Innovation in the Execution: Three Ways Suppliers May Distinguish Their Products and Services in the Aftermarket
By Terry Livingston, General Manager - Americas, Commercial Vehicle Aftermarket, ArvinMeritor
The heavy-duty aftermarket is hardly known as a bastion of innovation. By its very nature, the business is reactive: when a component breaks down it must be repaired or replaced. The mechanic or truck owner checks his stock to see if he has the materials he needs and, if he doesn't, calls a distributor.

The process is the same whether you have a broken truck or covered wagon.

Where is innovation in the heavy-duty aftermarket?

It's in the execution.

"We deal with more than 240 different suppliers across a range of product categories-from anti-lock brakes to water pumps," said John Minor, Vice President and COO, Midwest Wheel Companies, in Des Moines, Iowa. "They all supply good products and, for the most part, they do a good job with order fulfillment and product support. What separates the best suppliers is their ability to do all of these things consistently. Someone may have a great product but they can't get it to us on time. Or they may have a great salesman but the parts arriving at our dock don't match up with what he promised.....

Braking News: New Regulations Could Spell Parts & Service Opportunities
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.

The finalizing of the long-awaited National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stopping distance rule, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new CSA 2010 safety rating system, both focus attention on truck braking systems.

The NHTSA rule mandates a shorter stopping distance for fully loaded tractor-trailers, down to 250 feet from 355 feet, and will require additional braking torque from the steer axle brakes.

CSA 2010 overhauls the whole motor carrier safety rating process with additional emphasis on roadside inspections. And what is the biggest out-of-service issue? Brakes, of course.....

Turn Technology Into Profits
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.

But if you keep your customers' needs in mind when assessing the challenges and opportunities technology offers, you can find ways to survive and thrive in this new high-tech world of the 21st century.....

The Battle Over Access to Repair Information
By Deborah Lockridge, Editor, and Tom Berg, Senior Editor
Have you ever had a longtime customer buy new trucks and tell you he can't give you his parts and service business anymore? If you haven't, you probably will.

As sophisticated electronics move from the engine to other parts of the truck, from the multiplexed dashboard to the transmission and beyond, independent service providers say they're increasingly blocked from getting vital information they need to make repairs.

The problem, labeled as an "access to information" issue or, especially in the automotive arena, as "right to repair," has a lengthy history and isn't going away anytime soon.....

The Graying of the Aftermarket
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. Although it's on the back burner for now, a small number of young people in the industry are taking notice. "It didn't make as much sense until someone brought it up, and I looked around me," says Matt Heller, the 30-year-old director of CSP Global, Detroit.

The issue is "the graying in the aftermarket," a term used by Chuck Udell, senior partner at Essential Action Design Group, Leawood, Kan., to describe the fact that the majority of the aftermarket industry consists of those in their 50s and 60s. Many of these aftermarket professionals are coming up on retirement, and distributors will need to act quickly to replace this dwindling workforce.....

HDAW '08 Report - Aftermarket: Where it's been, where it's going
Heavy duty distributors and product specialists have lost market share over the last 15 years, especially to independent garages, but there are opportunities for growth in several areas. That was the message during the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Forum that kicked off HDAW '08.

Dave Fulghum, vice president of MacKay and Co., spoke on the state of the aftermarket parts and service market, based on tens of thousands of surveys done by the firm with fleets, distributors and others in the medium and heavy duty truck marketplace.

The U.S. commercial vehicle aftermarket is $53.1 billion - 29 percent of that is medium and heavy duty truck parts, while 28 percent is Class 2c-Class 5 parts, 23 percent construction equipment and 10 percent agriculture. There may be opportunities, he noted, to sell to fleets that also have lighter-class vehicles, or also have construction vehicles.....