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Vol. 36 / Issue 11 / November 2018
TX Auto Body Show Features Training, Results of Todd Tracy’s Latest Tests
Panel Says Struggle to Get Paid for Scans a Subset of Larger Debate About OEM Procedures
by Chasidy Rae Sisk
by John Yoswick
On Sept. 14–16, the Auto Body Association of Texas (ABAT) hosted its 2018 Texas Auto Body Trade Show
at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, TX. The event featured a variety of industry training, but the showstopper See TX Auto Body Show, Page 10
Todd Tracy revealed the results of his latest crash test during the Texas Auto Body Trade Show. (l to r) Larry Cernosek (Houston Auto Body Association), John Kopriva (Houston Auto Body Association), Todd Tracy, Kevin Jordan (Burl’s Collision Center), Burl Richards (Auto Body Association of Texas/Burl’s Collision Center), Jerry McNee (Ultimate Collision Repair), Donald “Trip” Springer (Burl’s Collision Center)
Elon Musk Blames Trailer Shortage for Tesla’s Model 3 Delivery Delays
blame for Tesla’s delivery woes. And in typical Musk fashion, the answer is Elon Musk said an “extreme short- for Tesla to build its own trailers. age” of car carrier trailers is partly to That has trucking industry executives and analysts scratching their heads. “There’s no shortage that I know of,” said Guy Young. As general manager of the Auto Haulers Assn. of America, he would know. “There’s a general shortage of drivers, but we’ve got a lot of members with drivers A truck carries new Model 3s from Tesla’s Fremont, CA, asand car carriers who could by Russ Mitchell, Los Angeles Times
sembly plant. Credit: Russ MItchell, Los Angeles Times
See Trailer Shortage?, Page 11
For Wayne Weikel, the question isn’t whether collision shops should be compensated for the vehicle scans the automakers say are a part of proper repairs. Scanning, Weikel said, is just one aspect of OEM repair procedures that collision repairers should be following and for which insurance companies should pay. “Insurance companies have actuaries designed to price insurance policies. Auto manufacturers have engineers that can tell you how to fix a vehicle correctly. I don’t see how we conflate the two,” said Weikel, senior director of state government affairs for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. Shops, he said, shouldn’t be
Wayne Weikel of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said collision repairers should follow OEM procedures—and be paid for doing so
placed in a situation of making the proper repair without proper payment. “That, we think, is wrong,” Weikel said. “The problem here isn’t whether there is a solution. The solution is that we need to use OEM procedures every time. The problem is making sure shops get paid for See Paid for Scans, Page 14
Jittery Days Remain for U.S. Auto Industry, Despite Trade Pact ‘Fight Over’, Ford Cutting Jobs by Bill Koenig, AdvancedManufacturing.org
The U.S. auto industry has seen one major headache go away. However, that doesn’t mean industry jitters have ceased. The Trump administration announced Sept. 30 that Canada will be part of a new trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico. That will, essentially, preserve an automotive supply chain extending across the three countries that formed because of the North American Free Trade Agreement. “Aside from avoiding disaster, there really wasn’t much to gain or lose” in the new agreement, said Kristin Dziczek, a vice president of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR; Ann Arbor, MI) in an e-mail interview. “There will be some movement of supply chains to North American on the margins.” NAFTA will get new “brand-
ing.” It’s now going to be called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. “USMCA. That’ll be the name, I guess, that, 99 percent of the time, we’ll be hearing: USMCA,” President Donald Trump said Oct. 1, according to a White House transcript. “It has a good ring to it.” Of course, Trump isn’t neutral. He criticized NAFTA when he ran for office. “I have long contended that NAFTA was perhaps the worst trade deal ever made,” he said in discussing the new deal. “To me, it’s the most important word in trade because we’ve been treated so unfairly by so many nations all over the world. And we’re changing that.” One Fight Down…
See Jittery Days Remain, Page 22
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