Industry Watch Newsletter - February 2011

SHARE YOUR nEwSwith the UTA Industry Watch.

Send submissions, ideas and comments, to:

UTA Industry Watch Editors Brad and Deb Schepp, Lara Haag

c/o Grace Management 325 Country Club Drive, Suite A

Stockbridge, GA 30281 Phone: 877-GETS-UTA (877-438-7882)

Fax: [email protected]

Volume 13 • Issue 2 • February 20111.877.GETS.UTA • www.uta.org

Table of ContentsBoard News & Views .......................... 2

New Members .................................... 3

Face to Face with Ron Corley ............... 4

Industry Events Calendar ..................... 5

Moving on Down the Road: Checking in with George Barnett ........ 6

NADA 2010 Used Truck Market Review .............................. 6-7

Comings and Goings ............................. 7

Work Gets Underway for the UTA’s 2011 Board Members ...........8-9

Industry News Briefs ......................10-11

From Where We Sit .......................... 13

The UTA…

Members Supporting Members!

Layout & Design by Laura A. Jones since Volume 8, Issue 1, January 2006 913.706.7505 • [email protected]

Used Truck AssociationChartered May 16, 1988

Published by the Used Truck Association325 Country Club Drive, Suite A

Stockbridge, GA 30281

Dealer Group Committee news

The UTA Dealer Group is a forum for used truck leaders from all truck brands, large and small dealerships, OEM and independent, who desire to open communications and learn from one

another. It fosters sharing of information and experiences, and networking for the sale and purchase of used trucks. Our goal is to strengthen dealer relationships, discuss pertinent issues, and unite the dealer body to build a stronger and better used truck industry. The committee members are as follows:

Joe BurnsAltruck Cambridge, Ontario [email protected] (519) 650-4210

John FehrTrucks Unlimited Steinbach, Manitoba [email protected] (204) 326-2600

Steve SonegoSJS Truck Sales Richfield, OH [email protected] (330) 321-3287

John HolderSouthland IHC Birmingham, AL [email protected] (205) 254-1821

Alan StricklerMcKenna Truck Center Des Moines, IA [email protected] (515) 263-3600

Guy CheneyPeterbilt of Louisiana Baton Rouge, LA [email protected] (225) 273-8308

Mike RoneyWarner Truck Center West Valley City, UT [email protected] (801) 978-8005

Zach BaurerOpperman & Sons Healdsburg, CA [email protected] (707) 433-4421

Our planning is well underway, and we’re looking forward to taking the next steps in forming this group. Our plan is for these committee members to form a subcommittee in each region. Each region is made up of seven to 12 states, and two regions in Canada (see accompanying map). The idea is to have one subcommittee member from each state.

Now is your opportunity to get directly involved in the UTA. We need members on these subcommittees to form the base panel, which will direct discussions in each of the regional meetings. All dealer members will be encouraged to be involved in the regional meetings, but you can play a key role in discussing UTA business by

becoming a subcommittee member. Get in touch with me or your area rep, and get involved. We are shooting to have our first meeting at the charity golf tournament in June! n

Mike Thurston UTA Dealer Group Committee Chairman (417)865-5355 (office) (417)827-9853 (cell) [email protected]

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UTA Industry watch

February 2011 www.UTA.org

President Rick Clark

Vice President Bobby Williams

Treasurer Tom Pfeiler

Secretary Sheri Aaberg

President Emeritus Marty Crawford

Affiliates & Benefits Committee Chairman

Bryan Boyd

Convention Committee ChairmanSheri Aaberg & Tim Ormsby

UTA Jerome Nerman Family Foundation Scholarship Committee Chairman

Tim Ronan

Elections Committee Chairman George Barnett

Marketing Committee ChairmanLara Haag

Medium-Duty Committee Chairman Randy Pennington

Membership Committee Chairman Randy Pennington & John Cosgrove

Training Committee Chairman Ken Kosic

UTA Dealer Group Committee Chairman Mike Thurston

UTA.org Website Committee Chairman Bobby Williams

UTATrucks.org Website Committee Chairman

Bryan Haupt

2011 Board of Directors

Front, L to R: Sheri Aaberg, Randy Pennington, Marty Crawford, Tim Ronan, Mike Thurston. Back, L to R: Tim Ormsby, Bryan Haupt, Ken Kosic, Bobby Williams, Rick Clark, Tom Pfeiler, Bryan Boyd, Lara Haag, John Cosgrove, George Barnett.

Some 34 years ago I ventured into the world of trucks. I started out in medium-duty trucks in Houston, Texas with the knowledge that most people have about trucks – NONE!

Being as green as I was, I managed to survive medium duty for a year. Then I moved into Class 8 trucks, thus beginning my journey in the trucking industry.

The first thing I had to do was get my CDL, which 34 years ago wasn’t quite as bad as it is now, but I managed and am still here. Has it been interesting? Yes, to say the least, with tough times (as many of the “old timers” will tell you). The stories are out there, some to the point and factual, and others, well let’s say shaded a little.

Before UTA and the Internet trucks were bought and sold by your word. You knew the people you could trust, and those you couldn’t. Friendships were developed and some have lasted this entire time. We have lost many great individuals in the industry, but the younger generation will replace them.

As I see it now, us “old timers” have a responsibility to teach, encourage, and help the younger sales force members to also have a great career. Let them know that each day is different, bringing a new challenge into their lives. Teach them how to make their contacts, develop those contacts into friendships, and most important how to enjoy this ever-changing and challenging industry. There is so much to learn that comes with experience and that can’t be taught. But they can learn so much from watching you handle that impossible deal, or even the easy ones.

All the tools that are available make buying and selling so much better, so the young salesperson has a great future in front of him in this industry. It doesn’t really matter whether they are in new or used sales; it’s the attitude and desire to make that sale in front of the customer that counts. So let’s be there to help these young people, and maybe one day they will look back as I do on my mentors.

We also need to encourage them to become involved in the UTA. Let them know the great benefits of being part of this organization. Let them know what the UTA does and how it helps our

members with things like college scholarships, and the developments that are going on daily in the industry. In recent years, UTA has played an important role in my ability to move forward, through contacts and the vendors in the industry.

So I’m moving onto the next chapter in my Used Truck History. Have a great year, and I look forward to seeing all of you—old and new—in Arizona at the fall meeting. n

Bryan Boyd UTA Affiliates Committee [email protected]

Board news and Views

UTA Industry watch

3February 2011www.UTA.org

New MembersIt’s always a treat to welcome new members to the Used Truck Association. Each month we profile our new members in this newsletter. New members will have the opportunity to complete a bio and send a photo so our current members can learn more about you. We hope to learn not just how to reach you, but what you like/don’t like about the work you do, why you joined the UTA, and what gets your gears going as a person. So please return your questionnaire so your fellow UTA members can get to know you!

Also, if you’d like a copy of the new member brochure that we handed out at the convention in Jacksonville, please contact David Grace at [email protected] or 770-389-6528 ext. 404.

Tim Barnes, PartnerAmerica’s Truck Source, Inc.4231 NE Expressway Atlanta, GA 30340www.americastrucksource.com(770) [email protected]

Tim got his start in the truck business in sales, in 2007. Helping customers is the part of his job he most enjoys. Tim joined the UTA “to be a part of an association that promotes honesty and integrity.”

So, Tim, we asked, is there another business you might want to be in if not for the truck business? “No,” he replied. Now that’s someone who loves what he does for a living.

Denny Christensen, Buyer, SalesmanWholesale Trucks of America 6501 E. Commerce Ave, Ste 140Kansas City, MO 64120www.wtatrucks.com(816) [email protected]

Denny said he started in the truck business “longer ago than you want to know,” which isn’t true because now we really want to know! He’s a strong believer in the UTA and “what it is doing for our industry,” which is always great to hear. What he enjoys the most about his job is the “camaraderie of his customers.”

Denny raised four sons, who he watched grow up and then become successful in the truck business just like their dad. He had some memorable words of wisdom to share: “Remember every day is Thanksgiving—don’t ever get discouraged. We are all students of life, not graduates.”

Steve Hatten, Sales Wholesale Trucks of America 6501 E. Commerce Ave, Ste 140Kansas City, MO 64120 (816) [email protected]

Ian Sifuentes, Regional Vice PresidentMission Financial Services Group Corporation6604 Tara Blvd Jonesboro, GA 30236 www.missionfinancialservices.net(404) 975-4800 [email protected]

Ian may be Mission Financial’s Regional VIP now, but back in 1997 he was just getting his start in the business world as an intern with the company. He’s been with Mission Financial ever since.

What Ian likes most about his job is the exposure it gives him to various parts of Mission Financial’s business (the company provides financing to individuals who “normally would not have the opportunity to better their lives by becoming owner/operators”.) By moving around and learning all the time, Ian says “there is never a dull moment” at the company.

When we asked Ian why his company joined the UTA, we got what we thought was an interesting response. He feels UTA gives his company the chance to network with dealerships, something they were not getting through their memberships in other (mostly legal) associations.

Ian is grateful to Mission Financial for more than the work experience. It’s also responsible for him meeting his wife! “I am a relatively new resident of Atlanta, just moving here in 2006,” he said. “It is because of Mission Financial that I was able to meet my wife Jennifer, and daughter Lauren.” Something else interesting about Ian—if not for trucks you might have found him working in a museum. “I have a love for fine art, and if I was not in the financing field of the trucking industry I would be involved in some part of the art world as a broker, trader or curator.”

You’ll excuse Ian if he’s he especially busy over the next few months. When we heard from him in January he mentioned that he and his wife were “expecting a new addition to the family, with a due date of January 25, 2011.” n

Changes to Your NewsletterWe have made some minor changes to your newsletter, with more planned for the

future. With this issue we’ve added a new feature—Comings and Goings—where

we’ll cover job changes and the like. We’ve also changed the name of Last Notes

to From Where We Sit, and Quintessential Quote to Quotes and Quips. We welcome

your feedback on these changes. Just drop us a note at [email protected].

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UTA Industry watch


Ron Corley knows he is a very fortunate man. He began his happy

marriage to his dear wife Madaline the same year he began his long and successful career in the used truck industry. Today he celebrates 48 years of happiness and success in both of these endeavors. Ron and Madaline are the proud parents of three children and the grandparents of five teenage grandsons. Ron was kind enough to share with us some thoughts as he looks back over these many wonderful years.

Ron has been a long-time member of the UTA. He counts among his most signifi-cant mentors Jerry Nerman, one of UTA’s founders. “Jerry and I met in 1974,” he said. “My association

and friendship with him is priceless.” Jim Sundy, another founder, once worked for Ron, as did UTA board members Ken Kosic and Bryan Haupt, and Lifetime Achieve-ment Award winner, Al Hess. Ron was quick to note that he never considered these men employees. “I was privileged to be associ-ated with such outstanding people,” he told us. We have remained life-long friends.”

Ron himself received the UTA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, recognizing accomplishments including 42 years of maintaining the highest business practices and standards in the heavy truck industry. His many achievements and close friend-ships have continued throughout his career, but for a moment, let’s look back to the beginning.

Ron has owned and operated heavy duty dealerships since 1964. Although he has devoted most of his career to used trucks, he has also owned new truck franchises, and he has served as the general manager of one of the largest and oldest used truck operations

in North America. We asked him to share a story with us from early in his career. “At the age of 23, I was a minority partner and GM of a heavy-duty class 8 Dodge truck dealership—yes, kids, Dodge did actually build a full line of class 8 diesel trucks,” he said. “Once I flew to Miami to visit Ryder Truck Rentals. Surpris-ingly, I sold them 25 new single-axle cabover sleepers. Looking back, I realize that the price of $10,800 each may have been a bigger factor than my great salesmanship!”

As he grew in his profession, he has

served as a mentor, just as Jerry Nerman had mentored him. About 23 years ago, Ron hired a young Florida State graduate and introduced him to used truck sales. In 1995, Jon Tepper joined his mentor in starting Ameritruck, LLC as the succession partner. Today, Jon serves as President and GM of Ameritruck. “It has been a wonder-ful and fruitful partnership,” Ron says. Jon manages the day-to-day operations at

Ron CorleyAmeritruck leaving Ron and Madaline to pursue their other deep passion, the charity work they have supported all their lives.

The couple focuses on helping to provide services to children. Over the years, they have opened their home to fifteen unwed mothers, providing them with help and support throughout their pregnancies. Ron has also served as a national spokesperson for the American Cancer Society, and the Corley family has sponsored children battling cancer and their families. As an organization, Ameritruck has been a sponsor of the Elon Children’s Home and Lois Lodge in Charlotte, NC.

So, a lifetime spent in a career he loves, a closely knit devoted family, and the passion to do good work for others have formed the lynchpin of a happy and fulfilling life for Ron, his family, and his business associates. If that alone didn’t make Ron a fortunate man, today he and Madaline split their time between their home in Charlotte, NC and the one they own on Kiawah Island, SC. “Kiawah is a fabulous, private resort island just miles from historic Charleston,” Ron told us. He goes into the office in Charlotte on an as-needed basis now. When we asked him what a typical work day was like for him, we received the best answer anyone has ever provided.

“I’m happy to say that I no longer have a typical working day. In fact, I no longer have a typical day,” he said. “Our toughest job every day is deciding whether to go golfing, kayaking, bicycling, beach walk-ing, or enjoying lunch and sightseeing in Charleston. I wake up happy every day and never forget that my life is truly blessed.”

After a lifetime of good work, devotion to others, and a steadfast family life, we would certainly agree! n

UTA Industry watch


Moving on Down the Road: Checking in with George Barnett

It’s been about a year since

the company UTA Board

Member George Barnett

founded, Truck Remarketing

Services (TRS), merged

with DEKRA, the leading

company in the automotive

inspection field. TRS, which

has been in business since

1997, provides inspections,

appraisals and resale

services to companies

that buy, sell, or take back

used trucks in the U.S. and

Canada. The new, post-

merger company is called DEKRA-TRS.

We caught up with George to ask him how the merger was going,

and to see if there was any news to share with UTA members.

“After a year, we’re still quite happy with the merger, and looking

forward to a prosperous future,” George said. “While 2010 was

devoted to making the transition and getting settled, in 2011

we’re looking forward to improving service for our customers.”

One way the company plans to do that is through a new website

that will enable customers to reformat and otherwise work with

the information in DEKRA-TRS’ ever-growing database of reports.

Customers will have many more options for working with that data,

enabling them to provide custom reports to their own customers.

The new website should be live sometime this month.

One year after the merger two things are clear: George is pleased

with the results of the merger, and he expects his company will

be offering even better services to its customers as a result. n

MARCH 20117-8 • The Green Truck Summit www.ntea.com/worktruckshow/index.aspx?=18868

8-10 • The Work Truck ShowIndianapolis, IN www.ntea.com/worktruckshow/

22-26 • CONEXPO-CON/AGGLas Vegas, NVLas Vegas Convention Center http://www.conexpoconagg.com/

March 31 - April 2 • 2011 Mid-America Trucking Show Louisville, KY www.truckingshow.com

APRIL 201115-18 • ATD Convention & Expo Phoenix, AZPhoenix Convention Centerhttp://tinyurl.com/2fkeorj

MAY 201117-18 • The Truck Blue Book Conference New Orleans, LAHilton New Orleans Riversidehttp://truckbluebook.com/conference/

JUNE 20119-11 • The Great West Truck Show 2011 Las Vegas, NVLas Vegas Convention Center http://www.greatwesttruckshow.com/2011-great-west-truck-show-information/

AUGUST9-13 • National Truck Driving Championships Orlando, FLOrange County Convention Centerhttp://www.truckline.com/Federation/Councils/slpmc/NTDC/Pages/Default.aspx

Do you know of an event that should be added to this list? Please send the details to [email protected].

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UTA Industry watch


To put it mildly, 2010 was one of the more interesting years in recent memory for the used truck market. Extremely strong demand for

low-mileage trucks decimated inventories, causing a historically rare linkage of price and mileage. By the end of the year, retail sales per dealership suffered as there were simply no low-mileage trucks left to sell. Dealers increasingly turned to wholesale channels as a means of moving higher-mileage trucks.

Starting in late fall 2009, fleets and individual buyers responded to improving economic conditions and began to expand their capacities and replace older units. Knowing that the upcoming round of emissions regulations would bring price increases and new (to North America) technology, buyers looked first to the used market. As a result, both wholesale and retail selling prices of used sleeper tractors increased dramatically in November and December of 2009 (see “Average Selling Price” graphs). The market then leveled out to a more gradual rate of growth in early spring 2010 that continued for the rest of the year.

As the lowest-mileage trucks were cherry-picked out of the market, price and mileage started to move in tandem instead of inversely (see “Average Price and Mileage” graph). This behavior is historically unusual, and only manifests itself when demand is greater than supply. Simply put, buyers were willing to ante up for the lowest mileage trucks they could find. As our “Retail Price by Mileage Range” graph illustrates, trucks with under 500,000 miles brought an average of $3000 more in 2010 than they did in 2009.

Dealers enjoyed the increased demand, and reduced their inventories to a fraction of what they were a year earlier. Unfortunately, there are only so many trucks entering the secondary market at any given time. By early fall, the industry was dealing with a shortage of low-mileage used trucks. Our “Retail vs. Wholesale” graph traces the arc in retail sales volume as dealers first met demand and then suffered from a lack of supply. The shortage greatly accelerated as the year drew to a close. Wholesale activity picked up as a way of moving the remaining iron. Buyers turned to the new market during this period, as the steep increase in new truck orders in late 2010 attests.

Of course, the increase in market value only applied to the Class 8 highway market. The used medium duty market was essentially flat throughout the year. The under-CDL segment of this market saw a moderate uptick on the new side, but this activity didn’t translate to higher used truck prices due to continued weakness in the housing and construction industries. Similarly, the Class 8 construction and vocational market bounced along the bottom for essentially all of 2010 for the same reason. A hoped-for increase in demand due to infrastructure stimulus spending did not materialize.

The unusual market conditions of 2010 will continue for the foreseeable future. Thanks to the historically low new truck build of the years 2007-2010, there will simply be too few trucks entering the secondary market to meet demand. Low-mileage trucks will continue to bring historically high prices. Trucks with average mileage should also enjoy a premium compared to previous years. Even higher-mileage trucks should benefit as increased demand makes reconditioning and rebuilds more justifiable. NADA made unprecedented upward adjustments to wholesale and retail values throughout 2010, and will continue to closely monitor sales data from all channels in order to ensure changing market conditions are properly reflected. n

nADA 2010 Used Truck Market ReviewRecovery leads to Unprecedented Demand by Chris Visser, Editor, Commercial Trucks

UTA Industry watch


Comings and GoingsMike Roney is now the buyer for Warner Truck Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. His career in used trucks spans 20 years, during which Mike’s worked for many of the major truck dealers in Utah, “bouncing around to go to greener pastures.” He’s been a UTA member for about six years.

Mike started at Warner Truck Center in Salt Lake City. Most recently he was at Lake City Trucks where he became Used Truck Manager. Now Mike’s come full circle and is back with Warner Truck Center. As Warner’s Buyer he also manages their Used Truck City website, which he helped develop.

Mike agrees with the concensus that business is getting better but that inventory of used trucks is “ drying up.” “If you have inventory this year, you’ll sell it,” he said. n

Reprinted with permission from the ATD/NADA Official Commercial Truck Guide®

www.nada.com/b2b

Do you have news that’s fit to print?Send your ideas, news, leads and findings to us!

[email protected]

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UTA Industry watch


On January 15, 2011 the Used Truck Association’s Board of Directors held its annual business meeting at Talking Stick

Resort and Casino in Scottsdale, Arizona. Back in 2006, the board decided to hold its yearly January business meeting at the same location as the upcoming November Used Truck Association convention.

There are many benefits associated with having the board business meeting at the place where the next Convention will be held. We normally meet on the Friday before the business meeting for a hotel tour, to get a feel for the facility’s layout, meeting rooms, restaurants, and bars, and what the flow of the hotel would be for guests in November.

Each year, the board and the convention committee attempts to make the future convention better than the last convention. After the convention in Jacksonville that is a difficult endeavor, however, after visiting the Talking Stick facility and golf course I believe they will achieve this once again.

Our meeting officially began 8 a.m. At the time, I didn’t realize how much talent this current board was capable of. Here is a recap of their board positions and committees.

The Convention Committee, which may be UTA’s largest undertaking, is chaired by Sheri Aaberg. Sheri has always been “heads-up,” bringing a lot of talent to the board thanks to her business and common sense. Because this is her first time as the convention chairperson, she was smart enough to ask Tim Ormsby and Hal Dickson to help her co-chair the convention. Tim and Hal have each completed two conventions, and both come with a wealth of knowledge and experience.

The Membership Committee has always been a difficult committee to chair. Randy Pennington jumped at the opportunity, and asked to have John Cosgrove co-chair the committee with him. Randy and John have already created a strategy for a market-ing campaign to truck dealers, both independent and franchised.

Our Training Committee will be chaired by Ken Kosic, who was a natural for this committee. Ken is dedicated to the younger sales-people in our industry, and he fully believes in the proper training right from the start. Eddie Walker is co-chairing this committee, and he’s passionate about sales training. Eddie brings years of experience in sales training with the UTA.

George Barnett is once again chairing the Election Committee. He did such a great job last year that we all wanted him to continue for another year. George brings integrity to the election process, whether it is for board nominations, board elections, or the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Education & Fundraising Committee will be chaired again by Tim Ronan. We gave Tim the option this year of moving to another committee. But he is a man dedicated to this committee, the annual golf outing, and most of all the students. At the board business meeting he made a motion to have five scholarships for 2011. He is dedicated to raising the funds for the scholarship committee. Of course, the motion passed (with much discussion about raising the funds). Thanks to Tim’s short and to-the-point speech we all feel comfortable with committing to raise the funds and accomplishing his goal.

Bryan Boyd is once again chairing the Affiliates & Benefits Committee. In January, he sent all of the current affiliates their agreements with the UTA, and had over a 90 percent response rate. He is bound to do the best for all of our association’s truck dealers. He came to our business meeting loaded with ideas about how to interact with the membership, market-ing, and the Dealer Group committee. As “BB” says “we (the committees) are all related, and we should be integrated.”

Bryan Haupt is the brainchild behind UTATrucks.com, and once again he is chairing this committee, and working as hard for the association as he can. What we all like about Bryan is that he comes from a large OEM dealership, and always has the smaller OEM dealer and independent dealer in mind. At the business meeting he was very involved in the training discussion for the independent dealers.

Our newest committee is the UTA Dealer Group committee, headed by Mike Thurston. Bobby Williams was the inspiration behind this commit-tee, first presenting the idea last year—before Mike was voted on the board. For months we discussed how to get this committee off the ground. But we needed someone to take control of this idea, and move it off the drawing board and bring it to life. Before Mike went to his first board meeting in Jacksonville he had already been working on it; setting his committee’s goals, agenda, structure, and territories. He suggested to the board that we should have a meeting at the Jacksonville convention, to assess the member-ship’s interest in the new committee. The meeting was overflowing with UTA members who wanted to get involved. At the end of January, Mike had his first meeting with his group and it went extremely well.

Bobby Williams has managed our website, UTA.org, over the past few years. He continues to make it as informational and up to date as possible. Bobby is membership driven, and always comes up with new ideas for the board to review. For example, he came up with a new idea for an application for your mobile device. It’s for Truck Evaluations and Appraisals. Bobby is the heart and soul of the Used Truck Association. He is involved in each committee and makes some great contributions to the organization.

work Gets Underway for the UTA’s 2011 Board Members

UTA Industry watch


Lara Haag again is heading the Marketing Committee. Because I chaired this committee in the past, I know that over the course of a year it is the most time-consuming committee. Because she is interacting with all the committees every day, it’s basically a full-time job. Every day there are newsletter issues, whether it’s the graphics or print content, or it’s running behind schedule. She has to plan coverage months in advance for such events as the convention, golf outings, and membership drives, as well as email blasts. Five years ago our newsletter consisted of five to six pages, with average graphics. Today, an average month consists of 14 to 16 pages, with great graphics created by UTA’s designer, Laura Jones. At our business meeting Lara presented a new layout for the newsletter, which will read better off your screen, with graphics that really stand out.

Each organization has its own “check and balance” individual and ours is Tom Pfeiler. Not only does he do this monetarily in his role as the UTA’s treasurer, he does it with common sense at board meetings and discussions. Tom has a way of keeping the horse attached to the front of the cart, and keeping us on the correct path.

Two individuals who are extremely involved in the Used Truck Association are Eddie Walker and Marty Crawford. Eddie is on the Senor Advisory Board and Marty is President Emeritus. Both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the board, and the Used Truck Association. We all interact with them almost daily regarding UTA decisions. You can contact either one of them any time of the day, including weekends and holidays, for their input and experience on a matter.

Another special individual (along with the organization he represents) is David Grace, of Grace Management. The Used Truck Association outsources all of its accounting and organization management to his company. He is totally involved, from attending our board meetings to planning and visiting future convention sites. He has a great team behind him, and he is someone who never says no. Although his company is outsourced, we all feel he is part of the UTA family and board.

All of the people above are special individuals who have taken the time to volunteer for our association, and make it a better organization for all of us and our future.

Thank you.

Rick Clark UTA President [email protected]

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UTA Industry watch


Trucking Companies Adding More Jobs Our neighbors’ children, both in their 20s, have both started getting job interviews after months of silent phones and unanswered emails. While that doesn’t suggest anything really for job-seekers as a whole, there is actual evidence that things are starting to turn around. Finally.

The Federal Reserve Board’s latest report on economic conditions throughout the U.S. suggests the U.S. labor market at long last is showing signs of improving, according to MarketWatch.com. Successful Dealer reported in January that trucking companies added jobs through much of last year, with for-hire companies, in particular, adding about 23,000 jobs between March and December 2010. For more information visit http://www.successfuldealer.com/trucking-adds-jobs-in-december/ n

Strong Preliminary Class 8 Net Orders for December: FTRDecember Class 8 truck total net orders for all major North American OEM’s stood at 25,247 units, according to preliminary data from FTR Associates. Net orders for the fourth quarter of 2010 annualized to 280,324 units, the company added. This number includes U.S., Canada, Mexico, and exports.

Eric Starks, President of FTR commented “Order activity for December came in on the high side of expectations and supports our view that production and sales will continue to accelerate during 2011.” Starks continued, “Freight demand will need to remain solid in early 2011 to maintain this strong order activity for Class 8 units. Additionally, other issues like the growing driver shortage as the economy improves do place a drag on fleets’ ability to add capacity. The current order activity is primarily for units to replace aging trucks.”

FTR was planning to make final December data available in late January, at the time of this writing. The data will be included as part of its North American Commercial Truck & Trailer Outlook service. For more information, contact FTR Associates at [email protected] or 1-888-988-1699. n

Fuel Prices Projected to Continue Rising We don’t know about you, but whenever we see the fuel oil truck pull up into our driveway to fill up our basement tanks we shudder. We shudder partly because we keep the thermostats set low to minimize costs. But we also shudder because the arrival of that big truck is always followed by a big bill. And it looks like that bill is going to be even higher in 2011. The same holds true for gasoline and diesel fuel.

The Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration projected in

its most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook that regular-grade gasoline retail prices “will rise from an

average of $2.78 per gallon in 2010 to $3.17 per gallon in 2011 and $3.29 per gallon in 2012. On-highway diesel fuel retail prices, which averaged $2.99 per gallon in 2010, will average $3.40 per gallon and $3.52 per gallon in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Rising crude oil prices are the primary reason for higher retail prices, but higher gasoline and distillate refining margins are also expected to contribute to higher retail prices.” n

Industry news BriefsNHTSA to Rule on Truck Speed LimitersBack in 2006, the American Trucking Association, Road Safe America, and a group of nine carriers petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis-tration regarding an issue affecting not only truck drivers, but anyone concerned about making highways safer.

They asked that the NHTSA initiate rulemaking that would ultimately lead to the installation of a device during the manufacture of certain trucks, that would limit the speed the trucks could attain to 68 mph. (The trucks affected have a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 26,000 pounds.) At the time, ATA said reducing speed-related crashes involving trucks was crucial to the NHTSA’s mission, and that new requirements were needed to reduce the number of crashes involving large trucks, as well as their severity.

In January, the NHTSA announced it plans to start the rulemaking process stating that the “petitions merit further consideration.” Of course, further consideration does not guarantee that a rule will be forthcoming, just that the issue will be looked into further.

In the announcement of this decision, published in the Federal Register here: http://tinyurl.com/6jewulm, NHTSA noted speed limiters were already being used in the European Union as well as Australia, Japan, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. n

Premium 2000+ Warranty Programs and Idealease Form AlliancePremium 2000+ Warranty Programs, based in Winston-Salem, NC, and Idealease, Inc., of North Barrington, IL, have formed a strategic alliance. The alliance will enable Idealease to provide a warranty program for its dealer network comprised of 380 locations across the United States and Canada.

“The primary goal of the alliance,” according to Lynn Murphy, President/CEO, Premium 2000+ Warranties, “was to provide Idealease truck buyers, renters and lease customers with a consistent, easy-to-utilize, and cost-effective warranty that features major failure protection, including engine, turbocharger, injectors and water pump — with additional options for the transmission and rear axle assemblies.”

The two companies concluded negotiations and signed their agreement at the recent Used Truck Association convention in Jacksonville.

For inquiries or more information, contact Marguerite Root Jensen at Premium 2000+ Warranty Programs, (888) 261-7581. n

UTA Industry watch


CSA Safety Performance Service Available from QualcommQualcomms’ CSA Safety Performance Service is now available. The service integrates data from the CSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) and correlates relevant Qualcomm services data, including Hours of Service violations, Critical Event Reporting, and Performance Monitor-ing, to “provide a comprehensive analysis of driver and fleet-specific data.” The service helps identify drivers who are most vulnerable to unsafe driving and additional CSA violations, allowing fleet and safety managers to monitor and improve driver performance proactively and reduce their exposure to fines, interventions, accidents and poor CSA scores, according to the company.

Fleets can use the service to help improve their SMS scores and reduce inspections, violations, and accidents. Carriers implementing the CSA Safety Performance Service have access to:• Comprehensive views of a fleet’s performance across FMCSA’s 7 BASICs

(according to FMCSA records) • Tools to identify potential problem areas in future inspections• Driver coaching scripts to address identified issues, and• Detailed tracking of the remediation process

“By bringing the CSA Safety Performance Service to market, we are providing fleets with a new way to proactively manage compliance with critical and complex new regulations,” said Norm Ellis, a vice president for Qualcomm Enterprise Services.

The service “provides customers with a variety of reporting options, as well as driver coaching scripts and training modules to address high-risk behavior,” according to the company. It provides “graphical tools to make data more meaningful, as well as provides numerous ways to filter data from the fleet level down to the driver level.” For more information, visit http://tinuyrl.com/6l7gkcu. n

Kenworth’s NavPlus Business System Targets Mobile Connectivity Kenworth Truck Company and Sprint have partnered to provide mobile connectivity for the Kenworth NavPlus®, a PACCAR proprietary navigation and business technology system for Kenworth Class 5-8 trucks.

Sprint has integrated its advanced network connectivity into Kenworth NavPlus, which will also offer telematics, navigation, diagnostics and business system features, according to Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. “Our machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless technology helps companies reduce emissions, cut costs and raise performance,” Hesse said.

The in-dash, NavPlus technology system uses a high-resolution, 7-inch color screen and 8 gigabytes of memory. Together, navigation and business systems will be provided with vehicle connectivity services for drivers while driving. When a truck is not in motion, the driver will be able to access the Internet and send and receive e-mails to enhance communi-cations with dispatchers, logistics providers, and shippers. The Sprint connectivity service is available as an option.

NavPlus also includes hands-free phoning with Bluetooth, back-up camera options, vehicle data, and audio controls, including satellite radio, AM/FM, CD, MP3 and USB. When launched later this year, Kenworth NavPlus will become standard on Kenworth trucks with all premium interior trim offerings, and on diesel-electric hybrid vehicles. The system also will be available as an upgrade on any Kenworth standard trim package. n

“Quips & Quotes”Remember every day is Thanksgiving—don’t ever get discouraged.

~Denny Christensen

See You in Warm, Sunny ScottSdale!

The 11th Annual UTA ConventionBooT CAmp 2010

UTA Industry watch


Facing Facts about Social Media Sites

Is the time you’re spending on social media sites worth it? This is a question any business owner who is using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and so on, in part to promote his business, should be asking.

Now that these sites have been around for a while, we’ve gotten the message that using them can help businesses grow. Next it’s time to cost justify our time and trouble.

But how do you do that?

This is a question that Ad Age asked recently in an article entitled, Your Followers Are No Measure of Your Influence. The ad industry publication pointed out that many celebrities, for example, don’t even bother with Twitter. Of course, many more do but what does it buy them? They may have millions of followers, but just what do those folks add to their bank accounts? “It’s hard to imagine that Justin Bieber, with his 6.4 million followers, is driving much behavior other than getting people to talk about Justin Bieber, frenetically retweet him, and possibly buy a record,” Ad Age suggested.

To turn the table around, if you’re using Twitter and Facebook to network a bit, and handle some customer service or promotion, how much time should you be spending on these sites? Just enough to respond to inquiries, and maybe promote your business here and there? Or much more?

Don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying that these sites aren’t important or that you shouldn’t be on them. We’re big fans, and think that they can work well. It makes sense that Time Magazine named Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg its 2010 Person of the Year. But success isn’t a given—far from it. What can you do to stack the odds in your favor?

For one thing you can use handy tools like Twitter Search to monitor what’s being said about your business. It’s easy to set up such a feed and it can help you keep your Twitter time

productive. You should also have a “to do” list when you go on these sites for business purposes, to minimize wasted time.

Obviously there’s a lot more to this, which is why social media payoff is one of the questions we will be tackling this coming year. If you’d like to share your own thoughts about this (or anything else for that matter!) just drop us a note at [email protected] or call us at 301-293-0050.

Deb and Brad Schepp [email protected]

From where we Sit

Industry Watch Newsletter - February 2011

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