Truck Parts & Service 0915 by Richard Street

HDAW announces 2016 theme | CCJ names nation’s top fleets

Improving your

eye appeal HOW COSMETIC CHANGES CAN IMPROVE A CUSTOMER’S PERCEPTION OF YOUR BUSINESS SEPTEMBER 2015 |

WWW.TRUCKPARTSANDSERVICE.COM

TP&S founder Jim Moss earns career achievement 24 award

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Volume 51 | Number 9 | September 2015

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Cover Story

@TPSMagazine /truckpartsandservice Truck Parts & Service

Editorial

Editor: Lucas Deal Online Editor: Jason Cannon Equipment Editor: Jack Roberts editorial@truckpartsandservice.com

Design & Production

Improving your eye appeal

Art Director: Richard Street Advertising Production Manager: Leah Boyd production@truckpartsandservice.com

Trucking Media

Vice President of Sales, Trucking Media: Brad Holthaus sales@truckingmedia.com

Corporate

Chairman: Mike Reilly President/CEO: Brent Reilly Chief Operating Officer: Shane Elmore Chief Financial Officer: Russell McEwen Senior Vice President, Sales: Scott Miller Senior Vice President, Editorial and Research: Linda Longton Senior Vice President, Acquisitions & Business Development: Robert Lake Vice President, Events: Stacy McCants Vice President, Audience Development: Prescott Shibles Vice President, Digital Services: Nick Reid Vice President, Marketing: Julie Arsenault

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Features 14 Distributor of the Year finalist: Jerry & Keith’s 20 Keeping up with new vehicle technology 24 A career worth honoring: Jim Moss

Departments 1 2 6 13

Editorial Staff Editorials Industry Focus Tech Updates

28 32 35 36

Marketplace Classified Ads Product Spotlight Advertisers’ Index

ONLINE RESOURCES Visit us online to browse the latest industry news and products, the Buyers’ Guide and industry white papers and technical data at

WWW.TRUCKPARTSANDSERVICE.COM Truck Parts & Service (ISSN 0895-3856) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly, LLC, 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Periodicals postage paid at Tuscaloosa, AL and additional offices. Subscriptions: $50 for one year, outside USA add $10. For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: truckparts&service@halldata.com. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Truck Parts & Service 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406.

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Editorial | Lucas Deal

Shining up your store By Lucas Deal, Editor lucasdeal@randallreilly.com

hen I was a kid I spent most of my weekends and summer days working outside on the farm with my dad. He was always busy, and once I was old enough to help — in the agricultural world, that’s about 8 — I’d follow him around from task to task. He usually had enough going on that there was always something for me to do, but in those rare occasions when I couldn’t directly help him with his task, he still wouldn’t let me sit idle. He always found me another job. Usually it was cleaning. But the thing he did so well — the thing I’m absolutely going to steal from him when my wife and I have kids — is how he presented the command. I was almost never explicitly told to clean. Instead, it was always, “If you’re looking for something to do, you can clean up the barn” (or workbench, or garage, or basement). I love that. “If you’re looking for something to do.” The dad version of the guilt trip. I can’t begin to guess how many times I cleaned the workbench in our machine shed thanks to that line. I bring that up today because I think it relates to this month’s cover story on aftermarket business appearance and transparency. Could your service department benefit from a quick cleaning? And perhaps more importantly, are your employees ever “looking for something to do”?

Convincing your team to dedicate their free time to cleaning up and organizing can quickly improve the cosmetic appeal of your business. And I’m going to tell you right now, that matters. Customers appreciate cleanliness.

Is it possible for your team to spend a little time each day cleaning up? “Your customers already live in an environment of omnipresent distraction” writes small business consulting group Organization Direct. “There’s a lot to be said for making your business a respite from that kind of onslaught, especially since it tends to worsen perceptions of cleanliness and friendliness.” I think that’s true. You do dirty work, but so do your customers. Taking time to put things away, clean up grease spots and remove rusty, grimy old parts from public view keeps customers from projecting the negative perceptions and stress they have from their own dirty businesses on to your operation. Whenever I would ask my dad why

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he wanted me to clean the machine shed again, he’d say “we want the place to look presentable.” I’d hem and haw at that — “Are we expecting guests while we’re changing the oil in this 1978 John Deere?” — but now that I’m older, I get what he meant. He knew if for whatever reason someone stopped by and saw a messy disaster, that they might think the entire farm was a mess, and that his work was messy. You don’t want to risk your customers making the same unfair assumption about your business. Turning your team members into your cleanup crew can be internally valuable as well. It’s tough enough performing topquality vehicle service in a spotless facility. But when you add in clutter, misplaced tools and general untidiness, you are adding a degree of difficulty that simply doesn’t need to be there. “A workforce facing unnecessary impediments to their ability to deliver top-quality service is a workforce that is not going to retain customers or win new business,” Organization Direct says. So think about it. Is it possible for your team to spend a little time each day cleaning up, and picking up after one another? You don’t have to do anything. But if moving that box of dirty cores by the parts counter to the warehouse is the difference between last week’s new customer becoming a regular or a one-time sale, isn’t it worth the time?

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Editorial | Jason Cannon

Star Wars technology in a Terminator world By Jason Cannon, Online Editor jasoncannon@randallreilly.com

hen Star Wars was made in 1977, George Lucas’ special effects were cutting edge; light years ahead of anything ever seen before. By 2015, the effects are so predictable and dated it’s almost comical to think that they were ever the jaw dropping display that they were nearly 40 years earlier. In the 70s and early 80s, it was hard to imagine that level of cinematic sophistication even existed, much less would ever be widespread. Things change. The Terminator franchise made Star Wars special effects look anything but special, and every low-budget B movie is capable of extraordinary special effects. Technology changes. The exceptional becomes mundane. Michio Kaku, a world renowned physicist and futurist, served as the keynote speaker at CV Outlook in Dallas last month, and much of his talk centered on what lies ahead. As you can guess, the technological revolution is perpetual and it seems we’re hardly close to its apex. Before long, our entire lives will be digitized, Kaku said, and as a result the word “computer” will practically disappear. Why? Because there will be no computers like we see today. Practically everything will be a computer and the Internet will be accessible from everywhere. When it comes to buying consumer goods (specifically clothes), you’ll upload

your 3D measurements to the Cloud and send them to a manufacturer who will create clothes specifically for you. “All garments will fit, all products will fit our tastes,” he said of a process he called “mass customization through computers and 3D printing.”

Michio Kaku sees it unlikely that there will ever be a time where human interaction won’t be needed behind the wheel. This new-age retailing is what Kaku calls perfect capitalism; streamlining the process of buying and selling everything from underwear to oil filters. “Consumers don’t know what things cost. Producers don’t know what the consumer wants,” he says of today’s conundrum. “In the future, the consumer will go into a store [and] will know what’s available, how much it costs, and who’s cheating him [on price].”

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One area where Kaku wasn’t bullish was the area of “driverless” cars/trucks. He sees it unlikely that there will ever be a time where human interaction won’t be needed behind the wheel. More likely is the possibility the human won’t have to be part of the navigation of the vehicle. However, a person will still need to be the critical decision-maker while on the road. Much like robo-trucks won’t be taking over our roads, drones are unlikely to take over the sky (or freight movement). Drones are likely to carve out a segment in niche deliveries to remote areas, but thanks to a lack of an infrastructure to track and regulates them, drones are unlikely to see widespread usage. I don’t think it’s far-fetched to expect some pretty incredible life-altering technologies to come down the chute in the next few decades; from how we find information to how we do business. If your great grandparents could see some of the things you do everyday, they would be floored. My grandparents grew up without easy access to a phone. I carry a phone in my pocket that takes pictures and can email them to the other side of the world in just a few seconds. That kind of technology would likely have sounded absurd in the 1920s. But even nearly 100 years later, human interaction and our ability to think critically is key. And that’s a good thing as fans of the Terminator franchise; a movie series that doesn’t turn out well for us humans.

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Industry Focus

Dealer News Murphy-Hoffman Company (MHC) has opened the first TRP All-Makes parts and service store in the U.S. in Grandview, Mo. Pacific, Wash.-based Valley Freightliner (VFI) has acquired Eagle Freightliner of Oregon.

Summit Holdings service technician Thomas Pianalto, from the company’s Lowell, Ark., location, received top honors at the company’s third annual Summit Truck Group Technician Rodeo in Springfield, Mo., this summer.

M&K Truck Centers has opened its newest dealership in Des Plaines, Ill. Rush Enterprises, Inc. has acquired Dallas Truck Center, an Irving, Texasbased used truck dealership, and will rebrand the facility as Rig Tough Used Trucks – Dallas. Wiers Fleet Partners is opening a new eight bay service center in La Porte County, Ind. Truck Country has opened a new location in Sheboygan, Wis., the company’s tenth in the state of Wisconsin.

Edmonton Kenworth has opened a full-service dealership equipped with 42 service bays in Leduc, Alberta.

Stahl Peterbilt has opened a new 22-bay body shop at its Edmonton, Alberta, location.

CIT Trucks has remodeled its Morton, Ill., dealership.

Customer Care Center in Allentown, Pa., celebrated 25 years of operation last month.

TransEdge Truck Centers, headquartered in the shadows of Mack Truck’s

Utility Trailer Sales of Oregon has added a location in Redmond, Ore.

Global Parts Acquires Georgia Location Global Parts, headquartered in Conley, Ga., has acquired Highway 85 Auto & Heavy Duty Truck Parts in Senoia, Ga. With the acquisition, Global Parts now has seven locations from Louisville, Ky., to Jacksonville, Fla., covering the southeastern U.S. Global Parts says the Senoia location completes the company’s geographic spread to thoroughly service the entire Metro

Atlanta area and strategically expands their reach into the southwestern Georgia quadrant. “Supply quality parts and service in a consistent manner to service the customers’ needs. Nurture every relationship with each and every customer into a lifetime of satisfaction with our products and service,” says Bob Pope, CEO of Global Parts.

Truck Parts & Service Calendar Event information can be submitted at: www.truckpartsandservice.com/story-ideas/

Sept. 12-16 CVSN Aftermarket Distribution Summit, Newport, R.I. Sept. 21-24 TMC Fall Meeting & SuperTech Competition, Orlando Oct. 18-23 VIPAR Heavy Duty Annual Business Conference, San Antonio Oct. 31-Nov. 2 ReMaTecUSA Show, Las Vegas Jan. 25-28 Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week 2016, Las Vegas

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Industry Focus

Inland Truck Parts Expands Fargo Location Inland Truck Parts & Service is expanding the capabilities of its Fargo, N.D. facility. Inland says it has added Saturday hours to the location, and now boasts 14 new service bays as part of a 20,000-sq.ft.-facility expansion that has brought in the West Fargo service shop under one roof. “We have a proud history of providing our customers with high-quality parts and superior service,” says General Manager Duane Parke. “This expansion

to our facility allows us to continue that tradition by operating more efficiently and utilizing the expertise of our West Fargo team.”

Reman Legislation Reaches House Floor On July 22, 2015, H.R. 1613, “The Federal Vehicle Repair Cost Savings Act,” passed through the committee level in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation will next be considered by the full House. H.R. 1613, introduced to the House by Congressmen Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Brad Ashford (D-Neb.), requires federal agencies to encourage the use of remanufactured parts when doing so lowers costs, maintains quality and performance, and does not compromise safety. The House Bill’s companion legislation, S.565, was passed by the full Senate in June after being introduced by Senators Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.). The bipartisan, companion legislation followed a 2013 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which confirmed the benefits of remanufactured motor vehicle parts. The federal government has more than 580,000 vehicles in its agency fleets, and spends $975 million per year on vehicle maintenance. Next steps include gaining additional co-sponsors for H.R. 1613.

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Industry Focus

Details Emerge For HDAW 2016 As Registration Opens

Navistar, Caterpillar Part Ways In Vocational Market Navistar and Caterpillar will soon end an arrangement under which Navistar has produced and engineered Cat-branded CT-series trucks since 2011. In response, Navistar says it will release a new line of premium vocational trucks beginning in early-2016. Caterpillar also will begin production on its line, with production expected to begin at the company’s Victoria, Texas, plant in the first half of next year. Navistar will continue to manufacture trucks for Caterpillar through 2016 and

both companies say they will have the opportunity to leverage certain joint intellectual property, collaborate with suppliers and utilize licensing agreements moving forward. “We appreciate the collaboration we have had with Navistar,” says Chris Chadwick, Caterpillar’s director of the Global On-Highway Truck Group. “As we look to future launches of new truck models, this updated strategy will better position us to help provide our customers with the best products and services for this market.”

People In The News business solutions and Adam Madsen vice president of analytics.

Stan Gowisnock is the new CEO at Cardone Industries. Former CEO Terry McCormack remains Cardone’s executive chairman. Haldex has appointed John Ducharme senior vice president of North American Sales.

Gowisnock

Accuride and aftermarket industry veteran Tony Pape has died. Bergstrom announces Aaron Potter has been promoted to vice presiPape dent, Financial Planning and Analysis; and Steve Boyle has been named vice president and treasurer. Samantha Young has joined the creative team at The Marx Group. Karmak has named Jim Allen vice president of client services, Gail Wilkinson as vice president of

Jon Morrison has been appointed president of WABCO’s Americas Business Unit.

Morrison Steve Gaddis is the new regional sales manager covering Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Arizona at The Universal Group. Bill Nowicke has been named interim CEO at Agility Fuel Systems Steve Sutton has joined Wolverine Truck Group as general sales manager. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC says Steven Goodale, has been appointed vice president of Daimler Truck Financial. Link Manufacturing, Ltd. has promoted Bob Carlsen to business development manager. Mike Postma has been named president of Webb Wheel Products OEM Business.

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The organizers of Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) are busy planning next year’s event. Scheduled for Jan. 25-28, 2016, at the Mirage in Las Vegas, the theme for next year’s event is ‘Heavy Duty Aftermarket 2.0: Upgrade Your Business.’ The co-chairs for the 11th annual event are Rob Phillips, president and COO for Phillips Industries, and Jorge Mederos, CEO of Super Truck Parts. The newly-appointed vicechair is Don Purcell, partner of Stone Truck Parts. In addition to announcing next year’s theme, organizers also have announced Dr. Frank Luntz will perform the keynote speech at next year’s opening general session. Luntz, an author and political pollster, will offer his thoughts on how the words we choose can change the course of politics and of life in this country, organizers say. Registration for next year’s event has opened as well, and organizers announce they are offering several prizes for distributors who sign up by Nov. 1, 2015, for next year’s event. By signing up early at www.hdaw.org, organizers say distributors are entered into a drawing to win a High-Roller package (with a Mirage luxury suite and free limo service), tickets to a Las Vegas show, Mirage spa passes and Mirage gift certificates. Registration fees for members of the HDAW’s sponsor organizations are $595 for the first two individuals and $350 for each additional attendee from the same company. Non-member rates are $875 for the first two registrants and $575 for each additional attendee from the same company.

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Industry Focus

New Class Graduates From HD Leadership Course Thirty new heavy-duty aftermarket professionals graduated from the fourth annual University of the Aftermarket Heavy Duty Leadership education conference earlier this summer. Northwood University says its Heavy Duty Leadership conference, a weeklong leadership development program, specifically targets mid-career professionals in the management track within in the North American commercial vehicle aftermarket. The program’s curriculum is designed to foster the development of the next generation of heavy-duty parts distribution, manufacturing, service, association,

and fleet management professionals. “This program is truly a collaborative effort between the University and the commercial vehicle aftermarket,” says University of the Aftermarket Director Brian Cruickshank.

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CCJ Names Top Truck Fleets Truck Parts & Service’s sister publication, CCJ, has released its annual ranking of the Top 250 trucking fleets in the U.S. After a relatively flat year in CCJ ’s 2014 rankings, companies this year account for a total of 650,688 power units, up from 606,274 last year. Class 8 truck sales in 2014 were the strongest since the pre-buy phenomenon in 2006 with more than 380,000 orders placed in the North American Class 8 market, according to industry analyst firm ACT Research. CCJ says the segments with the largest percentage of power unit additions this year are flatbed/specialized/ heavy haul and general freight at 16.7 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively. Power unit numbers shrank for both the household goods and intermodal segments. A complete list of CCJ ’s Top 250 is available at www.ccjdigital.com/ ccj-top-250/.

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Tech Updates

Heavy-Duty Durability

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SAFETY RECALLS

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The following are safety recalls issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Allied Recreation Group, Inc., is recalling certain model year 2016 Fleetwood Flair, Storm, Terra SE, Jamboree Sport, Tioga Montara, Tioga Ranger, Holiday Rambler Admiral, and Monaco Trek vehicles. The affected vehicles may have been improperly manufactured with a vertical propane gas tank regulator, instead of the horizontal gas tank regulator required. Use of the incorrect regulator can allow moisture to build up in the regulator, possibly resulting in improper operation. If the regulator fails to operate properly, it can cause a propane gas leak, increasing the risk of a fire. Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) is recalling certain model year 2002-2004 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner ER, 2001-2005 Saf-T-Liner Conventional, 2002-2013 Saf-T-Liner MVP-EF, 2013 Saf-T-Liner EFX, 2001-2008 Saf-T-Liner FS65, 2005-2013 Saf-T-Liner C2, 2003-2013 Saf-T-Liner HDX, 2002-2003 Saf-T-Liner MVPER, 2002 Vista, and 2002-2003 TL-960 nonschool buses. In the affected vehicles, the stem that connects the outside emergency door handle to the emergency door opening mechanism may corrode. If the stem corrodes, the door handle could detach from the emergency door opening mechanism, delaying the opening of the door and the evacuation of the bus. In the event of an emergency, this may increase the risk of injury to the bus occupants. DTNA is recalling certain model year 2002-2013 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner ER, 20012005 Saf-T-Liner Conventional, 2002-2013 Saf-T-Liner MVP-EF, 2013 Saf-T-Liner EFX, 2001-2008 Saf-T-Liner FS65, 2005-2013 Saf-T-Liner C2, 2003-2013 Saf-T-Liner HDX, 2002-2003 Saf-T-Liner MVP-ER, 2002 Vista, and 2002-2003 TL-960 school buses manufactured from Feb. 5, 2001, through May 29, 2012. In the affected vehicles, the stem that connects the outside emergency door handle to the emergency door opening mechanism may corrode. If the stem corrodes, the door handle could detach from the emergency door opening mechanism, delaying the opening of the door and the evacuation of the bus. In the event of an emergency, this may increase the risk of injury to the bus occupants. Navistar is recalling certain model year 20132015 International TranStar vehicles manufactured April 10, 2012, to Dec. 12, 2014. Excessive engine crankcase pressures may cause the 90-degree elbow of the vent tube assembly to detach

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from the crankcase ventilation breather, possibly allowing engine oil to come into contact with hot surfaces. If engine oil comes into contact with a hot surface, there is an increased risk of a fire. Paccar is recalling certain model year 2010-2016 Kenworth T440, T800, and W900 trucks manufactured Aug. 31, 2009, to April 20, 2015, and 2008-2015 Peterbilt 320, 337, 348, 365, 382, and 384 trucks manufactured July 27, 2007, to April 28, 2015, and equipped with certain Cummins Westport ISL G engines. Excessive engine crankcase pressures may cause the 90-degree elbow of the vent tube assembly to detach from the crankcase ventilation breather, possibly allowing engine oil to come into contact with hot surfaces. If engine oil comes into contact with a hot surface, there is an increased risk of a fire. Spartan Motors is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 K2, K3 and MM chassis manufactured Oct. 2, 2013, to April 2, 2015. In the affected vehicles, the fasteners that attach the stay rod (v-rod) to the rear drive axle may not have been installed with thread locker or tightened in the correct sequence. If the fasteners come loose, the stay rod may disconnect from the rear axle, resulting in a loss of control, increasing the risk of a crash. Spartan Motors is recalling certain model year 2010-2015 Furion, Gladiator, and Metrostar emergency response vehicles manufactured Nov. 10, 2009, to June 16, 2015. In the affected vehicles, the engine cooling fan may crack and the fan blades may detach while the fan is spinning. If the cab is raised, such as during a repair, and the engine cooling fan is operating and comes apart, those in close proximity could be injured from the shattered parts. Starcraft Bus is recalling certain model year 2006-2015 Quest and Prodigy school buses manufactured June 20, 2006, through Feb. 17, 2015 on GM chassis. The affected vehicles are equipped with Trans-Air add-on compressor mount kits, part numbers 4012506-01, 4012506-02, 4013126-01, 4013126-02, 4013235-01, 4013235-02, 4012909, 4013125, 4013222 and 717173 installed by Trans-Air personnel. After installing the compressor, a power distribution terminal strip may not have been properly reconnected. If the power distribution terminal strip has a poor connection or a loose connection, the strip may arc or overheat, increasing the risk of a vehicle fire.

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S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5 | T R U C K PA R T S & S E R V I C E

By Lucas Deal, Editor lucasdeal@randallreilly.com

DOTY Finalist

Jerry & Keith’s

he name was a coin flip. Both Keith Decker and his brother-in-law Jerry Thomas had experience as heavy-duty truck technicians, so in 1968 when they decided to start working for themselves, they moved forward as equals. That worked well until they got to the company name. “They flipped a coin to see who would be first. Jerry won so the company was named Jerry & Keith’s,” says Mark Decker, the second-generation CEO of the Bakersfield, Calif., aftermarket operation. Now 47 years removed from that fateful toss, Jerry and Keith have both retired from the business, but Mark Decker says their spirit remains a key fixture of the Jerry & Keith experience today. When a customer comes

to Jerry & Keith’s they are met with honesty, openness, kindness and professionalism, Decker says. “For us it’s all about the experience and how [customers] are treated,” Decker says. “When customers leave here I want them to want to tell their friends about it.” Decker says his family’s dedication during the company’s early years influences the way he runs the business today. His father and uncle worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week for years after the company first opened (and his mother Nadine was actively involved as well). The trio never turned down customers, picked up the phone any time one would call, personally delivered parts and completed emergency service work to help get their customers back on the road. When Decker joined the business as a teenager, he

Jerry & Keith’s at a glance

Source: Google Maps, Jerry & Keith’s

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Jerry & Keith’s opened its newest facility (above) in 2005. The location is considerably larger than the company’s first building in 1968 (right).

immediately jumped in with the same devotion. Decades later he says that passion is still there. And while he isn’t delivering parts anymore, Decker says he’s constantly looking for ways to strengthen the business and better serve his customers. One method he’s keyed in on is transparency. Decker says Jerry & Keith’s encourages candidness and openness during internal and external discussions. He says his parts department actively updates customers on the state of their orders and his service department is instructed to do the same. “I want our customers to be very informed about the status of their repair and allow them to make an educated decision on how they spend their money,” he says. Jerry & Keith’s also has recently implemented company-wide performance Jerry & Keith’s has been centrally located in the southern San Joaquin Valley for nearly five decades.

metrics to better measure the functionality of the business. Decker says this allows his management team and employees to clearly track what they are doing well, and areas where they need to improve. Decker says Jerry & Keith’s sparkling appearance is another asset to his operation. A clean facility offers customers reassurance that they are doing business with a responsible, reputable operation, Decker says. “I think keeping things neat and clean provides a great level of trust [for customers],” Decker says. “It offers a level of professionalism, almost an aura that you know what you’re doing and you take what you do seriously.” More information on Jerry & Keith’s, which is headquartered in Bakersfield, Calif., can be found at www. jerryandkeiths.com.

Cover Story

By Lucas Deal, Editor lucasdeal@randallreilly.com

Improving your

eye appeal How cosmetic changes can improve a customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception of your business

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Cover Story

ftermarket businesses nationwide spend millions of dollars each year on advertising and marketing. From old-school mailers to flashy email blasts, no stone is unturned in the never-ending quest to get customers in the front door. But once those customers walk through that threshold, a lot of that marketing ends. Spending money to bring customers into your facility doesn’t guarantee they will remain there. The single biggest asset an aftermarket business has in keeping a customer captive is the facility itself. A dark, dirty and disorganized business can send a customer running for the door faster than the special that brought them in, while an aesthetically appealing operation can elicit feelings of confidence, reliability and acceptance. Customers want to do business where they are comfortable. Through intelligent cosmetic changes, you can improve the appearance and functionality of your business to strengthen your eye appeal and create a transparency in your business that positively impacts your bottom line.

Understanding Customer Perception Making your business visually enticing to customers dramatically impacts their perception of your products and services. Think of any business you’ve entered only to turn around and leave because it appeared dirty or dingy — a facility that is visually unappealing is often viewed by consumers as subpar. Which means if your operation isn’t attractive, customers may make the same assumptions about your business. Customer perceptions are formed by conscious and subconscious conclusions, says Butch Hill, president of HD Group. According to Hill, customers make hundreds of miniscule conclusions during all business transactions, and together those experiences

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form the basis of the customer’s perception about the service provider. Hill says the best way for aftermarket businesses to tilt the scales in their direction is through facility appearance. A business that’s both appealing and accessible is much more likely to elicit a positive customer response. “Perception is the way people notice things,” he says. “For example, if you consider a service experience of a customer, it depends on multiple perception points, such as the parking facility, building color, lighting, friendliness, and most importantly, the shop’s cleanliness. In fact, every perception of the customers leads them to something called ‘an experience.’ “An experience is not the way customers perceive things, but it is the form it takes by connecting all the perception points, and that makes it the most important (yet ignored) metric for a lot of companies across this industry.” Hunter Engineering National Heavy-Duty Market Manager Justin Gonzalez believes the heavy-duty market’s focus, or lack thereof, on facility design and appearance is about to change. Gonzalez says the light-duty sector has actively integrated clean, transparent designs into its facilities for nearly a decade. Hunter has responded to that shift by offering consulting and assistance to that segment of its customer base, and is just now starting to see similar interest from heavy-duty businesses. This benefits both markets in different ways, Gonzalez says. In the automotive market, he says aesthetically pleasing facilities help promote open and honest dialogue between a business and a customer. This is especially true in the service sector. The fear of

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Cover Story “getting taken” by a service provider is greatly reduced when a customer can look through a window into a shop and see their tire performing poorly on a balancing machine. “It really creates an open door feeling,” he says. “It builds on a level of trust because you can show them exactly what’s wrong. Nothing is happening in secret.” Gonzalez says that benefit carries over to the heavy-duty industry in a slightly different manner. On the whole, Gonzalez says heavy truck owners are much more understanding and accepting of repairs than their auto counterparts. He says their doubt doesn’t come from the need for repairs so much as the timeline it will take to fix it. “For a lot of [heavy-duty] customers, that truck is so much more to him than a minivan. It’s his business,” Gonzalez says. “So to not have that truck disappear, or be able to show him through a window or on a screen what is being done [in the shop] can really help.”

Improving the appearance of your business A full-scale remodel is the best way to make an aftermarket business sparkle, but when that’s not practical just taking time to clean can go a long way. “[Cleanliness] offers a level of professionalism, almost an aura that you know what you’re doing and you take what you do seriously,” says Mark Decker, CEO at

Improving customer waiting rooms has led to a positive customer response at Wensel’s Service Centers.

Jerry & Keith’s. Transparency also can improve business functionality, says John Wensel, president of Wensel’s Service Centers. “It allows you to be better organized, and that helps with customers but it makes it easier on your employees as well,” he says. When remodeling an aftermarket business it is important to first determine the areas that will need to be improved, Gonzalez says. Retrofitting a business doesn’t take long if a clear plan is established before construction begins. “There is a perception that these changes are very expensive but we are finding that they are not,” Gonzalez says. He says Hunter’s consulting team advises service providers to select specific aspects of their business they’d like to highlight during a facility remodel. Among the changes Gonzalez says Hunter sees from its light-duty customers are integrating parts displays and accessories to service counter and waiting areas, windows that allow visibility into service departments,

Hunter Engineering is now offering service center and showroom design guidance to help customers improve the appearance of their facilities.

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standardization of floor tile and lighting from the showroom to the shop and closed-circuit televisions that allow customers to see parts specials and their vehicles being repaired. Looping diagnostic or triage bays into these efforts can prove valuable as well. “We believe there is a heavy-duty inspection niche coming to the forefront based on the idea of transparency,” Gonzalez says. “We believe customers in the market today are looking for information, and you can provide them that in an open and honest matter.” Just incorporating some of those features has provided a significant return on investment for Truck Equipment, Inc. President Jordan Schroeder says the company incorporated aspects of Hill’s showroom design advice when building its new location last year. The impact was immediate. “Our design wasn’t necessarily driven by [transparency] but we’ve still noticed it,” Schroeder says. “Our parts counter is right by our service counter now, and there’s a window from one to other. So if a customer is waiting they are right there. “At our old facility the service counter and parts counter were on opposite sides” of the property. Wensel saw a similar boom at one of

Cover Story

Building a new facility has allowed Truck Equipment, Inc. to place its parts and service desks near each other so customers have the ability to browse while waiting on their truck.

his locations, setting a monthly service sales record not long after making cosmetic improvements to a customer waiting room. “The place just took off,” he says. Gonzalez isn’t surprised. A facility that elicits a positive customer reaction builds trust, and trust builds the opportunity to make more sales. “When a customer can see the issue — when they can see what is happening

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and they know there is an issue — it creates a type of discussion that was never there before,” he says. But facility changes alone do not guarantee sales success, says Hill. Employees also must be trained on how to use those changes to their advantage. They must understand a customer’s thought process and how to respond. Why tell a customer what’s wrong when you can show them?

“Understand how well your company is prepared to positively influence customer perceptions. Make sure your employees and processes are in the right direction to help the customer find answers,” he says. Because when trained employees are matched with an aesthetically appealing and transparent service facility, the sky is the limit. “It definitely has changed customers’ perceptions of who we are,” Schroeder says. “We’ve kept a lot of the same customers but we’ve also been noticed more [by others]. People see this isn’t a company that’s puddling along; they are making an investment.” “I learned a long time ago you can only make that first impression once,” says Wensel, adding “This is how I want to present my company.”

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By Lucas Deal, Editor lucasdeal@randallreilly.com

Service Bay

The quest for knowledge Steps the aftermarket can take to keep up with new vehicle technology 20

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or an industry that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see many new trucks, the aftermarket has no shortage of new technology. Aftertreatment systems, DPFs, reduced stopping distance brake systems, automated manual transmissions and stability control systems are just a few of the new technologies that have poured into the market in recent years. The new advancements come almost daily, and with them also come new problems.

Service Bay

How do you service a component or system you’ve never seen? According to service providers succeeding in the market today, the best way for an independent repair facility to catch up on new technology entering the aftermarket is through active research and training. The information you need is out there; you have to be willing to hunt for it. And the best time to start is today. It’s time to learn what’s on the horizon. You can find valuable information almost everywhere, says Bobby Willingham, president at Davenport & Willingham. “Taking advantage of all aspects of resources by staying informed is my best short answer,” he says. “In today’s technological environment, training material is enormous.” Willingham says his team uses relationships it has built with suppliers and industry associations to stay up to date about what’s being introduced in the industry. Trade groups and other service providers also can be valuable resources in this area. John Wensel says he’s had success at ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council meetings, where industry representatives meet to discuss current and future heavy-duty truck technology. “I started going back in my fleet days and still go now,” says Wensel, owner of Wensel Service Centers. “That’s almost 16 years.” And if you can’t find the information you need through a few phone calls or a Google search, Willingham says you can always go straight to the source. Though they don’t always make it easy, OEMs and suppliers have the information independent service providers need. “Obtaining OEM material and

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Inland Truck Parts relies heavily on its in-house training center to educate its staff on new vehicle systems and components.

training is without question the hardest challenge,” Willingham says. “Building relationships with people, staying informed, persistence and asking questions is what has worked for us. No, it’s not easy or inexpensive, but it’s how we provide for our families.” Once you know what to expect you can begin training your people. This can be done any number of ways. Today’s OEMs and component suppliers provide online and in-person training courses. Online courses are excellent resources for providing simple instruction on new maintenance and repair procedures for systems technicians already know, and as complements to in-person training classes, says Jerry Conroy, director, aftermarket sales at Bendix. Online training also allows an immediacy to acquiring information in-person courses can’t match. “We put tools in place that are easily accessible so [a service provider] can get information about our products at any time,” Conroy says. One area where online training falls

short is in detail. In cases where new technology will result in repair process previously unseen in a shop, there’s a significant benefit for techs to be able to hold, touch and feel a product to know how it’s going to work. “It’s a much more active way to learn,” says Dave Scheer, CEO at Inland Truck Parts. John Thompson, sales manager, commercial vehicles, NAFTA at TMD Friction, says that’s an aspect his company works hard to promote with its quarterly training courses. Held at TMD’s Michigan facility,

We put tools in place that are easily accessible so [a service provider] can get information about our products at any time. – Jerry Conroy, director, aftermarket sales at Bendix

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Service Bay Thompson says TMD brake training courses are designed to ensure technician attendees gain classroom and real-world knowledge of the new technology entering their marketplace. And while some online courses allow student responses, there’s no substitute for a question and answer period during an in-person training course, Thompson says. “It really allows for a conversation,” he says. Conroy agrees, noting Bendix supplements its online training curriculum with on-site courses taught by its “last bastion of defense in education and training,” the company’s sales and service team. But even with these options available, supplier training still has drawbacks. Timing and logistics are two of the largest. It is costly—both in transportation expenses and productivity lost—to shut down a service center while technicians undergo training. Sending a few veteran trainers to learn and return from training courses with new product education is one way to minimize this training expense. Jim Pascale says that’s been a method he’s used several times, because it allows him to keep his business running smoothly while a few of his team members are trained. They then return and train the rest of the Pascale Service Corp. staff at times that best fit their schedule. This can be a lengthier process, so

Pascale Service Corp. has a library of service tutorials and training materials that it updates regularly to help guide its technicians through all repairs.

Pascale says he makes sure to initiate these training plans well in advance of the technology reaching his business. He also has his techs save any training literature they acquire so it can be referenced when training new employees or during complicated repairs. Scheer says Inland Truck Parts’ library is the aftermarket’s largest, and is supported by a training center and two fulltime trainers. By investing in its own centrally located facility, Scheer says Inland has the ability to schedule training courses that best fit the schedules of the employees they want to train. Inland’s facility also is equipped with tools that allow training on all makes and models of heavy-duty trucks. “We offer probably 50 to 60 in-house training courses a year,” he says. Most of those classes also feature tests. Scheer says the tests—which can be completed in a matter of minutes—focus on key areas of the each training session.

The team at Davenport & Willingham are active in communicating with OEMs and suppliers to acquire the information they need to help educate their techs on new vehicle technology.

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“We do pre-test and post-tests just to see if [the training] is working,” he says. “We want to make sure our people are getting it, and that they’re not just writing it down but not committing it to memory.” Testing also is an area where OEMs and suppliers are very responsive, and use the Internet to offer expansive certification quizzes for technicians. Conroy says ensuring aftermarket technicians are trained isn’t just the responsibility of service providers. It behooves manufacturers to confirm they’re trained as well. “We’re going to continue to do what we can to help them help their customers. The ultimate goal is to provide safety, performance and ROI to the end user,” he says. Pascale agrees, adding, “It’s better for OEMs to have anyone who does work on their vehicles do a good job on it because their work reflects back on the OEM.” That’s an important aspect to consider moving forward. OEMs know their dealer network can’t service every truck alone. They know the independent aftermarket fills that service void. Which is why if you’re willing to put in the time to learn, they will help you. “We’re sympathetic to those in the aftermarket,” Conroy says. “The industry today is just inundated with change. For those aftermarket businesses that are proactively dealing with that, we’re going to continue doing what we can [to help].”

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By Lucas Deal, Editor lucasdeal@randallreilly.com

CVSN President’s Award

A career worth

Jim Moss (right) with former Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association President Bob McKenna at an earlier Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week. Moss was one of several industry members that helped create HDAW.

honoring

Truck Parts & Service founder earns CVSN’s President’s Award

im Moss didn’t set out to be a trailblazer. Looking back now, Moss says he didn’t set out to be a publisher, either. He planned to be a salesman like his father before him. But as he’s since learned, life doesn’t always go perfectly according to plan. Jim Moss entered the trucking industry as a fleet magazine sales representative in the 1950s. Active in the industry from the start, Moss looks back at those early years as the springboard to his eventual aftermarket career. “I was going out and talking to a lot of truck fleets and manufacturers, but I also

started meeting a lot of people who were in the trucking industry but weren’t employees of either of those other groups,” Moss recalls. “And I started meeting a lot of distributors of whom I was not familiar … So I went back to [my boss]

and told him I had stumbled across something. A breed of parts distributors I didn’t even know existed.” Those distributors, as you may have guessed, were the early members of the heavy-duty independent aftermarket. Moss says it didn’t take long once he met one distributor to meet a pile of them, and by then, he says it was clear the magazine he was working for

I’m obviously very honored. Recognizing me is to recognize that this industry has a past, and that there are a lot of people that helped it become what it is now.

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– Jim Moss, founder of Truck Parts & Service

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CVSN President’s Award (Commercial Carrier Journal, now a sister magazine to Truck Parts & Service.) and the trucking media had a blind spot in their coverage focus. So Moss did what any young, motivated and ambitious entrepreneur would do — he decided to produce a publication to fill it all on his own. He’d publish his first issue of Fleet Distribution in 1958. The publication would morph into Heavy Duty Distribution a few years later before finally settling on Truck Parts & Service in 1966. Nearly 60 years later, the market Moss discovered remains. And it has decided to give back. As a thank you for his efforts founding Truck Parts & Service, helping to create the Council of Fleet Specialists (CFS) and Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week, and his decades of service in support of the independent aftermarket industry, Jim Moss has earned the 2015 President’s Award by the Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network (CVSN). The award presentation was held earlier this month at the CVSN Aftermarket Distribution Summit in Newport, R.I. Now retired and living in Hawaii, Moss was unable to attend this month’s Summit, but he says he’s incredibly grateful to be presented such a prestigious award. “I’m obviously very honored. I’m honored that people even remember my name,” he says. “Recognizing me is to recognize that this industry has a past, and that there are a lot of people that

Moss was instrumental in creating the Truck Parts & Service Distributor of the Year award. He presented the inaugural award to Dave Scheer of Inland Truck Parts in 2002.

helped it become what it is now.” Looking back, Moss says his decision to found the publication that would become Truck Parts & Service was a logical one. The aftermarket was a growing subsection of the trucking industry; one that demanded recognition and organization. Through Truck Parts & Service and other efforts, Moss was able to provide that. “My position was these people were different and had different needs and skills than fleets,” he says. “They were a group of people who were willing to become part of something.” Moss says that became abundantly clear around 1960 when he and a group of aftermarket professionals developed the Council of Fleet Specialists. A precursor to CVSN, CFS helped unify the independent aftermarket. Moss says that union would immediately prove valuable in support of an industry that boomed in response to the Federal Highway Act. In the decades that followed Moss remained committed to the heavy-duty

Jim was not only instrumental in reporting the growth and development of the heavy-duty aftermarket, he was in his own way a leader of the process. – Pete Joy, vice president of sales and marketing at Phillips Industries

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aftermarket. He added Successful Dealer to his publishing company’s roster in 1978, and expanded the focus of Truck Parts & Service to include heavy-duty repair in the 1980s. He also was one of the early supporters and proponents of ‘Truck Parts Week,’ which eventually became industry jewel HDAW. “Over the years you get to know a variety of people and personalities; some work to earn a paycheck while others work because it’s a passion. I always respected Jim because the industry was his passion and he devoted his life to it,” says Joe Mejaly, vice president and general manager at AxleTech. “People use the phrase, ‘This industry is in my blood,’ and for Jim you never had to question his sincerity when he uttered those words.” “[Jim] was truly committed to our industry,” adds Pete Joy, vice president of sales and marketing at Phillips Industries. “Jim was not only instrumental in reporting the growth and development of the heavy-duty aftermarket, he was in his own way a leader of the process. Jim was one of the mentors that many of us relied on for judgment and input as we addressed the major issues of the day.” Moss shrugs off the compliments, humbly downplaying his impressive aftermarket career. “We did some things, and I guess they turned out pretty good,” he says.

Marketplace

Off The Line

Spotlighting a new OEM innovation Set-forward vocational 567 from Peterbilt

Expanded reman water pump line Haldex has expanded its remanufactured water pump line to include Eastern Industries water pumps. Haldex says it will initially add 24 new SKUs of Eastern Industries water pumps with further expansion scheduled later in the year. As a result of the expansion, Haldex says it has more than 200 medium- and heavy-duty water pump part numbers. Eastern castings are patterned after the OEM units, Haldex says, precision machined to the exact tolerances and original specifications, and tested prior to shipment at its certified remanufacturing facility in Marion, N.C.

Aerosol shop cleaning product Oil Eater has expanded its eco-friendly line of uniquely formulated cleaning solutions with the introduction of foaming aerosol All Purpose Cleaner. Oil Eater says the 20 oz. ready-to-use spray-and-wipe cleaner quickly and easily dissolves grease, grime and dirt from vehicle interiors, service counters, walls, glass and more. It is also formulated to cling to vertical surfaces. Oil Eater All Purpose also is a powerful pH neutral cleaner that is non-toxic, biodegradable and and will not harm the skin, the company says.

Peterbilt Motors Company announces its new vocational Model 567 in a setforward front axle configuration is now in full production. “Customer excitement has been high for the full availability of our newest vocational workhorse, the Model 567 in a set-forward front axle (SFFA) configuration,” says Robert Woodall, Peterbilt assistant general manager of Sales and Marketing. The Model 567 SFFA is available in both 115- and 121-in. BBC lengths. The 115-in. BBC has a bumper to front axle distance of 29 in. and the 121-in. BBC has a bumper to front axle distance of 31 in. Peterbilt also offers the Model 567 in a set-back front axle configuration, also available in a 115- or 121-in. BBC length, the company says. Both Model 567 configurations are standard with the Paccar MX-13 engine, and available as a day cab or sleeper.

Filter restriction kit

All-position retread tire

The Racor Division of Parker Hannifin introduces its Filter Restriction Indicator Kit for GreenMAX Fuel Filter Water Separators. The new Filter Restriction Indicator kit includes a filter minder and threaded adapter to fit on the GreenMAX fuel filter water separator system, the company says.

Goodyear introduces its new G186 MSA (mixed-service all-position) UniCircle retread, which features Goodyear’s spliceless UniCircle Technology. Available now, the G186 MSA UniCircle boasts three zig-zag circumferential grooves for extra all-season traction, a long-wearing compound for increased tread life, and other features. Goodyear says another benefit of its UniCircle Technology is how the spliceless tread is applied to casings. Goodyear says UniCircle treads are automatically positioned on casings using laser-guided technology and are precision-stitched. Because there is no cutting or splicing during the UniCircle tread application process, the resulting retread is uniform and balanced, which helps extend casing life and mileage, the company says.

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Congratulations

2015 Recipient