Aftermarket

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

Before W.W. Williams adopted a customized version of the Decisiv Service Management Platform, the Detroit Diesel and Allison Transmission distributor would keep repair quotes in an Excel file or on a Post-it note

Tags: technology

By Chuck Udell, Guest Contributor

To be successful in today's heavy-duty aftermarket, you must have a clear competitive edge over your competitors

Tags: Business

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

A fundamental understanding of what constitutes the cash in your business is key to making the most of it. That was the message from Jason Bader, consultant from The Business Team, in one of the best business sessions - Finding Cash in Your Busines

Tags: Business

By Commentary Deborah Lockridge, Editor

We're wrapping up the winter-and-spring "show season," where conventions have shown the latest products and offered educational programs for all segments of the industry

Tags: Issues

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

The recession has not been good for the parts and service business. Dealers and independent distributors alike report a downturn like they've never seen

Tags: Issues

By Jim Park, Contributing Editor

No-idle climate-control systems are here to stay after years of sluggish growth and slow market acceptance

Tags: In The Shop

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

Gary Courtwright, president of Frey Heavy Duty, an upstate New York-based independent distributor, says he doesn't work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. But Courtwright's work schedule is now a moot point, because the company's customers can place an order anytime they want through an online ordering syste

Tags: technology

By Craig Fry, Guest Contributor

People often talk about the value of a brand. But have you ever wondered how much your brand is really worth

Tags: Business

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

For years, savvy fleet managers have been able to predict how long parts and components will last based on experience, and scheduled maintenance and replacement accordingly

Tags: Business

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

Pak West Paper & Packaging, Santa Ana, Calif., used to have a major problem with the amount of overtime hours its delivery fleet drivers were racking up

Tags: technology

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Changes in the works at the Department of Transportation could spell major opportunities for independent brake shops around the nation

Tags: Issues

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

What do your customers value? A survey of HDAW attendees said availability/delivery of a product was the top thing, followed by the product knowledge of your sales staff, and third by customer service/ease of doing business

Tags: Business

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

'Aftermarket companies will be the primary drivers of many all-new product and service opportunities for both the consumer and commercial-vehicle industries," predicted the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association in a detailed report published late last year

Tags: technology

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

It's easy to get excited by all the possibilities technology offers us today. It's also easy to be intimidated and concerned about the challenges increasing technology in trucks poses to the independent distributor and service provider

Tags: Issues

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Every truck manufactured with a 2007 and later diesel engine is equipped with a diesel particulate filter. Many bus fleets started using them in 2005. There are something like 2 million DPFs, as they're called, in North America already

Tags: In The Shop

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

There have been an unprecedented number of changes and new technologies over the last few years as engine manufacturers struggled to meet the mandates of the Environmental Protection Agency's emission regulation

Tags: In The Shop

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

When Eric Adkins, president of Nationwide Truck Service, goes on vacation to Cancun, Mexico, he'll certainly be at peace sitting on the white beaches, watching the sunset and the waves

Tags: technology

By Jim Park, Contributing Editor

Twenty-eight bucks for a windshield wiper? I was driving through Maine on one of those oppressive gray days when moisture permeated the air

Tags: Business

By Steve Rose, Guest Contributor

The commercial vehicle industry is facing one of its most difficult periods in decades, thanks to economic and EPA regulatory issues

Tags: Business

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor, and Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

Back in the late '60s, some people in the trucking business got together and decided to come up with a system that used numbers to describe parts and maintenance activitie

Tags: technology

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

If the heavy-duty independent repair community is going to hold its own against original equipment franchised dealers, it is going to need two thing

Tags: In The Shop

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

While distributors aren't exactly going on hiring sprees these days, there is a major issue within the industry that is being overshadowed by the current economic situation

Tags: Issues