autobody news march 2014 southeastern edition

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

As predicted, the polar vortex thatwrought havoc at the beginning of theyear strengthened and continued mov-ing southward in late January, resultingin more unusually low temperaturesand icy winds. This winter storm sys-tem impacted most of the country with34 states being under some sort of win-ter weather warning or advisory duringthe last week of the month.

While residents in the northernstates are more accustomed to harshwinter precipitation, areas in the southwere left floundering at the unusual

phenomenon of snow and ice thatpoured down in states that generallyenjoy much milder winters. This ab-

normal weather system raised a lot ofconcern and caused significant dam-age in many southern metropolitanareas, particularly in Atlanta, GA, and

Earl Edward Clauge, Jr., 51, an em-ployee of Timberland Ford in Perry,FL, crashed a vehicle into the front ofthe dealership, exited the vehicle, andbegan shooting, at about 10:30 AMWednesday, February 5.

Taylor County Sheriff’s DeputyRobert Lundy was in the dealershiphaving his car serviced when Claugesmashed through the glass in his blackNissan truck.

On Wednesday, Clague had calledin sick, but showed up a short time later,when he crashed through the front win-dow with his truck and opened fire.

An employee of the store ran toget Lundy, who was having his patrolcar fixed in the service center.

Lundy responded by firing hisservice weapon and Clauge was killedby Lundy’s action, but not before

Clauge hit Lundy with a shotgun blast.Clauge also shot two other employees,said Gretl Plessinger with the FloridaDepartment of Law Enforcement. Twocivilians were shot and are recoveringat local hospitals while three additionalvictims suffered minor injuries.

In addition to the Remington 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun he shotRobert Lundy and two other employeeswith, Clague had another fully loadedpump-action shotgun in his truck as wellas a fully loaded rifle. Additional ammowas found on his person and in his truck.

FDLE spokeswoman Plesingersaid: “The shooter has been confirmedas 51-year-old Earl Edward Clague, Jr.We know that he’s from Taylor County,and he was a current employee of thedealership. We don’t have a motive yet.”

Axalta Coating Systems officially un-veiled the 2014 Brilliant Flames paintscheme on the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet

SS race car, driven by four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Se-ries champion Jeff Gordon,last week at the NASCARHall of Fame in Charlotte, NC.When the cover was removed,there were gasps, claps andeven an “awesome” could beheard from the crowd.

Motorsports announcer,Winston Kelley moderated apanel discussion comprised ofrace car driver Jeff Gordon;VP Axalta Coating Systems

and Head of North American BusinessNigel Budden; and Hendrick Motor-

Axalta Racing Paint Scheme Wows Fans in Charlotte,NC, Fans Treated to Brilliant Flames for Charity See Dealership Shooting, 3

See Axalta Racing, Page 17

See Polar Vortex Continues, Page 30

“I heard Mobile’s first responders’overtime budgets were used up [dur-ing Winter Storm Leon that blanketedthe Southeast],” said Greg Cole, dis-trict manager who oversees six of the15 Cockrell’s Body Shop locations. “Ithought, ‘What can we do?’”

Cole was well aware of the im-pact of the storm. Cockrell’s AutoBody saw between 30 and 40 vehiclesat their six locations as a direct resultof the storm. Local media called othershops and heard similar numbers.Cole said most of the damage hasbeen superficial.

“A lot of the cars that have beenbrought in have just been small bumpand dents,” Cole said. “We’ve had afew tow-ins that spun around on theroad and had some suspension dam-age so they couldn’t drive. But mostof them are just small bump anddents.”

Thankfully, Cole says no one washurt in any of the vehicle accidents

Cockrell’s serviced.“We can fix thebodies on the cars, but we don’t wantanybody to get hurt,” Cole said.

What Cole realized was beinghurt was the budgets for the respon-ders. The city needed help.

Cole approached his managerJody Johnston, with an idea to usesome of the company’s savings tohelp support the city’s overtime budg-

See Cockrell’s Helps Out, Page 8

Mobile, AL, MSO, Cockrell’s Body Shop, Steps Up toHelp the City During Winter Storm Leon

Perry, FL, Dealership Shot Up by Long-Term Employee,Sheriff’s Deputy Still in Serious Condition

Polar Vortex Continues to Plague SouthernStates in Late January and Early February

Greg Cole of Cockrell's Body Shop stands nextto Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson in front ofone of the shop's 12 locations along the I-65Service Road. Cole announced the donation of$12,000 toward helping to pay for overtimecosts. (Credit John Sharp/[email protected])

Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, and Nigel Budden picturedwith No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS

P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018

Change Service Requested

VOL. 5 ISSUE 1MARCH 2014

2 MARCH 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com

Southeast

Publisher & Editor: Jeremy HayhurstGeneral Manager: Barbara DaviesContributing Writers: Tom Franklin, Stefan Gesterkamp, John Yoswick, Janet Chaney,Toby Chess, Ed Attanasio, Chasidy SiskAdvertising Sales: Joe Momber, Sean Hartman, Bill Doyle, David Petro (800) 699-8251Sales Assistant: Louise TedescoArt Director: Rodolfo Garcia

Serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina,South Carolina and adjacent metro areas, Autobody News is a monthly publication for theauto body industry. Permission to reproduce in any form the material published inAutobody News must be obtained in writing from the publisher.©2014 Adamantine Media LLC.

Autobody NewsBox 1516, Carlsbad, CA 92018; (800) 699-8251 (760) 603-3229 Faxwww.autobodynews.com Email: [email protected]

BMW Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 39Cavalier Ford-Lincoln Greenbrier . . 23Certified Automotive PartsAssociation (CAPA). . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chief Automotive. . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Coggin Deland Honda . . . . . . . . . . 32Creative Metal Manufacturing. . . . . 10Crown Automotive Group . . . . . . . . 19Don Reid Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Ford Wholesale Parts DealersFL, GA, AL, MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Franklin Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram. . 4GM Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . . 42Gray-Daniels Auto Family . . . . . . . . . 5Gus Machado Ford. . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Hendrick BMW/MINI . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Honda-Acura Wholesale PartsDealers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 26-27

Hyundai Wholesale Parts Dealers . 34Jon Hall Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Kernersville Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Kia Motors Wholesale Parts Dealers. 35Landers Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge . . . . 24Malco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Mercedes-Benz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Mercedes-Benz Wholesale PartsDealers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

MINI Wholesale Parts Dealers . . . . 39Mitchell International. . . . . . . . . . . . 22MOPAR Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 31Nalley BMW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Porsche Wholesale Parts Dealers . 45PPG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Priority Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Reliable Automotive Equipment, Inc. . 9Safety Regulation Strategies . . . . . 18SATA Spray Equipment . . . . . . . . . . 8Sherwin-Williams AutomotiveFinishes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17

Subaru of Gwinnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Subaru Wholesale Parts Dealers . . 36Tameron Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14UniCure Spraybooths . . . . . . . . . . . 48Valspar Automotive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Inde

xofAdvertisers

ContentsREGIONALAxalta Racing Paint Scheme Wows Fans

in Charlotte, NC, Fans Treated to Brilliant Flames for Charity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Birmingham, AL, Shop Talks to Local Media, Sees Surge in Estimates, Says Consumers Need Educating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

FL’s Operation ‘Leaky Pipes’ Nets 12 Arrests . 12Four Firefighters Injured in Body Shop

Fire in Greensboro, NC. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Georgia Sees Unseasonable Business

Due to Storms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Knoxville Sees Body Shop Demand

Increase After Snowstorm . . . . . . . . . . 10Limitations On Florida’s PIP Insurance

Coverage May Complicate TreatingAccident-Related Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Miss. House Passes Passes InsuranceDisclosure Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Mobile, AL, MSO, Cockrell’s Body Shop,Steps Up to Help the City DuringWinter Storm Leon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

North Carolina Auto Insurers SeekNo Rate Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Perry, FL, Dealership Shot Up by Long-Term Employee, Sheriff’s Deputy Still inSerious Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Polar Vortex Continues to Plague Southern States in Late January and Early February . 1

Ray Gunder, Trailblazing CollisionAdvocate, Continues Speakingat Seminars Nationwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

COLUMNISTSAttanasio - The California Autobody

Association (CAA) Charts a Coursefor Shops in the Golden State. . . . . . . . 36

Franklin - The Sci-Fi Shop of the Future . . 34Yoswick - I-CAR Offers Update, Committees

Detail Plans at Last CIC Meeting. . . . . . 32

NATIONAL100 Lift Inspectors Are Now Auto Lift

Institute Certified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463M Automotive Expands ‘Hire our Heros’

Campaign Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Collision Network Adds 2 Stores

in WI and MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6AAA Says Right to Repair Needs to

Go Further . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41AAIA and CARE Conclude Voluntary Information

Sharing Agreement with OEMs. . . . . . . 44AASP-MO Hosts Mike Anderson for

State of the Industry Report andPartsTrader Meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Aisan Industry Co. Agrees to $6.86MCriminal Fine for Price Fixing . . . . . . . . 44

Alcoa Foundation Awards $60K Aluminum Training Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Aluminum-bodied F-150 is Boon toEurovac and Car-O-Liner . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Aluspot® Deluxe DF-900DX AluminumRepair Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

ASA BOD Elections Continue throughEnd of February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

ASA Encourages PartsTrader Actionat State Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Aston Martin Recalls Most Cars BuiltSince Late 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Attanasio - Get your Brand Out There

by Going Outdoors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Boyd Group Restructures Paint Supplier

Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Bridgestone Guilty of Price Fixing,

To Pay $425 Million Fine . . . . . . . . . . . 38Business Groups Urge OSHA to Dump

Silica Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45CAPA Elects Rod Enlow and Alan Bush

to Tech Committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Car-O-Liner Added to F-150 Ford

Rotunda Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Chicago Man Threatens Woman for

Keys But is Locked Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . 37CIF Holds Successful Fund Raiser in

Palm Springs, CA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Clean Rooms Becoming a Common Sight

in Body Shops Nationwide . . . . . . . . . . . 9Consumer Reports Says Tesla and

Subaru Move Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Couple Sentenced in Glass Embezzling

Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Dealer Group Sues Hitachi, Panasonic

and Mitsubishi in Part Fixing Dispute . . 28Diamond Standard’s New Reflexxion

Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Erie, PA, Sees 333 Accidents in

24-hour Span . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Elektron’s Multitool Aluminum Dent Station . 12Estify is Trying to be the Startup Disrupting

the Collision Industry; Many Have Tried, Few Have Succeeded. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

ETI Plans Market Research on CollisionRepair Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to beCompany’s New Name . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

FinishMaster Acquires Metro PaintSupplies Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Flowmaster Mobile Work StationEasy to Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Gerber Collision and Glass OpensThree New Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Honda Develops AdvancedAuto-Braking System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

In-Process Quality Assurance . . . . . . . . . 18Insurance Companies See a 20% Jump

in Claims in IL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Iowa Parts Retailer Invents “It’s a Life Saver”

to Alert Neighbors to Trouble Insidethe House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Maryland Reintroduces Insurer PartsProcurement Prohibition Legislation . . . 12

Midwest Auto Body Trade Show isMarch 20 in Altoona, IA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

NABC’s Golf Fundraiser at CIC Drawsa Sold-Out Crowd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

OEMs to Play a More Significant Role in NACE/CARS 2014 in Detroit. . . . . . . . . 38

Salt Shortage Seen in 44 OH Counties,Morton Blamed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

SCRS Provides Unified Voice for Industry. 42Tesla Contests Rules in Ohio, Other States:

Mixed Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Twitter Says its Users Buy Twice As

Many Cars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Two Killed, Including Owner, in Milford, IN,

Shop Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24VeriFacts Has Added Three New Repair

Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38WIN Offers Support for Women in the

Collision Repair Industry . . . . . . . . . . . 28

www.autobodynews.com | MARCH 2014 AUTOBODY NEWS 3

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Ray Gunder, Trailblazing Collision Advocate,Continues Speaking at Seminars NationwideGunder’s Auto Center owner, RayGunder is traveling throughout thecountry speaking with auto body re-pair owners about the most pressingissues facing the collision industry.

“It is time we take back controlof our shops by breaking the controlthe insurance companies have hadover the auto industry for manyyears.We need to stop seeing the bodyshop across town as an enemy, but asan ally in the industry,” says Gunder.

Gunder has become a guestspeaker at many industry seminarsand conventions throughout theUnited States. He recently returnedfrom Michigan and will be speakingagain in April in Mississippi at theSouthern Automotive Repair Confer-ence on topics such as consumersafety and protection, insurance com-pany steering tactics, bad repairs, in-surance company collision repairshops and current law suits filed byconsumers against insurance compa-nies for failure to pay for proper re-pairs.

“It is time we take back controlof our shops by breaking the controlthe insurance companies have hadover the auto industry for many years.We need to stop seeing the body shop

across town as an enemy, but as anally in the industry since we are allfighting the same fight,” said owner,Ray Gunder.

In addition to his speaking en-gagements, Gunder and his wife,Deanie, formed the non-profit, OneVoice, a group of independent autobody repair shop owners, attorneys,and others connected to the auto col-lision repair industry in June 2013.The non-profit was formed to bringthese leaders together throughout theyear to discuss industry issues andwork together to change the way in-surance companies contract with autorepair centers.

Founded in 1969, Gunder’s AutoCenter has been serving fellow Lake-land community members and theCentral Florida area for over 40 years.

The Gunder’s also formed theAuto Angel’s Car Give-a-Way, bring-ing together many other shops, ven-dors, and the industry to giveChristmas vehicles to the needy.

Gunder’s Auto Center is located930 Griffin Road, Lakeland, FL,33805. For more information aboutGunder’s Auto Center or One Voice,please call 863-688-7897 or visithttp://www.gundersauto.net.

Georgia State Insurance and SafetyFire Commissioner Ralph Hud-gens says Georgians have filedmore than an estimated ten millioninsurance claims due to the winterstorms.

With those spike in claims,many collision centers also began tosee an influx in business as dam-aged cars have been pouring in.

Hunter Bryan, of MaacoBody Shop says the increase hasbeen good, but hectic.

“It was pretty chaotic. We hadpeople coming in and out that havebeen accident related from the iceas well as poor vision from thesnow,” said Bryan.

Bryan says their business wasup by about 30 percent.

KN Collision Repair was alsoamong the many body shop’s to seean influx of damaged cars come in.

Owner Ken Nicholson sayshe’s fixed 15 cars since last weekand has about ten left to finish. “Theaverage claim was about $4,500,”said Nicholson.

Both shops say they expect toreceive more claims as multiplecalls are still coming in as of thisweek.

Georgia Sees UnseasonableBusiness Due to Storms

Miss. Lawmakers could require insur-ers to disclose how much they collect inpremiums and how much they pay inclaims in each ZIP code, under HouseBill 753. The bill could spark more de-bate over how much coastal home-owners are charged to cover againsthurricanes, as well as make it clearerwhat areas private wind insurers areavoiding. The House Insurance Com-mittee passed that bill, as well as HouseBill 756, which would regulate wheninsurers can charge homeowners a hur-ricane deductible. Both go to the fullHouse for more debate. The disclosuremeasure, called the “Clarity Act” by itssupporters, is modeled after a similarlaw that was passed in Alabama. There,an initial round of disclosure has showncoastal homeowners have paid farmore in premiums than they got backin claims in recent years. “Our suspi-cions were we were being overchargedon the coast and we got very clear con-firmation of that,” said Stan Virden, aGulf Shores, AL, man who is active ina group called the Homeowners Hurri-cane Insurance Initiative.

Many of those homeowners endup buying policies from the state-spon-sored Mississippi Windstorm Under-writing Association.

Miss. House Passes PassesInsurance Disclosure Bill

On January, 16, 2014 the CollisionIndustry Foundation (CIF) held its4th Annual Gala Fundraiser in PalmSprings California. The foundationhosted a lively cocktail party, com-plete with Asian Fare hor d'oeurvesand delicious cocktails at therenowned Lulu California Bistro.CIF President Bill Shaw addressesthe crowd with fellow trustees. About100 people from the industry at-tended the event. Attendees wereable to participate in a raffle andsilent auction featuring many do-nated items including high-end elec-tronics and an Indy Race CarPackage. The gala was very success-ful and CIF was able to raise an un-precedented $32,000. The majorfocus of the foundation's support hasbeen the Collision Industry ReliefFund. The fund helps collision repairprofessionals who have lost theirlivelihoods from a natural disaster orother catastrophe. This event was thefoundation's most successful eventyet. Cheryl Boswell, CIF's Treasurersaid that, “We could not have donethis without the help of those whodonated silent auction items andsponsored the event.” See www.colli-sionindustryfoundation.org.

CIF Holds Successful FundRaiser in Palm Springs, CA

The Certified Automotive Parts As-sociation announced the election ofRod Enlow of RENlow Auto Tech-nical Consulting, Inc. of San Anto-nio, TX and Alan Bush of USAA,San Antonio, TX, as chair and vice-chair of CAPA’s Technical Commit-tee. CAPA’s Technical Committeeis unique in the collision repair in-dustry and is comprised of nation-ally recognized collision repairers,part distributors, manufacturers, in-surers, and quality experts. TheCommittee reviews, develops, andapproves CAPA’s publically avail-able quality standards. The Com-mittee operates on a fullytransparent and consensus basis andits crash parts standard developmentprocess has been approved by theAmerican National Standard Insti-tute (ANSI). Alan Bush, CAPA’snewly elected Technical Committeevice-chair, has over 28 years of ex-perience in the property and casu-alty field, 24 of them with USAA.He has served two previous termswith the CAPA Technical Commit-tee and returned to the committee in2012.

Both Rod and Alan are fromSan Antonio and are avid musicians.

CAPA Elects Rod Enlow andAlan Bush to Tech Committee


The Iowa Collision Repair Associa-tion (ICRA) sponsored MidwestAuto Body Trade Show convenes forits 4th year on March 20 at the PrairieMeadows Event Complex in Altoona,Iowa. Organizers have assembled awealth of new resources focused onthe future of the collision repair in-dustry. In addition to 60+ booths, at-tendees will get the latest on all theindustry’s hot topics from an impres-sive speaker list—including IowaState Senator Brad Zaun.

Topics include exciting info onthe new aluminum Ford F-150 withinformation fresh from Ford MotorCompany along with profit centers,aluminum welding, insurer mandateupdates, IT best practices and more.

A wealth of training programs &vendor exhibits make this year’s showa must-go for anyone in the industry:

8:30-11:30 am – ICAR’s NewTechnology for 2014 Makes & Models

Instructor Scott Schuerman 12:00- 1:30 pm – “There is No

Free Lunch” Industry Luncheon($30)

Iowa Sen. Brad Zaun and ICRALobbyist Scott Weiser: “Update onInsurer Mandates”

NuGen IT’s Pete Tagliapietra:“Information Technology & the Fu-ture of Collision Repair”

2:00 – 7:00 pm - Trade ShowFeat. 60+ Vendor Booths plus free“Training in the Round”

Ford’s Video Introduction ToAluminum F-150 Pickup Truck

Parts Procurement TrainingSocial Media TrainingNew Revenue Stream – Wire

Repair vs. ReplacementThe Prairie Meadows is offering

attendees a special discount on ac-commodations until March 10th:Mention code 031920141W whenbooking your reservation. More in-formation about the show is availableon the ICRA website.

For more information go to:http://www.iowacra.com.

Midwest Auto Body Trade Show is March 20 in Altoona, IA

Todd Liston says he’s fixing dou-ble the usual number of cars thisyear at Auto Body Specialists inRockford, IL. “Every aspect of ve-hicle accidents has gone up fromsliding off the road, which is defi-nitely there. The snow banks are sohigh that people are not even able tosee around the intersection, some-times and they pull out and get hitthat way,” said Liston. Aside fromcar accidents, local mechanics saythey’re running into another prob-lem, finding enough car parts. StateFarm Insurance reports a 20% jumpin their car insurance claims fromDecember 2012 to the same timelast year. That includes car acci-dents and roadside assistance fromdrivers sliding off the road. “We’reseeing a lot more multiple vehicleaccidents, a lot more accidents inthe ditch and a lot more rollovers.”Gwen Brooks says she’s filingabout 3 claims a day, compared to 3claims weekly last winter. Listonsays appointments at his shop arebeing pushed back about a month,due to so many weather-related ac-cidents. Manufacturers are runninglow on parts due to so manyweather related accidents.

Insurance Companies See a20% Jump in Claims in IL

Cars were coming into the LJI Colli-sion Center on Chagrin Road OrangeVillage, OH, two at a time Feb. 5.“They just keep coming in, theweather and the salt shortage havemade it rough for drivers,” saysowner Jill Strauss. “This winter hasbeen much worse. Cars are just slid-ing across the roads and need to gettowed in. We are working late nightsand weekends to catch up.” Thebanged up bumpers and off-kilterwheels underscore the slick road con-ditions that have been worsened thisyear as 44 counties in Ohio have seena massive salt shortage due to back-logged salt provider Morton Salt.“We have never had an issue like thisin the heart of the winter, and we willplan differently in the future as a re-sult,” says Bill Boag, the head ofShaker Heights Public Works. “I'vecalled the Morton Salt people—andmy calls were not returned. As a re-sult of the shortage we have to bestingy and think outside of the boxfor next year.” Boag says not onlywill Shaker Heights order more saltand expand storage options, it willnot rely on one vendor.

“We will never go with one con-tractor again I would bet,” he said.

Salt Shortage Seen in 44 OHCounties, Morton Blamed

Erie, PA, accident investigators re-ceived reports of one car accidentevery 30 minutes, from Tuesday,Jan. 29 through Wednesday, Jan. 30.As of Thursday morning, 333 acci-dents were reported to the Erie Po-lice Department so far this winter;that’s 62 more accidents than theysaw last January. The increase in ac-cidents is largely due to icy roadsand sub-zero temperatures. PrestigeAuto Body Shop has seen a big in-crease of vehicles needing repairs,just in the past week. “We have def-initely seen a spike in business, youknow, cars getting hit, people slidinginto ditches,” said Victor Irizarry ofPrestige Auto Body.

The number of cars in the lot atBonnell’s Collision Center has alsogone up. Of the 60 vehicles Bon-nell’s see’s every week, 60–70% ofcars have ice-related damages. “Alot of front-end, rear-end collision,sliding into one another out there,”said Jody Barto, Operating Man-ager at Bonnell’s. “We’re also see-ing a lot of vehicles leaving theroadway often sliding into guardrails and fences. Your average acci-dent is probably you know, $1,500to $2,000.”

Erie, PA, Sees 333 Accidentsin 24-hour Span

The 1Collision Network, a Midwestchain of independently owned colli-sion repair businesses, has announcedthe addition of Wilson Collision Cen-ters’ three locations to its family. Withthis addition, 1Collision now has 19facilities throughout Illinois, Iowa,Wisconsin and Michigan. The threeWilson Collision Centers are ownedby Kevin Wilson, who has been inbusiness for 12 years. “I was im-pressed with the 1Collision valueproposition, with many programs de-signed to enhance our success andplanned business growth,” said Wil-son. “I also see great value in affiliat-ing and networking with other highperforming, successful business own-ers.” 1Collision Network PresidentJim Keller commented, “We areproud to welcome Kevin and his or-ganization as our newest 1Collisionpartner. I first met Kevin at the MSOSymposium at NACE and knew fromour first conversation he was a highquality business owner, serious abouthis business, in touch with industrytrends and was thriving in the market-place because of his successful quali-ties. Visiting his businesses verifiedthe commitment Kevin and his staffhave to service excellence.”

1Collision Network Adds 2Stores in WI and MI

ets, which are stretched during natu-ral disasters like the ice storm that par-alyzed Mobile for more than 24 hours.

The company presented MobileMayor Sandy Stimpson with a $12,000check—representing 2 percent of thecompany’s savings during the month ofJanuary—and promised two moremonths of financial support that will beearmarked for overtime expenses.

“This is something we’re gratefulfor,” Stimpson said during a news con-ference at the Cockrell’s Body Shop at108 E. I-65 Service Road North. “Wehave Mobile heading in the right di-rection financially where we have peo-ple stepping up.”

The donation comes as the Stimp-son administration continues to pushfor private-public partnerships high-lighted with a donation in late Decem-ber by auto dealer Dean McCrary ofDeanMcCrary.com for approximately$11,000 that was used to pay for thefireworks display during MoonPieOver Mobile.

McCrary’s donation, which wasforwarded to a Events Mobile Inc.—a

non-profit entity that handled theplanning of the annual New Year’sEve event—came after the Stimpsonadministration decided that taxpayerswere only going to fork over $7,500for the fireworks show instead of theapproximately $18,000 cost in yearspast.

“It set a tone for what maybe whatother Mobilians can consider doing,”Stimpson said. “There are a lot of thingsthey can consider doing for our city. Ihope it begins a movement.”

Interim Mobile Fire-RescueChief Paul “Randy” Smith said the pri-vate support is “definitely” somethingthat can be utilized for a departmentthat is trying to shore up overtimecosts. The Fire-Rescue Departmentspent $250,000 on overtime during thethree-day ice storm event.

Other departments are also beingmindful of overtime costs. PoliceChief James Barber, earlier this week,said police patrols will be lighter dur-ing afternoon Mardi Gras parades thisyear in an effort to cut back on over-time during the city’s Carnival season.

“We’re happy we have citizenslike this and businesses in the citywilling to step up,” Smith said.

Private-public partnerships help-

ing to pay for public services is noth-ing new, but the practice has becomean increasing trend in the U.S. as citygovernments struggle with deficitsand budget cuts.

For Mobile, the push to generatemore public-private partnerships comesas the city battles its own budget issues,which includes a $4.4 million deficit forfiscal year 2014. Plans on how to re-duce the deficit are likely to be unveilednext week.

Those plans are likely to includemore ways to reduce overtime andother personnel expenses.

Cole said he hopes local busi-nesses support the local government.

“Let all Mobile businesses becalled to duty to help Mobile’s first re-sponders and join Cockrell’s BodyShop and our worthy cause,” he said.

Cockrell's Body Shop was estab-lished in 1941 by W. F. "Dick" Cock-rell. It was located on Craft Highwayin Prichard, Alabama. In 1979, theshop was relocated to Noel Avenue offthe I-65 service road. The Cockrellfamily of body shops now includesshops in the original Mobile location,West Mobile, Daphne, Bay Minette,Foley, and Theodore, Alabama, andPensacola Florida.


Continued from Cover

Cockrell’s Helps OutThe Boyd Group has opened threenew repair centers, two of which arelocated in Arizona and one in Mary-land. The new Mesa-Hampton Av-enue facility is the fourth location inMesa, AZ. This repair center is ap-proximately 15,500 square feet. Thesecond facility, in Tempe, AZ, on 3rdStreet, is approximately 15,000 sq ftand will be the third location inTempe. Both locations were previ-ously operated under the KustomKoachworks name and will now op-erate under the Gerber Collision &Glass brand. The company offersAGRR services through Gerber’sglass division. Gerber Collision &Glass did not purchase KustomKoachwork’s Scottsdale, AZ, loca-tion. The repair center in Ellicott City,MD, is located in a newly renovatedbuilding with one of the largest deal-ership groups in the market. It will beBoyd Group’s second location in El-licott City and is approximately12,500 sq ft. It will operate under theGerber Collision & Glass brand.“With the addition of three new repaircenters, we continue with our growthrate of 6–10 % through single store-additions,” said Tim O’Day, presi-dent and COO of U.S. operations.

Gerber Collision and GlassOpens Three New Centers

by Ed Attanasio

If you’re a body shop owner, you’veheard the news—aluminum is herenow and there’s more on the way andwe’re not talking about beer cans orcooking foil--we’re talking about carsand trucks and the advent of aluminumin many of our newer vehicles. To ad-here to the world’s more stringent fuel-efficiency standards, aluminum is anideal lightweight yet sturdy metal andthat’s why more and more car manu-facturers are producing and designingvehicles containing aluminum.

In the past, only foreign-made,high-end luxury vehicles were usingaluminum, but now the domestic automanufacturers are also joining theparty. For example, the new Ford F-150 will include 600 pounds of alu-minum, replacing approximately 1,000pounds of steel and pretty soon, ex-perts are claiming that all of the otherAmerican carmakers will join the mi-gration to aluminum.

Aluminum is not like steel and notevery body shop in the country is inter-ested in working with it, because it’shighly heat-sensitive and requires spe-

cial equipment, tools, training and cer-tifications. But, if you want to fix carsmade by Mercedes Benz, Audi, Jaguar,etc.—you will have to step up and in-vest in the equipment that they demand.Aluminum repairs aren’t just somethingyou can get into tomorrow by listing

them under you’re the Services sectionof your web site. It takes planning anda substantial investment in both timeand equipment but most notably, it willrequire the installation of a clean room.

An aluminum clean room is aquarantined cubicle dedicated to

strictly aluminum work. It’s carefullysectioned off from the rest of the shopvia curtains, so that steel and aluminumwill never meet. Steel and other typesof metal contain elements that contam-inate aluminum. Iron oxide flies intothe air when technicians grind and sand

steel components, which causes corro-sion. That leads to adhesion and paintfailures. Shops end up replacing thoseruined components and eating that partof the repair and damaging the bottomline, especially if it becomes common-place.

Reliable Automotive Equipment,Inc. in Belford, NJ is one of the coun-try’s leading providers of clean roomsfor the collision industry. GeneralManager Mike Kirchoff has seen theevolution of aluminum in cars, be-cause his company has been on thecutting-edge of this movement since2003. “We’ve been providing cleanrooms and the associated tools andequipment since before most bodyshops were even thinking about alu-minum,” Kirchoff said. “At first, wewere working with a lot of collisioncenters associated with dealershipsselling mostly Mercedes Benz, Audi,Tesla and Jaguar, but now we’re get-ting calls from independent shops andsmall Multiple Shop Organizations(MSO’s) that want to fix these higher-end vehicles.”

Setting up a clean room with theright equipment and tools is not some-thing you can learn on Wikipedia, ac-cording to Kirchoff. “Part of what weoffer is our knowledge and experience,”Kirchoff said. “Anyone can construct aroom, but do you know how to equip itwith the best tools available? We know


Clean Rooms Becoming a Common Sight in Body Shops Nationwide

Here is an example of what a good clean room setup looks like, courtesy of Reliable AutomotiveEquipment, the country’s leading provider of clean rooms to the collision industry

See Clean Rooms, Page 14


The Flowmaster Mobile Work Sta-tion is a portable, clean air re-circu-lating unit that can be used forsanding, priming, spot paintingusing the 3 oz. rule or even as awhole shop clean air solution. Itcomes equipped with either 110Vfor universal applications or 220V.It is the most powerful unit on themarket with up to 10,000 cfm and atotal overall measurement of 8’4”tall, 4’ wide and 28” deep. A basicunit is finished in galvanized steelwith an option of powder coating.The four-stage filtration system isthe highest in the industry as well asthe most inexpensive to change.There is no assembly required. It’sas easy as rolling into your shop,plugging it in and turning it on. Theeasy mobility over various terrainsis possible with the 8” heavy dutypneumatic air wheels with a lockingfeature. Other features include a 50’electrical cord, folding hook and afilter change indicator. The Flow-

Master does not need permits, firesuppression, plumbing or roof pene-tration. The FlowMaster MobileWorkstation is made in the USA.For more information, see www.cre-ativemetalmfg.com.

Flowmaster Mobile Work Station Easy to Use

Four firefighters out of more than100 who responded to a 911 callwere injured extinguishing a fire atImport Knight Auto Repair at 811 S.Elm St in Greensboro, NC on Jan31. The fire broke out at the shopabout 12:45 p.m.

The four were injured soonafter the fire started and the roof col-lapsed, according to fire officials.All but one were released from thehospital that same evening.

Smoke from the blaze could beseen billowing miles from the down-town area. Greensboro Fire Depart-ment officials said the roof at ImportKnight Auto Repair collapsed asfirefighters were battling the blaze.

The four injured firefighterswere taken to local hospitals for treat-ment. One remains in the hospital asof press time. Forty-seven secondsafter the first 911 call came in, dis-patchers sent fire trucks to the scene.Within five minutes of that first call,firefighters were at the ImportKnights building. Then, a compli-cated and coordinated communica-tions effort began.

Greensboro police had blockedthe area surrounding the building and

are re-directing traffic. Motorists wereencouraged to use alternate routes.

Greensboro Fire Chief GregGrayson provided an update on thecondition of the four firefighters:

Capt. Sterling Suddarth was themost seriously injured of the four.He was transported to Wake ForestBaptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem for treatment of his injurieswhich are described as non life-threatening.

Firefighter Matthew Clapp is atMoses H. Cone Memorial Hospitalin Greensboro receiving treatmentfor a non-life threatening injury toone of his legs.

Capt. Shane Boswell and fire-fighter Bryan Bachemin were bothtreated for minor injuries and released.

Four Firefighters Injured in Body ShopFire in Greensboro, NC

Some Knoxville collision shops saythey’re already getting more callsfor estimates and repairs, after thesnowstorms.

“People parked on the side ofthe road, couldn’t get around, peo-ple who got ran into,” said techni-cian Scott Grizzell with JoeNeubert’s west Knoxville location.They are getting more calls in oneday right now, than what they usu-ally receive in a week —because ofthe snow.“Could be a little bumper job, couldbe a busted headlight,” Grizzell said.“Then again, it could be the frontend shifted over to one side.”

The shop is working double-time now, as repairmen try to get theirwork on pre-snow jobs done. Theyknow in a matter of days, they’ll startworking on snow and ice-relatedcrash repairs.

“The phones will start ringing.Claims will start being made —what we needed to do to reach thatprocess,” said Jeff Neubert.

He adds some will wait untilafter the winter, if the damage is cos-metic. Others may not have that lux-ury.

“Headlights knocked out, andalignment knocked down, and flattires, and busted wheels,” Neubertsaid. “There will be some peoplewith radiators damaged — so therewill be some people who’ll have tohave repairs done.”

He estimates the amount of in-quiries on estimates could equal the2011 hail storm, that left thousandsof East Tennessee cars dented andscarred.

“North shop, west shop — bothlocations will be seeing a lot morebusiness than what we seen duringthe hail storm,” said Neubert.

It’s expected to be a long fewdays ahead for these kind of busi-nesses.

“Trying to get the cars out andworking overtime and getting the carspushed out,” repairman Grizzell said.

Knoxville Sees Body Shop DemandIncrease After Snowstorm

Search:

Autobody Newson Facebook


The ongoing insurance fraud investi-gation known as ‘Operation LeakyPipes’ has led to the arrests of 12Miami residents, according to an an-nouncement made by CFO Jeff Atwa-ter. The investigation uncovered ascheme between a licensed public ad-juster and a plumber to coach home-owners on how to file fraudulentinsurance claims for pre-existing ornon-existent water damage. The home-owners filed fraudulent claims in an at-tempt to claim money for homeremodeling. “These 12 individualstried to cheat the system and now theyhave to face the consequences,” saidAtwater. “The National InsuranceCrime Bureau works with its 1,100member companies and law enforce-ment to identify, investigate, and deterinsurance fraud that impacts the Amer-ican public,” said NICB Director Den-nis Russo. “The NICB values ourpartnership and working relationshipwith the Florida Division of InsuranceFraud.” DIF detectives obtained swornconfessions from all 12 named home-owners. They were arrested and trans-ported to the Miami Dade County Jailfor processing. Although the home-owners will be charged individually,the scheme in total resulted in a loss ofmore than $175,000 to insurers.

FL’s Operation ‘Leaky Pipes’Nets 12 Arrests

Elektron’s Multitool Aluminum Dent StationElektron’s new MultiTool AluminumDent Repair Station is a complete mo-bile workstation equipped with thetools technicians need to properly re-pair dents in aluminum sheet metalbody panels and hoods.

Because ferrous metal can con-taminate aluminum and cause corro-sion (leading to adhesion issues and

paint failure), best practices for alu-minum repair call for dedicated alu-

minum repair areas and equipment.Elektron’s MultiTool Aluminum DentRepair Station includes a work area aswell as space for storing the tools usedexclusively on aluminum compo-nents.

“The new MultiTool AluminumDent Repair Station is self-containedand mobile, making it easy to use inshops with dedicated aluminum repairbays as well as those that only workon aluminum occasionally and needsomething that can be pulled out asnecessary,” explains Mike Cranfill,vice president of collision for VehicleService Group (VSG), Elektron’s par-ent company. “Many vehicle hoodsare already made out of aluminumand the use of aluminum in vehiclesin North America will continue to in-crease. The Elektron MultiTool Alu-minum Dent Repair Station representsan affordable investment in a shop’sfuture by providing equipment neces-sary to work on the next generation ofcars and trucks.”

The fully equipped MultiToolworkstation comes complete with thenew MultiSpot M22 AL stud welder.This 115V aluminum capacitor dis-charge welder includes a stud gun andtwo-clamp grounding cables. A starterkit of aluminum studs and zinc-platedsteel eye-bolts is included.

Bills introduced in Maryland House andSenate seek to eliminate insurance com-pany mandated procurement processes.Bills also provide for “Genuine” partsfor three years after manufacture. Billsprohibiting insurance companies andtheir employees from specifying spe-cific collision repair parts procurementprocesses were reintroduced in both theSenate and House of the General As-sembly of Maryland this week. SenateBill 487, sponsored by Senator John C.Astle and its companion House Bill 574,sponsored by Delegate John A. Ol-szewski, Jr., would prohibit “… a spec-ified adjuster, appraiser, insuranceproducer, or employee of an insurerfrom requiring a motor vehicle repair fa-cility to use a specific vendor or processfor the procurement of parts or othermaterials necessary for the repair of amotor vehicle; requiring an insurer thatissues or delivers in the State a policy ofmotor vehicle liability insurance thatprovides coverage for the repair of phys-ical damage to the insured motor vehicleto authorize specified repairs to be madeusing genuine crash parts; etc.” Cospon-sors of the Senate Bill include SenatorDavid Brinkley, Senator Richard Col-burn, Senator Brian Feldman, SenatorKatherine Klausmeier, Senator Math-ias, Senator Catherine Pugh, SenatorRamirez, Senator Jamin Raskin, and

Senator Norman Stone, Jr. Cosponsorsof the House Bill include DelegateCharles Barkley, Delegate Conway, andDelegate Kramer. The bills largely mir-ror House Bill 1375 that was introducedby Delegate Mark Fisher, a former re-pairer, during last year’s legislative ses-sion in Maryland.

In addition to prohibiting insurersfrom requiring specific procurementprocesses, the bill also requires insurersto authorize “genuine crash parts” thatare defined as OEM, or authorized tocarry the name or trademark of theOEM, for a period of three years after

the date of manu-facture. Lastyear’s bill re-quired a five yearperiod. Con-sumers can, how-ever, authorize theuse of aftermarketcrash parts.

According toJordan Hendler,executive directorof the WMABA,the association has

met with sponsors of the bills and par-ticularly supported what the associationbelieves are the consumer protection as-pects of the legislation.

“For members of the Washington

Metropolitan Auto Body Associationthese bills are about protecting con-sumers,” said Hendler. “Our membersare seeing more and more people areopting out of rental coverage, so whileany delays caused by insurance com-pany parts procurement processes mightnot hurt the insurer, consumers will haveto spend that money out of their pocket.”

The three year period where insur-ers must authorize OEMs helps con-sumers and is similar to consumerprotection laws in other states. “Severalother states have similar laws placing atiming restriction on aftermarket parts,”said Hendler. The association had alobby day scheduled last week to meetwith representatives about this and otherlegislation. That meeting was postponeduntil next month due to inclementweather. Details will be release by theassociation shortly.

“Repairers need to get involvedwith the legislative process,” saidHendler. “They can send a letter to theirlegislator asking for their support ofthese consumer-oriented bills. Yes, itdoes help the repairer in the end, but thereason it matters most is that it protectsthe interests of the consumer to be madewhole after an accident. Without it, theyjust simply are subject to insurer cost-containment tactics that have no regardfor subsequent harm to that consumer.”

Maryland Reintroduces Insurer Parts Procurement Prohibition Legislation

Jordan Hendler,Executive Directorof the WashingtonMetropolitan AutoBody Association

Clague had worked for the dealershipoff and on for the past 15 to 20 years.

“While we don’t know his motive,we feel confident that his intent was toshoot and hurt as many people as pos-sible,” said Don Ladner, Florida De-partment of Law Enforcement specialagent. “Deputy Lundy’s actions endedthis situation quickly,” Ladner said.

Williams said Lundy had a suc-cessful surgery Wednesday and was instable, but critical, condition still.

Two other employees were shotas well. They both are in local hospi-tals. We do believe they will survive,and we think they’re going to be okay.We’re not releasing their identities atthis time… [Clague] used a semi-au-tomatic shotgun. We aren’t releasingany further details about the ammuni-tion at this time. It is still a very activeinvestigation… [Lundy] was remark-able. He did everything he should havedone. He saved a lot of lives today.”

Capt. James Cruseof the Perry Po-lice Department said the two employeeswho were shot are “recovering at areahospitals at varying stages of recovery.”

The Florida Department of LawEnforcement Tallahassee RegionalOperations Center, Perry Police De-partment and Taylor County Sheriff’sOffice are investigating.

Timeline:10:28:31 Deputy Lundy radioed

shots were fired.10:29:17 Deputy Lundy an-

nounced he had been shot.10:29:24 In less than one minute

after Deputy Lundy’s announcement ofshots fired, officers arrived on scene.

11:10 Deputy Lundy went intosurgery.

4:00 p.m. Deputy Lundy was instable, but critical condition.

“The selfless actions of thisdeputy saved many lives today,” saidTaylor County Sheriff L.E. “Bummy”Williams. “The safety of the citizensof Taylor County is our main concern,and Deputy Lundy was willing to riskhis own life today to save others. I amproud of his bravery and his heroismis to be commended. Deputy Lundy,his family and the victims are in myprayers.”

Taylor County Deputy RobertLundy is still listed in stable, but criticalcondition in the intensive care unit atDoctors’ Memorial Hospital in Perry.



Dealership ShootingGinger Lowrey with RiverchaseCollision Repair located near theGalleria in Birmingham, AL, hasbeen busy estimating cars that needrepair and re-finishing from the win-ter gridlock. “We’ve just had a lot ofcalls, a lot of people come by, manymore estimates than we would nor-mally write,” says Lowrey.

Lowrey told local news sourcesthat consumers need to be carefulwhere they take their vehicles. “Ithink any body shop that will offeryou a warranty for a long as youown the vehicle is going to be a rep-utable shop,” said Lowrey. “I thinkyou have to be real careful whenyou file insurance claims. Oftentimes you will be sent to a preferredshop and they are preferred becausethey give that insurance companydiscounts in exchange for volume.”Lowrey says also know what you’repaying for.

“You don’t want a lot of junkparts or aftermarket parts, they’regeneric and may void warranties onyour vehicle,” said Lowrey. “Mostpeople don’t know that aftermarketparts are not crash tested [for warrntypurposes]. So if you buy a 5-starminivan that’s crash-tested, then you

throw aftermarket parts on it, it willnot be a 5 star crash rated minivananymore.”

And she advises consumers toget their vehicle to a shop as soon aspossible.

“If your vehicle is repaired youwill not be charged storage fees at arepair facility. You will be chargedstorage fees if it is towed to a tow lot.I would pick a shop, have a vehicletowed to the shop you want to have itrepaired at, and then you will avoidany extra charges,” she said.

Lowrey recommends thesewebsites for consumers:www.yourvehicleyourchoice.comwww.stopsteering.comwww.alarise.com

Cars were also lining up at carwashes like Blue Rain Express. Staffmembers at the car wash say they areexpecting to see breaking numberswith more than 900 customers inline.

Meantime, Birmingham policesay they are avoiding towing vehiclesstill abandoned on city streets afterthe week’s ice and snow storm, andare giving people a chance to pick uptheir cars as long as it’s not interfer-ing with traffic.

Birmingham, AL, Shop Talks to Local Media, SeesSurge in Estimates, Says Consumers Need Educating

what each manufacturer requires andthat’s why body shops gravitate towardworking with us. Using the rightwelders, riveters and the correct handtools as well as having proper lighting—these are crucial decisions. So, we sitdown with every customer and discusstheir specific needs. What cars do youwant to pursue certifications for? Whathappens if you want to add manufactur-ers at a later date? What is the size andlayout of your shop floor? By gettinganswers to these questions, we can iden-tify the best package for each shop.”

What are the essential compo-nents needed in every clean room en-vironment? Kirchoff briefly describedeach category to give us a general ideaof what’s involved:

Tool Set: Shops need an entirely sep-arate set of tools to be used only foraluminum. You’ll need to buy a sec-ond set of all the tools you currentlyuse on steel, because contaminantscan adhere to your tools and lead tomajor problems down the road.

Bonding Agents and Guns:Very spe-cific based on each manufacturer andtheir use. Different adhesives requirespecialized equipment.

Safety Equipment: Technicians needa separate set of safety equipment forthe clean room, including eye gogglesand gloves.

MIG/Pulse Arc Welder: The charac-teristics of aluminum require the useof MIG/Pulse Arc welders.

Riveting Tools:Aluminum requires theuse of high-tech riveting tools, many ofwhich are also used on airplanes.

Explosion-Proof Vacuum:An explo-sion-proof vacuum is necessary toclean excess dust from the room. Itdraws all hazardous particles into awater bath to prevent thermite reac-tions and explosions. In addition,you’ll require a Gas Evacuation Sys-tem to suck out all the contaminants

Parts Cart: Absolutely anything thataluminum components will touchneeds to be 100 percent dedicated forpermanent aluminum use. That in-cludes parts carts, stands, workbenchesand jacks. Cross-using those items be-

tween different materials causes a riskof contamination.

30 LB Class D Fire Extinguisher: Aspecial fire extinguisher is required in

the event of a thermite reaction, be-cause typical extinguishers can actu-ally spread these types of fires.

Frame Bench: Specialized frameequipment is required for measuringand jigging structural aluminum com-ponents.

Paul Sgro is the owner of Lee’sGarage in West Long Branch, NJ. Wellbefore aluminum was prevalent inmany vehicles, Sgro contracted RAEto install a clean room in his shop. Andit’s been a win-win ever since, he ex-plained.

“Eight years ago, we saw morealuminum in these cars and to get cer-tified with Audi and Mercedes, weknew we had to step up,” Sgro said.“We contacted RAE and they helpedus in every aspect of the design andconstruction of our clean room. Wedecided to build it in a room com-pletely separate from the rest of ourshop, so that contamination would bea non-issue. The steel never even getsclose to any aluminum, so it’s ideal.”

Lee’s Garage employs 21 peopleand fixes 200-275 cars monthly in amodest, 12,000 square-foot facilitybut by utilizing every inch wisely, hismove to a clean room has been a pro-ductive one, he said. “It’s not cheapworking on the cars we have certifica-tions for (Mercedes Benz, Jaguar,Land Rover, Porsche, Audi and Volk-swagen), especially when you includethe proper tools and training. We hadto ask ourselves—what do we want tobe? And the answer was yes—wewant to work on these types of cars,so we invested roughly $100,000 to

get there. Has it been a successful ven-ture? Yes, because we work with localdealerships and we have no DRPs.We get enough of these cars here inthe shop to justify the costs and I

know we’ll see a lot more of them inhere, because we’re known for beingskilled and have the equipment neces-sary to do these repairs. We have agood track record, which differenti-ates us from our competition.”

Sgro said working with RAE wasalso a smart move, he said. “Theirknowledge was so important and they

gave us the best solutions possible.They pushed us into the right directionand then everyone here bought into it.If you’re a shop considering a cleanroom, I would say—don’t hesitate.This is the beginning of the aluminumage and if you’re not on the cuttingedge, you might just get cut.”

Amber Alley is the manager atBarsotti’s Body & Fender in SanRafael, CA, a shop that has been re-pairing high-end luxury vehicles wellbefore the massive migration to alu-minum. Alley has three clean roomsgoing all the time, installed with theassistance of RAE, she explained.

“Shops call us all the time to askus about clean rooms—what they cost,how to install them, etc. I tell them,first look carefully at your part of thecountry and make sure people haveenough of these cars to justify the in-vestment. Here in Marin County, weget a lot of these cars and they makeup about 70% of our total car count.We fix 100-200 cars every monthwithout any DRPs, but that’s not goingto work in other regions. You can’t getinto this just part-time or half-time, be-cause these car manufacturers wantyou to prove that you’re 100% com-mitted to fixing them.”


An aluminum clean room is a quarantined cubicle that’s carefully sectioned off so that steel andaluminum will never meet

Continued from Page 9

Clean Rooms

Outdoor advertising used to primarilyconsist of billboards, but now withnew technologies and other emergingtypes of media, the signage industryincludes bus boards, taxi advertising,car wraps, trade show booth advertis-ing, bus stop and train stop mini-bill-boards, video kiosk advertising, sportevents advertising and even grocerycart advertising. It’s gotten to the pointwhere almost everywhere we look wesee an outdoor advertising messagefor some brand.

Body shops and collision centersall over the country utilize billboardsand other forms of outdoor advertis-ing to get their message out therewhile engaging their existing and po-tential customer base right where theywant them to be—in their cars or onbusses and in cabs, etc.

But, not everyone appreciatesoutdoor advertising and many call it“visual pollution.” Last year, SãoPaulo in Brazil was the first city toenact a ban on virtually all outdoor ad-vertising. Billboards, neon signs, andeven buses and taxis have been wipedclean of advertisements in the munic-ipality, the world’s fourth largest. Ac-cording to Mayor Gilberto Kassab,the city’s so-called “Clean City Law”meant attacking pollution in everyform, including air, water, noise andannoying signage.

Since its adoption, the law haseliminated some 15,000 billboards aswell as other ads citywide and hasgenerated more than $8 million infines, according to David Evan Har-ris from Adbusters. While some ad-vertising and business groupscomplain that the ban limits free ex-pression, costs jobs, and makes streetsless safe by reducing lighting fromsignage, the move has won more than70 percent approval from São Pauloresidents, many of whom appreciatethe aesthetics of a city with less ad-vertising.

São Paolo is not the only city totake action against outdoor advertis-ing. This spring, the municipal gov-ernment of Beijing, China’s capitalcity, began reducing ads by targetingbillboards for luxury housing. “Many[of the ads] use exaggerated terms thatencourage luxury and self-indulgence

which are beyond the reach of low-in-come groups and are therefore notconducive to harmony in the capital,”the city’s mayor, Wang Qishan, toldThe Wall Street Journal.

Well, as long as it’s still legal,outdoor advertising is an ideal way for

collision repair companies to continuetheir ongoing branding efforts. Get-ting your name in the brain of the con-sumer in your area is key and if abillboard or an inflatable gorilla stand-ing on your roof will reinforce yourshop’s name and lead to people com-ing through the door, why not do it?

Zara’s Collision Center inSpringfield, IL, has been using bill-boards for the past seven years and itsowner, Brad Zara strongly believesthey bring him business, he said, al-though he has no specific numbers.

“Most of the billboards we dohere in Springfield are not near ourshop, because we want to pull busi-ness from other parts of the city,” Zarasaid. “We do four different themesevery year and run each one quarterly,so that there’s some variety. We usu-ally donate one billboard per year to alocal charity or cause we believe in.Our logo is there on those charity-based billboards, but in the end wegive the organization or cause most ofthe space.”

Are his billboards worth the cost,we asked Zara. “I have no idea, actu-ally,” he said. “But I can tell youthis—our customers mention them lit-erally every day. People say thingslike ‘I saw this billboard yesterday,’etc.—but that billboard was fromthree years ago. But they think it’s stillup there, which is good, because itshows that they’re thinking of us and

they still have that message in theirbrains.”

Zara’s gets their billboard designsand coordinates the placement of thebillboards through HIP Advertising isa full-service central Illinois advertis-ing agency offering creative, market-ing, Web and media services. MarkButler, a corporate communicationsexecutive at HIP Advertising has beenworking with Brad Zara on his bill-board campaigns since day one. “Ourrelationship with Zara’s came from acold call back in 2005, as I recall,”Butler explained. “The campaign hasgrown from there and by now, we havethe process down. At the end of eachyear, we sit down with Brad and hispeople and go over the creative con-cepts for each billboard for the follow-ing year. Then we do the final designsand start scheduling the billboards forthe coming year.”

When it comes to billboards ingeneral, the key is obviously visibil-

ity, but the message is also a big part,Butler said. “It has to be simple anddirect with a large graphic supportingthe message. A common mistake iswhen companies try to convey toomuch information on a billboard.Drivers aren’t going to sit there andread it, so you have to convey yourmessage quickly. If you’re going get10-15 seconds of their time, that’spretty much the max. So brevity iscrucial if you want your billboard toget response. With Zara’s, we like touse a fun, whimsical and humorousapproach and it really seems towork.”

Jon McKnight is the business de-velopment manager at Fife’s AutoBody, with two locations in Ohio.Rife’s has been buying billboards andother forms of outdoor advertising forthe past five years and the results arepositive, he explained.

“People around here know whowe are, and by asking each customer


Get your Brand Out There by Going Outdoors

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based inSan Francisco, California. He can be reached [email protected].

Zara’s Collision Center in Springfield, IL hasbeen using billboards for the past seven years

Through its 2013 Hire Our Heroescampaign, 3M Automotive Aftermar-ket donated $250,000 to programs thathelp returning military veterans, andhonored some 25 veterans who arecurrently working in auto body repairshops along with their repair shopowners at the November NASCARrace in Texas. “The message of HireOur Heroes was directed to shop own-ers and managers, so it felt right torecognize those veterans working inour industry and the owners who em-ploy them,” said Dale Ross, U.S. mar-keting operations manager for 3MAutomotive Aftermarket Division.“The $250,000 donation was madepossible due to the support from ourmany distributors and collision shop

customers through their purchases of3M products, and we thank them forhelping make this program a successin 2013.”

This year, 3M Automotive After-market will expand the Hire Our He-roes program to continue to serveveterans. The 2014 program will againinclude a goal of $250,000 in grantsand support for collision repair train-ing delivered through the CollisionRepair Education Foundation. Andthis year, the Foundation and 3M arecreating a job matching service to con-nect graduates of the collision repairprograms with auto body shops look-ing for skilled, qualified employees.Grants are available for qualifying re-turning veterans and family members.

Grants may be used for tuition,school fees, tools, textbooks and equip-ment at qualifying technical schools.

For additional information and toapply, visit:www.CollisionEducationFounda-tion.org.

“We are excited to be able tocontinue the 3M Hire Our Heroesprogram in 2014 and expand it toprovide more resources to our re-turning veterans who want to pursueeducation, training and jobs in thecollision industry,” said Ross. “Wehad an opportunity to meet many de-serving veterans during the course ofthe 2013 program and were honoredto help with their transition to civil-ian life and a new career path.”

For 2014, distributors of 3Mproducts and shop owners can con-tinue to help support the 3M Hire OurHeroes campaign. For every qualify-ing purchase by a shop owner of selectpopular 3M products, 3M will con-tribute to the campaign, with a goal of$250,000 total. This year, distributorsales professionals who lead the effortcan also earn a trip to a NASCAR racein Bristol, TN, or a trip to the SEMAShow. to show their support of U.S.veterans. For more information con-tact Ted Guck, 3M Automotive After-market, at tcguck@ mmm.com or go towww.3mcollision.com/hire.

through the door how they heardabout us, we know that the billboardsare being seen,” McKnight explained.“That’s pretty much what you wantfrom any form of advertising or mar-keting. We partner with charities andgive us our billboards, at least oneevery year and we also do promotionsvia our billboards. We gave away around of golf one time, by askingpeople to like us on Facebook and wealways try to do timely things. For in-stance, right now we’re running aWinter Olympics theme. We’ve usedevery technique to get consumers tolook at our billboards. We put ourdogs on there and we even ran onebillboard upside down, just to create abuzz and entice the public—and itseemed to work!”


3M Automotive Expands ‘Hire our Heros’ Campaign Grants

sports Chairman and Owner RickHendrick. Axalta Racing paint schemeartist Sam Bass was also available totake questions from media.

The paint scheme, designed byBass marks the 22nd season of a his-toric partnership between Axalta,Hendrick Motorsports and Gordon. Inaddition to displaying the new car de-sign, Axalta presented Gordon with adonation to the Jeff Gordon Chil-dren’s Foundation. “This is truly abrilliant partnership. We are proud tosupport Team 24, Jeff’s philanthropicendeavors and Hendrick Motorsports.There is tremendous enthusiasm andmutual benefit. We look forward to asuccessful 2014,” said Budden.

Axalta’s first sponsored race ofthe 2014 season will showcase theBrilliant Flames paint scheme in LasVegas on Sunday, March 9, 2014 inthe Kobalt Tools 400.


Axalta Racing

by Lee V. Rush, Manager of BusinessConsulting Services, Sherwin-WilliamsAutomotive Finishes Lee can be reachedat [email protected].

I am not a theory guy and happy toadmit that. After nearly 20 years ofmanaging body shops, & MSOs, Ihave discovered technicians do not re-spond well to theory. So I prefer amore real world, shop floor, “boots onthe ground” approach when it comesto improving the quality process of acollision repair facility and coming upwith a strategy to execute.

When it comes to the qualitychallenges facing our industry, manywould agree that there is too muchtalk and far too little action. The issueis that most of us use “quality con-trol,” QC systems, to assure that less-than-perfect repairs don’t reach thecustomers. At Sherwin-Williams Au-tomotive Finishes we believe a moreeffective system should introducestandards for identifying and correct-ing quality defects at each stage in therepair process, “In-Process QualityAssurance” (IPQA).

IPQA focuses on the “process”not just the outcome. Too many bodyshops focus on the outcome of repairsor service and not the process. Bymapping processes you are able to re-duce or eliminate persistent qualityproblems. Processes that are poorlyconstructed lead to poor quality.

In terms of quality improvement,we must begin with a paradigmchange, which means a change in the“way we view the world”, the worldof collision repair. The world of colli-sion repair and our view of it have de-veloped over many years and havemany traditions of which most are nothealthy. I am amazed that I can havebasic service or tire work performedon my vehicle and it is taken for a testdrive after the work is performed. Yet,in our industry, a vehicle can have me-chanical and structural work per-formed and the technician will neverdrive the vehicle.

Our first order of business is torevise or change our view of the worldof collision repair. Remember thatsmall revisions in your world viewswill generally cause small behavioralchanges, yet incremental increases inquality performance, while significantrevisions cause significant behavioralchanges and large quality perform-ance improvements. To earnestly

begin your IPQA system you and yourteams will need a paradigm change

Problems with repair quality arefrequently the result of amisunderstanding or a mis-communication rather than areflection of the technician’sability to repair the vehiclecorrectly. There are twoprincipals at the core of anIn-Process Quality Assur-ance system:

1. Each step in the re-pair process must include awell-defined set of individ-ual and departmental re-sponsibilities.

2. Each technician must know ex-actly what is expected of them whenthey assume the responsibility for a re-pair process.

Though these principles do notseem very difficult or complicated,they have proven to be elusive tomany shops. You might say “no prob-lem, we are doing this today, and ourquality is fine”. The intent is to imple-ment a process that is consistent andpredictable with as little effort frommanagement as possible. The oppor-tunity is to eliminate the “internalredos” that cost a shop far more inproductivity and through-put than anycome-back. Certainly we want toeliminate come-backs, but the realgains come from eliminating “internalcome-backs,” repairs returning tobody from paint, to paint from body,from detail to body and paint… etc.These internal “come-backs” are farmore costly than customer come-backs. Just because they are not as ob-vious to the P&L statement and arenot reflected in “Policy Adjustment”we have become accustomed to ac-cepting them. Even when the final re-sults of our quality are good, the painand amount of effort to achieve andcomplete the delivered vehicle doesnot justify the losses in productivityand through-put. By implementing anIn-Process Quality Assurance systemin your shop, you can ensure the vehi-cle will move from department to de-partment eliminating stops and starts,and internal come-backs.

Each step in the repair process in-cludes a well-defined set of individualand department responsibilities fromfront end Sales & Service to Produc-tion. We are quick to point out thequality defects of a technician’s re-

pairs, however very remiss to point toour own defects in Sales & Service.The product we produce in the front

end of the business is as important toquality assurance as the repairs are tothe vehicle itself. From the accuracyof our Damage Analysis (100% accu-rate RO) to Parts Correctness (100%mirror matched parts), the manage-ment of Sales, Service, and Produc-tion Coordination are equallyaccountable to quality assurance as isthe technician’s repair of the vehicle.Once we realize improving the repairmeans improving the process, we canbegin to focus on the solution, and notthe problem. By identifying the Criti-

cal to Quality (CTQ) characteristics,we can standardize the methods thatbest produce the desired quality of re-pairs and services our customers ex-pect.

Let’s look at an example of each:

Quality Assurance Responsibilities inSales & ServiceBecause problems with repair qualityare frequently the result of a misun-derstanding or miscommunication, itis critical for the front end of the busi-ness to ensure the quality of work issuch that it provides all the necessaryinformation to production. By speci-fying each step in the repair processand including a well-defined set of in-dividual and departmental responsi-bilities, quality can be built into theproduct and service provided.

Critical to Quality (CTQ) for Sales &Service1. Customer Information Form com-pleted2. Customer concerns and requestsdocumented3. Complete Vehicle Check In Form


In-Process Quality Assurance

See Quality Assurance, Page 20

with customer4. Pre-Existing Damage identified5. Authorization to Repair Formsigned by customer 6. Payment process explained to cus-tomer7. Communication process explainedto customer8. CSI process explained to customer9. Repair Order information markedon glass 10. Vehicle moved to Damage Analy-sis staging area

When employees know exactlywhat is expected of them, they will as-sume responsibility for that repair andcustomer’s experience. Without clearlydefined expectations, they will neverassume the responsibility. After all,would you assume responsibility forsomething that has not been explainedto you clearly, written and discussed toensure everyone understands?

Once CTQ expectations are un-derstood it is important to set up theprocess by which the expectations areto be managed.

Key Elements of the Sales & ServiceProcessThe CSS or CSR has overall respon-sibility for the completion of the Salesand Service Vehicle Drop Off Process. 1. Complete, verify, and document allprocess steps before removing a vehi-cle from drop off to staging for DA.2. DRP requirements and the ap-proved billing must be verified and allinvolved personnel informed. 3. In a professional manner contactand update the customer every otherday on the repair progress.4. Obtain insurance approval or com-plete DRP documentation. 5. Any vehicle that is “On Hold” formore than 2 days is referred to the Fa-cility Manager.6. Use the correct formula to calculatethe projected delivery date.

Quality Assurance Responsibilities inProductionThe intent of the Production qualityassurance responsibilities is to estab-lish processes, standards, and ac-countability for: 1) identifying and 2)correcting quality defects at each stagein the vehicle’s repair process. TheProduction Process should inform andeducate the technicians about the Pro-duction Quality Assurance Process

and use the appropriate Critical toQuality characteristics. These CTQexpectations should be listed on aQuality Assurance Inspection (QAI)form, and all steps necessary to com-plete a QAI should be addressed. Pro-ceeding in this manner should resultin the quality being built in from de-partment to department.

Metal Technician Accountabilities* Structural areas properly welded* All welds cleaned and ground* OEM Seam Sealer applied properly* Clamp marks repaired inside and out* Corrosion protection applied to allmetal repairs* Parts Labels removed from all re-placed parts* Sound Deadening Panels Applied* Trim removed for paint as per repairorder* No Sand scratches, pin holes* Body lines correct* Gaps match other areas* Interior of Vehicle properly pro-tected

Key Elements of the Production ProcessThe Production Manager or the persondesignated as such has the overall re-sponsibility for the completion of theQuality Assurance Process andshould:1. Verify all inspections before mov-ing a vehicle to the next department. 2. Verify and sign the QAI and informall involved personnel. 3. Discuss all failures with all in-volved personal.4. Obtain QAI approval and completesign offs as soon as possible. 5. Be assertive and disciplined withQAIs.6. A vehicle that is “on hold” for a fail-ure for more than 2 days is referred tothe Facility Manager. 7. Document all failures for QualityAssurance review.

Once these responsibly and theprocess is defined and understood, theProduction Manager or the persondesignated as such has the overall re-sponsibility for the completion of theIn-Process Quality Assurance Processand will have the overall responsibil-ity to make sure this process is com-pleted according to expectations.However, the repair technician is re-sponsible for completing the inspec-tion of their own repairs and signingoff on the Quality Assurance Inspec-tion. Now, I know what you might bethinking, “If I can get them to sign theQAI, how can I be sure they will judge

themselves correctly”? Remember,our first order of business was tochange our view of the world of colli-sion repair and with that a new expec-tation.

Given the need to “connect thedots” between the grand concepts pre-sented to us by the visionaries in ourindustry and the managers and techni-

cians at the shop level, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes hasdeveloped the Managed Collision Re-pair program. MCR is a tactical, shop-level approach to lean implementationdesigned by collision operators forcollision operators. MCR uses a seriesof workshops to help operators clearlyunderstand each lean tool and developa custom strategy to implement these

tools in their own shops.

The MCR program is not your tradi-tional “training,” but a customized ap-proach focused on the real-worldchallenges we face when implement-ing lean tools within our shops, such asIn-Process Quality Assurance. With theemphasis on “workshop,” the MCR

program is designed to helpyour collision facility takethe implementation lessonswe have learned in the past toformulate a sustainable pro-gram to drive process im-provements moving forward.

By connecting the dots,together we can improveoverall quality, productivityand profitability through theuse of In-Process QualityAssurance. The point is that

you don’t have to be a lean expert totake advantage of the many lean toolsavailable in the industry today such asIPQA. We just need a simple, clearlydefined Standard Operating Processand a Strategic Plan of how to imple-ment in your facility.

Visit www.sherwin-automotive.com tolearn more about the MCR program.



Quality Assurance

On Monday, February 10th, AASP-MO hosted a State of the Collision In-dustry Report and PartsTrader meeting,presented by collision industry expertMike Anderson, to help attendees planhow to handle the PartsTrader man-date. The special event was held atSyberg’s, located at 270 and Dorsett inMaryland Heights, MO, from 6:30-9PM. AXALTA and Colormaster spon-sored the event, so there was no fee forattending and complimentary horsd’oeuvres and iced tea were served.

The meeting began with the Stateof the Collision Industry Report whichcomprised most of the meeting. RonReiling, Executive Director of AASP-MO, offers his praise: “Mike did agreat job of letting the shops knowwhere they stand compared to theirpeers. Many of them will go back andtake a good hard look at their busi-nesses and make changes to improve.”

During the second part of themeeting, “Mike gave his opinions onPartsTrader and reminded them thatwhen making decisions that affecttheir businesses and employees’ well-being, they shouldn’t be taken lightly

or be made hastily without thinkingoutside of the box; however, once thatdecision is made, you have to livewith it,” Reiling recounts. “So, if youwant to belong to a DRP, you have tobe willing to follow their rules andmake the best of it. Also, he gave ex-amples of mandates from the past thatare now part of everyday business,and they got better as time went on.”

Overall, the meeting went very wellwith 156 attendees representing 83 dif-ferent businesses, a fact that exceededReiling’s expectations. He also notes thathe received great feedback from atten-dees, several of whom claimed it was thebest meeting they had ever attended.

Reiling believes these types ofsponsored events are important to theassociation’s members and the indus-try as a whole “so shops realize theyare not out there all alone and thatthrough associations, you can bringchange to the industry much easier andfaster than on your own… AASP-Mis-souri works diligently to provide ourmembership with these types of meet-ings and information to assist them inmaking good business decisions.”


AASP-MO Hosts Mike Anderson for State of theIndustry Report and PartsTrader Meeting Iowa Parts Retailer Invents “It’s a Life Saver” to

Alert Neighbors to Trouble Inside the HouseTerry Beswick, an auto body partsretailer, repair man and new Clinton,IA, business owner, has establishedhimself as an auto body mechanic inFulton but, his newest creation, the“It’s a Life Saver” device is some-thing he calls his best idea yet.

Beswick said, “I spend a lot oftime thinking about things that canhelp people and save them moneyand a lot of people have told me thisis the best idea I’ve had.”

The “It’s a Life Saver” device issimilar in purpose to a car alarm,which is designed to alert the ownerof criminal mischief to a vehicle. Bytaking that concept, Beswick created,essentially an alarm for the housethat is triggered by a small remotebutton, just like a vehicle alarm.Beswick designed it to be activatedin emergency situations includingmedical crisis or home intrusion sce-narios in which getting to a phone todial 911 is not easily accessible.When activated, the apparatussounds an alarm that can be heardwithin approximately one block ofthe home, alerting neighbors thattrouble is abound.

“People have car alarms so Istarted thinking why don’t houses

have similar alarms?” Beswick said.“This is different than a security sys-tem too because those are hundredsof dollars plus annual fees that youhave to pay. This is a one time costof $250 plus a $50 installation fee.”

Not only does Beswick offer thedevice at the one-time flat rate, healso guarantees that if it does indeedsave a life, a full refund will be re-warded to the victim.

“I figure if this thing saves yourlife, you’ve already had a pretty rot-ten day so why not put $250 bucksback in your pocket?” he added.

While the new store on the cor-ner of South Second Street andFourth Avenue South is designed topromote the alarm, he also obtainedthe active corner location to helpboost activity at his Fulton-basedauto body shop.

In addition to selling the device,he also will offer auto body parts forpeople interested in car restoration orwho just need to replace a part ontheir car.

“My store is mainly going to befocused on letting people know aboutmy shop and for the do-it-yourselfguys who like to fix up cars,” Beswicksaid.


North Carolina auto insurers say no rateincrease is needed for auto insurancepolicies in the coming year. InsuranceCommissioner Wayne Goodwin saidthe Department of Insurance has re-ceived the annual auto insurance ratefiling from the North Carolina Rate Bu-reau. The Rate Bureau, which repre-sents the auto insurance companieswriting business in the state, submitteda filing on Jan. 31 that requests nochange in rates for private passenger carand motorcycle insurance policies forthe coming year.

The rates currently in effect arethe result of a rate cut and freeze initi-ated in 2009 that lowered car insurancerates to just below 2006 levels and re-quired insurers to issue $50 million inrefunds. Rates have not gone up sincethen.

“The fact that today’s car insur-ance rates are no higher than they werein 2006 shows that North Carolinacontinues to have a strong and stableauto insurance market,” Goodwin said.“In North Carolina, we have more than150 active auto insurance companiescompeting for our consumers’ busi-ness, and we have some of the lowestaverage rates in the country.”

According to the National Asso-ciation of Insurance Commissioners,North Carolina has the sixth-lowest av-erage auto insurance costs in the nation.

The current filing will be re-viewed by the insurance department.Additionally, the department said it isreviewing the auto insurance territo-ries, which is required to be done every10 years under state law.

North Carolina’s method of settingautomobile insurance rates is unlike anyin the country. Instead of each insurerfiling their rates separately with thestate Department of Insurance, all 160companies operating in the state filetheir rate requests with the North Car-olina Rate Bureau. The bureau in turnproposes a statewide base rate on behalfof the companies, which must be ap-proved by the insurance commissioner.

Companies can only adjust indi-vidual policies by offering safe driverand other discounts, along with divi-dends.

There have been some legislativeattempts to change the rate approvalsystem but due to the state’s low ratesand opposition to change by some in-surers and Goodwin have thwartedthose moves.

North Carolina Auto Insurers Seek No Rate Change

Limitations On Florida’s Pip Insurance CoverageMay Complicate Treating Accident-Related InjuriesIn January of 2013, changes to Florida’slaws governing “personal injury protec-tion” (PIP) coverage in automobile in-surance policies went into place. The lawwas intended to limit fraudulent insur-ance claims that were reportedly costingthe state nearly $1 billion annually in theform of increased insurance premiumrates. Once in effect, the revised ruleslimited claims on PIP policies that werenot brought in a timely fashion (within14 days) of an accident. Furthermore, toreceive coverage, injuries resulting fromcar crashes need to be treating by an ac-cepted medical care provider like a doc-tor, dentist, paramedic or chiropractor.Claims for injuries that were not treatedby an acceptable provider or within the14-day timeframe could be denied.

One year from the date when the re-formed PIP rules went into place, thestate’s Office of Insurance Regulation es-timates that auto insurance premiumsaround the state should drop an averageof 13.2 percent due to the decrease infraudulent claims. Prior to the passage ofthe law, the National Insurance CrimeBureau had listed several Florida citiesas having among the highest number of“questionable” PIP claims in the country.Background

Florida, like several other states, isa “no-fault” insurance state. This meansthat, should injuries result from a car ac-cident, each driver’s car insurance will be

responsible for his or her injuries, re-gardless of fault in the accident. For ex-ample, if Bill is driving his car and runsa red light, striking Jane’s car, Bill’s in-surance will be responsible for coveringhis injuries, while Jane’s insurance willcover her injuries, even though Billcaused the accident. This is not to say thatlegal actions are not allowed in car acci-dent claims, just that immediate medicalcare is typically funded by each driver’sPIP coverage.

Logically, the “no-fault” systemmakes sense, and it should be a relativelyeasy way to sort out payment issues fol-lowing an injury-causing car wreck. Asdesigned, “no-fault” insurance reducesdelay claims by the injured policyhold-ers and allows payment issues to be set-tled without the need for lawsuits.Unfortunately, there are issues related tono-fault and PIP coverage that were noteasily foreseen by legislators.

Supporters of the new, stricter PIPrules say that the old system lent itself tofraud by not having sufficient time con-straints on injury claims or by limitingthe types of providers. They say that al-lowing relatively unregulated industrieslike acupuncture and massage therapy becounted with established, “legitimate”care providers for PIP payment purposes,and by not placing a reasonable timelimit on claims, the state was all but en-dorsing fraudulent claims.


Estify’s story reads like a successchecklist for tech startups. Young,savvy coders see an industry they candisrupt. Their idea wins universitycontests and scores an $800,000 seedround of funding. They enter an ac-celerator. They move to sunny Cali-fornia to make their fortunes. Onetwist though: the industry. Rather thansocial media or travel or entertainmentor fashion, Estify’s founders set out tomodernize what they see as an anti-quated sector—collision repair.

“The industry’s really outdated,and to be honest, that’s why wewanted to work with it,” says JordanFurniss, who founded Estify in 2012in Provo, Utah, along with fellowBrigham Young University businessstudent Taylor Moss and Arkansastransplant Derek Carr. “A lot of[shops] are family businesses, andsome of the stuff they do is just howthey’ve always done it.”

Specifically, the trio wanted toaddress the mind-numbing process ofreconciling the actual cost of repairjobs with the estimates the shops sub-mit to customers’ insurance compa-nies. Comparing estimates tocosts—part for part, labor hour forlabor hour—is a big time suck, says

Danny Panduro, vice president of J&LBody and Paint Shop in Los Angeles’San Fernando Valley. “If our systemdoesn’t match the insurer’s estimate,it messes up accounting ridiculously,”he says. A big repair job can take twohours to reconcile, and J&L doesabout 20 estimates a week, in linewith industry norms. Estify Reconcilecompletes this task automatically,comparing two scanned or PDF esti-mates line-by-line via algorithm andcreating a report, so differences can bequickly addressed. “I upload thePDFs, and literally within five min-utes I have a reconciliation,” Pandurosays. “It’s gold.”

Estify, now based in the greaterLos Angeles area, sells its software torepair shops and adjustors for $99 to$500 a month, depending on how ro-bust a system the shop wants and thenumber of estimates and reconcilia-tions processed.

Within several weeks of its firstbig public push last October at an in-dustry trade show, Estify had signedup close to 100 shops.

Estify is Trying to be the Startup Disrupting the CollisionIndustry; Many Have Tried, Few Have Succeeded

“We settled on a plea and she and herhusband will be at least paying a lit-tle back,” says Lynette Hackworth,office manager for A2 Auto Glassbased in Washtenaw County, MI.Oral and Janice Molden were sen-tenced to probation this month forallegedly embezzling from the auto-motive glass company. They havebeen ordered to pay a combined totalof $189,881 in fines. “We’re glad forit to be over,” said Hackworth. “Ittook way too long and it’s a shamethis ever happened. It’s a very sadsituation and cost the business a lotof money in attorneys’ fees. Ourcompany is much healthier now andwe’re glad to move on.” The couplewas accused of embezzling themoney over a three-year period. Jan-ice Molden was a bookkeeper for thecompany and Oral Molden did com-puter work there. Janice Molden wassentenced to five years of probationand has been ordered to pay$166,440 in fines, according to a re-port. Her husband was sentenced totwo years of probation and orderedto pay $23,441 in fines. Plea deals inthe case were reached in Octoberwith the sentencing taking place thismonth.

Couple Sentenced in GlassEmbezzling Case

The face-off in Ohio continues Tesla’sstate-by-state conflicts with dealersover factory-owned stores (see storythis issue.)

In 2013, the company battleddealers in several states, including Mas-sachusetts, New York, Texas, NorthCarolina, Minnesota and Virginia. Re-sults have been mixed.

Tesla lost a prominent show-down with Texas dealers over Tesla-backed bills that would have carvedout an exemption to state law restrict-ing factory-owned dealerships. But inMinnesota, North Carolina and NewYork, Tesla held at bay dealer-backedlegislation that might have crimpedthe EV maker’s plans. The companyalso won court decisions in dealerlawsuits in Massachusetts and NewYork.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has saidhe will consider seeking action on thenational level, either through federallegislation or a federal lawsuit.

According to the National Au-tomobile Dealers Association, 48states have restrictions on factory-owned dealerships. Of those, Teslahas said, about 20 have statutes thatmake Tesla’s factory store model dif-ficult.

Tesla Contests Rules in Ohio,Other States: Mixed Results

Two Killed, Including Owner, in Milford, IN, Shop FireA fire at a Milford auto body shop thatleft two dead on Feb. 14 was causedby an electrical malfunction, accord-ing to the Kosciusko County Fire In-vestigation Team. The fire happenedin the morning at the Medina’s BodyRepair Shop at 310 N Higbee Street

in Milford, IN. The identity of awoman found dead has been con-firmed by the Kosciusko CountyCoroner’s Office and a man found onthe first floor is presumed to be JoseCruz Medina. Annalu Nunez, age25, Medina’s fiance, was found byfirefighters on the second floor of thebuilding. The coroner said she died ofsmoke inhalation.

Police said Nunez and Medinaboth had the body shop’s addresslisted as their residence. Police hadsaid the two people who died lived inan apartment above the body shop.Medical examiners of the NortheastIndiana Forensic Center determined

the man also died of smoke inhala-tion. But, authorities are waiting forDNA testing to be completed to con-firm a positive identification of Med-ina. The fire was ruled accidental.

The Kosciusko County Fire In-vestigation Team sent out a release onFeb. 18 stating that “the fire origi-nated in the ceiling of a work bay andspread throughout the structure. Evi-dence found at the scene indicates anelectrical malfunction in the wiringsupplying power to a ceiling light.”

The fire was called in just after 7a.m. S R 15 was closed near E. Syra-cuse Street while fire crews—threedifferent departments—battled theflames. Because it is a body shop withpresumed oil, gas and a paint storagearea were all potential dangers for thefirefighters.

The roof was also sagging in andone wall is bowed. For all of thesereasons, emergency workers were atfirst unable to get inside to check forthe residents of an apartment abovethe northwest corner of the shop.

“They were happy together, andthey’re together again now,” saidAlex Nunez, Analu’s brother. Analuwas a secretary for Medina’s BodyShop. “She was always making some-body happy, her smile. That’ sjust howshe was,” said Alex Nunez.


Jerry Damson HondaHuntsv i l le

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Serra HondaBirmingham

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AutoNation HondaClearwaterClearwater

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Braman Hondaof Palm Beach

Greenacres888-479-0695561-966-5185

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Classic HondaOr lando

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Ed Morse HondaRiv iera Beach800-232-1098561-844-8089

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Hendrick Honda BradentonBradenton

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Hendrick Honda DaytonaDaytona Beach800-953-4402386-252-2301


Rick Case HondaDavie

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Acura of Orange ParkJacksonvi l le

888-941-7278904-777-1008


Duval AcuraJacksonvi l le

800-352-2872904-725-1149


Rick Case AcuraFort Lauderdale800-876-1150954-377-7688


Jackson AcuraRoswel l

877-622-2871678-259-9500

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-6; Sat 7:[email protected]

Nalley AcuraMariet ta

800-899-7278770-422-3138


Southern Motors AcuraSavannah

800-347-0596912-232-3222


Flow AcuraWinston-Salem800-489-3534336-761-3682

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-1www.flowacura.com

NO. CAROLINAFLORIDA

GEORGIA

NO. CAROLINA

The Honda and Acura Dealers Listed Here are Subscribers:


Burlington HondaBur l ington

800-822-5108336-584-3431

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:00; Sat [email protected]

Crown Honda SouthpointDurham

855-893-8866919-425-4711

Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7-11; Fri 7-6Sat 7-5; Sun 11-5

www.southpointhonda.com

Hendrick HondaChar lo t te

800-277-7271704-552-1149


Leith HondaRale igh

800-868-6970919-790-8228

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7:[email protected]

McKenney-Salinas HondaGastonia

888-703-7109704-824-8844 x 624Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-5:30

[email protected]

Metro HondaInd ian Tra i l

866-882-9542704-220-1522

Dept. Hours: M-F 6:30-6:30; Sat 7-4www.copytk.com

Vann York AutomallHigh Po int

336-841-6200Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat 8-3

Breakaway HondaGreenvi l le

800-849-5056864-234-6481


Dick Brooks HondaGreer

800-936-9090864-877-1772


Midlands HondaColumbia

877-273-4442803-691-8585

Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7; Sat 7-4www.copytk.com

Piedmont HondaAnderson

800-849-5057864-375-2082


Airport HondaAlcoa

800-264-4721865-970-7792

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:30; Sat 7:[email protected]

AutoNation HondaWest Knoxville

Knoxv i l le800-824-1301865-218-5461

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:[email protected]

Bill Gatton HondaBr is to l

800-868-4118423-652-9545


Wolfchase HondaBart le t t

800-982-7290901-255-3780Dept. Hours: M-F 7-7

[email protected]

Duncan’s Hokie HondaChr is t ianburg800-979-9110540-381-3200

Dept. Hours: Mon-Fri 7:30-5:30Sat 8:00-5:00

[email protected]

Hall HondaVi rg in ia Beach800-482-9606757-431-4329


Hendrick HondaWoodbridgeWoodbr idge

703-690-7777Dept. Hours: M-Fri 7-6Sat 8-5; Sun 10-4

Priority HondaChesapeake

757-213-0539Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat [email protected]

Priority HondaHampton

757-838-1672Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6; Sat [email protected]

Valley HondaStaunton

800-277-0598540-213-9016


West Broad HondaRichmond

800-446-0160804-672-8811

Dept. Hours: M-Thu 7:30-6:30;Fri 7:30-6; Sat 8-3; Sun 11-3

[email protected]

NO. CAROLINA NO. CAROLINA

SO. CAROLINA

TENNESSEE

TENNESSEE

VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA

Hendrick AcuraChar lo t te

800-768-6824704-566-2288


Leith AcuraCary

800-868-0082919-657-0460

Dept. Hours: M-F 8-6; Sat 8-4:[email protected]

Performance AcuraChapel H i l l

888-788-0750919-932-2577

Dept. Hours: M-Th 7-7; Fri 7-6; Sat [email protected]

Crown Acura of RichmondRichmond

800-523-4411804-527-6865


Karen Radley AcuraWoodbr idge

800-355-2818703-550-0205


Radley AcuraFal ls Church800-550-5035703-824-5785

Dept. Hours: M-F 7:30-6:00;Sat 8-6; Sun 10-5

[email protected]

NO. CAROLINA NO. CAROLINA VIRGINIA VIRGINIA

For more collisioninfo, go to:collision.honda.comairbagaware.honda.comcrashrepairinfo.com

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

The collision repair industry has al-ways been a male-dominated industry,but times are a’changing. An increas-ing number of women are enteringcollision repair in various capacities,and that poses the challenge of find-ing their place, whether it be as officepersonnel, estimators, technicians,

chemists or engineers. Fortunately, forwomen currently in the industry orthose looking to enter it, the Women’sIndustry Network (WIN) stands by tohelp!

Frederica Carter, an originalWIN board member and one of the“founding mothers” who has served asWIN’s Conference Committee Chairand Co-Chair and is currently an inte-gral part of their CommunicationsCommittee, shares how the associationgot started. “There was a group ofwomen who met at various industryfunctions—these were some of theMost Influential Women in the indus-try honorees who had been recognizedfor their significant contributions - andthey felt there was more that could bedone to bring women into the industry.So, we reached out to other womenand worked on starting an organiza-tion. High expectations were set fromthe beginning.”

First, WIN created a Board of Di-rectors, and then, realizing theyneeded support and funding, theyreached out to various companies, ac-quiring a large number of sponsorsfrom their inception, a figure that con-tinues to grow. Soon after, WIN beganto form committees, set their budget,and define their objectives which in-cluded bringing other women into theindustry and creating a network. De-

ciding that the next steps would be toorganize a conference, WIN held theirfirst conference in 2007 in Phoenix,beginning an annual tradition.

With a service area that encom-passes all of the US and Canada,WIN’s mission is to promote womenin the industry. Ruth Weniger, a WINmember for six years who serves onthe Board of Directors and is the Chairof the Communications Committee,elaborates “WIN began with the goalof enhancing the collision repair in-dustry and the women in it throughnetworking, education and the sharingof resources.”

According to Weniger, there is alot of fluidity between the associa-

tion’s short-term and long-term goalsas they strive to increase membership,support female students through schol-arships, recognize outstanding leaders

in the industry, and developsupport for their members viaeducation, information andthe development of a networkto draw from for strength andadvice. Weniger emphasizes,“WIN is committed to pro-viding the strength of com-munity for our members.”

Currently, WIN is prepar-ing for their 2014 EducationalConference which will be

held on May 7th–9th at the ParadisePoint Resort and Spa in San Diego,CA. As always, the event will be filledwith educational sessions, professionaldevelopment and networking opportu-nities. This year, WIN is assumingstewardship of the Most InfluentialWomen Awards program from Ak-zoNobel, so presenting these awardswill a feature of their gala dinner.

During the event, WIN will alsoannounce the recipients of their schol-arship awards. This year, they willpresent $1000 scholarships to stu-


WIN Offers Support for Women in the Collision Repair Industry

Jankowski Opens 2013 Educational Conference

(l to r) 2012 WIN Chair, Victoria Jankowski(State Farm) Presents Sponsor AppreciationAcknowledgments to Petra Schroeder (Axalta)and Frederica Carter (AkzoNobel)

Dealer Group Sues Hitachi, Panasonic andMitsubishi in Part Fixing DisputeA group including dozens of car deal-erships hit Hitachi Automotive Sys-tems Ltd., Panasonic Corp., MitsubaCorp. and others with separate puta-tive class actions in Michigan federalcourt on Feb. 7, alleging a scheme tofix prices for a number of auto partsin a conspiracy that prompted crimi-nal charges.

The suits come a month afterNippon Seiki Co. Ltd. announced itwould pay $4.56 million to settlewith consumers in a related auto partsprice-fixing multidistrict litigation. Inthe new suits, Martens Cars of Wash-ington Inc., Landers Auto Group No.1 Inc. and more than 30 other cardealership plaintiffs seek damagesand injunctive relief for conspiraciesto fix prices for air flow meters, elec-tronic throttle bodies, steering anglesensors, high-intensity discharge bal-lasts, automatic transmission fluidwarmers, electronic-powered steeringassemblies and power window mo-tors.

“The U.S. Department of Jus-tice’s Antitrust Division is currentlyconducting a broad criminal investi-gation into illegal price-fixing andbid-rigging in the automotive partsindustry,” the complaints say. “The

ongoing cartel investigation of price-fixing and bid-rigging in the automo-tive parts industry has yielded $1.8billion in criminal fines, already sur-passing the total amount in criminalfines obtained by the DOJ’s AntitrustDivision for all of last fiscal year.”

In each suit, the plaintiffs say theDOJ announced that the defendantcompany has agreed to plead guiltyfor its role in the conspiracy to fixprices of car parts. The dealers whobought the parts at inflated costs de-serve justice, according to the slew ofcomplaints.

Those named as defendants inthe suits filed Friday include Hitachi,Panasonic, Mitsuba, T.Rad Co. Ltd.and JTEKT Corp. The broader MDLstems from the DOJ's blockbuster in-vestigation into a series of price-fix-ing conspiracies in the auto partsindustry that has already yieldedmore than $1.6 billion in fines.

Last September, nine Japanese-based auto parts makers, includingHitachi, T.Rad, Mitsubishi ElectricCorp. and others, agreed to pay $740million in fines as a result of theirroles in international price-fixingconspiracies that increased the cost ofcars sold in the United States.

dents entering technical schools’ colli-sion repair programs, as well as $1000scholarships to students already en-rolled in collision repair programs atpost-secondary schools. The recipientsof the post-secondary scholarships willalso receive year-long mem-berships to WIN, plus thecost of their travel and atten-dance at the annual confer-ence. This year, scholarshiprecipients will also be men-tored by winners of the MostInfluential Women Awards,offering immediate support tothese young women.

In collaboration with theCollision Repair EducationFoundation (CREF), WINhas also developed a poster,“There’s a Place for You,” which isavailable for sale on their website fora $20 donation to the WIN Scholar-ship fund. The poster has also beendistributed to nearly 1200 technicalschools in the US to promote the in-dustry among female students.

WIN feels that supporting stu-dents who are interested in enteringthe industry is extremely importantbecause one of the biggest challengesfacing the collision repair industry is

talent acquisition and retention, hencetheir commitment to helping femalesthrive in this male-dominated envi-ronment. Most of WIN’s members allshare two bonds: all of them are in thisindustry and they are female, so WIN

strives to support women across allfunctional positions they serve withinthe industry, whether it be an admin-istrative function or as a technician.

Though WIN is an association fo-cused on improving the role of womenin the industry, they still understandthe value of seeking input from theirmale counterparts. At NACE in 2013,they held a focus group with Mike An-derson as the facilitator and invitedmale leaders in the industry to con-

tribute suggestions on growing WINand to find out what these men knewabout their organization. Carter foundthis to be an interesting approach andnotes, “we received great feedback,and some of the men in the focusgroup even decided to join WIN!”

In regards to the challenges WINfaces in maintaining operations,Weniger notes that WIN is an all-vol-unteer, virtual organization so theirmembers commit their time and per-sonal resources to keep the associationgoing. Carter adds, “our members havebeen very gracious to volunteer as theyall have other jobs too. There’s a lot todo with starting and maintaining an or-ganization, and WIN would strugglewithout our wonderful volunteers.”

Carter estimates that WIN’s mem-bers number in the hundreds and isgrowing at a rate of 10-20% each year.WIN members receive many benefits,such as education and networking, plusonly members can attend their annualconference, the cost of the educationalprogram which is partially subsidizedby the association’s sponsors. Addi-tionally, members receive a monthlynewsletter and gain the ability to par-ticipate in committees and in leadershippositions.

When asked about WIN’s stanceon legislative action, Weniger ex-plains, “this brings us back to a fun-damental philosophy our organizationholds dear. In order to best support ourmembers, WIN remains non-politicaland avoids becoming embroiled incurrent issues, allowing us to focus onthe professional development of theindustry. We’ve found that keepingour focus on personal or professionaldevelopment is the way to attractwomen from competing segments ofthe industry. We are aware of the is-sues, and people engage on an indi-vidual level, but these are notdiscussions we deal with as an organ-ization. Our focus remains our com-mitment to our female members andhow they interact within the collisionrepair industry.”

WIN is a not-for-profit organizationdedicated to encouraging, developingand cultivating opportunities to attractwomen to the collision repair industrywhile recognizing excellence, promot-ing leadership and fostering a networkamong the women who are shaping theindustry. More information about WINcan be found on their website:thewomensindustrynetwork.ning.com.


Communications Committee Co-Chairs, Ruth Weniger(Airbag Solutions) and Melissa Miller (Carstar), atConference 2013


Birmingham, AL, where the combina-tion of weather and traffic congestioncontributed to a surge of accidents.

Beginning on Tuesday, January28 and continuing well into the nextday, snow and ice accumulating in thesoutheast brought Atlanta to a screech-ing halt. While the city normally aver-

ages a low temperature of 28 degreesand a high of 49 degrees in January,temperatures plummeted into the teensduring the last week of January withup to three inches of snow in someplaces. Slick conditions created by iceand sleet led to accidents which, inturn, caused an increase in traffic de-lays. Many cars were left abandonedon the roads and highways after run-ning out of gas due to sitting in thelong-standing traffic, while other vehi-cles were parked in lots as their ownersattempted to wait out the storm—infact, many people are comparing thedismal images to scenes from the firstseason of TV’s “The Walking Dead!”

Glenn Grey, owner of Grey’sAuto Collision in Hiram, GA, and hiswife experienced the effects of thestorm first hand. “My wife left homeat 11:30AM to pick our child up fromschool, and though it’s normally a 35-minute drive, she didn’t reach theschool until 5PM. She was further de-layed by traffic and didn’t get homeuntil after 11PM, nearly 12 hours aftershe left!”

Meanwhile, Grey closed his shopat noon after seeing the travesty on theroads, but he regrets not sending hisemployees home earlier. On his drivehome, Grey saw many vehicles stuckin the snow drifts, and he and others,true to the southern tradition of aidingneighbors in need, helped pull thesevehicles out.

Grey says, “I saw some prettybad wrecks, a lot of which werecaused by people just not knowinghow to drive in the snow and ice be-cause we’re not all that used to itdown here. People were throwingdown kitty litter for traction, and some

people ran out of gas while they weresitting in traffic.”

In terms of how the storm has im-pacted his business, Grey has seen anincrease of 20–25% in volumes, butabout 25–30% of the damaged vehi-cles are being declared total losses.“We are seeing a little bit of every-thing, both small and large repairs thatmay be just a bumper or window, or itcould be the whole side of the vehiclefrom the front fender all the way to thequarter panel.”

Fortunately, Grey hasn’t had anyproblems with his machinery, otherthan the paint booth as bake cycletimes are being affected by the lowtemperatures.

Rusty Ravia, Manager of D & IBody Shop in Atlanta, GA, notes thathe and his employees spent a night inthe shop, working until 2AM Tuesdayand not leaving until 2PM on Wednes-day.

“We’ve seen a slowdown with re-pairs because the insurance companiesare taking their time to come out, andwe’ve also seen some steering as in-surers tell customers that estimateswill take less time at DRP shops. Theyare also estimating parts at my costand cutting corners on repair hours, sowho’s paying the shop bills? We aretrying to stay positive and get businessbecause the goal is to make our cus-tomers happy and try to make thingsas easy as possible by being honestwith them.”

Ravia notes that D & I Body Shopis seeing larger repairs with many ve-hicles being declared total losses be-fore his technicians ever touch them,so the shop is losing money when theinsurers take work away and only

compensate the shop for storage fees.The shop has seen an increase in vol-umes of approximately 20% after thestorm, but since they aren’t equippedfor the weather and their materials arenot accustomed to the cold, their paintcycle time has also increased, makingit a challenge to paint and refinishthese vehicles on schedule.

At Kong’s Body Shop in Atlanta,GA, volumes have at least doubled,according to Manager Norm Kong.Says Kong, “we have experienced

more technical difficulties with someof our machines freezing up. We lostelectricity, and our compressors werealso impacted by the low tempera-tures. The shop was forced to close fora couple days, too, which put us be-hind schedule with repairs so there hasbeen both good and bad aspects to thestorm for our business.”

Several Atlanta shops that werecontacted are so busy with the back-log of work resulting from the stormthat they were unable to discuss theweather’s impact on their businesses.

The scene in Birmingham, ALwas similar to that in Atlanta withmany accidents resulting from the iceleading to more traffic jams. In an areawith average January temperatures be-tween 34 and 54 degrees, the drop intothe low-twenties elicited more than abit of chaos throughout the city.

Wally Newton, Manager atHighway 280 Paint and Body in Birm-ingham, notes “the storm is affectingus quite a bit so far and growing dailyas people retrieve their vehicles fromtow yards, so we’ve seen an increasein volumes with lots of estimatesbeing written up. Luckily though, wehaven’t had any problems with ourmachinery malfunctioning because ofthe weather.”

At Checker Auto Body Repair inHuntsville, AL, Manager Bill Goebelsaid “our volume has decreasedroughly 25% due to school [and otherbusiness] closings; fewer people driv-ing during the course of the day equalsfewer accidents. The only problemwe’re seeing is an extreme propaneshortage, and since our shop is heatedwith propane, we have had to shortenour work days.”

Checker Auto Body has not yetexperienced any other technical diffi-culties or problems with equipment,“except having to sub-out cleanupsbecause we have no indoor cleaningfacility and everything outside isfrozen!”

For Ginger Lowrey, a memberof the family that owns River ChaseCollision in Birmingham, the biggestproblem is an increased amount of in-surer steering since her shop does notparticipate in any DRPs. “We havehad more than an average amount ofsteering,” she explains.

“On February 5th, one of our reg-ular customers called to say the insur-ance company was towing his car toanother shop because they couldn’tsend an estimator to River Chase Col-lision until the 13th, but when I phoned

my contact at Allstate, she told me thatshe was assigned to view the car on the7th, nearly a week earlier than my cus-tomer was told. I’m glad we resolvedthat problem, but our customer is veryangry that his insurance company liedto him. Our shop isn’t backed up at allwhereas the other shop may be. The in-surer isn’t helping the customer sincethat would mean paying for a rental careven longer. The whole situation makesme worry about how much steering isreally going on.”

In regards to the increase in de-lays for insurers to write estimates forshops not on their DRPs, Lowrey be-lieves “there’s no limitation to whatthey will do, and most of the time, theyget away with it. We need to changepeople’s mindsets so they understandthat the person who owns the vehicle isin charge, not the insurer. All too fre-quently, shops cut corners, putting

families at risk, because they’ve madea deal with the devil and money makesgood people do bad things. This un-fortunate weather-related event ismaking it worse because a lot of re-pairs are needed to restore normalcy tothose who were impacted, but the in-surance companies are making emptypromises and consumers are unedu-cated. We’re in a sad state right now inthis industry, yet it’s hard to reach peo-ple when the insurers have deep pock-ets and so much influence withlobbyists. People tend to turn a blindeye to what’s right for the consumer.”

Due to the storm, River ChaseCollision is busier than normal with atleast twice the amount of work theyusually have at this time of year. Be-cause they closed early on the 28thand stayed closed on the 29th, theshop opened on Saturday, February 1to accommodate their workload.

Lowrey says that they are “re-ceiving different types of repairs.Only a few have structural dam-


Polar Vortex Continues

Snow covered Talladega Superspeedway

See Polar Vortex Continues, Page 40

Much of the agenda at the CollisionIndustry Conference (CIC) held inPalm Springs, Calif., in January wasdevoted to CIC’s biennial planningsession, where participants discusswhat topics CIC committees will takeon in the coming year or two. But thequarterly meeting also included anumber of informational sessions forattendees.

I-CAR CEO John VanAlstyne,for example, offered an update on notonly his organization’s training activ-ities, but also its efforts to improve theavailability and accessibility of OEMtechnical information for collision re-pairers. He said that I-CAR had bud-geted over $1 million on that ongoingproject over two years, and that thewebsite portal I-CAR is developing toimprove access to OEM technical in-formation is being beta-tested and willlaunch soon.

He said I-CAR also has workedto make its training more affordable.

For the fourth yearin a row, he said,there would be noprice increase fortraining for GoldClass businesses,and pricing hasbeen reduced forI-CAR newly-re-

named “Welding Testing and Certifi-cation.” The welding programdiscounts increase based on the num-ber of students a company is register-ing, part of I-CAR’s effort to gettraining to more technicians, VanAl-styne said.

He said I-CAR soon will berolling out aluminum welding andother training courses specific toFord’s 2015 F-150 pick-up, which hitsshowrooms late this year.

About half of the I-CAR trainingthat students choose to take is now on-line, up from just 3 percent three yearsago, VanAlstyne said. That and the ex-panded focus on being a source oftechnical information beyond trainingis part of I-CAR’s shift in scope.

“We’re working to make infor-mation on-demand and accessible, sopeople get the training and informa-tion they need when they need it,” hesaid.

Also during the meeting, CICcommittees offered a preview of someof what they hope to address at up-coming meetings. Steve Regan, chair-man of the Governmental Committee,said his committee will have a presen-tation on the topic of “most-favored na-tion” clauses at the next CIC, beingheld April 9–10 in Portland, OR. Theclauses are often found in insurer directrepair program agreements, requiringparticipating shops to give the insurerthe best pricing offered to any other.

Several states have now banned theclauses in health insurance contracts,and the Automotive Service Associa-tion has urged the U.S. Department ofJustice to review most-favored nationclauses in DRP contracts.

Regan said his committee is alsoplanning a presentation for later thisyear on legal and liability issues re-lated to autonomous (or “self-dri-ving”) cars.

Gene Lopez, chairman of CIC’sEducation and Training Committee,said his committee is working on pre-sentations related to coaching and de-veloping mentoring and peer-to-peertraining relationships within an organ-ization.

CIC Chairman George Avery leda discussion about the future of CIC’sData Privacy issue, which may be re-named to incorporate a broader scopeof “information technology” issues.There appeared to be general consen-sus the committee is still needed. Sev-


I-CAR Offers Update, Committees Detail Plans at Last CIC Meeting

—John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has a body shop in thefamily and has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of theweekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com).Contact him by email at [email protected].

John VanAlstyne

Time to Return to an Elected CIC Chair?

During the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) meeting in January,Scott Biggs of Assured Performance Network suggested that CICreturn to the practice of allowing attendees to elect its chairmen. Forwell over a decade, the selection of the chairman for a 2-year termhas been made by a committee made up of previous CIC chairmen.

Biggs suggested that those past chairmen instead could put for-ward two candidates and let CIC attendees vote for which would bethe next chairman.

Two previous CIC chairmen voiced opposition to the idea of anelection. Massachusetts shop owner Chuck Sulkala, who was CIC’sfourth chairman in 1989 and 1990, noted that CIC isn’t an organiza-

tion; it’s simply a meeting and the chairman isthe facilitator.

“As people who have been in the position (aschairmen) before, we clearly know what’sneeded to make sure that the quality of the meet-ing is as good as we can possibly make it,” Sul-kala said.

He said the past chairs look for someone who has been an ac-tive participant at CIC, and someone who is “very competent andqualified, who is respectful to all segments of the industry, becauseyou can’t chair or facilitate a meeting like this if there’s bias in yourheart.”

See Time to return, Page 33

Chuck Sulkala

eral attendees noted the recent contro-versy when a Ford marketing execu-tive said the automaker trackscustomers through vehicle GPS andother technology—only to later retractthe statement. A recent GovernmentAccountability Office (GAO) reportfound that automakers and navigation

system providersgather a lot of dataon where drivershave been, andthere are no stan-dards for how longthe data is retainednor a way for driv-ers to ask that their

data be destroyed. Avery said hewould be seeking a new chairman forthe CIC committee that works on dataprivacy issues.

Chris Northup of the CIC Partsand Materials Committee cited a laun-dry list of topics still to be addressedby subcommittees, including: after-market parts certification standards,parts inventory/availability issues, re-cycled parts clean-up times, multiplerecycled parts standards, impact ofOEM price-matching policies, etc.

Randy Hanson of Allstate thisyear becomes chairman of the CIC In-

surer-Repairer Relations Committee.Outgoing chairman Rick Tuuri saidthe committee will continue to “iden-tify areas for insurers and repairers towork together for efficiencies.” CICattendee Rick Sherwood suggestedthat the committee go back to some ofthe recommendations the committeedeveloped – such as best practices re-lated to digital images, which was fi-nalized in 2010 – to find out if insurersare aware of them and whether or notthey’ve adopted them.

“So rather than just bring a rec-ommendation, which I understand isCIC’s mission, get some feedback thatmight assist in refining these things aswe go forward so they are more ac-tionable at the end of the day,” Sher-wood suggested.

Elections, Sulkala said, are often popularity contests, wherepeople tend to choose someone who “thinks like they do.”

“It’s not about making sure my side wins and someone elseloses,” Sulkala said. “It’s the opportunity to make sure that informationis shared in a fair and reasonable manner for everybody. We don’t par-ticularly care who (the chairman) works for. We don’t necessarily carewhat their job is. But when they sit in that position as chairman of CIC,their total responsibility is to each of us, without favoring any of us.”

CIC Administrator Jeff Hendler, who was CIC’s third chairmanin 1987 and 1988, said with an election, an organization could packthe room to ensure their representative was elected, eliminating theneutrality CIC has worked to maintain. He said it also could allow achairman to be chosen by people who rarely if ever attend CIC.

“When George Avery (of State Farm) was named as chairman,I got over 130 emails and letters from people incensed that wewould name a chairman from an insurance company to a ‘collisionindustry association,’” Hendler said, noting CIC is not an associationand that Avery was not the first CIC chairman from the insurance in-dustry. “Research showed that over 84 percent of the people whowrote those letters had never been to a CIC meeting. Do we want tobe run by people who never show up?”


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Time to return

Chris Northup

The week of Jan 13, 2014, Ford MotorCo. announced the completely re-engi-neered Ford F-150 pickup truck featur-ing aluminum from the hood to thetailgate, 700 pounds lighter than theprevious model. Mercedes Benz intro-duced the next C-Class sports sedanwith a body built mostly of aluminum,and Audi’s A8 luxury sedan had an alu-minum chassis almost 20 years ago. Atthe time an Audi executive said, “thereare only a handful of shops capable ofrepairing it. It has to be shipped to oneof those centers to be fixed.” For themthe next step is the doors and the body.And aluminum isn’t the only challengefor collision repair centers. The BMWElectric 13 is mostly made from plas-tic-like carbon fiber.

If this wasn’t enough of a chal-lenge, Ford has teamed with MIT andStanford University to make self-dri-ving cars more intuitive. Radar-likeLiDAR infrared sensors bounce in-frared light off objects as far as 200feet away to generate data to make a3-D map to plan a path to safely avoidpedestrians, bicycles and other vehi-cles. Recently a blind “driver” at theSanta Clara Blind Center” made acompletely safe shopping trip in aself-driving car, preprogrammed by aGoogle engineer. The repair facility ofthe future will also be faced with ve-hicle programming systems, radar-likesystems, mapping devices and more.These technical advances will straincollision shop finances as more tools,equipment and highly trained techni-cians are required. But how will thisaffect a shop’s marketing strategies?

The most forward looking shopowners may well realize the great mar-keting potential that these technical ad-vances offer. The new generation ofyoung adults is already more tech-savvy than most shop owners. The In-ternet and cell-phone advances havemade this generation well aware of theneed to keep on top of new technology.The shop that positions itself as aleader in new automotive repair tech-nology can capture the “hearts andminds” of this generation if handledcorrectly. What should a shop do?

Because more and more peopleare turning to the web when shoppingfor a repair facility, a shop should turnthe home page into bold advertisementfor the shop’s technical know-how.While young people may be keenlyaware of applications for their tablet,cell phone and computer, they are notlikely to know much about repair chal-lenges a shop faces when repairingtheir late model vehicle. Images ofdamaged aluminum and carbon fiberparts with captions explaining a littleabout these challenges may capturetheir attention. A little research shouldlet you know how many shops in yourarea are equipped to deal with these re-pair challenges. If you are one of thefew that can do it, this is a prime timeto shout out your superiority over thecompetition, not just in general butwith specific numbers.

Photos and information aboutequipment may not impress a vehicleowner looking for a repair, but insur-ance executives who check out yourwebsite will definitely be concerned

with the makes and qualities of yourframe machine, welding equipment,electric and hybrid handling processesand more. It’s important to provide ed-ucational information for these differ-ent publics on your site and in yourprinted literature. Most of what youput on the web can also be inexpen-sively reproduced in some simpleprinted handouts for less web-savvycustomers who come to the shop.

The next step in demonstrating afuture-orientation can be accomplishedwith employee uniforms, data-entrypads and display screens that can showa repair prospect shop areas where hisor her vehicle will be processed in away that is different from the competi-tion. It wouldn’t be much of a stretchto put technicians into star-trek-likeuniforms with labels that say “hybridspecialist”, “autonomous vehicle spe-cialist” and more. Customers shouldfeel confident that this shop can han-dle the vehicle that has become a sort

of robot, sensing the driver/passen-ger’s preferences in temperature, seatposition, music, lighting and destina-tion.

As a shop moves more into serv-icing late model vehicles with these fu-turistic advances, it would be wise tore-imagine the shop in a futuristic way.Even the furniture in the waiting areacould be fashioned after airport seatingand modernistic showroom designs.Large blown-up photos on the wall oflate-model vehicles with captions cancomplete the image of a forward-look-ing shop of the future. Website and so-cial media sites are great places tocapture images of a space-age shop,service areas and personnel. Shops thatgrabbed the position of first to havewater-borne paint, aluminum weldingand frame machines, and high-techsensors to handle on-board computersystems, could now be the first in thearea to be recognized as the Sci-Fi shopof the future.


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Tom Franklin has been a sales and marketing consultant for fifty years. He has writtennumerous books and provides marketing solutions and services for many businesses.He can be reached at (323) 871-6862 or at [email protected]. See Tom’s columns at www.autobodynews.com under Columnists > Franklin

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The California Autobody Association(CAA) is a non-profit trade organizationmade up of roughly 1,000 individualand independent businesses within theautomobile collision repair industry. The

main focus of CAAis to enable the autobody industry tosurvive and succeedby helping its mem-bers produce aquality repair forthe consumer at afair price for a fairprofit. By being in-

volved in CAA, body shop ownersshow they care about the future of thisindustry and will always strive to makeit better for all involved. CAA ap-proaches its 50th anniversary in 2016.

We sat down recently with DavidMcClune, the Executive Directorwho has served the organization forthe past 14 years, to discuss the stateof the organization and its role in Cal-ifornia’s collision industry.

Q: Tell us a little bit about the originsand history of CAA?

DM: CAA was formed back in late1966, when several body shop ownersin southern California formed chap-ters the state organization and it justgrew from there. Before I became theexecutive director in 2000, the organ-ization was run by a managementcompany. CAA has evolved with theindustry, basically. I think we’ve donea very admirable job on stayingabreast of all the changes in collisionindustry and continually strive to pro-vide the best services and advocacywe can offer.

Q: How has the industry changedsince you took over leadership ofCAA?

DM: The way some insurers havechanged their way of doing businesswith many of the shops and the emer-gence of more and more MultipleShop Operations (MSOs) are proba-bly the most significant changes in the

industry since I started this job. DRPsare much more prevalent now andthat’s changed the business in manyways as well. The MSO system isgoing to increase and we’re going tosee larger MSOs gobbling up smallerMSOs as they try to strengthen them-selves in different regions of the state.But, I don’t think that will cause thedemise of the independent shops, be-cause they will always have a role andif they do a good job, they will con-tinue to flourish. In the end, if you dogood work, you will still get cus-tomers and insurance companies willwant to work with the leading opera-tors every time, regardless of whetherthey’re an MSO or an independentwith one location. The shops that runefficient businesses and continue tomarket themselves in their area whiletaking good care of their customers—those shops will stay strong.

Q: Do you think MSOs have an ad-


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The California Autobody Association (CAA) Charts a Course for Shops in the Golden State

Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based inSan Francisco, California. He can be reached [email protected].

Jack Molodanof, lobbyist for CAA, offered some perspective on CAA’songoing legislative efforts.

Q: Jack, tell us briefly why CAA is valuable to body shop ownersthrough its role in Sacramento?

JM: CAA is the industry’s eyes and ears, essentially. As a body shopowner, you’re not able to stay on top all of the legislation out there thatcan potentially impact your business—both negatively and positively. It

all comes down to power in numbers. If you’re hold-ing one pencil, it can break easily, but if you put fouror five of them together, it makes it pretty hard tobreak. With a group of body shops pushing the sameagenda, we can get things done and make an im-pression, that’s for sure. We’ve done it again andagain over the years and that’s why we’ve succeeded

at the state level. Many of these bills can affect consumers, body shopsor the automotive repair industry as a whole, so we’ve learned that thehotter the topic, the more people will step up to either support it, or morelikely, to fight it. Legislators come up with new bills all the time, and if noone is there to watch the door, so to speak, things can pass through.

Q: During some years, there are a lot of proposed bills out there thatthat can greatly impact the industry and then, like last year, there werenot as many. Is this just the roll of the dice or is there a plan behind it?

A: Yes, there are some years where there are more than a few bills onour radar and then there are other years, when less is happening—butsomething is always out there that we need to address and take a posi-tion on from the collision industry’s position. We’ve had some very cru-cial and pivotal things happening over the past few years, primarily theInsurance Department’s regulations on estimates and then the aftermar-

Talking to Lobbyist Jack Molodanof

CAA ExecutiveDirector

David McClune

Jack Molodanof

See Jack Molodanof, Page 37

vantage over the smaller independentshops?

DM: The insurance companies aremore and more discerning nowadayswhen they’re looking for shops towork with, and they are alwayssearching for the best business prac-tices out there when making their de-cisions and that will never change.So, it does not mean that they will al-ways opt for an MSO. If an independ-ent is doing good repairs and has astrong track record, they will getDRPs, because it’s all about the qual-ity in any business and the insurerswant to work with shops that can per-form, regardless of their size.

Q: Many shops couldn’t make itthrough the economic collapse of2008 and I imagine you lost a fewmembers as a result?

DM: It has been a tough time and allkinds of businesses have had to makechanges after 2008. Competition getsmore intense when there is less of thepie out there, so body shops have hadto step up in some areas, like marketingand efficiency, for example. It’s adaptor survive, but in the end, the consumerbenefits, because things such as cus-tomer service and professionalism haveimproved significantly within the lastseven years in the collision industry.The main thing I heard more from bodyshops during that rocky period was thatthey had to increase their efficienciesand do more work with less people.But, that made them better businessesin the end. Many of them told me that ifthey had run their businesses this sameway 10 years ago this way, that theycould have retired by now.

Q:What are some of the bigger thingsCAA has achieved since you took

over in 2000?

DM: Back when I started, we played amajor role in devising the body shopcomplaint form, because until thenbody shops had no real way to com-plain to the Dept. of Insurance. Sonow, both consumers and body shopscan file complaints, so that was a bigdeal. A few years after that, we intro-duced a bill that said insurers couldnot own body shops. Even though thatbill was defeated, it was significant forus, because it brought the issue up tothe surface. It helped to bring some at-tention to it and eventually it becamea non-issue, because in the end we be-lieve that insurance companies don’treally want to be in the collision repairbusiness.

Q: Some CAA chapters seem to thrivewhile others struggle to exist. What doyou think are the reasons for this?

DM: In any trade organization, you’regoing to have some chapters that aremore active than others. We sit downwith the chapters that are strugglingand look for different ways tostrengthen them. At our board meet-ings, all of the chapters submit reports,showing what’s worked and what has-n’t, and that helps all of the chapters.If you look back at our history, you’llsee that certain chapters have spiked inmembership and participation and thenthey go back down, for a wide rangeof reasons. It’s usually based on lead-ership and also sometimes attached towhat’s going on in that part of thestate. Leading members drop out be-cause they retire, for example, and ifthose people aren’t replaced, the chap-ter is impacted. If this happens, we doeverything we can to bring the chapterback, and in some cases, it’s workedwell.


ket crash parts regulations that materialized and was a huge victory forthe industry. But, those items could come back at any time, in the formof a new bill or new regulations from the Insurance Department. So, wecan never rest or take a break from our legislative efforts on behalf ofthe body shops that depend on us to be their watch dogs.

Q: We’ve heard some very positive things about David Jones, our cur-rent Insurance Commissioner. Do you concur on that opinion?

JM: Fortunately, we currently have an Insurance Commissioner (DavidJones) who believes that these issues are important. He understandsthem and wants to do something about them. He’s also working onlabor rate surveys to make certain that the insurance companies aredoing surveys that contain some type of criteria while they’re being per-formed and clarify the process. In addition, Jones is looking at existinglaw concerning steering regulations and if they’re fair and equitable.He’s been very active in all these areas and he’s planning on doingmore, and we’re working with him actively on an ongoing basis. Ourmembers communicate with him regularly and in fact, Jones will bespeaking at our upcoming board meeting, so the relationship is good.

For more information call CAA State Office at: 1-800-454-3368 or visittheir Web site at: www.calautobody.com.


Jack Molodanof

Honda has developed an advancedautomatic braking system that canprevent a vehicle from collidingwith a pedestrian even at a speed of60 kph. The technology uses mil-limetre-wave radar and a high-reso-lution camera to identify pedestrianssooner than conventional brakingsystems can. Honda is expected toinstall the new braking system in itsLegend luxury sedan slated for re-lease this year as well as its globalstrategic models. The automaker hasyet to set the price of the technology.

Honda Develops AdvancedAuto-Braking System

Chicago police say a man who al-legedly tried to steal a woman’s cargot a big surprise when she handedover the keys then shut him inside hergarage. The Chicago Sun-Times re-ports that 21-year-old Andre Baconis charged with attempted vehicularhijacking and theft and was orderedheld Sunday in lieu of $75,000 bail.Police say Bacon demanded that shegive him the keys to her 2012 AcuraMDX, which was parked in hergarage. She did, but then closed thedoor behind her and called police.

Chicago Man Threatens Womanfor Keys But is Locked Up


Bridgestone Corp., a Tokyo, Japan-based company, has agreed to pleadguilty and to pay a $425 million crimi-nal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fixprices of automotive anti-vibration rub-ber parts installed in cars sold in theUnited States and elsewhere, the De-partment of Justice announced.

According to a one-count felonycharge filed today in U.S. District Courtfor the Northern District of Ohio inToledo, Bridgestone engaged in a con-spiracy to allocate sales of, to rig bidsfor and to fix, raise and maintain theprices of automotive anti-vibration rub-ber parts it sold to Toyota Motor Corp.,Nissan Motor Corp., Fuji Heavy Indus-tries Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corp., IsuzuMotors Ltd. and certain of their sub-sidiaries, affiliates and suppliers. In ad-dition to the criminal fine, Bridgestonealso has agreed to cooperate with the de-partment’s ongoing auto parts investi-gations. The plea agreement is subjectto court approval.

In October 2011, Bridgestonepleaded guilty and paid a $28 millionfine for price-fixing and Foreign Cor-rupt Practices Act violations in the ma-rine hose industry, but did not disclose atthe time of the plea that it had also par-ticipated in the anti-vibration rubber

parts conspiracy. Bridgestone’s failureto disclose this conspiracy was a factorin determining the $425 million fine.

“The Antitrust Division will take ahard line when repeat offenders fail todisclose additional anticompetitive be-havior,” said Brent Snyder, Deputy As-sistant Attorney General for theAntitrust Division’s criminal enforce-ment program. “Today’s significant finereaffirms the division’s commitment toholding companies accountable for con-duct that harms U.S. consumers.”

According to the charges, Bridge-stone and its co-conspirators carriedout the conspiracy through meetingsand conversations in which they dis-cussed and agreed upon bids, pricesand allocating sales of certain automo-tive anti-vibration rubber products.After exchanging this informationwith its co-conspirators, Bridgestonesubmitted bids and prices in accor-dance with those agreements and soldand accepted payments for automotiveanti-vibration rubber parts at collusiveand noncompetitive prices. Bridge-stone’s involvement in the conspiracyto fix prices of anti-vibration rubberparts lasted from at least January 2001until at least December 2008.

Said Special Agent in Charge

Stephen D. Anthony, “The illegal activ-ity in this case threatened the basic tenetof free competition. We are pleased withthe acceptance of responsibility alongwith the significant penalty which willbe paid by Bridgestone for this conspir-acy to fix prices.”

Bridgestone manufactures andsells anti-vibration rubber parts, whichare comprised primarily of rubber andmetal, and are installed in suspensionsystems and engine mounts as well asother parts of an automobile.

Including Bridgestone, 26 compa-nies have pleaded guilty or agreed toplead guilty in the department’s ongo-ing investigation into price fixing andbid rigging in the automotive parts in-dustry. The companies have agreed topay a total of more than $2 billion incriminal fines. Additionally, 28 individ-uals have been charged.

Bridgestone is charged with pricefixing in violation of the Sherman Act,which carries maximum penalties of a$100 million criminal fine for corpora-tions. The maximum fine may be in-creased to twice the gain derived fromthe crime or twice the loss suffered bythe victims of the crime, if either ofthose amounts is greater than the statu-tory maximum fine.

Bridgestone Guilty of Price Fixing, To Pay $425 Million FineAnti-Vibration Parts Sold to Toyota, Nissan, Fuji Industries, Suzuki, and Isuzu

Chrysler and Mopar, Ford, GeneralMotors and ACDelco, Honda, and Nis-san have already committed to a strongpresence at NACE/CARS 2014, eachwith larger exhibits than in recentyears. With so many positive changestaking place around the event, it makessense for these companies to play a keyrole in the show.

“The car manufacturers have themost current information and knowl-edge on the latest advancements intechnology and repair methodologies.Their participation is critical to thesuccess of the show since the industryleaders attending will be seeking toexpand their knowledge and remaincurrent with the quickly changing au-tomotive repair industry,” said DanRisley, ASA Executive Director.

With a position in both collisionrepair and mechanical repair, theOEMs have an opportunity to servetwo important market segments at oneindustry event. And in addition to dis-plays, attendees can expect to see pre-sentations, seminars, and training onthe most up-to-date OEM technologies.

“We are excited to continue thelaunch of the all-new Ford F-150, thetoughest, smartest and most capable toever be introduced, at this year’s NACEin Detroit,” said Paul Massie, Ford’s

powertrain and collision marketingmanager. “Ford has a long-standing his-tory with ASA and the 2014 NACE andCARS show is a great venue to deliverinformation to repair professionalsabout this exciting, new truck.”

“We’re excited about exhibitingat NACE/CARS again and showingour support for the collision and me-chanical repair industries,” statedGary Ledoux, Assistant NationalManager for American Honda MotorCompany. “I think this is going to be agreat show and another opportunity tointeract with Honda customers andbusiness partners. All roads lead toDetroit in July!”

The two biggest changes toNACE/CARS 2014 include the new lo-cation in Detroit and the new summerdates, July 28-August 2. The antici-pated growth or “renaissance” of theevent coincides with the renaissanceand revitalization of Detroit. “TheMotor City” is a logical place to takeadvantage of growth in the automotiveindustry and improvement in the over-all economy while NACE and CARSsee a renaissance from recent years.

“Our team, including members ofthe ASA Board of Directors, ASAMichigan members and staff, our eventmanagement company, and show con-

tractors, have spent significant time inDetroit planning NACE/CARS 2014.Everyone has been impressed, and thecity will be a great host. We believevisitors are going to be thrilled with thehotels, restaurants, convention center,amenities, safety and security, familyattractions, and overall friendliness ofDetroit,” said Risley.

Along with NACE/CARS, a seriesof automotive repair industry eventsand co-located meetings will take placeJuly 28-Aug. 2, 2014. Early in the weekthere will be a series of Board and otherprivate meetings. Tuesday will host theCIC quarterly meeting. Wednesday willhighlight the I-CAR conference andgala 35th anniversary networking re-ception. Thursday and Friday will bethe NACE/CARS expo along with nu-merous NACE and CARS business andtechnical sessions, the MSO Sympo-sium, the Mechanical Symposium andon-site I-CAR training. Technical pre-sentations end at noon Saturday, August2.For exhibit or show information, con-tact ASA’s trade show managementteam at:Stone Fort Group(832) 932-786810575 Katy Freeway, Suite 330Houston TX 77024

OEMs to Play a More Significant Role in NACE/CARS 2014 in Detroit

Uni-Select Inc. announced that its sub-sidiary FinishMaster, Inc. completedthe acquisition of the assets of MetroPaint Supplies Group, which includesthe assets of Metro Paint Supplies,Inc., Midwest Refinishings Supply,Inc. and Automotive Coatings &Equipment LLC. This acquisition willincrease FinishMaster’s presence inboth the Chicago and Colorado mar-kets. The Metro Paint Supplies Grouphas served automotive and industrialcustomers in the Midwest since 1951,operating 3 stores and 1 warehouse inthe Chicago Metropolitan area and ad-ditional stores in Denver and ColoradoSprings, CO. The transaction willbroaden FinishMaster’s product offer-ing in Colorado through gained distri-bution rights of additional productlines. “We are pleased to welcome theMetro Paint Supplies Group to Finish-Master. This team has a strong tradi-tion of providing great value to theircustomers, and that tradition will con-tinue after the acquisition. We areproud to continue the legacy that BillWeiss started over 25 years ago andare fortunate to add talented, experi-enced people to the FinishMasterteam,” stated Steve Arndt, Presidentand Chief Operating Officer.

FinishMaster Acquires MetroPaint Supplies Group

VeriFacts Automotive LLC has addedthree new categories of repair capa-bilities to its Verified Quality (VQ)program. With the identification ofthese categories, VeriFacts aims tobetter match its shops with specifictypes of repairs needed after a crash.The three categories include:● Cosmetic (no structural, suspensiondamage or welding required)● Structural (all cosmetic includingstructural, welding, measuring re-quired)● Aluminum/Composite (ability to re-pair and weld aluminum along withrepair of composite materials)

“Virtually all modern passengervehicles now contain highly exoticstructural steels, structural aluminumand structural composite type materi-als that require very specialized colli-sion repair equipment and training torestore the structural integrity de-signed into them by the manufac-turer,” said Audie Swedeen, directorof technical field operations and train-ing at VeriFacts. “Wouldn’t you wantto know if your car has aluminumdamage that the shop repairing it ac-tually has the correct equipment andtraining to properly complete the re-pairs?”

VeriFacts Has Added ThreeNew Repair Categories


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“This is the biggest thing in the historyof our company,” said Rob Retterabout what the 2015 aluminum-bodiedFord F-150 pickup means for Eurovac,the Concord, Ontario, equipment firmhis family owns in Canada. “Rightnow we have 25 employees. We’re ex-pecting that will grow substantially.We’re working hard.”

Retter was at the Ford Motor Co.stand at the National AutomobileDealers Association (NADA) conven-tion showing off two pieces of equip-ment his company makes for collisionrepair shops. One of them, the Eu-rovac II, carries a price tag of $10,125.It’s designed to vacuum aluminumdust off shop floors. Ford is encourag-ing dealers to buy the equipment ifthey want to make their body shopsaluminum capable. Eurovac manufac-tures industrial equipment for remov-ing dust and fumes. A Eurovacportable fume extractor on display isoptional.

Until now, aluminum bodieslargely have been limited to high-endcars such as the Audi A8 and JaguarXJ. But the F-150, the top-selling ve-hicle in the country, changes all that.With the F-150, aluminum movesinto the mainstream, and some ana-lysts predict more vehicles will fol-low.

A steady stream of dealers flowedthrough the Ford stand looking at alu-minum work stations, rivet guns andother equipment. Ford estimates theaverage dealer will have to spend$30,000 to $50,000 to get set up.

Dealers can purchase the equip-ment through Rotunda, Ford’s toolsupply unit. Ford is offering dealers a20 percent discount, up to $10,000, onequipment they buy before Oct. 31.

“Right now they’re trying to gettheir heads wrapped around all the re-quirements,” said Retter.

The F-150 is great news for com-panies such as Eurovac and Car-O-Liner Co. with U.S. headquarters insuburban Detroit. Car-O-Liner Presi-dent Jeffrey Kern said his companyis prepared for a surge in business.

“We’re capable of handling theadditional volume,” Retter said.“We’ve had rollouts before with man-ufacturers, but not to this level.”

At the NADA convention, Dou-glas Bortz, Car-O-Liner’s nationalsales manager, shows off some toolsdesigned specifically for repairs ofaluminum body panels on the Ford F-150.

The aluminum buzz at the NADAconvention wasn’t confined to theFord stand. Car-O-Liner displayed afull aluminum work bay at its booth

featuring a damaged aluminum-bod-ied Audi R8.

Ford is encouraging dealers andindependent collision shops who wantto perform aluminum collision repairto set up separate areas in their bodyshops. Ford and experts in collision re-pair say that aluminum and steel donot mix in work areas, making sepa-rate areas advisable.

In a statement Ford said: “Themajority of collision repairs can becompleted by most body shops today(e.g. bumpers, grilles, mirrors, dings,dents). Major collision repairs shouldbe performed by aluminum capableFord Body Shops or Ford NationalBody Shop Network members (deal-ers and independents).”

Car-O-Liner supplies the heavy-duty floor-to-ceiling curtains dealersneed to set up a separate station alongwith welding equipment, sets of alu-minum body-working tools, and liftsand racks of various sizes. They helpdealers set up aluminum work areas.

Ford will not require dealers toset up a separate “clean room” forworking on aluminum. So dealers cancurtain off areas, do the body work,clean the area and convert back tosteel. For suppliers such as Car-O-Liner and Eurovac, the aluminum F-150 is a gift that will keep on giving.

Aluminum-bodied F-150 is Boon to Eurovac and Car-O-Liner

Chrysler and Fiat will be known asFiat Chrysler Automobiles NV asthey move forward as a single com-pany. Fiat’s board of directorsagreed on the new name Wednes-day, with headquarters for tax pur-poses in the United Kingdom. Butthe board sidestepped the thorny po-litical issue of whether the trueheadquarters would be in the UnitedStates or Italy.

Fiat and Chrysler also an-nounced fourth-quarter and full-year earnings. Chrysler’s strongprofits once again propped up itsparent company, which otherwisewould have lost money. Shares ofthe combined company will tradejointly on the New York Stock Ex-change and in Milan, Italy, by Oct.1. The shares will trade under thesymbol FCA, which also appears onthe new company logo. FCA nowincludes the Jeep, Ram, Dodge andChrysler brands as well as Fiat,Maserati, Ferrari and Lancia andAlfa Romeo. The new company willmaintain significant research, engi-neering and financial operations inFiat’s hometown of Turin, Italy, andat Chrysler’s sprawling office com-plex in Auburn Hills, MI.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles tobe Company’s New Name

by Chasidy Rae Sisk

On Wednesday, January 15, the Na-tional Auto Body Council (NABC)held their annual golf fundraiser at theTahquitz Creek Golf Resort in PalmSprings, CA. Nick Notte, NABCBoard President, notes “this year’sgolf fundraiser was highly successful,

one of the best ever. The NationalAuto Body Council appreciates andthanks all those who, through theirsponsorships and participation in theevent, recognize the value our collec-tive efforts bring in promoting theimage of our collision industry.”

A sold-out field of 144golfers participated in theeven to support the NABCand its programs. Represen-tatives from all segments ofthe industry were present tosupport NABC’s mission,including repairers, insurers,rental car companies, partssuppliers and manufacturers,among others. In addition toHertz, the event’s presentingsponsor, over 30 other com-panies sponsored the event.Top sponsors included Au-daExplore, Axalta Coating Systems,Enterprise Rent-A-Car, PPG Automo-tive Refinish, Sherwin Williams, Ster-ling Auto Body Centers and TeamPRP.

One of the NABC’s majorsources of funding for its ongoing pro-grams, proceeds from the annual golffundraiser helps to support NABC’swork with Recycled Rides, the Dis-tracted Driving Initiative and First Re-sponder Emergency Extrication(FREE).

The benefit to Recycled Rideswas apparent at the event it-self, as explained by Notte:“The golf event kicked offwith the presentation of aRecycled Rides vehicle to alocal young mother with atwo-year-old son born with acongenital birth defect. A2013 Ford Fusion, donatedby Hertz and repaired by Pa-cific Collision Center inCathedral City, CA, was pre-sented to Jennifer Valdezwho will now be able to takeher son to his frequent med-

ical appointments in the comfort ofher own car, rather than having to relyon friends and public transportation.Jennifer was selected as a recipient bya local nonprofit support organization,Variety–The Children’s Charity of theDesert.”

Notte believes the event “pro-vided participants with fun, cama-raderie and networking opportunitieswhile learning more about the pro-grams and mission of the NABC,” and

he credits its success to “the collabo-ration and efforts of members fromvarious industry segments who joinforces and provide valuable commu-nity service programs.”

The visibility and value ofNABC programs have resulted inmembership growth momentum in re-cent months with the addition of fournew Diamond Members and severaladditional members joining at various

levels of membership.Notte added a special thanks to

members of the NABC Board of Di-rectors, the fundraising committee,chaired by Domenic Brusco and

David Merrell, Executive DirectorChuck Sulkala, and the NABC staff,for the many hours devoted to makingthe golf fundraiser an enjoyable andsuccessful event.www.nationalautobodycouncil.org


NABC’s Golf Fundraiser at CIC Draws a Sold-Out Crowd

A sold out field of 144 golfers enjoyed spectacular weatherand golf while raising funds to support the National AutoBody Council programs

Left to right Doug Webb, John Webb, and Doug Kellyenjoying the golf course views at the NABC’s annualGolf Fundraiser

Palm Springs resident Jennifer Valdez and her special-needs son enjoy their new Recycled Ridesvehicle, thanks to Pacific Collision Centers of Cathedral City and Hertz. See Feb. ABN for more.

age—the repairs we’re getting aremostly aesthetic, small damages tobumpers and doors from slipping andsliding on the ice. It was kind of likebumper cars out there! We can flipthese repairs quickly, though, if the in-

surers get on with their business. Idon’t work for them, but I’ll workwith them to get the consumer takencare of as quickly as possible.”

Forecasts for February indicatethe Polar Vortex may finally be lettingup in the southern region of the US,but the Northeast and Midwest can ex-pect the icy winds and snow accumu-lation to continue through February.


Polar Vortex Continues


The Collision Repair EducationFoundation announced that the AlcoaFoundation, the philanthropic arm ofAlcoa, the aluminum company,awarded the Collision Repair Educa-tion Foundation a $60,000 grant thatwill provide aluminum repair focusedtraining and technical presentations tohigh school and college collisionschool instructors and industry pro-fessionals attending the NACE 2014show (the International AutobodyCongress and Exposition) at Detroit’sCobo Hall July 28–August 2. Work-ing together with the Inter-IndustryConference on Auto Collision Repair(I CAR), collision school instructorswill attend aluminum specific train-ing sessions in Detroit the week ofNACE and aluminum technical pre-sentations and panels will be con-ducted on the NACE show floor. Asmore and more of today’s and futurevehicles are being constructed withaluminum, it is crucial that currentand future repair professionals com-plete aluminum repair technical train-ing in order to repair consumer’scollision damaged properly.

“Aluminum is the second mostused material to build cars and hasgrown every year for the past 40years, so it’s not a new material to theauto industry,” said Michael Mur-phy, Vice President, Commercial forAlcoa Automotive. “However weknow that some in the market wouldlike to understand better how they canwork with and repair aluminum. Our

goal in teaming-up with the CollisionRepair Education Foundation, I-CARand all the partners at NACE is to ed-ucate people and have them under-stand that repairing aluminum isn’tdifficult… it’s just different.”

Collision Repair EducationFoundation Executive Director ClarkPlucinski noted, “After the over-whelming success of the 2013 AlcoaFoundation grant where collision in-structor and student pairs attendedaluminum repair technical training atthe I-CAR Tech Center, we werethrilled to hear that Alcoa has in-creased their level of support withthis new grant. Working together withI-CAR and in conjunction with theNACE 2014 show this grant will helpbring additional aluminum repairtraining to both collision school in-structors and attending industry pro-fessionals.”

The Automotive Service Associ-ation (ASA) President Dan Risleyadded, “Alcoa’s commitment to edu-cate instructors and the collision re-pair industry on aluminum repairs isunparalleled. In addition to theclasses and material presented by I-CAR on aluminum, we will be as-sembling a showcase on the showfloor highlighting current model ve-hicles that are aluminum intensive.We anticipate providing live demon-strations on proper aluminum repairtechniques to further supplement analready outstanding lineup of alu-minum content and information.”

Alcoa Foundation Awards $60K Aluminum Training Grant

AAA Says Right to Repair Needs to Go FurtherAccording to AAA the Right to RepairAgreement should help consumerswith auto repair, but it does not go farenough in ensuring access to car dataas vehicle technology advances.

“Most consumers want the abilityto choose their preferred mechanic,”said Bob Darbelnet, President andCEO of AAA.

“While this agreement has bene-fits for consumers, it is not a compre-hensive solution. Vehicles are changingrapidly and more must be done to guar-antee consumer choice and control ofvehicle data in the future.” AAA be-lieves that automakers must help ensurethe consumer rights of transparency,choice and security as cars increasinglytransmit data outside the vehicle.

AAA Consumer Rights on Car DataTransparency—Consumers

have a right to clearly understand whatinformation is being collected fromtheir vehicle and how it is being used.Businesses and the government shouldbe transparent about the collection anduse of vehicle data.

Choice—Consumers have aright to decide with whom to sharetheir data and for what purpose. Thisincludes ongoing monitoring of vehi-cle systems, repair and any data of thevehicle owner’s choice. Customersshould not be forced to relinquish con-trol as a condition of purchasing orleasing a vehicle or of receiving a con-nected-vehicle service.

Security—Consumers have aright to expect that connected-vehiclemanufacturers and service providerswill use reasonable measures to protectvehicle data systems and servicesagainst unauthorized access and misuse.

ASA Encourages PartsTrader Action at State LevelThe Automotive Service Association(ASA) has announced that, as part ofits 2014 legislative initiatives, it willcontinue to work with independentrepairers and their state affiliate asso-ciations that have taken an active rolein addressing insurer parts procure-ment mandates on a state level.

Although a few states in 2013saw bills introduced to stop insurer-mandated parts procurement pro-grams, none of these bills advancedto become law in their states, ASAnoted. The association anticipatesthat 2014 will see more legislative ac-tivity on parts procurement and othersimilar insurer mandates. ASA con-tacted state attorneys general and in-surance regulators in the fall of 2013asking that they review these pro-grams to determine if they violatetheir state laws. ASA has had discus-sions with a number of these statesthat have submitted inquiries for ad-ditional supporting information. Im-portant to note, ASA states, is thatsubsequent to its announcement rela-tive to sending letters to each state,State Farm sent states letters arguingthe legitimacy of such mandates. Toview an example of these letters, visitwww.TakingTheHill.com.

“Our goal was to resolve this[State Farm PartsTrader issue] with-

out government oversight, interfer-ence or legislation,” said Dan Risley,ASA executive director.

“As such, we have persisted inour efforts to work with State Farmto change the current PartsTradermandate policy. This has includedmultiple meetings and other discus-sions that continued throughout 2013.ASA believes that there are potentialsolutions provided State Farm is will-ing to work toward an amicable reso-lution that benefits State Farm,collision repairers and the consumer.”

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by Chasidy Rae Sisk

If you’ve been involved in the colli-sion repair industry for longer than amonth (if that!), you’re probablyaware of the existence of the Societyof Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS), yet you may not know ex-actly what their role is within the in-

dustry. Sure, you can search theirwebsite to find their mission statement– “to educate, inform and representthe collision repair professional in allaspects of the industry” – or their vi-sion – “to promote, support and en-courage exemplary businessescommitted to the future of the colli-sion repair industry, while providingthe visibility and leadership needed toraise the professional image of the in-dustry and advance the business con-ditions of those whom we represent” –but who is SCRS, and what do theydo? Executive Director Aaron Schu-lenburg graciously agreed to answerthese questions and more.

In the 1970s, before SCRS wasfounded, the collision repair industrywas fragmented with shops function-ing independently. Due to a lack ofcommunication, shops were verycompetitive and suspicious of one an-other, and as the new decade ap-proached, signs of an imminentindustry upheaval emerged due to ad-vancements in technology and mate-rials as well as the absence of theindustry-accepted training whichcaused shop owners to feel that theywere losing control of their busi-nesses. Believing that the lack of acollective voice left the industry vul-nerable, a group of perceptive shopowners in the Kansas City area begancontemplating the possibility of form-ing a group to help them improve ascollision repair professionals.

This group gathered to listen toJohn Loftus who reminded them thatthey were all in the same business andthus alike, making it obvious that theyhad a better chance of solving theirproblems together rather than individ-

ually. Conversations continued until,at their next meeting at Gene Parks’Body Shop in Riverside, MO in 1982,this group of repairers had decided toform an association with Loftus astheir leader. Realizing the need formore members if they wanted to effectmeaningful change, the group beganlooking beyond their locality as theyconsidered creating a national colli-sion repair association; thus, SCRSwas formed.

As seen by the events leading upto the creation of SCRS, their workwas inspired by the concept “WorkingTogether Is the Most Important WorkWe Do,” and this belief has influencedthe work and decisions of SCRS forthe past three decades. Schulenburgnotes that the association’s purposehas not really changed since its incep-tion; “SCRS started because a groupof grassroots shops believed the in-dustry needed a unified voice, andthough our approach, scope, abilitiesand funding have progressed overtime, we are all really proud that therehas been no deviation from our pur-pose which remains as grassroots aswhen we first started. Our focus is stillthe same – to be a voice for repairers– and since SCRS was founded in1982, we continue to strive for thesame things, staying true to why westarted the association.”

Since 1982, SCRS has becomethe largest national trade associationsolely representing and dedicated tocollision repair facilities across thecontinent. Through their direct mem-bers and affiliated associations, theyrepresent over 6,000 collision repairbusinesses and over 58,000 industryprofessionals. According to Schulen-burg, their “goals as an organizationare to make this industry better inevery way we can. We ask ourselves,‘what is the best way to support colli-sion repair businesses?’, and then wetry to make the biggest difference pos-sible for our members and the industryas a whole.”

In terms of the challenges SCRSfaces in order to maintain operations,Schulenburg notes that they reallyaren’t that dissimilar from their affili-ates; “it all comes down to industryengagement. The issues we face areoften defined by the lowest denomi-nators in our industry – expectationsare set by the floor, rather than theceiling – so how do you reach peoplewho aren’t engaging in industry activ-

ity, or even following industry publi-cations, news and developments? Thisalso impacts the question of how togrow consistently. Despite SCRS’syearly growth in every member cate-gory, we can only reach so many peo-ple, and we want to get to everyonewith a collision repair sign in the door-way of their business so that they’reaware of changes in the industry andknow how to handle them.”

Expanding, Schulenburg notesthat the issues are the same across thecountry, and the main difference be-tween SCRS and local associations isthe scope of activity, emphasizing the

importance of why SCRS is struc-tured to support a network of associ-ations. Many issues, such as howinsurance is governed, are handled ata state level, so how state associa-tions address these issues locally isdifferent from what SCRS can do ona national scale. By talking to theiraffiliate associations and coordinat-ing collaborative discussion amongststate and regional groups, SCRS getsto see the bigger, global picture andhelp support those local effortsthrough enhanced communication.Schulenburg believes this structureworks well and is efficient.

Of course, SCRS also plays alarge role in contending with prob-lems impacting the industry. Accord-ing to Schulenburg, some of thebiggest of these challenges are thefuture of cars and an increasing lossof control and intrusion into collisionrepair businesses. “As technologydevelops, the need for costly train-ing, equipment and specializationwill become more prolific; we arealso cautiously looking decadesdown the road at the developmentsof self-driving vehicles and those


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SCRS Provides Unified Voice for Industry

with sophisticated accident avoid-ance systems which promote in-creased safety, but could prove to bedangerous to the trade. If so, whatdoes the evolving future of the in-dustry look like? The intrusion ofthird-party entities into the collision

repair industry is also a huge concerntoday, and as more repairers becomefrustrated, many are taking morevocal stands and removing them-selves from insurer programs; manyare even taking a litigious approach– all of this is an indication of theboiling point the industry is experi-encing.”

As SCRS keeps an eye on thingspotentially impacting the industryand serves as a source of informationfor many in the repair community,they are looked to for leadership andpositioning regarding the current is-sues facing their members’ business.When asked about insurance pro-

grams mandating parts procurementproviders, Schulenburg made notethat they take exception to all insurermandates, particularly the mandateduse of parts procurements system, ahot topic pervading the country.“SCRS believes this control falls out-

side of the scope of the in-surance business [and]SCRS supports efforts thatrightfully seek to eliminatesuch intrusion into the colli-sion repair business, and en-forcement of existing laws,regulations and codes that

currently prohibit such actions. It isthe opinion of SCRS that voluntaryagreements cannot include stipula-tions which violate existing laws,rules and regulations. SCRS believesthat collision businesses are capableof establishing successful vendor re-lationships and internal processesthat will best accommodate the needsof the consumer, and that serviceproviders will continue to respond tothe market with increasingly creativesolutions that drive performance fortheir customers and the respectivemarket entities. We believe that solu-tions with tangible value propositionswill be utilized and supported by the

marketplace without the undue influ-ence of insurer mandate.”

Regarding the PARTS Act, Schu-lenburg understands why OEs want toprotect their designs in order to re-cover their investments on the re-search and development involved increating a vehicle, and also why theaftermarket industry objects to thisprotection; however, the biggest con-cern is that the PARTS Act does noth-ing to ensure the quality of partsentering the marketplace, which isperhaps the biggest struggle SCRS’members face when expected to usethe alternative parts in question.

Which parts are used in a repairshould be decided based on qualityand consumer choice. Insurance com-panies commonly push shops to usethe cheapest parts, but this can resultin consumers being taken advantageof..”

Currently, SCRS has many proj-ects in the works, but Schulenburgdoesn’t believe that 2014 will see anytremendous changes in their objec-tives as they “continue to focus onwhat’s most important to members’interests.” SCRS continues to exam-ine how to address parts procurementmandates, the arbitrary reduction ofrefinish times on repaired panels andfinding ways to support the develop-ment and use of OEM repair proce-dures for the most proper repair. . Theassociation will also continue devel-oping education for their acclaimedRepairer Driven Education series atthe SEMA Show, and Schulenburg be-lieves that the anticipated increase inattendance for 2014 “speaks to ourmission to educate and inform ourmembership.”

SCRS has also been activelymonitoring current trends with newvehicles being released. For example,

the 2015 Ford F150, just formally an-nounced at the beginning of this year,is unique in that it is going to be con-structed of weight-saving aluminum,and many repair shops still need toprepare for the investment in equip-ment and training that this will ne-cessitate if they wish to continue torepair the most popular vehicle inAmerica. Looking further down theroad, Schulenburg indicated thatSCRS is already examining a bur-geoning interest from carriers intoanalytical estimating, how it couldpotentially change the way losses aresettled, and the effect it will have on

the industry altogether. Henotes, “it’s going to be abusy year because there’sno shortage of things forwhich our members need aunified voice.”

On January 15, SCRSheld their first Open Boardmeeting of the year in PalmSprings, CA. Schulenburgnotes, “the meeting was

great because it provided an opportu-nity to interact with members andshare what’s going on in the indus-try.” The association’s committeesalso shared their work on currentprojects, and Schulenburg particularlyenjoyed the presentation on toolsgiven by Kye Yeung and Toby Chess,the findings of which will be pub-lished on SCRS’s website soon. Theyreviewed a broad range of tools, frombasic to advanced, that could make asignificant difference in the repairprocess.

Since being founded, SCRS hasstrived to provide a unified voice forthe collision repair industry in their ef-forts to better the trade, and their be-lief that meaningful change is onlypossible through working together hasinspired many positive improvementsin the industry. As Schulenburg hasstated many times, “we are strongertogether.”

Society of Collision Repair Specialists(SCRS)PO Box 909Prosser, WA 99350877-841-0660www.scrs.com


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The Alliance of Automobile Manufac-turers (Alliance), the Association ofGlobal Automakers (Global), the Auto-motive Aftermarket Industry Associa-tion (AAIA), and the Coalition forAutomotive Repair Equality (CARE)announced their collective acceptance ofa national agreement to ensure consumerchoice in post-warranty auto repair, de-cisively ending the longstanding “Rightto Repair” debate within the industry.

The national agreement is based onthe recent law finalized in Massachusetts.The signed Memorandum of Under-standing (MOU) extends the essentialprovisions for all light vehicles negotiatedin the Massachusetts law nationwide; itimpacts all companies and organizationsthat are currently members of the signa-tory associations. Unlike the recentchanges to the law in Massachusetts, theagreement does not include heavy dutytrucks, nor does it include motorcycles.

Should a consumer or repair shopbe unable to obtain information, soft-ware or a tool from a automaker, thecomplaining party would first be re-quired to contact the car company eitherdirectly or through the National Auto-motive Service Task Force (NASTF), torequest access to the information, tool orsoftware. A car company has 30 days torespond to this request.

If the shop or consumer are still notsatisfied, then the individual or shop cantake the issue before a five-person Dis-pute Resolution Panel established underthe MOU comprised of representativesfrom the four signatory groups andchaired by an independent professionalmediator. If the dispute cannot be re-solved amicably, the panel will make aruling based on the terms of the MOU.

The Automotive Service Association,in September 2002, reached a voluntaryagreement with vehicle manufacturers.That agreement provided that manufactur-ers would provide independent repairshops with the same service and traininginformation related to vehicle repair as isavailable to franchised dealerships. It alsospecified that NASTF would work to re-solve issues that might arise, but did not in-clude the more formal Dispute ResolutionPanel.

“ASA is a long-time supporter ofindustry solutions to service information,tool and training issues. ASA signed anagreement in the fall of 2002, addressingthese issues, at the urging of the U.S.Senate Commerce Committee. We be-lieve this agreement has made a signifi-cant contribution to the automotiveindependent repairer,” said Bob Red-ding, ASA’s Washington representative.“It is encouraging to see the automotive

industry continue to come together onnon-legislative solutions for the serviceinformation issue. On these most impor-tant issues, a government solution shouldbe the last option not the first.”

This national agreement ensures theAlliance, Global, AAIA, and CARE willstand down in their fight on “Right to Re-pair” and work collectively to activelyoppose individual state legislation whiletheir respective groups work to imple-ment this MOU. In the meantime, theparties agree that further state legislationis not needed and could serve to weakenthe effectiveness and clarity of the MOU.

“Automakers manufacture highquality, innovative vehicles that providestrong value, safety, and convenience toour customers,” said Mitch Bainwol,President and CEO of the Alliance ofAutomobile Manufacturers. “Accessi-ble, efficient, accurate, and competi-tively-priced repair and service areparamount, and franchised dealers andthe aftermarket play unique and impor-tant roles in the repair process.”

“We are excited that consumers andindependent repair facilities around theNation will have the same access to theinformation, tools and software neededto service late model computer con-trolled vehicles as is required under theMassachusetts right to repair statute,”

said Kathleen Schmatz, President andCEO of the Automotive Aftermarket In-dustry Association. “We believe that theresulting competitive repair market is awin-win for car companies, the inde-pendent repair industry and most impor-tantly consumers.”

“Much like with fuel efficiencyeconomy and greenhouse gases, a singlenational standard regarding vehicle re-pair protocols is imperative,” said MikeStanton, President and CEO of the As-sociation of Global Automakers. “Apatchwork of fifty differing state bills,each with its own interpretations andcompliance parameters doesn’t makesense. This agreement provides the uni-form clarity our industry needs and a na-tionwide platform to move on.”

“Since the first Right to Repair Actwas introduced in Congress in 2001,CARE and the automotive aftermarkethave worked to ensure our customers con-tinue to have the right to choose wherethey buy their parts and have their vehi-cles serviced,” said Ray Pohlman, Presi-dent of CARE. “This agreement willensure vehicle owners will have compet-itive and quality choices in their repairswhile strengthening the auto repair indus-try nationwide. This illustrates what canhappen when organizations put customersand consumers first,” Pohlman said.

AAIA and CARE Conclude Voluntary Information Sharing Agreement with OEMs

Aisan Industry Co. Ltd., an Obu,Japan-based company, has agreed toplead guilty and to pay a criminal fineof $6.86 million for its role in a pricefixing conspiracy involving electronicthrottle bodies sold in the UnitedStates and elsewhere, the Departmentof Justice announced.

According to a one-count felonycharge filed in U.S. District Court forthe Eastern District of Michigan inDetroit, Aisan engaged in a conspir-acy to rig bids for and to fix stabilizeand maintain the prices of electronicthrottle bodies sold to Nissan MotorCo. Ltd. and certain of its subsidiariesin the United States and elsewhere. Inaddition to the criminal fine, Aisan hasalso agreed to cooperate with the de-partment’s ongoing auto parts investi-gations. The plea agreement is subjectto court approval.

“The Antitrust Division will con-tinue to hold companies accountablefor anticompetitive conduct that im-pacts the automobile industry in theUnited States,” said Brent Snyder,Deputy Assistant Attorney General ofthe Antitrust Division’s criminal en-forcement program. “To date, 25 com-panies have been charged as part of

the Antitrust Division’s ongoing autoparts investigation.” Aisan and its co-conspirators carried out the price fix-ing conspiracy through meetings andconversations in which they discussedand agreed upon bids and price quo-tations for electronic throttle bodies.Aisan’s involvement in the conspiracyto fix prices of electronic throttle bod-ies lasted from at least as early as Oc-tober 2003 until at least February2010.

Aisan manufactures and sellsautomotive electronic throttle bodies,which are part of the air intake sys-tem in an engine that controls theamount of air flowing into an en-gine’s combustion chamber. By con-trolling air flow within an engine, theelectronic throttle body controls en-gine speed.

Including Aisan, 25 corporationshave pleaded guilty or agreed to pleadguilty in the department’s investiga-tion into price fixing and bid riggingin the auto parts industry. The compa-nies have agreed to pay a total of morethan $1.8 billion in fines. Additionally,28 individuals have been charged.

Aisan is charged with price fix-ing in violation of the Sherman Act,

which carries a maximum penalty ofa $100 million criminal fine for cor-porations. The maximum fine may beincreased to twice the gain derivedfrom the crime or twice the loss suf-fered by the victims of the crime, if ei-ther of those amounts is greater thanthe statutory maximum fine.

The prosecution arose from anongoing federal antitrust investigationinto price fixing, bid rigging, andother anti-competitive conduct in theautomotive parts industry, which isbeing conducted by each of the An-titrust Division’s criminal enforce-ment sections and the FBI.

The charges were brought by theSan Francisco Office of the AntitrustDivision with assistance provided bythe National Criminal EnforcementSection of the Antitrust Division, theDetroit Field Office of the FBI, andFBI Headquarters’ International Cor-ruption Unit. Anyone with informa-tion concerning this investigationshould contact the Antitrust Division’sCitizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html, or call the De-troit Field Office of the FBI at 313-965-2323.

Aisan Industry Co. Agrees to $6.86M Criminal Fine for Price FixingPrice-Fixed Electronic Throttle Bodies Sold to Nissan Motor Co. and Subsidiaries

Twitter Inc. is seeking a bigger sliceof the more than $15 billion auto-ad-vertising market, saying that house-holds with users of its service weretwice as likely to buy a new car asthe average U.S. household. About6 percent of households with Twit-ter users bought a new car during asix-month period measured by part-ner Datalogix Inc. last year, the SanFrancisco-based social network saidin a blog post. Those householdsbought new vehicles at double thenational rate from April to October,according to Datalogix and IHS Au-tomotive’s Polk. The car-buyingdata “moves the conversation from‘why Twitter?’ to ‘how should weuse Twitter?’” said Jeffrey Gra-ham, ad research director at Twitter.“The measurement shows that Twit-ter works and there’s a huge oppor-tunity there.” Twitter CEO DickCostolo is focused on reversing aslowdown in user growth. The moresignificant measure to monitor is thecompany’s advertising revenuegiven the “tremendously under-de-veloped potential for monetization”of the platform, according to BrianWieser, an analyst at Pivotal Re-search Group in New York.

Twitter Says its Users BuyTwice As Many Cars


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Diamond Standard Brand Parts Manu-facturer Reflexxion Automotivelaunched a new website, located atwww.reflexxion.com, dedicated toprovide an easy, interactive portal toReflexxion’s market leadership incowl hoods featuring on-truck hoodviews and paperless Flip-Page 2014catalog. “We are pleased to provide aclear leading edge website designed tohelp insurers, collision centers, distrib-utors and consumers by arranging con-tent in a logical path to find the rightpart solution among more than 100 ap-plications available for General Mo-tors, Ford, Chrysler Dodge light dutytruck and SUV models. As the manu-facturer of steel and aluminum cowlinduction design replacement hoodswe felt it important to address in a boldway the growing need for replacing acowl induction hood in collision repairand the increasing consumer demandfor exterior components to enhanceand personalize vehicle appearance”said Mike O’Neal, President of Dia-mond Standard. The website providesnumerous features to enable a stream-lined process of easily finding infor-mation, parts and sourcing solutionseffectively reducing clicks requiredand eliminating menus.

Consumers continue to distinguishToyota, Ford, Honda, and Chevroletas the leading brands overall, butseveral others, including Tesla andSubaru, are moving up the rank-ings, according to Consumer Re-ports’ annual Car-Brand PerceptionSurvey. Toyota has a 25-point ad-vantage over second-place Ford, re-flecting a five-point gain over theyear prior for Toyota and a three-point improvement for Ford. Itcould be interpreted that the safetyconcerns that saw the Toyota scorestumble a few years ago have faded,returning the brand to its position asthe perceived industry leader. Con-sumer Reports brand perceptionscores reflect how consumers per-ceive each brand in seven importantbuying factors, ranked here in orderof the importance to consumers:quality, safety, performance, value,fuel economy, design/style, andtechnology/innovation. Combiningthose factors gives us the totalbrand-perception score.

While the scores reflect abrand’s image, they do not reflectthe actual qualities of any brand’svehicles. “The key word is ‘percep-tion’.

Consumer Reports SaysTesla and Subaru Move Up

The Car-O-Liner CMI3000II MIG/MAG Pulse Welder, along with ad-ditional approved aluminum repairequipment, comprises more than150 collision repair products cur-rently in the Ford Rotunda Tool andEquipment Program.

As an approved equipment sup-plier to the Ford Rotunda programfor multiple years, Car-O-Liner’sbreadth of products provides techni-cians with the tools needed to per-form high quality, safe and efficientrepairs—a complete solution to im-prove efficiencies and productivity.“We are excited to be a supplier toFord Motor Company’s 2015 F-150Collision Repair Program. Our ex-tensive experience through manyyears of collaboration with globalOEM repair programs has estab-lished our reputation for quality re-pairs,” says Peter Richardson, keyaccounts manager for Car-O-LinerCompany.

Car-O-Liner’s powerful truckclamping system and EVO univer-sal anchoring system eliminates theneed for specialized adapters andtools in favor of solid, proven tech-nology that is approved and univer-sal in application.

Car-O-Liner Added to F-150Ford Rotunda Program

Business Groups Urge OSHA to Dump Silica RuleBusiness groups are sparring with laborand environmental groups over a rulethe Occupational Safety and Health Ad-ministration (OSHA) says would pro-tect workers from harmful silica dust.OSHA originally proposed the silicarule last August before twice extendingthe deadline to file comments. Publichearings are set to begin March 18.

Labor and environmental groupsargue the proposed silica rule wouldset in place much needed protectionsfor construction and manufacturingworkers who are exposed to silica.OSHA says the rule would prevent 700deaths each year. But business groupsargue the new regulations would “un-necessarily” cut jobs and hurt theeconomy. Dan Bosch, manager of reg-ulatory policy at the National Federa-tion of Independent Business, said thesilica rule would hit small businessesparticularly hard.

“NFIB strongly urges OSHA towithdraw the rulemaking because it hasnot shown that it is necessary, it will beextraordinarily expensive and complexto attain compliance, and it has failedto adequately consider the impact onsmall businesses and their employees,”Bosch wrote in a comment letter.

In a comment filed with OSHA,the National Industrial Sand Associa-

tion (NISA) argues that the agency has“no basis” for strengthening its silicadust regulations because the currentstandards are adequate.

“We strongly believe thatOSHA’s proposed drastic reduction inthe permissible exposure limit is notnecessary to protect workers and willunnecessarily cost jobs and hurt thenational economy,” NISA PresidentMark Ellis told OSHA.

But Ron White, director of regu-latory policy at the Center for Effec-tive Government, pointed to an OSHAstudy that estimates the silica rulewould create jobs, contrary to industryarguments.

“It actually creates job; it doesn’tharm jobs,” he said in an interview.

The AFL-CIO called the rule“long overdue. The proposal will sig-nificantly reduce workers’ exposuresto deadly silica dust and prevent thou-sands of deaths and diseases a year,”Peg Seminario, safety and health di-rector at the AFL-CIO, wrote in hercomments to the agency.

White also submitted commentsto OSHA saying he supports the rule,but would like to see it go even furtherin reducing workers’ exposure to silicadust. “There are still very high risksfor workers,” White said.

The Equipment and Tool Institute(ETI) will launch a series of marketresearch projects geared toward thecollision repair industry. The projectsinclude a survey to find out moreabout collision repair facility famil-iarity with different repair equipment.It is already available to complete.Gathered research will be used tohelp the industry acquire better prod-ucts, ETI said. The findings will bemade available to all ETI membercompany attendees at ToolTech 2014in Sonoma, CA, on April 28.

Elections for the 2014 AutomotiveService Association (ASA) nationalboard of directors are being held nowthrough the end of February. All reg-ular/shop members and corporatemembers are eligible to vote for oneposition of general director; mechan-ical shop members may vote for theASA mechanical division director;and collision shop members may votefor the ASA collision division direc-tor. (Division assignments are madeat the time a member joins ASA).Cast a vote at www.ASAshop.org.

ETI Plans Market Research onCollision Repair Equipment

ASA BOD Elections Continuethrough End of February

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Boyd Group Income Fund says ithas now entered into a letter of in-tent with its existing paint supplierfor a new or amended agreement,Canada’s Collision Repair Maga-zine has reported. Under the new oramended agreement, Boyd will con-tinue to benefit from a back-endpurchase discount structure that wasput in place as part of the amend-ment and restructuring of its paintsupply agreement in October, 2013.“We are pleased to have taken thenext step towards finalizing a newlong-term paint supply arrangementthat better reflects our current size,purchasing scale and access to cap-ital, as well as changing paint mar-ket conditions,” said BrockBulbuck, President and Chief Ex-ecutive Officer of the Boyd Group.“Under the new arrangement, wewill continue to benefit from the ac-cretive nature of the higher, market-driven, back-end purchase discountsachieved by amending and restruc-turing our previous arrangement lastOctober. We are also very pleased tobe able to continue to work with ourincumbent paint supplier, who hasbeen a valued business partner since2006.”

Boyd Group RestructuresPaint Supplier Agreement

The Automotive Lift Institute (ALI)has certified the 100th lift inspectorthrough the ALI Lift Inspector Cer-tification Program, making it easierthan ever for lift owners to find qual-ified individuals to perform man-dated annual lift inspections.Nicholas Lewandowski of Allied,Inc. in Ann Arbor, Mich., is the100th lift inspector to complete theprogram. More than 650 additionalcandidates, representing 417 compa-nies across the United States andCanada, are enrolled in the programand working toward certification.Enrollment grew significantly in thefinal week of 2013, when 45 newcompanies signed up. “2013 was thefirst full year of the Lift InspectorCertification Program and we madegreat progress,” says R.W. “Bob”O’Gorman, ALI president. “We setout to build a resource for lift users,and there is now a stable of 100 Cer-tified Lift Inspectors ready to pro-vide service whenever and whereverinspections are needed. I’m happy towelcome Nicholas to the CertifiedInspector family and look forward tohitting many more milestones as thecurrent candidates work their waythrough the program.”

100 Lift Inspectors Are NowAuto Lift Institute Certified

Aston Martin is recalling most of itssports cars built since late 2007 afterdiscovering a Chinese sub-supplierwas using counterfeit plastic mate-rial in a part supplied to the luxurysports carmaker. The recall totals17,590 cars, including all of its left-hand-drive models built since No-vember 2007 and all right-hand-drive models made since May2012, affecting about 75 percent ofall vehicles produced in that period,a spokeswoman said. Aston Martinis owned by Kuwaiti and private eq-uity investors, found that ShenzhenKexiang Mould Tool Co. Ltd., aChinese subcontractor that moldsthe affected accelerator pedal arms,was using counterfeit plastic mate-rial supplied by Synthetic PlasticRaw Material Co. Ltd. of Dong-guan, according to documents filedwith the U.S. National HighwayTraffic Safety Administration. Thecars are being recalled from modelyears 2008 through 2014 becausethe accelerator pedal arm maybreak, increasing the risk of a crash,according to the NHTSA docu-ments. This recall replaces the recallannounced last May and expandedin October.

Aston Martin Recalls MostCars Built Since Late 2007

Gerber Collision & Glass increasedits commitment to the goals and mis-sion of the National Auto BodyCouncil (NABC) with a top level Di-amond membership. A member ofthe National Auto Body Councilsince 2010, Gerber Collision & Glasshas teamed up with insurers, rentalcar companies and others in the col-lision industry on numerous Recy-cled RidesTM events and othercommunity service projects.

“Our involvement with the Na-tional Auto Body Council and its pro-gram initiatives continue to growyear after year as we witness the ben-efits and value this brings not only torecipients of our Recycled Rides ve-hicles, but also how it has enrichedour team members and the industryas a whole,” said Tim O’Day, Presi-dent & COO of Gerber Collision &Glass. “We look forward to workingeven more closely with our peers andcolleagues through the National AutoBody Council to help promote a pos-itive image of the collision industry.”

Gerber joins 29 other companiesat NABC’s top-tier Diamond mem-ber level. NABC’s overall member-ship includes over 200 members,more than 600 shop locations.

Gerber Collision is Diamond-Level NABC Sponsor

autobody news march 2014 southeastern edition

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