little sleep during each build, so we were always a little on edge and cranky. I pushed the people in my team as much as I could, but one guy walked out of the paint booth after making one little suggestion, so it was the battle of egos pretty much. If I had fought more, I think I would have had a mutiny.

When I paint a car or a motorcycle at my shop, it’s pretty much me and my people, so I’m not used to the type of drama I encountered on Motor City Masters.”

It was a short run, but a great one for Bortles on the series, she explained. “This was the opportunity of a lifetime, so when they asked me to be on the show, I jumped on it. My attitude is always go for it. I don’t see how it can’t help my business, because now I’ve been seen by a whole new audience. It’s a resume builder and that’s imBortles made her case about the truck her team designed portant, because all of it on episode #3, without success, as she was voted off at works together to support and the conclusion of this episode of Motor City Masters strengthen the brand—my we had build techs to help us. It was brand. Literally thousands of people exhausting and we were pushing ourapplied to be on Motor City Masters always watch Project Runway and Best Ink,” she said. “This show is different in that you break into teams.

The team dynamic is a tough one, because you have a lot of very different people from different backgrounds and you have to put them together and hope they’ll work well together in a stressful situation. So, it was 100 times tougher than I thought I would.

It got pretty intense out there in the design studio and some people walked out and there was a lot of arguing. On top of it, we had to do much of the physical work ourselves, even though

great thing in my career. You always have to keep your feet on the ground so that you can be prepared for what’s coming around the corner.”

You can meet JoAnn Bortles at SEMA this year at Hypertherm’s booth and also some of her work will be on display at the PPG booth.

This is her 10th anniversary Judge Jenn Jennings (left) discussed her team with Bortles of attending SEMA shows, during episode #3 of Motor City Masters she said. “SEMA is all about the networking and I have and they chose me, so it means a lot.” made some amazing contacts there Bortles was energized by the ex- over the years, so I am anxious to perience on the reality series and is make new friendships while re-connow looking for more exciting proj- necting with old friends at SEMA this ects. “I look back at all the work I’ve year.” done and I think—wow I did this?” she said. “It’s a great feeling. I feel the same way about Motor City Masters.

Camilo Pardo, a car designer on the show, said something and I totally agree with it—‘Shut up and let your Be Seen by Our Readers! work speak for itself’ and that’s what CALL Advertising Sales at: I do. I let my body of work speak for itself and if people can see that I am able to share their vision, then that’s advertising@ @autobodynews.com com the right customer for me. I try to stay humble because once I start thinking www.autobodynews.co www.autobodynews.com om that I’m all that, I might miss the next

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Southwest Associations with Chasidy Rae Sisk

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.

HABA Holds Meeting, Co-Hosts Business-Building Events The Houston Auto Body Association (HABA) had a busy day on Tuesday, August 5, when they held their monthly meeting on the same day they co-hosted two business-building events alongside AAMS, 3M, Mitchell, Hertz, BASF, CARSTAR and KAPE. The events were designed to provide collision repairers in the Houston area with an opportunity to learn about critical issues and trends impacting their businesses from leading industry professionals.

Leo Kozadinos, President of HABA, called the events “a game changer in the collision repair industry.”

The morning session was held from 8-10AM at the Homewoods Suite in Spring, TX, and from 6:30-8:30PM, the evening session took place at the Hyatt Regency Houston. Both sessions followed the same agenda and included a meal for attendees. All of the organizations co-hosting the events gave short presentations on various matters of interest to the collision repair professionals in attendance. HABA briefly discussed their association, its goals and progress thus far.

CARSTAR presented a “Collision Industry Overview,” discussing the current state of the industry, and their presentation ran hand-in-hand with KAPE’s “Insurance Industry Trends.” Topics of conversation focused on the increase in multi-shop operations, the fact that 8090% of the collision repair industry remains insurer-paid, and how many insurance companies are becoming innovative in their attempts to reduce repair costs. Current trends indicate that many insurers may soon enact in-network and out-of-network deductibles, though the legality and feasibility of this model will vary by state.

Also, many insurers are reducing the number of shops to which they

refer customers as they’ve found it to be more efficient to work with fewer providers. A major factor in their decision about which shops will receive referrals will be linked to cycle time because, as Kozadinos states, “increased cycle time translates into more money for insurance companies due to rental car costs, so the more efficient a shop is, the happier the insurer will be.”

The group also touched on forgettable revenue and the possibility of establishing a call center to ensure the accuracy of estimates. In regards to the continuing consolidation of the insurance industry, speakers noted that the industry is stagnant with no organic growth so consolidation will continue, resulting in reductions to shop networks which means fewer shops will be doing more work.

BASF informed attendees that “Repair Planning” should be professionally and proactively done in each shop by developing a game plan upfront for each repair. Ensuring an accurate estimate at the beginning of the repair process will improve touch time, an area with which many shops in the country struggle.

In “Mobile Estimating Technology,” Mitchell profiled the new technology that they plan to release in the imminent future. By compiling the estimate more automatically, their new technology should produce an easier, more accurate estimate which, in turn, will improve TATs for collision repair facilities.

3M’s “The Impact of Technology for Future Vehicles” focused on the driving changes in technology with respect to fuel efficiency and safety, highlighting some new products currently in development. They also dis-

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cussed preparation for the aluminum 2015 Ford F-150 and how, with the increasing prevalence of high-strength steels being used in vehicles, it’s imperative to utilize the correct equipment.

In “OSHA/EPA Compliance Training for Collision Repair,” AAMS reminded attendees that an inspection is always possible so it’s imperative to ensure each shop offers a clean, safe work environment. Painters must be trained and certified, and to be compliant, shops must maintain safety sheets and complete OSHA/EPA training annually.

Kozadinos says, “there’s a lot that needs to be done, and though shops are busy repairing vehicles, they need to stay compliance. Luckily, there are services out there that can assist.”

Hertz presented “Car Rental Technology” to inform attendees that they will be releasing a new program soon that will allow for 24/7 rentals, meaning collision repair shops will have

rental cars available on their property at all hours of the day for their customers’ convenience.

Approximately 60 individuals were in attendance, and Kozadinos was pleased with the two business-building events, stating they were “well done, fun and educational. The events went very well.”

In between the two events, from 5-6:30PM at the Hyatt Regency Houston, HABA held their monthly member meeting where they discussed the necessity of maintaining momentum, among other association goals including education. “Education is the main reason to be involved with HABA,” Kozadinos states. “Too many shops are not up to speed on what the industry is doing, but by keeping up with the association, they can stay informed and educated.”

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Social Media for Shops

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

with Ed Attanasio

Is Your Reception Area Making a Good First Impression?

I was recently at a body shop that does amazing work, garners incredible customer reviews and skillfully fixes nearly 200 cars monthly. All of the shop’s techs are dressed in clean uniforms and you could eat off the shop floor. But, then I took a look at their

tanic; magazines from 2010; a coffee machine covered in what looks like mud and an old, beat-up sign on the wall that the guys from American Pickers wouldn’t even want.

My first reaction was shock. Why does this shop work so hard to provide amazing customer service, maintaining a professional image with a highly-trained staff and then they badly fumble the appearance of their reception area (or some call it a “waiting room”), the only part of their shop that customers will definitely see?

Think about it. Collision repair is one of the only inVictorEric Design in Vancouver, British Columbia designed dustries in the world where this high-end reception area for B&D Autobody & Glass, your average customer is unalso in Vancouver happy before they even interreception area and it’s an OMG mo- act with you. They’re looking for ment. Ugly yellow walls covered with reasons to take you off their list, in greasy handprints; one little table that some cases, so why give them any looks like it was pulled out of the Ti- ammunition? A body shop’s reception

area should be comfortable, clean and inviting, but so many of them just don’t make the grade. So, we found three examples of body shops that understand the importance of a waiting room that fits the aforementioned qualities. They see the value in making a good first impression, because like the old deodorant commercial used to say, “You may never get a second chance.”

Towne Auto Restoration & Collision Specialists in Randolph, NJ hired Aurora Kitchens and Interiors of Somerville, NJ to completely re-do their reception area in 2011. It won a design award in the National Association of Remodeling’s annual contest in 2012, according to Kelley Evens, the owner and chief designer at Aurora Kitchens and Interiors.

“The owner of Towne Auto wanted to provide his customers with a different experience than is usually found in auto body shops,” Evens

said. “A comfortable, upscale waiting area for customers was top priority.

Other amenities on the owner’s wish list included a television viewing area, a working area with free Wi-Fi for customers, a gourmet coffee/tea center, an inviting reception desk, an area for insurance adjusters to speak with clients privately, multiple employee work stations and beautiful restrooms.”

Figuring out how to keep the waiting room clean in an auto body shop environment was one of the biggest challenges. “Collision technicians often track oil and grease from the shop into the waiting area when they are speaking with customers,” Evens said.

“The key was a durable yet attractive concrete floor with a multi-sized tile pattern, some texture and a color variation from gold to terra cotta. Cleaning is a breeze with just water and a mop.

To make the seating area more inviting, a multi-colored jewel-toned rug was

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used to anchor the space. A brown leather sofa and gold leather chairs were grouped for seating.

Their colors complement the concrete floor and area rug.”

While many auto body shops have a single unisex restroom, which is often dark and dingy, the owners at Towne

keep the restrooms from feeling cold and sterile,” Evens said. “The combination of bold colors, wall art and accent pieces created exactly the effect that the owner was trying to achieve.”

Another award-winning reception area designed by a leading interior design firm was created by VictorEric

Ace Architects designed this cool and comfortable reception area for Uptown Auto Body in Oakland, CA

Auto insisted on separate restrooms, each modern, clean and well-lit. “We achieved this through the use of mirrors and artwork, with warm paint colors to

Design, a Canadian design firm located in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“B&D Autobody & Glass, (also in Vancouver) came to us looking to up-

grade their space,” according to the company’s blog.

“B&D Auto body is the preferred auto body shop of the Vancouver MINI Cooper Club – they are factorytrained for repairing MINI’s and are used exclusively by MINI Yaletown for body work. That being said they wanted to update their look to suit their new clientele. We wanted to design a waiting area for our client that offered style and comfort, and one that conveyed organization and efficiency.

We took a blank concrete canvas and chose to create a cool vibe with bold colors of grey, black and white. We custom fabricated a table topped with glass with a base of stacked tires, added colorful automotive themed artwork and threw in accents of chrome and silver. This is not your ordinary auto body shop. Customers don’t even mind waiting.”

Our third example of a well-received reception area that is both cool and comfortable was designed for Uptown Auto Body in Oakland, CA by Ace Architects, also located in Oakland.

Ace’s Co-Owner Lucia Howard loved working on the design and dealing with the shop’s owners Lisandro Allende and Giovanna Tanzillo was a creative and

enriching experience, she said.

“Giovanni’s idea behind this project was to create a space where people could forget that they were in a body shop,” Howard explained. “Both owners collect art, so they wanted art to play a role. We were also interested in using car images in the overall look, because Lisandro is a big car guy and loves racing cars. We wanted to inject a ton of their personality into the reception area and I believe that’s what we achieved. We also wanted it to be open, so that when customers enter, they can also see part of the offices, so that they don’t get that stifling feeling.

We didn’t want the customers to feel like they were being stored off in some room waiting for their car. When you sit in this reception area, there is so much happening throughout the room that you don’t’ even have a chance to be bored.”

So, maybe it’s time to take a longer look at your reception area.

When was the last time you did anything to it? It’s all about what the public sees and perceives, so if you do A+ work, but your reception area is getting low grades from the people who matter the most, a makeover might just be money well-spent.

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Continued from Cover

I-CAR Wants

maybe they are more likely to take a look to see what they can find on the website.”

After more than a year in development, the website is available through the “Technical Knowledge” section of I-CAR’s website – www.i-car.com – or directly at http://rts.i-car.com. It feature six primary features: 1. The “OEM Information” section includes a page for each automaker, listing what types of collision repair procedures and information each makes available and how to access it. But Bartanen said the section offers not just links to the automaker’s repair information websites (though there are short videos explaining the navigation of each automaker site) but often some of the actual procedures, bulletins and information technicians or estimators may need. In the Acura section of the portal, for example, Bartanen opened a bulletin showing that sectioning cannot be done on the B-pillar reinforcement on the 2014 Acura MDX. 2. Another section, searchable by year-make-model, offers a guide to automaker information on which parts require inspection or replacement following an airbag deployment.

3. The “partial part replacement” section, also searchable by year-makemodel, lists what sectioning procedures are available from the automakers. The procedures themselves still generally need to be downloaded from the OEM website, Bartanen said, but this guide at least allows users to know whether what they are looking for exists at those sites.

4. A “collision news” section of the portal is replacing I-CAR’s longstanding “Advantage” newsletter, and will include three or four new articles a week; this is where, for example, ICAR announced in July that in part due to I-CAR’s encouragement, Kia Motors recently released comprehensive collision repair manuals in the United States for the first time. Bartanen said shops and technicians can receive “push notifications” about news posted to the portal by following the “@tech_briefs” Twitter feed (no push notifications are available via email at this time).

5. I-CAR has posted it “Uniform Procedures for Collision Repair” (UPCR) at the new portal. First developed in the late 1990s but more recently updated, the UPCR outlines

industry-accepted repair procedures for such things as adhesive bonding, corrosion protection and wheel alignment.

6. The “Ask I-CAR” section is just that, a way for a portal user to email or call I-CAR with a technical question for which they haven’t been able to find an answer. In a live demonstration of this feature, Bartanen called I-CAR’s tollfree number and said he was looking for sectioning procedures for the B-pillar on a Dodge Dart; within minutes, the I-CAR representative checked the Dodge OEM information website and found that given the type of steel John Van Alstyne used for that B-pillar, Dodge offers no sectioning procedures. She also emailed Bartanen that information, and posted it to the portal in a searchable (by year-make-model) database of other such questions I-CAR has researched.

Bartanen said more information will continue to be added to the portal; many automakers, he said, are anxious to use the portal to put technical information and procedures into collision repairers’ hands, often at no charge.

Current I-CAR Statistics I-CAR also used its annual conference to update the nearly 400 people in attendance on the organization’s other current and future activities.

I-CAR CEO John Van Alstyne reported that 56,000 student from more than 8,600 businesses received I-CAR training last year. That training now includes 77 live classroom courses, almost an equal number of online course, and 14 virtual classes that are taken online but with an I-CAR instructor teaching the course live.

He said about 3,000 businesses have achieved I-CAR Gold Class status, and about 2,300 more have been categorized as “Road to Gold,” businesses that are working toward achieving Gold Class status.

I-CAR reaching out to consumers Those businesses, and others with ICAR-trained technicians, may be glad to hear that I-CAR is launching a consumer awareness campaign to help drivers understand the value of having their vehicles repaired by trained shops and technicians.

“During my first three years with this industry, I have been told many times that the consumer just doesn’t

38 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

care about collision repair until the moment their car is hit,” Van Alstyne said, acknowledging that he too had previously not thought much about the topic before joining I-CAR in late 2010. “But no one ever told me I should think much about repairs, so I was ignorant.”

With that in mind, he said, ICAR first benchmarked the level of awareness among consumers about collision repair, finding it very low.

As part of this benchmarking, he said, “We gave them some information about things they should be aware of, and their interest perked significantly.

They cared and wanted more information.”

“We need to educate and empower consumers to help them make informed collision repair decisions,” Van Alstyne said.

Speaking at a press conference following the day-long conference, Ann Gonzalez, senior director of marketing for I-CAR, said the organization is now working with a Detroit-based agency on a “larger-scale national and regional creative campaign,” to reach consumers.

That will include public service announcements and social media advertising, she said. Those campaigns, which

focus on “safe repairs” and “trained technicians” are currently being tested in some markets.

Elise Quadrozzi, I-CAR’s director of development for the insurance segment, said as more insurers include Gold Class or other training requirements as part of their direct repair program (DRP) agreements, they are interested in reaching consumers with a similar message about the value of that training.

“So I think you will see some initiatives coming to fruition pretty quickly where they will start to include that in their messaging. not just as part of the DRP structure, but actually as part of the messaging out to their consumers,” Quadrozzi said.

By getting this information directly to vehicle-owners, Van Alstyne said, “the consumer is going to help our industry do more of the right things.”

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Northwest Associations with Ed Attanasio

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

MCRS Lobbyist Represents Collision Repairers in Big Sky Country

Drew Geiger, 44, is the chief lobbyist for Communication and Management Services in Helena, MT. He’s been a lobbyist for more than two decades and began working for the Montana Collision Repair Specialists (MCRS) seven years ago, representing the organization in the Capitol and acting as a watch dog as he steadfastly keeps an eye on proposed bills for its membership.

Geiger’s connection to the collision industry goes all the way back to his high school years, he explained.

“The body shop guys in high school kept my $500 car on the road, so I’ve been indebted to this industry ever since then.”

Geiger respects the collision repairers he works with at the MCRS, he explained. “The board at MCRS is a very mature group consisting of very successful body shop owners. You could take this board and give them another business and within six months, they’d

be running it successfully. They’re sharp business people who started out working on cars, but then they took it to the next level by understanding how to run a successful business. It’s been a good relationship, because they seem to like my counsel and we’ve been able to achieve some good things over the years. We’ve gotten some bills passed that have helped the collision indusDrew Geiger is the try significantly in chief lobbyist for Montana and so it’s Communication and worked very well.”

Management ServGeiger has been ices in Helena, MT. He’s been a lobbyist stressing from day for more than two one that body shops decades and began are good employers working for the and important conMontana Collision tributors to the Repair Specialists economy in Mon(MCRS) seven years ago tana. “Back when I

40 SEPTEMBER 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

started with MCRS, I did some research and found out that body shops in Montana pay 30% above the state average in wages and give the majority of their employees health care,” Geiger said “So, we’ve really tried to communicate to the legislature and the public about the industry in general. A proposed bill might be opposed by the insurance industry or have proponents, but we want to show that we have a broad public interest when we walk into the state Capitol to start talking about legislation, and we’ve been successful at doing that.

“We also stress the level of professionalism in this industry,” he said. “When a customer’s car is in the shop, the insurance company obviously plays a role, but ultimately, the body shop professionals are the ones that are saying, not only are we going to get you your car looking fine, but it’s going to be performing the same way it did when it was towed in here. There’s a huge public

safety component here as well, and we stress that. The point is that body shops are main street businesses and my clients are fixing their neighbors’ cars. We have more deer than people here in Montana and almost all of our legislators have been in a deerrelated accident, so our body shops have helped them more than once, in some cases.

We stress all of this, because we want to illustrate that we’re a useful industry that helps the public and that’s what legislators respond to.”

There have been some big wins for the MCRS and Geiger since he began in 2007, he said. “The most significant bill we’ve encountered during the seven years I’ve been in this position was HB 265, sponsored by Representative Gordon Vance, which prohibits the insurer from disregarding cost items identified by an estimating system. In some states, this same bill is 500 pages long, but here in Montana

it’s basically one sentence: ‘An insurer may not unilaterally disregard a repair operation or cost identified by an estimating system that the insurer and the auto body repair business have agreed to utilize.’ It doesn’t get easier than that, does it? We had some major push back from the insurance side on this bill.

In the end, it’s a David vs. Goliath situation here. You have a larger industry being told by a smaller industry that we need to sit down and negotiate and you can’t tell us what to do, essentially. It took a couple sessions, but the legislature ultimately said that it shouldn’t be a problem for us to sit down with the insurance companies and work it out. It impacts the body shop, but if you’re a customer and it’s your car being repaired, you want your car back in that same condition. But, if procedures are denied by the insurance company, how can you be sure what’s being done and what isn’t being done? So it’s absolutely a consumer protection issue and that’s why it passed in 2011.”

Geiger is also concerned with steering practices in Montana, he said.

“Steering is absolutely a problem here

in Montana and an ongoing issue. If the insurance companies could take it off the books, they would do it absolutely. So, we have to be vigilant when it comes to steering. Our Insurance Commissioner Monica Lindeen is absolutely open to working with us and she’s had an open door policy since day one.

She’s pro-consumer and has been good for the collision industry in Montana. She knows many of our board members by name and we hold regular informal meetings in her office all the time. My office is two blocks away and I see her at the grocery store, which is definitely an advantage of working in a smaller state like Montana.”

One of Geiger’s jobs is going through each and every bill with a fine tooth comb. “Our legislature meets every other year for four months and there are roughly 2,000 bills that get thrown out there,” he said. “So, I have to read through all of them, to make sure they don’t contain anything that can negatively impact the collision industry in Montana. My MCRS members don’t have time to read 2,000 bills every year and that’s one of the main things that we provide.

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Knowing how to act while working with the legislators in Montana is important, Geiger said. “With 2,000 bills in play, you want to have a presence but you don’t want to be pushy.

You want to maintain a fine balance between being around and being engaged, but you also want to be respectful of the fact that these legislators have to study, decide and vote on 2,000 bills.

You have to learn the process and the protocol if you want to get things done.

You don’t want to go in there and make demands and stomp your feet. You have to be professional and pragmatic with your presentation if you even want to be considered.

The people I work with at MCRS getwww.autobodynews.com it and understand that and I think that’s why we’ve had so much success.” CHECK IT OUT!

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Service King Awards Four Scholarships, Grants

Service King Collision Repair Centers awarded four collision students with scholarships and tool grants through the Collision Repair Education Foundation, the company announced last week.

Service King gave a $1,000 scholarship and a $1,500 tool grant to the following students: ■ Christopher Hernandez from Universal Technical Institute in Houston ■ James George from Lincoln College of Technology in Nashville, Tenn.

■ Joseph from Texas State Give Mendoza us your opinion on ma Technical College in Waco, Tex. ■ Evan Utterback from Universal Technical Institute in Houston “We are extremely proud of publisher@auto these four students and the work their schools are doing to prepare candidates for a future career in collision repair,” Danny Wilkins, Service King’s associate vice president of staffing said. “Service King Collision Repair Centers encourages and promotes training at all levels and works for timely closely The with source partner institutions through advisory councils, commitinformation that every tees and scholarship programs. We are body shop needs! committed to help foster the development of tomorrow’s workforce.”

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National Associations with Chasidy Rae Sisk

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.

IADA Holds 46th Annual Conference, Hopes to Attract New Members Although the Independent Automo- President of Claims Protective for Sagtive Damage Appraisers Association amore Insurance, discussed “Heavy with RaeEquipment Sisk (IADA) was forced to Chasidy move the loEstimating.” cation of their 46th Annual Vehicle The seminars resumed at Repair Conference to the Lord Bal- 12:45PM with the Highway Loss Data timore Hotel, located at 20 West Institute’s Senior Vice President Kim Street, Baltimore MD 21201 at the L. Hazelbaker’s “New Technology of last moment, the conference was Electronics in Vehicles.” Thursday’s successfully held on June 18-20, lectures concluded at 4PM with “In2014 as “an educational tool for our vestigating Fuel System Contaminawith Ed Attanasio members and the industry,” John tion” as presented by Jeff Lange, Williams, Executive Vice President President of Lange Technical Services of IABA explains. “For guest speak- LTD. Attendees then enjoyed a twoers, we have experts in various fields hour break which gave them a chance relating to current methods of repair to visit exhibitors before attending the as well as what to expect from man- President’s Reception and dinner banAttanasio ufacturers in thewith future.Ed Our expec- quet. tations for this event are to promote On Friday morning, Dan Oscarour association and members as pro- son, Vice President of Global Marfessionals committed to exceeding keting Insurance Auto Auctions, industry expectations as well as pro- explored “Marketing Salvage in a viding our members an educational Global Economy.” He was followed and social venue to network with by CIECA Executive Director Fred with Ed Attanasio clients.”

Iantorno’s “Getting It Done for the InAccording to Williams, “atten- dustry.” The final presentation, “Afdees were very pleased with both the termarket Truck Parts,” was led by location and the agenda. Our event al- Donald B. Cameron, President and ways focuses on education and train- Founder of Dawson Truck Parts. ing as well as being a social event for After their closing remarks, IADA’s withand Thomas Franklin members and guests, it is imporconference culminated with their tant because it provides members with membership meeting. an opportunity to train and remain a “Our 46th conference went well, viable force in the industry. This year, even after facing the challenge of reloour conference exceeded expectations. cating to the Lord Baltimore Hotel at We try to build on what we learned in the last moment due to unexpected isthe past to make our next event even sues with the hotel we had contracted more dynamic.” with Ed Attanasiowith. Our conference has always foRegistration for the conference cused on education and training; this began on Wednesday, June 18, at 1PM year was no exception!” Williams reand continued until 6PM when IADA calls, “our conference started with an held their Welcome Reception folexcellent presentation by a local histolowed by exhibitor showcases which rian speaking about the history of Balconcluded at 9PM. AfterChasidy breakfast on with Raetimore, Sisk and attendees were amazed to Thursday morning, IADA President learn how Baltimore’s history helped Leo Maki’s Welcoming Address served shape many industrial and cultural adas the opening to the event. vances we enjoy to this day. Attendees IADA planned an exciting agenda were given a glimpse of future vehicle filled with informative seminars led by technology as well as a look at the past nine industry leaders. Around 8:30AM, to learn how far vehicle technology the educational with seminars began with has progress and what to expect in the Thomas Franklin Wayne R. Schaumburg’s “An Illusfuture.” trated History of Baltimore,” followed In regards to the valuable inforby “Best Claims Practices” which was mation provided at the conference, presented by Harvey Lightstone, Vice Williams also notes that “a presentaPresident of the Directory of Claims tion on Global Salvage was of great and Risk for Management Claims Prointerest to learn how salvage vehicles fessionals Liability Insurance Comare being purchased in the US, then with Ed Attanasio pany. Before lunch, Jim Aulby, Vice shipped in cargo containers with avail-

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able parts to repair included with each vehicle. Vehicles that would not be put back on the road are repaired in many third world countries due to cheap labor and a shortage of vehicles. Vehicles we take for granted are a luxury in many countries since few have options such as air or other power options.”

IADA was first founded in 1947 as the Independent Appraisal Plan (IAP) with a mission “to offer an unbiased automotive specialist appraiser to assess vehicle damage and establish a fair cost of repair,” Williams recalls.

That same year, IAP was approved by the Association of Casualty and Surety Companies and the National Association of Mutual Companies. In 1964, the IAP reorganized and was reborn as the IADA, a national not-for-profit trade association.

Currently, IADA has 98 members in 43 states who employ more than 600 appraisers in over 400 service lo-

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cations. Over the past 15 years, membership in IADA has increased around 15%. Williams details their membership process: “in order to apply for membership, applicants are required to have five years’ experience in the industry and owned and operated an appraisal firm for the past two years.

We conduct a background investigation on all applicants, followed by a site inspection requiring the applicant to prepare a professional damage appraisal. Our Board of Directors then vote on the applicant.”

Though obtaining membership to IADA seems somewhat involved, the cost-savings benefits offered to members makes it well worth the effort. For starters, E&O/GL insurance is provided under a blanket policy and is included in membership dues with no additional charge. Members receive discounts on estimating software from all three providers plus discounts on CarFax, NADA Online

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IADA members are also listed on the association’s website as well as in their annual service directory, around 7000 copies of which are distributed throughout the industry. In addition to the national marketing supplied, members have the opportunity to attend IADA’s national conference which provides them with useful educational seminars as well as the chance to network with other IADA members.

Still, IADA strives to continually add new member benefits in their efforts to attract new members. They also continue to promote educational and training seminars at regional and national events. The association works toward securing new business for their members by “upholding the integrity of the association and being consistent with our honesty policy to enhance our position with the public, insurance industry and automotive repair businesses,” Williams explains.

“Our current goal is to recruit new members who have an interest in joining a professional organization dedicated to serving the industry with truly ‘Trained Professionals.’ Our members take pride in delivering pro-

fessional, unbiased damage appraisals. Our goal is to treat the consumer the way we would expect to be treated if we had a claim.”

Regarding challenges currently facing the industry, Williams notes, “DRP programs have impacted our volume of business to a great degree.

While DRPs may be a good concept for smaller losses, I feel some carriers’ attempts to completely control the repair process, no matter how large or small the loss, is a mistake.

Having owned and operated an appraisal firm for 24 years, I enjoyed a great working relationship with repair facilities. Preparing an accurate appraisal and securing an agreed price with a reputable shop is quickly becoming a lost art. The industry is losing qualified appraisers at a rapid pace. Many of our members had second, third and fourth generation family taking over their businesses, but we are no longer seeing as much of that.”

IADA Association PO Box 12291 Columbus, GA 31917 www.iada.org 800-369-4232

Industry Trends Seminars Scheduled in Texas August 5 Collision repair facility owners had an opportunity to learn about critical business issues and trends impacting their businesses at two industry events in Texas. Part of a series of seminars that have been held around the country, the two events were held Tuesday, August 5. The two events included: Breakfast and Program 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Homewood Suites by Hilton Houston-The Woodlands 29813 I-45 North, Frontage Rd. Spring, TX 77381 Dinner and Program 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Hyatt Regency Houston 1200 Louisiana St. Houston, TX 77002

The speakers included: ♦ Association Overview by Houston Auto Body Association

♦ Mobile Estimating Technology by Mitchell ♦ Car Rental Technology by Hertz ♦ Repair Planning by BASF ♦ The Impact of Technology for Future Vehicles by 3M ♦ OSHA/EPA Compliance Training for Collision Repair by AAMS ♦ Insurance Industry Trends by CARSTAR ♦ Collision Industry Overview by KAPE “When you’re an independent body shop owner, it’s hard to take the time to step away from your business to look at longer-range changes and developments in the industry,” said Mark Algie, Business Development Manager for 3M Automotive Aftermarket. “This Collision Industry program provided a great way to understand how the changing marketplace will impact your business, and plan now for those changes!”

Body shop owners in the Houston area can email Mike Davids at mdavids@carstar.com or call 913948-5010 to reserve next time.

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8

a

Western Associations with Chasidy Rae Sisk

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.

ASA-AZ Serves a Big State with Diverse Interests

As the sixth largest state in the nation, professionalism and excellence in the the association was in the process of automotive repair industry through merging with the Arizona Automotive Arizona is home to over 6.5 million citizens and over 6.8 million registered with Chasidy Raeeducation, Sisk representation and member Trade Organizations, an association comprised of service station dealers, vehicles. With services.”

With 169 members in the 113,909 convenience stores and repair facilities. such a large population and such square mile area, ASA-AZ consists of When the Arizona Collision Craftsbusy roadways, it seven chapters: Prescott, Mois no surprise that have, Tucson, Phoenix, Verde there is an overwith Chasidy RaeValley, Sisk Yuma and the Grand Canyon Chapter “which incorwhelming number of collision porated all businesses that are and mechanical not in close proximity to any repair facilities scattered throughout of the other chapters,” explains the state, and all those independent Luz Rubio, Executive Director ASA-AZ. “Each chapter businesses needwith a collective voice.

Chasidy RaeofSisk That’s where the Automotive Service provides local chapter meet- ASA-AZ provides educational opportunities for members Association of Arizona (ASA-AZ) ings and outreach to its members. Some chapters meet monthly, and man’s Association experienced some comes in!

Incorporated in 1976, ASA-AZ others not as often. These meetings membership fallout in 2004 and found was founded on the concept of estab- allow our members to exchange ideas, that they were unable to sustain their operations through their volunteer lishing collaborative efforts amongst discuss challenges and identify soluwith Chasidy Raetions, Siskthus elevating the professionalism force, they also merged with the forautomotive service professionals from merly all mechanical ASA-AZ, leading all across AZ. As a state affiliate, the of the industry.

Rubio assumed the role of ASA- to the creation of the association’s colassociation shares the same mission as ASA-National which is “advancing AZ’s Executive Director in 2002 while lision division.

Southwest Associations Southeast Associations Northeast Associations Midwest Associations

National Associations

with Continued from Page 20

Chasidy Rae Sisk So, with the Authorization to Re-

pair, Repair Contract, Assignment of Documentation Series Proceeds and defense against the Writ of Replevin, you are well on your way to ment for Money Due which must protecting your business interests, but identify the customer, the repair facil- you’ll also need a Parts Notice and Auwith Raethorization Sisk as well as an Indemnification ity, the vehicle and the Chasidy loss. As long as this is without defects, it should be Letter (we’ll cover these next month in enforceable without being notarized the third and final installment of this se(dependent upon state laws). ries). You can still get started right away The Writ of Replevin is a docu- by contacting a local attorney to start ment that the insurance company typ- drafting these important documents ically uses to retrieve a total loss which will allow you to recover proper Attanasio vehicle, filing it with to say Ed a shop is un- compensation on every repair that lawfully withholding a vehicle when comes through your shop doors. they do not want to pay for the repair.

Because this document is only valid if the insurance company can prove the Advertise in our shop is wrongfully withholding the CLASSIFIED SECTION for vehicle, it is imperative thatAttanasio you are with Ed prepared to defend yourself against a $50 per column inch!

Writ of Replevin by including a clause Place an ad in our in the Repair Contract that states the consumer cannot transfer the title of AUTOBODY MARKETPLACE the vehicle without ensuring the repair section of Autobody News. bill is paid in full. With the vehicle EdtoAttanasio owner’s signaturewith affixed this verbiage, the insurance company has no right to the vehicle until they have ltedesco@autobodynews.com paid for the repair, making their Writ of Replevin effectively useless.

As a registered lobbyist, Rubio monitors legislation that may have an impact on the automotive industry.

When action is required on a legislative bill that may have a negative effect, members of ASA-AZ receive alerts requiring that they contact their legislators to share their views, and the association works with other small business organizations to strengthen their position. In 2012, ASA-AZ successfully defeated a bill that would have forced body shops to absorb the cost associated with vehicle storage in many situations.

Though ASA-AZ is not currently working on any legislation, Rubio plans to continue monitoring introduced legislation in January when the new session begins. She notes “ASA supports legislation that protects the consumer’s rights in the full repair process of their vehicle, both mechanical and collision related.” ASA-AZ monitors national legislation as well, and Rubio shares

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their stance on several current matters: “Though the Right to Repair no longer seems to be in the forefront for mechanical repairers, we continue to work with NASTF to ensure that information for repairing vehicles is available.

[Concerning PartsTrader and other insurer-mandated parts procurement systems], ASA-AZ believes that the insurance companies should stay in the business of insurance and leave all aspects of the repair process to collision repair professionals.”

In addition to providing legislative representation, ASA-AZ members receive discounts from various industry vendors, and the association also provides members with opportunities to interact with their peers in both educational and purely social situations. Some of the association’s current goals include providing ongoing activities for their membership to network and encourage all chapters to conduct monthly activities. Rubio says, “what would an association be without any fun? Our annual convention – Sunrise – offers everything: education, resources and lots of fun.

Next year’s event is already on the calendar for June 19-21 at the Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino. We are

looking to bring in a great line-up of speakers; there will be lots of learning, but also time for fun!”

At the State Office, Rubio collaborates with ASA-AZ’s Board of Directors to coordinate the technical, collision and management training that the association offers to their

Rubio poses with ASA-AZ Board of Directors

membership. She says, “we identify topics that our members need and host out-of-state speakers that will bring them the information that they need to improve their business, including topics such as ‘Survival Skills for the Service Advisor’ for our mechanical shops and ‘Profitability to Preserve Survivability’ for our collision members.”

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In addition to reviewing and upgrading their website, one of ASAAZ’s current projects entails forming Automotive Roundtables for their various chapters. Rubio states, “these are forums that allow business owners with single operations to discuss the day-today challenges and identify solutions.”

Unfortunately, recent increases in the number of multi-shop operations in the mechanical industry and consolidators buying out collision repair shops has reduced the number of independent automotive businesses in AZ, creating a challenge for ASA-AZ to maintain operations. Another concern Rubio has noticed on both sides of the industry is “the lack of qualified young technicians. The current workforce is getting older, and there are not enough upcoming technicians in the field to replace those who will be retiring. We have not yet addressed this issue, but we have begun to discuss it as an association.”

As an affiliate of the national association, ASA-AZ offers both ASANational and state only benefits to their members, including partnering

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with various vendors, or associate members, to provide the utmost customer service to members. “We encourage our associate members to attend the local chapter meetings and build relationships with the local shop owners, managers and technicians,” Rubio says. “It’s a business of relationships, and the sales will come when the need arises. We have a strong support network of vendors in this industry that offer great products and services, and we want to make sure that they too are educated and understand the industry.”

Through training, representation and member benefits, ASA-AZ continually seeks ways to improve their communication and outreach to member shops, but Rubio encourages “nonmember shops to join us and learn what ASA is about. We are a network of like-minded independent owners who are looking for ways to provide outstanding customer service to the motoring public.”

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Continued from Page 23

Annual Giveaway

Participating shops pay a one-time fee for inclusion on Wheels to Prosper’s website, but this provides a place to promote their business as it generates traffic back to the shop’s website; DiGiulio estimates receiving around 100 visits to his shop’s website annu-

Dino DiGiulio hands over the keys for Body Best’s 2014 Car Giveaway through Wheels to Prosper

ally through the link from Wheels to Prosper. He states, “it demonstrates that you actually care about the community. It’s a little about business but not really – it’s mainly about how many people are impacted by the donation.”

Wheels to Prosper does not hold any type of contest to determine their

winners. Instead, they solicit stories from community members about a person who deserves to win the car giveaway, and a panel of judges reviews the stories to select a winner.

“The difference between Wheels to Prosper and other giveaways is that it’s about who is deserving,” DiGiulio explains. “There’s always a need, but we want to help someone who is helping the community, so our winners are always majorly involved with volunteering efforts.”

In May 2011, DiGiulio held his first giveaway, awarding a car to a five-person family run by a local woman who is very active in her community. “She always thinks of everyone before herself. Even though she didn’t have the means to buy a car, she was still actively volunteering in the community, so we rewarded her efforts by giving her a car which allows her to help others even more.”

Gatchell held his giveaway in July 2011, and DiGiulio held a second giveaway that same year. Afterwards, they decided to choose a consistent date for the annual giveaway, electing the last Saturday in July at 12PM CST. Ultimately, the goal is for all

Wheels to Prosper shops to hold their annual giveaway on the same day each year.

While the participating shops acquire the giveaway vehicles through various means, Wheels to Prosper requires the donated vehicle to be in good shape with less than 100,000 miles on it in hopes of servicing the winner for at least five years without any troubles. DiGiulio’s first giveaway was a salvage loaner with low mileage, and for his second giveaway, he purchased a vandalized car that just needed a new paint job. No matter how the vehicles are acquired, the Wheels to Prosper shop makes any collision and mechanical repairs necessary before donating the vehicle to their deserving new owner.

Thus far, nearly 50 cars have been given away through Wheels to Prosper with a few more giveaways scheduled to take place in October. A film company is currently in negotiations to develop a 12-part miniseries on a shop sponsoring a giveaway, and DiGiulio is optimistic about the publicity that such a program would provide for Wheels to Prosper. www.wheelstoprosper.org

National Autobody Parts Warehouse in TX Receives Outstanding Ratings During ISO Certification Review

National Autobody Parts Warehouse, Inc. in Grand Prairie, Texas recently underwent a successful independent audit of the ISO 9001 standard for warehouse and distribution of automotive replacement parts. Results of the customer satisfaction index survey, ranked the company as outstanding in the areas of: overall performance, quality, delivery performance, responsiveness, cost and communication.

“We are achieving our mission of providing the best service along with the highest quality parts and accessories at the most competitive prices by having an independent review and setting ourselves to a higher standard. This ensures greater success for all of our customers.” said Mike Dolabi, president.

“We understand the importance of cycle time and want our customers to have the best possible parts with expedited delivery service. To offer the best quality, we hand select our manufacturers and offer NSF and CAPA certified parts priced competitively to noncertified parts.” Dolabi continued.

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