New Jersey Automotive August 2015

August 2015$595

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ALLIANCE OF AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE PROVIDERS/NEW JERSEY (www.AASPNJ.org)AND THE AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY (www.ARANJ.org)

www.grecopublishing.com

TM

4 | New Jersey Automotive | August 2015

New Jersey Automotive | August 2015 | 5


P.O. Box 734 Neptune, NJ 07753

EXECUTIVE DI REC TORCharles Bryant732-922-8909 / [email protected]

2013 - 2015 OFFICERSPRESIDENTJeff McDowell, Leslie’s Auto Body732-738-1948 / [email protected]

COLLISION CHAIRMANDave Laganella, Peters Body and Fender201-337-1200 / [email protected]

MECHANICAL CHAIRMANKeith Krehel, Krehel Automotive Repair, Inc.973-546-2828 / [email protected]

TREASURERTom Elder, Compact Kars, Inc.609-259-6373 / [email protected]

SECRETARYThomas Greco, Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc. 973-667-6922 / [email protected]

BOARDJerry McNee, Ultimate Collision Repair, Inc. 732-494-1900 / [email protected]

Sam Mikhail, Prestige Auto Body908-789-2020 / [email protected]

Ted Rainer, Ocean Bay Auto Body732-899-7900 / [email protected]

Anthony Sauta, East Coast Auto Body732-869-9999 / [email protected]

Randy Scoras, Holmdel Auto Body732-946-8388 / [email protected]

Anthony Trama, Bloomfield Auto Body973-748-2608 / [email protected]

BOARD ALLIEDJoe Amato, The Amato Agency732-530-6740 / [email protected]

Mike Kaufmann, Advantage Dealer Services973-332-7014 / [email protected]

PAST PRESIDENT ATTENDINGTom Elder, Compact Kars609-259-6373 / [email protected]

PUBLISHERThomas Greco ([email protected])DIRECTOR OF SALESAlicia Figurelli ([email protected])EDITORJoel Gausten ([email protected])MANAGING EDITORJacquelyn Bauman ([email protected])ART DIRECTORLea Velocci ([email protected])OFFICE MANAGERDonna Greco ([email protected])CONTRIBUTING EDITORSCharles Bryant • Tom Greco • Jeff McDowellMitch Portnoi • Dave Laganella • Ron Ananian

Published by: Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc.244 Chestnut Street, Suite 202, Nutley, NJ 07110Corporate: (973) 667-6922 / FAX: (973) 235-1963

www.grecopublishing.com

VOLUME 45, NUMBER 8 | August 2015

8 OUT OF BODY (AND MECHANICAL) EXPERIENCES10 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

14 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE31 IN MEMORY: KATHY AMATO62 NJA ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

NEW JERSEY AUTOMOTIVE is published monthly and is sent to AASP/NJ and ARANJ members free of charge. Subscriptions are $24 per year. NEW JERSEYAUTOMOTIVE is published by Thomas Greco Publishing Inc., 244 Chestnut St., Nutley, NJ 07110. The editorial contents of NEW JERSEY AUTOMOTIVEare copyright © 2015 by Thomas Greco Publishing Inc. and may not be reproduced in any manner, either in whole or in part, without written permission from the publisher and/or editor. Articles in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Thomas Greco Publishing Inc. Cover and Images courtesy of www.istockphoto.com.

The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers/New Jersey

Joe Amato, Sr.Ron AnanianJim Bowers

Charles BryantDon ChardGuy Citro

Ed DayDave Demarest

Tom ElderBob Everett

Thomas GrecoRich Johnson Wes KearneyNick KostakisJim KowalakJoe Lubrano

Michael LovulloSam Mikhail

Ron MucklowGeorge Petrask

Russ RobsonJerry RussomanoGeorge Threlfall

Cynthia TursiLee VetlandPaul VigilantRich WeberBrian Vesley

Glenn VillacariStan Wilson

HALL OF FAME

CONTENTS

INDUSTRY UPDATES

20 CT Supreme Court Overturns $34.7M Body Shop Award

20 Shops Reject PartsTrader Incentives for Non-State Farm Work

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT by Joel Gausten

26 It’s Personal: Maxon Hyundai/Mazda Delivers More than Parts

COVER STORY by Jacquelyn Bauman

35 A Snapshot of the Industry:2015 NJA Industry Survey Results

NATIONAL NEWS by Joel Gausten

46 SEMA 2015 to Host Largest Repairer-Driven Education Series Yet

NO BRAKES by Ron Ananian

52 Writing ’Bout Anything

AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY

56 Legal Update57 Wharton Insurance Briefs


OUT OF BODY (AND MECHANICAL) EXPERIENCES

Divorce is always difficult. But it’s even more so in mycase when you consider I’ve been betrayed, abused andmade a fool of. There is just no going back from our irrecon-cilable differences. No, I’m not talking about my wife. I’mtalking about my favorite pizzeria. I first saw it when I was two or three years old. It had justopened down the street from my house, and my dad heldme by the hand as we walked into this establishment thatsmelled like Heaven. He quickly made friends with theowner, who coincidentally had a son the same age as me.The guy was a wonderful person. Friendly, outgoing…a realpaisan! And man, could he cook! The pizza was unlike any-thing we had ever tasted before (at least that’s what my fam-ily told me through the years). It wasn’t like the pizzaeverywhere else. This one was a true “tomato pie.” Sure,there was cheese, but it was the sauce that made it so deli-cious. It was a secret recipe that I have yet to see matchedall these years later.

From that point on, this place was THE pizza place forus. Every Friday night, we ordered three or four pies andgorged on what was really a unique eating experience. Theplace was unique in other ways as well. They were closedon Mondays. They didn’t open on the other days until threeor four in the afternoon. And they didn’t deliver or sell slices.Each pie was made meticulously. The owner pounded outthe dough into a large circle. He threw some flour on it andthrew it up in the air a few times like you see in every Italianmovie. He then put it in a thick black pan and into the ovenfor a few minutes. When the dough had risen, he removed itfrom the oven, put the sauce on and then very delicatelyadded thinly sliced, rectangular pieces of mozzarella on top,some salt, pepper and oregano and back into the oven. Fif-teen minutes later, we had pizza nirvana. I’d say that lasted for maybe a good eight years beforeour new friend sold the place to a nice little bald guy with anItalian accent named Mike. Mike picked up right where the

by THOMAS GRECO,PUBLISHER

Divorce, Italian-Style


original owner left off. Made the pizza the same way and itwas every bit as good as before. Once I started junior high,my friends and I would stop every Friday afternoon at theplace for a pie on the way home. (Our family had switchedpizza night to Sundays.) I clearly remember planting theidea of slices to Mike one afternoon, and he said he’d think itover. Pretty soon, not only was Mike selling slices, but hewas also opening at 11am so that he could get thelunchtime school kids’ business, opening up a whole newrevenue stream! (You’re welcome, Mike, wherever you are!) By the ’80s, the place was a goldmine. People werecoming from all over the state to try the pizza. I don’t knowwhether Mike decided to get out while the time was right or ifhe just wanted to retire, but at some point he decided to sellto his protégé, who is still the owner of the place. Now, I always got along really well with this guy. Hell, Ihave known him since we were both teenagers. (That’s 40years, folks.) I have always considered him a friend. Butsomewhere along the way, he got a little too big for hisbritches. That’s where it all started to go downhill. You know, it’s funny; we all tend to associate differentthings with our memories, good and bad. Ever since Iwalked into that place, I have said to anyone who asked thatthat was the greatest pizza on the planet. I think I must havebeen talking more from memory than reality, because in real-ity, the pizza had changed. At some point, the rectangularpieces of mozzarella were replaced by the standard

chopped kind that is commonplace in every pizza shop.Once known as THE place to get the “tomato pie,” their reg-ular pie now came drenched in cheese just like every otherpizza place. Still, I remained loyal. After I had my heart troubles, I obviously had to makesome changes to my diet. I didn’t like change, so I stillwanted to keep this place somewhere in there. Maybe notas often, but enough so that I still enjoyed it. So I went to theowner and asked if he could make me a special pie, like theold ones I grew up with. Heavy on the sauce, a little bit ofcheese and well done. He said sure, no problem. Thisworked for a year or so, and I was happy - so much so that Imade it a Sunday ritual. One “Tommy Greco Special” (seephoto at top of facing page) as they came to call it, a DietCoke and football on the TV. We used to laugh about it - Iliked it so well done that he’d say he hated to have othercustomers see it come out of the oven for fear that theywould think they burn all their pies. Things were goingsmoothly…until the owner hired his brother to work on Sun-days. Let’s just say when God handed out personalities, thisguy must have been on a smoking break. One Sunday, thepizza would be perfect. The next week, it would be raw. Thenext, it would be all cheese. I would complain, and the nextSunday it would be perfect. The following Sunday, when mywife went to pick it up (they STILL don’t deliver), he’d forgetto make it. This chain of events didn’t happen once or twice.

continued on page 58

Some of our readers may not knowthis about me, but I’m a pretty big CivilWar buff, interested in everything aboutthe era from weaponry and battle reenact-ments to marksmanship competitions. Justthis past weekend, I participated in ashooting competition with Civil War

weapons, and as I’ve done many timesbefore over the years, I casted my ownbullets out of lead. This particularweaponry requires bullets made of 100percent soft lead; otherwise, the trajectoryis compromised. (And that’s not somethingyou want in a marksmanship competition!)

Like I had done numerous times before, Imelted down the lead to cast my bullets.But this particular time, I must have acci-dentally included a soldered joint thatchanged the metallurgy of the wholebatch. I didn’t realize this until the day ofthe competition, when all of my bulletswent south – literally. And just as you can’tunfire a gun, you can’t unmelt 250 roundsof faulty ammunition. My shot at winningthe competition was ruined. Now, I’ve been doing these competi-tions and fashioning my own bullets foryears. I know the process backwards andforwards, and I know where I messed up.The only thing to do from here is reevalu-ate my process for the future, to makesure that mistake isn’t made twice. Soundfamiliar? Every day in the shop, many of us gothrough the same processes that we’veperformed for years – maybe evendecades. We have the training, knowl-edge, equipment and products to do thejob right the first time. But sometimes, webecome complacent in that knowledge,and that’s where mistakes can happen.Automotive repair can be such a difficultindustry to keep up with – it’s literallychanging every day. And that is the num-ber one reason that you can never rest onyour laurels. So keep yourself on yourtoes: Evaluate your processes from time totime to make sure you’re up to speed withthe best, most proper and safest methodsof doing your repairs. Continue to sendyour employees — and yourself — fortraining, to enhance their knowledge andkeep the desire to learn more informationfresh in everyone’s mind. Join trade associations like AASP/NJ to stay in-formed on the important issues affectingyou, and how industry members are reacting to them. Attend trade shows likeNORTHEAST® to learn about the newestproducts and processes to hit our trade.And whatever you do, don’t ever start tothink that you know it all. I’ve been shooting for 33 years, and Istill made a mistake. And as is true in ourindustry, one mistake could mean the difference between life and death. Somake sure that you are doing everythingyou can to avoid mistakes in the shop –and to continue your success into the future.


PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

THE BEST LAID PLANS...by JEFF MCDOWELL

NJA

I have always said that the LaborRates have been artificially sup-pressed for so long that we need totriple the rates to catch up to wherethey should be in today’s market.Well, on December 10 of last year,New Jersey Manufacturers InsuranceCompany (NJM) did just that! Thiscompany, one of New Jersey’s top-ranked insurers, announced that theyadjusted the Labor Rates they willpay on certain cars to double or triplewhat they were paying for shops thathave made the investment in theequipment, training and certificationnecessary to repair these cars safelyand properly. This was a historical an-nouncement because the highest rateadjustments we usually see in the col-lision industry are in one- or two-dollarincrements. There is no doubt that the majorlawsuits in both New Jersey andaround the country played a majorpart in this landmark decision. How-ever, NJM should be commended forbeing the first insurer in New Jerseyto acknowledge that the artificiallysuppressed Labor Rates that insurershave been paying for collision repairsare simply not adequate to compen-sate collision shops to repair carssafely and properly. Since this land-mark decision by NJM, other insurershave followed suit and are now mostare often willing to negotiate muchhigher rates - not only on the samevehicles that NJM raised the rates on,but on many other vehicles as well. Shortly after the NJM Labor Rateincrease, the segment on AndersonCooper 360° aired and brought alleyes on insurer practices across thecountry. Right after the segment airedshowing how several insurers are

shortchanging their insureds, otherlocal news stations across the UnitedStates started picking up on the storyand warning consumers about howinsurer practices like steering, the im-proper use of used safety-relatedparts and inferior aftermarket partsare putting people at risk because ofthese unsafe repair practices. The improper practices that wereexposed by Anderson Cooper 360°have been allowed to exist becauseof the collision industry’s inability toeducate the consumer. These im-proper practices have the potential tocause vehicle owners serious injuryor death in a future collision. How-ever, right after the piece aired, themedia seemed to catch on fire, effec-tively educating the consumer for us. Yes, some of the issues havebeen painted with a one-size-fits-allbrush, and those issues need furtherexplanation or clarification. For exam-ple, there is a place for non-safety re-lated used parts in our industry, andmany shops on Direct Repair Pro-grams fix cars properly - even thoughthe DRP guidelines prevent the shopfrom getting paid for all of the neces-sary procedures required to repair ve-hicles properly and realize a fair andreasonable profit. However, for themost part, these reports are right ontarget. If these types of stories keeprunning, it will come out that manyshops participate in certain DRPs as a defense mechanism to keep insurers from steering work away fromtheir shop, not because they wantto be with those programs. Right now, this industryhas an opportunity to expose the injusticesthat the insurance

industry has pushed on collision re-pairers for years that have ultimately resulted in shortchanging consumers,often leaving them with unsafe or improperly repaired vehicles. Moreand more shops across the countryare beginning to do post-repair inspections, exposing the results thatcome from adhering to some of therestricted Labor Rates and repairguidelines found in many of the DirectRepair Programs. The reality is that it is simplyridiculous for a collision shop repairing vehicles that cost tens ofthousands of dollars to do their workfor less than what lawnmower and bicycle repair shops charge. (Theserepairers are paid almost triple theamount to work on more simplisticmachines.) The only reason for this is that the collision shops have an insurer standing between them and


EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

by CHARLES BRYANT

Keep the Ball Rolling

The excuse that the insurer refused to pay for safe andproper quality repairs is not a defense for shortchangingthe vehicle owner orperforming faulty or negligent work.

the customer. And most collisionshops just don’t seem to understandthat the shop remains liable for negli-gent repairs; the excuse that the insurer refused to pay for safe andproper quality repairs is not a defensefor shortchanging the vehicle owner or

performing faulty or negligent work. I know very well how hard it is fora small- to medium-sized collisionshop to stand up to a major insurerand demand to be paid whatever ittakes to repair a damaged vehicleproperly while realizing a fair and

reasonable profit. However, the collision industry is at the point thatthey basically have no choice but todo so, or be prepared to close theirdoors. I know that sounds harsh, butreality is often referred to as the harshtruth. The good news is that the ball isfinally rolling in the right direction.There are major lawsuits taking placethat are finally exposing the injusticesthat collision shops are faced with ona daily basis when dealing with cer-tain insurers who simply refuse to payto repair vehicles safely and properly.Smaller individual short-pay Assign-ment of Proceeds lawsuits are alsomaking the news all over the countrybecause the shops are most oftenwinning them. What this shows is thatinsurers cannot get away with thethings they impose on the collisionshops and the people they insure aslong as people just stand up to themand say, “We are not going to take itanymore.” The bottom line is that the time isnow to make a difference. Trade asso-ciations across the country are work-ing hard to support and educate theirmembers and assist them when is-sues arise. AASP/NJ is one of thoseassociations. However, the strength ofthe associations is gained by themembers they work for. As we sooften say, power is in numbers. Themore members, the more power theassociation will have to support the industry they represent. Right now, theball is finally rolling in the right direc-tion. It is imperative that the collisionindustry keep that ball moving. One ofthe best ways to ensure that happensis to join and support AASP/NJ. Forthose who are interested in discussinganything that I have said in this articleor in joining the association, I can bereached on the AASP/NJ Hot Line at(732) 922-8909 or by email [email protected].

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE


NJA

INDUSTRY UPDATES

for Non-State Farm Work As discussed in last month’s New Jersey Automotive(“The Dealers’ New Dilemma: Has PartsTrader Gone TooFar?”), PartsTrader recently implemented a new pricingstructure that charges parts suppliers 3.5 percent oneach non-State Farm sale through the program, as wellas 1.75 percent for dealerships to sell parts to their ownbody shop facilities. In addition to leading some dealer-ships to express concern that they will soon be forced topass along these additional expenses to their wholesaleparts customers, the company’s latest move hasprompted industry observers to ask why shops not mandated to utilize PartsTrader through a Select Serviceagreement with State Farm would voluntarily use the system to process other work in the first place. One possible answer comes in the form of PartsTrader’s Rewards program. Launched earlier this year, the Rewards program allows repairers to earn points for using the platform forall of their collision parts purchases. According to com-pany promotional materials, shops “earn 10,000 pointsfor every $10,000 in orders [based on AccumulatedUsage, as defined in the Terms and Conditions for PartsTrader Rewards].” A shop’s total dollars spent on orders are accumulated over time, meaning that if theyhave $50,000 in orders, they will earn 50,000 points. Currently, these points can be redeemed for products of-fered by participating vendors 6-Hands LLC., Shoot SuitInc. and Goliath Carts LLC, with PartsTrader promising toadd more product providers to the program in the nearfuture. While it is clear that PartsTrader is working to usethese incentives to greatly expand its customer base

No reward would compareto the lost efficiency inusing this program.

“

”CT Supreme Court Overturns$34.7M Body Shop Award On July 13, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued averdict reversing the $34.7 million judgment in a much-dis-cussed class action case against The Hartford Fire Insur-ance Company. Plaintiffs in the case included the Auto BodyAssociation of Connecticut (ABAC) and hundreds of bodyshops in the state. Originally filed in 2003 and eventually certified as a classin a 5-0 decision, the suit (Artie’s Auto Body et al v. the Hart-ford Fire Insurance Company) claimed that Hartford regularlyengaged in unfair business practices by using its in-houseemployee appraisers and network of DRP facilities to artifi-cially suppress the Labor Rates paid to shops in Connecti-cut. In November 2009, a Supreme Court jury in Stamfordawarded the shops $14.7 million for compensatory dam-ages. Three years later, Connecticut Superior Court JudgeAlfred J. Jennings awarded an additional $20 million in puni-tive damages after considering post-trial motions by theplaintiffs. The Hartford appealed the order, with closing argu-ments heard last January. In its decision, the Court stated that collision repairshops are “capable of representing their own interests, andcertainly are under no obligation to accept insurance-relatedwork that is not sufficiently remunerative,” adding that the trialcourt “incorrectly concluded” the validity that the Plaintiff’sclaim alleging unfair Labor Rate practices. In a statement is-sued on July 16, ABAC expressed its disappointment in theruling, saying that the Court’s decision “marks a step back-ward for consumer safety, quality of repairs and for the rightsof independently operated auto repair shops.” AASP/NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant offered hisviews on the case’s controversial conclusion in an AASP/NJpress release shortly following the decision. “It truly is unfortunate that it went the way that it did,” hesaid. “The truth is that insurance companies have the mightand the money necessary to influence the system more thanthe collision industry. But if there’s one message I want to getout to the industry, it’s this: Don’t get discouraged because ofthis one decision; a variety of lawsuits are being won allacross the country. However, we should work to keep the liti-gation under contractual lawsuits instead of class action. In-surers are more likely to win in class action cases – it’s likeplaying ball in their park.” The full text of the final verdict is available athttp://tinyurl.com/pajm579.

NJA

Shops Reject PartsTrader Incentives


beyond the State Farm mandate, it appears that they are facingresistance in the Garden State. “No reward would compare to the lost efficiency in using thisprogram,” offers one New Jersey-based Select Service shopowner. “PartsTrader is very time-consuming. It does delay the job,especially when you have to order supplemental parts.” To illustrate his point, the owner shared a tale of having towait so long to receive a response through the system that hemissed his dealer’s 3pm cut-off time to get the parts by the nextday. This delayed the job by an entire day; without PartsTrader,he would have just called the dealer directly and had the orderaddressed in time. Considering his experience with the productthus far, would this owner use it at his shop without the DRP man-date? “Emphatically not,” he replies. With PartsTrader in New Jersey for more than a year now, theabove owner is far from alone in his frustration. “The program’s intent is to be seamless, but it’s not,” offers alongtime State Farm repairer who hasused PartsTrader since the spring of2014. “You just can’t click ‘Submit’ andthen click ‘Order’ and expect your partsto arrive. That’ll never work. You need toput the extra effort in the way you wouldhave if you were doing the parts orderingyourself...I don’t think it’s made the parts-ordering process any simpler. “The problem is that you lose thatperson-to-person interaction with thepeople on the other side,” he adds.“What we’ve done to overcome that isestablish a relationship with one personon the other side [at the dealer] to makesure they actually physically pick up thephone and call us, email us or give us

some kind of acknowledgment that they’re handling it and it’sgoing to go through. If that’s not done, it just doesn’t work.[Using PartsTrader] is similar to faxing a parts order to a dealership and expecting somebody to order it without makinga phone call and actually talking to somebody about it.” Looking ahead, this business owner says he has no inten-tion of utilizing PartsTrader for non-State Farm work – even ifthat means losing out on perks through the Rewards program. “I wouldn’t consider it at this point,” he says. “PartsTrader iscreating more work for my appraisers than if we just followedthe process we already had in place. It takes a little bit longerbecause they can’t finish the estimate right away. They’re goingto have to step away from it, then go back and check theirPartsTrader results and make whatever revisions are neededand go from there – instead of just picking up the phone rightthen and there and finishing the task completely.”

NJA

While it is clear that PartsTrader is working to greatly expand itscustomer base beyond the State Farm mandate, it appears that they are facing resistance in the Garden State.

“

”


New Jersey Automotive | August 2015 | 25New Jersey Automotive | August 2015 | 25

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT by Joel Gausten


IT’S PERSONAL:MAXON HYUNDAI/MAZDA

Delivers More than Parts As anyone earning a living in today’s industry knows, tech-nological advances in recent years have had a drastic impact onhow we communicate with others. We live in an era of socialmedia, YouTube, video chats...you name it. But are these thingsreally making us feel the same connection we did when we sim-ply got in our cars, drove to a colleague’s place of business andtalked with him or her face to face? We can email people all overthe world, but does typing “LOL” on a computer mean as muchas being in the room when a friend tells a great joke? For NewJersey parts industry mainstay Rick Weber, building personal,one-on-one relationships with customers is as important in 2015as it was when he first started in the trade back in the early ’80s.Known to Garden State repairers as the longtime parts director atMaxon Hyundai/Mazda in Union, Weber sees his customers as

more than just numbers on an order. Members of Weber’s partsdepartment make it a point to build genuine bonds with shops,while Weber himself has been known to make personal deliveriesto facilities just to be able to check in and say hello. “I try to put a personal touch on things,” he says. “We try toget to know who our customers are, and we try to develop betterrelationships with them. I don’t like to view a customer as a num-ber; I like to know their names, visit them and know where theirshops are. Some mega-dealers might not be able to do that,whereas we’ve developed a lot of our relationships over alongterm period. Internet programs are making this business ananonymous one, where everything comes down to what is on thecomputer screen. The personal relationship in business isdisappearing, and that doesn’t sit well with me. I’d like to

Left to right: Rick Weber, Mason,Ryan Weber, Bryan Melara, Lateefah Galloway, Hector Carrasquillo, Ken Creasy, Bruce Dias, Pat Brady (Not Pictured: Danny Rebimbas andJP Pasquale)


think that the reason we’ve maintained our business over theyears is that we do it the old-fashioned way.” Not surprisingly, this increasingly unique business philoso-phy has paid off. Currently serving most of New Jersey and partsof New York, Pennsylvania and Staten Island, the Maxon Whole-sale Parts Division has built such a strong customer base that theyhad to move into a new warehouse last year to accommodate in-creasing sales. Launched in May 2014, the new facility boasts8,000-square-feet and $1.25 million in OEM collision and mechanical parts. Thanks to the diligence of Weber’s crew,Maxon was able to make the major transition into its new warehouse without a moment’s interruption in their regular partsservices. The professionals who comprise the current Maxonparts team include an assistant warehouse manager known simplyas “Mason,” who helps Weber run the general day-to-day opera-tions of the new facility. Parts Manager JP Pasquale oversees thedaily service parts operation, while Ken Creasy, Bruce Dias andHector Carrasquillo offer personalized service on the wholesalephones. Administrative Assistant Pat Brady handles the depart-ment’s paperwork, while seven drivers and four warehouse peo-ple complete the team. With his department always in a state ofgrowth, Weber credits Dealer Principal Michael Ciasulli for mak-ing the parts operation an ongoing success. “He gives me the tools I need to do the business; he saw this[expansion] as a good move,” Weber says. “The parts departmenthad outgrown its facility in the main dealership, and we needed tomake some changes. It was better for all parties. The storage isgreat; it has really made doing business a lot easier.” Like many popular parts providers, Maxon Hyundai/Mazdais a regular exhibitor at the annual NORTHEAST® AutomotiveServices Show. In Weber’s mind, spending the weekend at theSecaucus-based gathering allows him extraordinary access to theclients who make it all possible.

“Maybe I see one or two customers on a given day, but I can’t see a lot of thosepeople at one time,” Weber explains. “NORTHEAST gives us the opportunity to see literally thousands of current and potentialcustomers.” Plans for Maxon Hyundai/Mazda’s future include participa-tion in the just-announced Hyundai Recognized Collision Repair Center program, which has been established by the manufacturer (in partnership with Assured Performance Network) to ensureboth independent and Hyundai dealership-owned collision repaircenters have the training, tools, equipment and facilities neededto properly repair Hyundai vehicles after they have been involvedin a collision. Despite the economic peaks and valleys common in the partsindustry in recent years, Maxon Hyundai/Mazda continues to explore new frontiers in business thanks to the belief that a handshake is often more valuable than an text. As Weber says, “Price isn’t the only defining part ofbusiness. When you do business with somebody, you want tofeel welcome; you want to feel warm. You want to feel like this individual or this company really wants and appreciates yourbusiness.”

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

The Maxon Hyundai/Mazda parts department is open 8am-6pm Mondaythrough Saturday, with the parts warehouse open until 5pm Mondaythrough Friday. For more information, please call (800) 964-7281.

NJA

Rick Weber oversees the entireparts operation at Maxon Hyundai/Mazda.


On June 17, the New Jersey collision repair industry said goodbye to an old

friend. Kathy Amato, wife of Board member Joe Amato, Sr. for 35 years and former

employee of The Amato Agency, passed away at the age of 68.

“Kathy was instrumental in getting the business off the ground

when it first started,” Joe remembers fondly. “She worked at the

office during the day and then at night worked as a waitress or a

bartender to help us make ends meet. We couldn’t be what we are

today without her.”

Two years ago, Kathy retired from The Amato Agency and spent

most of her time in Florida doing things she enjoyed, such as knitting,

reading and traveling.

Kathy is survived by her husband, Joe; six children, Joseph

Amato, Jr., Michele Grosse, Michele Scuorzo, Edward Durnien, Robert

Durnien and Nicole Lewicki; 11 grandchildren; and two great grand-

children. She will be greatly missed by those who knew her and those who were

affected by her legacy.

“All of us at AASP/NJ know how much Joe loved Kathy, and how important

she was to everyone she knew,” says AASP/NJ President Jeff McDowell. “It is a

devastating loss, and she will be sorely missed.”

In Memory: Kathy Amato

COVER STORY by Jacquelyn Bauman


A SNAPSHOTof the Industry:

2015 NJAINDUSTRYSURVEYRESULTS

As an industry publication, it is New Jersey Automotive’s jobto keep shop owners informed on what is going on in the automotive repair field. Betweencovering lawsuits, manufacturerupdates and influential nationalnews, this magazine works tokeep you in the loop with what’sgoing on around the country, as well as to let you know what’shappening in your own back-yard. That’s why we present toyou the 2015 NJA Industry Survey. Communication is hard to maintain in such a competitive industry, so we’vestepped up to let you in on whateveryone else is doing. We askedyou, our industry professionals,to let us into your shops for a little while to get a glimpse ofwhat goes on behind the scenes.Thank you for taking the timeout of your day to offer us suchvaluable feedback and help keepthe lines of communicationopen for the automotive repairindustry.

COVER STORY

North Jersey: 53%Central Jersey: 33%South Jersey: 14%

We asked and industry professionals hailingfrom across New Jersey answered.

Shop Locations

SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS


Are you a part of anyDirect Repair Programs? Yes: 82%No: 18%

Are you a PrivateInspection Facility? Yes: 13%No: 87%

What bestdescribes your primary

business?

72% 21%

4%3%

CollisionRepair

Collision and Mechanical Repair

OtherMechanical

Repair

CollisionRepair

Mechanical Repair2422

Average yearsin business


Morethan20

11-20

6-10

1-5

17%

21%

33%

29%

How many employeesdo you have,including yourself?

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rateyour current state of business?

3% 1% 3% 11% 8%

One Two Three Four Five

4% 17% 42% 10% 1%

Six Seven Eight Nine Ten

As the industry advances, many shops turn first to education to stay ahead of whatevermajor change is coming around the corner, but where should shop owners look in order to staycurrent? “We make sure we’re up to date on our ASE certifications, but we also make sure to visit some dealer-offered training seminars as well,” says one Clinton shop. While ASE is certainlya popular form of training for many automotive repair facilities in the state, I-CAR classes areoverwhelmingly the most utilized training. “Our shop is very pro-education, so we send guys to I-CAR classes for almost every topicthey cover,” a Hackensack shop owner shares. “Whether it’s aluminum repair, unibody or refinishing, I get my guys educated.” Aside from training services like ASE and I-CAR, many shop owners find that manufac-turer and vendor training events aid them in their daily work. Classes from OEMs like Mer-cedes-Benz and Volkswagen were the most commonly cited from manufacturers, while 3M,SRS and Metropolitan Car-o-liner were the most noted for vendor training.

More than 70 percent of the industry seestoday’s business as better than average, with an astounding 42 percent deemingtoday’s automotive repair field at an 8out of 10.

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

I-CAR

ASE

AssociationSeminar

Manufacturer/Vendor training

Other

None

45%

34%

19%

43%

9%

3%

What training have you and/or your employees received over thepast year?

This year sawa multitudeof national

lawsuits impacting the industry take place, which of course causedthe mainstream media to finally sit up and take some notice of theissues affecting this field. The most notable media coverage to comeout of 2015 was the Anderson Cooper 360° report that aired in Feb-ruary. The effects of this, however, are divisive in the industry. “I see my customers more and more asking specifically forOEM parts, about the use of aftermarket parts, about DiminishedValue, and so on.” says one owner from Roselle Park. “Consumers are more aware than ever of what’s going on, butit’s just a start,” adds an Edison shop manager. “The ice has beenbroken. Customers are asking me more questions. They’ve seen pastinsurers’ ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy that allows the insurer to ma-nipulate repairs, blaming any problems as the shops’ faults. Nowthey realize it’s been the insurance companies all along.” Not everyone agrees. “Customers still do not understand their right to repair or choosetheir own body shop,” a South Plainfield shop explains. “Most of them don’t pay attention unless they have had a badexperience,” opines one owner from Newark. “We still suffer fromadvertising, price competition and bait-and-switch tactics confusingour customers. They still don’t understand the control the insuranceindustry has over collision repairs.”


COVER STORY

Do you think all of the recent INDUSTRY COVERAGE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIAhas made your customer more educated

on therepair

process? 46%

54%

Yes

No

Over the pastyear, do youfeel insurershave beenmore or lesswilling to distributePaint and Material reimbursementbased off the cost accountingsystem?

50%Yes No

Proper reimbursement for materials is one of the mostpervasive issues affecting repair shops today. Regardless ofthe validity of cost accounting programs and their popularityamongst shops, insurers still fight and argue on whether ornot to accept the numbers derived from such systems. “Less and less insurance companies are agreeing to reimburse us based on the cost accounting system,” com-plains a Bloomfield shop. “They adjust the Labor Rate tocompensate, but the rate increase is not equal to the numberswe get from the program.” A Jackson shop puts the blame for this on the paintcompanies. “Many insurers have stopped just using the RMC guidesand are not willing to look at actual costs,” he says. “I thinkthe paint companies are partially to blame because there areso many variables in pricing, which causes distrust in our in-voices.” On the other hand, a number of shops have seen an in-crease in the number of insurers accepting these figures. “To our knowledge, only Allstate and NJM still insist onnot paying a rate based on the P&M calculator,” says aNewark shop owner. “I definitely think insurers have been willing to paymore, especially thanks to the work of AASP/NJ,” explainsan owner from Roselle Park. “Granted, very few pay the fullprice of the RMC, but it leads to negotiation, which allows usto get a higher dollar amount per hour.”

37% OF RESPONDENTS THINK INSURANCE COMPANIES’ COMMERCIALS ARE MORE INFLUENTIALTHAN NEWS COVERAGE ON IMPROPERINSURER PRACTICES.

Have youwitnesseda mobilerepair shop in action?


How has steeringaffected yourbusiness? It’s one of the most prominent is-sues affecting the industry today, with99 percent of collision repair re-spondents confirming that theirbusinesses have been affectedby steering in some way. A shop inFlemington explained that they lose ap-proximately 18 percent of their busi-ness each month due to steering, whileone Monmouth County shop states thateven though they are a Select Serviceshop, their dashboard numbers are lowand their insurance partner sometimesdirects work away from the shop. “The effects of steering are becom-ing more evident,” says one managerfrom Ocean. “Our business is down 15percent so far, and several of ourlongtime customers havebeen steered away – evenrelatives of the owner andour employees! I witnessed oneof our employees filing a claim afterhitting a deer on his way to work. Hisinsurer told him that we do not guaran-tee our work, that we would chargemore than the insurer allowed, that wewould take longer to repair and thatthey were sending someone to our busi-ness to take the car to another shop!” This is just one example of how anuninformed customer could easily bescared into taking his or her businesselsewhere based on the claims of the insurer. “We aggressively pursue our cus-tomers and educate them beforehand asto what to expect from insurers – thegood, the bad and the ugly,” notes aClinton owner who believes the key tomaintaining customers is through activeeducation. One shop from Point Pleas-ant agrees. “You have to be persistent,” themanager states. “Insurers want to sendthe insureds to their DRPs, so we holdthe customer’s hand and inform themabout their right to choose.”

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Tools and equipment

Training

Certification fees

Other

None

64%

77%

22%

9%

23%

What investments have you made into the repair of advancedmaterials such as aluminum, boron steel or carbon fiber?

The field of automotive repair is constantly evolving, adapting to new demandsfrom consumers and regulations from the government. Staying ahead of thecurve requires a certain level of investment, but where do shops begin?

“When all of the buzz about aluminum started, we knew something big was com-ing,” recalls a Hamilton shop owner. “We started out with local seminars first to learnhow an impact affects the various metals coming onto the market. Once we saw howdifferent it would be, we made the investment in official training.” Even though 77 percent of the New Jersey automotive repair industry has started tomake at least minimal expenditures into advanced materials preparedness, there is still alarge part of the market that has not yet touched that investment. While some shopshave not yet invested simply due to lack of funds (as one Long Branch shop cited), others are simply skeptical of the value that such a payment would provide. “A lot of the ‘investments’ I’ve made in the past have yet to pay themselves off,”explains a shop owner from Paramus. “I feel like independent shops investing in thistechnology are doomed to fail because the dealerships that are making the move to big-ger, newer and fully sustainable body shops are going to take the work away from us.” One thing is for certain – the changes are coming, whether shops are ready or not.


COVER STORY

A year after its launch, how has PartsTrader affected your business?

Industry publications in the past year have been doused innews and hype about State Farm’s PartsTrader program.A year after its launch, we touched base with local shop

owners to see the impact of this insurer-mandated partsprocurement system had on the New Jersey market. Animpressive 41 percent of respondents emphati-cally stated that they have not been affected byPartsTrader, simply because they refused toparticipate. “We were one of the first shops in New Jersey to get offof the State Farm program after 25 years,” says one shop. An Edison owner agrees, stating that his shop “turneddown State Farm’s Direct Repair Program solely because ofPartsTrader.” Of those shops that have been affected by the program, a number of issues were cited, such as paying for businessthat was previously already a part of the shop, more administrative work, advanced technical problems and confusion, increased and convoluted steps added to the repair process and a much slower overall turnaround time on repairs. Only 23 percent of respondents saw no changesto their business due to PartsTrader.

Approximately what percentage of OEMparts do you use during your repairs?

67%

4%

12%

17%

75 percent

The debate is almost as old as the industry itself: When is itacceptable to use aftermarket parts and when is it necessary touse OEM? Aside from the very few shops that state they only useOEM parts in repairs, for most New Jersey shops, it depends onthe circumstances. From the type of part to the age of the vehicleto who is paying for repairs, a variety of factors peppered the an-swers to this question of the industry survey. While age and con-dition of the car was a prevalent factor in 29 percent of theanswers, an overwhelming 50 percent note that insurance policieshave a significant impact on whether or not an aftermarket part isused in a repair. “We use OEM every time unless we are forced to by insur-ance companies,” says a Monmouth shop. “We try to price matchas much as possible to prevent using aftermarket parts. For someOEMs like Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, we have to usemanufacturer parts.” “The only time we use aftermarket parts is when it’s specifi-cally asked for by the customer because they’re trying to savemoney,” says a Hunterdon county shop owner. “If their insurancecompany writes for them and won’t pay for the OEM part, wemake the insured sign a form stating that they understand thatwe’re using aftermarket parts due to the insurance company andthat they will hold us harmless in the event of an issue from usingthose parts.”

100 percent

25 percent

50 percent

More than $56

$50 - $55

$50 or less 5%

73%

22%

Morethan$80

$65 - $80

$50 - $65

75%

18%

7%

What is your currentLabor Rate?* What do you think

your Labor Rateshould be?*

Lowest recorded Labor Rate: $48

Highest recorded Labor Rate: $75

Approximately how much do youspend on parts annually? $1-$100,000: 4% $101K-$500K: 58% $501K-$1 million: 21% More than $1 million: 17%

What automaker’s partsdo you find the mostdifficult to get? Saab, Chrysler, Subaru and Ford

What automaker’sparts do you find theeasiest to get? Toyota, Audi, BMW and Chevrolet

*Collision shops

With the average age of technicians in the industry well over 50 years old, getting new bloodinto the field has never been so important. Of theshops surveyed, 45 percent post jobs in order tofind new talent, whether it be online at craigslist.org or indeed.com or in print such as in the newspaper. However, this simple solution does notalways equal success. “There is very little new interest in this industry,” complains one Riverdale owner. “Weused to see people walking in every couple of months looking for work, but we haven’thad anyone walk in in a long time. There is little incentive for younger peopleto want to get involved in this industry because insurance companieshave made it impossible to be paid fairly.” Yet some shop owners don’t believe the blame can be displaced so easily. A shopowner from Manalapan claims that he can “get employees anywhere” and that the industry has “plenty of quality technicians around being abused by other shop ownerswho are trying to increase their bottom line at the employees’ expense.”

From steering to insurer interference to the Labor Rate to the lackof return on investments to the lack of regulations in the industry, theautomotive repair field is obviously plagued by issues. “The cost of business and operating a shop keeps climbing whilethe prevailing rate stays stagnant,” says a manager from Hackensack.“The rates don’t increase when costs to be successful do, like it hap-pens in every other industry. That’s why there are so few new owners.Why invest when there’s such a small return?” “There’s constantly tortious interference from insurance compa-nies,” explains one Lebanon shop. “It’s a conflict of interest when theydeal directly with the shops. There should be mandated third-party appraisers. We can’t keep working under their thumbs the way we arenow.” The abysmal Labor Rates and insurer interference were certainlythe prevailing opinions as the most pressing issue affecting shopstoday, yet one Woodbridge shop owner sees things a little differently. “In all honesty, the biggest problem with the industry is ourselves.We’re our own worst enemy,” he accepts. “When we don’t stand up forwhat’s right, we let the insurance companies take advantage of us. Welet our businesses be controlled by an outside source. We’re so de-pendent on the insurers to get us money that we’re willing to cut cor-ners and reduce costs on repairs to make them happy. We have to runand maintain profitable businesses. Even the best shops’ profit mar-gins are laughable next to those of other industries. It’s embarrassing,and it’s all our fault.” Regardless of why things in the industry are the way they are, onething is for certain. NO CHANGE IS GOING TO OCCUR BY TAKINGON THE FIGHT ALONE. Hopefully, this survey has provided some insight into the current state of the New Jersey automotive repairfield, and has shown why it is so important to stay informed and joinan association like AASP/NJ. You’re not alone in your suffering; youshouldn’t be alone in your battle, either. NJA


WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Where do you look to hire new employees?

Networking.

Education.Innovation.

Technology.

IT’S ALL HERE.AASP/NJ’s

March 18, 19, 20, 2016 | Meadowlands Exposition Center | Secaucus, NJ

www.aaspnjnortheast.comNew Jersey Automotive | August 2015 | 43


SEMA 2015 toHost LargestRepairer-Driven Education Series Yet With three months still to go before the arrival of SEMA2015 (November 2-6, Las Vegas Convention Center), the Societyof Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) is already celebratingtheir most extensive presence yet at the world-renowned event.By mid-July, SCRS’ SEMA-exclusive Repairer Driven Education(RDE) Series already featured more classes than ever before – adirect result of attendee feedback on the kind of classes theywanted to experience at the Show. Additionally, pre-Show regis-trations and Collision Repair & Refinishing exhibitor signupswere already at an all-time high. “It all continues to trend in the right direction,” says SCRSExecutive Director Aaron Schulenburg. “There is a continuedgrowth in interest by exhibitors who want to be in front of theright attendees.” In addition to boasting hundreds of new and returning ven-dors to the SEMA Show floor, the Collision Repair & Refinishingsection of the show will feature the return of the OEM CollisionRepair Technology Summit, a day-long event that debuted lastyear to high praise from industry stakeholders. Slated for Novem-ber 5, this year’s Summit will focus on emerging trends in vehi-cle construction and technology and how both of those aspectsinfluence vehicle repairability and collision industry preparation.The program is designed to put SEMA Show attendees in a roomwith innovators in automotive structural design and technology,

providing one of the most unique networking and learning oppor-tunities available to the collision repair industry. The 2015 program will provide three different segments,which can be selected individually or collectively as part of theRDE Full Series Pass. The sessions will feature companies andindividuals with rich histories of producing sophisticated ad-vancements in the automotive and collision repair fields, and willhighlight architectural and technological developments in modernvehicles, and how those advancements intersect with the repairprocess. “If we can put shops in the room with innovators in the ma-terials industry, the automaker realm and people who are respon-sible for the design of these vehicles, it will help them have abetter understanding of what the industry needs to do when thesevehicles end up in the shop and what we really need to do to beproperly prepared to fix these cars,” Schulenburg says. Naturally, SCRS’ desire to provide meaningful educationalcontent has resulted in a strong focus on some of the industry’shottest topics, including consolidation (“Don’t Let Consolidatorsand MSOs Steal Your Insurance Work,” hosted by Michelle Nel-son of BB Automotive) and post-repair inspections (“Post RepairInspections [PRIs],” hosted by Larry Montanez of P&L Consult-ants). While it is virtually impossible for a repair professional tolook at an industry magazine or website these days without read-ing story after story about yet another major chain buying up anindependent business, Schulenburg promises that “Don’t LetConsolidators and MSOs Steal Your Insurance Work” will offer afresh perspective on an ever-controversial topic. “I think that a lot of the stories out there generate a sense ofhopelessness and helplessness in the industry, which simply isn’ttrue,” he offers. “Independent collision repairers are still thebiggest producers of collision repair work in the United States,and there are a lot of independent collision repair businesses thatare very successful in competing in those highly competitive mar-ketplaces. What we wanted to do was be able to help shops find

NATIONAL NEWS by Joel Gausten


ways that they can capture and retain busi-ness and compete with consolidation,rather than feeling like the only option wasto sell out into it.” With the outspoken Montanez in tow,“Post Repair Inspections (PRIs)” guaran-tees to showcase straight talk on one of theauto body community’s most pressing is-sues. “With the exposure that post-repair in-spection receives in the industry viaYouTube, and nationally on things likeCNN’s coverage of the industry or the nu-merous local news stations picking up sim-ilar stories, there is a lot more growingattention on it now,” Schulenburg ob-serves. “It’s definitely going to be an areaof the industry that is going to shape thingsgoing forward to some degree. If the indus-try is policing itself relative to repair qual-ity, it’s going to cause people to focusmore on it. For us, the objective shouldn’tbe to catch insurers who aren’t paying forwork or catch shops who aren’t doingwork, but to influence a change in behaviorthat gives the consumer a better repair anda more appropriate claims settlement. Theobjective of the session is to help shops un-derstand where their quality-controlprocesses may be failing and how to cor-rect that so there aren’t post-repair inspec-tion issues down the road.” Other RDE speakers already signed on to participate in this year’s program include SCRS mainstay Toby Chess (“Repair Planning Considerations forWelded Components,” “Welding Technologies - A Comprehensive Tutorialon Modern Equipment”), Mike Andersonof CollisionAdvice (“Business Financials:Balance Sheets, Income Statements andCash Flow”), Dave Gruskos of ReliableAutomotive Equipment (“Removing, Re-placing and Joining Advanced Materials”),Lee Rush (“In-Process Quality Assurance,”“Process-Driven Collision Repair”) andJohn Niechwiadowicz, QLC, Inc.(“Understanding Numbers and What They Tell You About Your Growth Oppor-tunities”). A complete list of RDE classesand SCRS-related SEMA events (as wellas registration information) is available athttp://tinyurl.com/ok53z9z.

NJA

There is no shortage of topics to discuss on the subject of au-tomobiles and their repair. Many elements of our day-to-day workmake for good after-dinner conversation (should we choose tokeep their memory alive). BUT one of the best pieces of our puz-zle is the life lessons we learn. After 43 years of this, I recognizethat now I have stored a vast amount of knowledge and wisdom,as well as completely useless information. I spend my momentsdaydreaming and thinking about useless information and how canI make it work for me. (This usually happens at 2am, sitting up inbed suffering from ARI…Auto Repair Insomnia. ARI, by the way,has only two known cures – death or a daily 2mg dose of don’t-worry-about-it.) If I do figure out how to make it work, I will letall of you know the answer, as I am sure all of you are in the sameboat, er, car as me... But auto repair is, at best, a difficult phenomenon to explain.If you sit and tell your family members about the events of theday, they look at you as if they’re questioning your mental stabil-ity until they see it for themselves. We recently had this exchange at the counter with a walk-incustomer...

Customer: “I have a 2008 Jeep, and the brakes are lock-ing up. It’s not quite as bad as last year when theycaught fire, but I can tell it’s happening again. When thelast shop took care of it, they didn’t do a great job.When can I bring it in?”

Me: “How about tomorrow?” (It was just after noon whenhe walked in.) “We can take a look first thing in themorning.”

Customer: “Will you need it all day? How long will ittake? About an hour, you think? I really need it backright away; I have to go away for the weekend. If youdon’t think you can work on it right away, then maybe I’lltake it back to the other shop even though then didn’t doa great job on it and give him another chance.”

It was a polarizing moment. The energy in the air told methat he who spoke next better say the right thing and be firm.(There’s that wisdom cropping up.) I handed him my businesscard and told him if he ever gets tired of doing the wrong thing

over and over again, he should call and set up an appointment. Hesmiled and left. People are stuck in their way of seeing their own issues, andthat takes a hard turn in a repair shop. There are so many thingswrong with that encounter. How about walking in and introducingyourself? How about starting with, “Hi, do you have a minute?”How about considering that the shop is not standing there waitingfor you to come in, as they have OTHER customers and cars todeal with? The world is imminently self-involved; part of our jobis to separate customers from their issues to eventually repair thecar. It’s sad, but true…

THE BOTTOM LINE IS... Auto repair is a very demanding career – physically, mentallyand financially. But it can also be a very rewarding one. You justneed to keep your eyes WIDE open ALL the time. WE have to re-pair cars and counsel customers; it is a very large part of ourprocess in order to continue doing this and be successful. Ourwisdom will always carry the day. I recently spoke with the new manager of the local auto partsstore, a young man only about 24 years old. When I asked himwhere he sees the future of the industry going, it was nothing butpositive – some of it in the wrong areas, I have to say. He didn’tsee the advent of the computer in the car as a problem. He sawthat fluids last longer, engines run better with less upkeep and thecar in general is light years better from just 10 years ago. Willthere always be cars to repair? Yes, but what the repairs will looklike is a subject for another day. My point is, in youth there is optimism, and in age there iswisdom. Been there, done that, so many times. For the record, it’swisdom and not burnout as long as you still keep trying. So thequestion is, DO YOU HAVE WISDOM? Or are you burnt out?Carry on and remember (if you haven’t yet ) to take your 2mg ofdon’t-worry-about-it today. It couldn’t hurt…

’Til next time, I’m Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor, reminding youthat “Good mechanics aren’t expensive; they’re priceless.”Ron Ananian, owner of R\A Automotive in Waldwick, NJ (est. 1978), is heard weekly in 140 marketson his nationally syndicated radio talk show. He is a working technician and former AASP/NJBoard member. Beyond his radio show, Ron writes and speaks for the automotive industry attrade shows and events. Visit The Car Doctor online at www.cardoctorshow.com.

WRITING ’BOUTANYTHING

NJA

NO BRAKES by Ron Ananian


As of July 25, “The Car Doctor” can be heard LIVE in the New York market. Tune in Saturdays, 2-4pm on WRCR AM 1700 for new shows!


ARANJ 2015Officers

PresidentBob Dirkes

Dirkes Used Auto Parts (609) 625-1718

[email protected]

1st Vice President Ian Szoboszlay

Ocean County Auto (732) 349-0332

[email protected]

2nd Vice President Darryl Carmen

Lentini Auto Salvage (908) 782-6838

[email protected]

3rd Vice President Joe GoodmanLeesville Auto

(732) [email protected]

Executive Director Brian Snyder

Auto Recyclers of NJ (609) [email protected]

ARANJ 2015Board of Directors

Mike Ronayne Tilghmans Auto Parts

(609) 723-7469 [email protected]

Mike Yeager EL & M Auto


Rodney Krawczyk Ace Auto Wreckers


Mike Caputo Lacey Used Auto Parts, Inc.

(609) [email protected]

Bert Witcraft Auto Express

(856) 728-8367

Ed Silipena American II Autos (609) 965-6700

[email protected]

Harry Shover Porchtown Auto (856) 694-1555

Norm Vachon Port Murray Auto (908) 689-3152

[email protected]

ARANJ The Automotive Recyclers Association of New Jersey

Legal Update Legislature Considers Bills Mandating Paid Sick Leave Two bills that would require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees have passedcommittee scrutiny in both the State Senate and the Assembly. On June 22, the Senate LaborCommittee approved Senate Bill 785 (S785), while the Assembly Labor Committee and AssemblyBudget Committee approved Assembly Bill 2354 (A2354) at the end of last year. Democrats haveannounced that the legislation is one of their top priorities for this year. The Bills require that employers provide employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every30 hours worked. However, small employers (defined as employers with less than 10 employees)may cap the amount of sick leave accrued at one time (or carried over from at least the prior benefit year) at 40 hours. (The Bills may need to clarify whether leave time can be carried over formultiple years or only to the immediately subsequent year.) For employers with more than 10 employees, at least 72 hours must be offered or allowed to be carried over. The Bills allow sickleave to be used for a number of medical issues related to the employee or employee’s family,some of which are already covered by other statutes allowing for paid leave. These include:

• time needed for diagnosis, care, treatment of or recovery from mental or physical illness or other adverse health condition or preventative care;

• time needed to aid a family member for those medical issues identified above;• the absence necessary due to circumstances resulting from the employee or a family member being a victim of domestic or sexual violence; and• time during which the employee’s workplace or the school or daycare of a child of the employee is closed due to an epidemic or public health emergency.

The employer may require reasonable documentation that the leave is being taken for one ofthe above purposes, but the employer must also pay all out-of-pocket expenses incurred by theemployee to obtain the documentation. The Bills prohibit an employer from taking any retaliatorypersonnel action or from discriminating against an employee for taking sick leave as provided inthe Bills. Employers are also required to maintain records of hours worked and sick leave taken byemployees over the previous five years and make the records available to the Department ofLabor and Workforce Development. Lastly, the employer must notify each employee – and postthe notification – of their rights under the Bills. Although the Bills are generally the same, there are some differences that may provide apoint of contention between Senate and Assembly leaders. For example, S785 allows employersto forgo the accrual process and offer the full amount of sick leave one would earn throughout theyear on the first day of the benefit year, while A2354 does not provide employers with that option.A more controversial difference is the treatment of similar local ordinances under the Bills. A2354states that it does not preempt local governments that may have enacted, or may in the futureenact, ordinances that provide sick leave that is even more favorable to employees. On the otherhand, S785 explicitly preempts any subsequent county or municipal ordinance or resolution per-taining to sick leave. However, it does not preempt those ordinances or resolutions that exist as ofthe effective date of S785. For employers that already offer paid sick leave, these Bills take it out of their hands andplace it with the Legislature. As a result, employers will likely be subject to increased recordkeep-ing and notice requirements, as well as the threat of penalties or even a disorderly persons of-fense for failing to comply. The Bills also create questions. For example, it is uncertain how theBills will interact with the New Jersey Family Leave Act, the federal Family and Medical Leave Actor the New Jersey Security and Financial Empowerment Act, which allow for leave for some of thesame reasons permitted under the Bills. In addition, the anti-retaliation provisions may make itharder, or at least riskier, to terminate individuals who abuse their sick leave. For business owners,these Bills create a number of pitfalls. For further information, please contact George J. Tyler, Esq. or Matthew J. Krantz, Esq. at (609)631-0600.


Wharton Insurance Briefs An ARA Member Manual material handling is one ofthe largest causes of lost-workday in-juries in the scrap metal industry. About20 percent of all injuries happen be-cause someone lifted, carried, pushedor pulled something the wrong way orlifted beyond his or her capacity. The most useful part of your bodyin handling materials safely is not yourback or legs, but your head. Untrainedworkers often do the job the hard wayand soon get tired, which leads to pos-sible injury. Below are some sugges-tions you can incorporate into thetraining of your employees on manuallylifting an object:

• Size up the load. Seek assistanceif you think you need it.• Get close to the load, with onefoot alongside it and one foot be-hind it for balance. Get a firm gripon the object with your palms, notyour fingers. • If possible, squat to the load,keeping your back straight – notnecessarily vertical, just straight.• Draw the load close to you, withthe weight centered over your feet.Test to see that it’s not too heavy.• Lift by straightening your legs,avoiding quick, jerking motions.Your legs should provide most ofthe power to lift, not your back.• Avoid twisting with a load. Insteaduse your feet or shift to change direction with it.• When lifting above waist height,set the load down on a table orbench, shift your grip and then liftagain.• Lifting comfortably is most important. Judge the most comfortable position for yourself.

Workers should be trained onproper and safe material-handling techniques either manually or by usingmechanical means. The use of correcthandling techniques is one of the waysto help reduce injuries. As always, if you have any ques-tions regarding this article or your insur-ance program, please contact me.

Mario DeFilippis, AAI, Vice President(800) 221-0003 (ext. 1320)(908) 513-8588 (cell)

[email protected]

and

Micro-Mix Paintand

Materials Calculatorin Bergen, Passaic, Essex and

Hudson Counties in New Jersey.

CALLOffice: (973) 696-3176or Cell: (201) 452-0987

Mike LovulloDistributor for It happened on a monthly basis.

So I tried to make nice. One Sun-day, he made it perfectly. I took a pic-ture of it, printed it out and brought itdown to him. I said, “This is how I likeit. Hang the picture up and use it for areference so we don’t have theseproblems.” Keep in mind I was stillraving about this place to everyone. In fact, I even put them in the NORTHEAST® Conference Journalas the ONLY pizzeria to go to whenpeople from out of state came to theshow! A week after I saw him put thepicture up, it was gone. The next Sunday, my wife came home and thepizza was so undercooked the cheesewas still white. That was it. I got off thecouch in the middle of a Giants game(I NEVER miss a minute of a Giantsgame) and ran down there and threwthe pizza on the counter andscreamed, “What the f#$k is this????” Igot the Welcome Back, Kotter VinnyBarbarino response: “What? Where? How? I don’tknow.” The owner happened to be thereand he came running out. “Tommywhat’s the matter? Oh, no problem,we’ll take care of it. We’ll make you an-other one. Come back in an hour.” Af#$king hour?! I left and didn’t go backfor two years. But I am a weak man. There is oneguy who works there who is an ab-solute sweetheart. And he knows howto make a pizza. I just made sure hewas working when I’d want my fix andall was right in my pizza world. I’d seethe owner maybe once or twice a yearand he’d act like nothing ever hap-pened. Up until last month. We were giving my kids a gradua-tion party and we decided to have itcatered. I asked the kids what foodthey wanted, and you can guess whothey chose. I just went in and askedthe good guy to tell the owner wewanted to book the party and to callmy wife to go over the menu. A weekwent by. Nothing. I asked again. “Hedidn’t call you?” I was not going to putmy buddy in the middle of this, so Igave the owner a few more days. Hefinally called her and they set themenu, date, time and place.

The party was scheduled to startat 7pm. The owner promised my wifethe food would be there by 6:15 andready by 6:45. At 6:40, the truck rolledup in front of the hall. It was theowner’s other brother. “You were supposed to be here at6:15!” “What? Where? How? I don’tknow.” (The family must be huge Tra-volta fans.) He also neglected to bring table-cloths. So here we were, 15 minutesbefore the party was starting, and thisguy was alone setting up a dozen hottrays, running around looking for table-cloths and bumping into guests asthey were arriving. And his bigasstruck was blocking the entrance all thewhile. That was the last straw. I was livid.I called the place and demanded tospeak to the owner. Since they still userotary phones and have no hold but-tons, I heard the girl put the phonedown and proceeded to listen to muf-fled voices, dinner plates and pizzaovens opening and closing for fiveminutes. I hung up and called back.“This is Tom Greco. Put him on thephone immediately!” More muffledvoices and plates. “Hey Tommy, how’sit going?” How’s it going? I read him the riot act. He told meMY party started at 7:30. He saidtablecloths were on the way. He saideverything’s fine. God, I’m lucky mychest didn’t explode there and then. Isaid, “How long have we known eachother? Is this the way you treat yourcustomers? Never mind that we’vebeen friends for 40 years???” “What? Where? How? I don’tknow.” I hung up on him and tried to calmdown. I did for a while. I was able toenjoy the party for my kids’ sake. Thatis, until the brother came back toclean up and asked to be paid. Isaid… “What? Where? How? I don’tknow.” I’m never going back.


OUT OF BODY (AND MECHANICAL) EXPERIENCEScontinued from page 9

NJA

A1 Auto Center, Inc.Sayerville, NJ

New Auto Boy Shop, Inc.Newark, NJ

Wreck-O-MendFreehold, NJ

Welcomes our newest members:


Acme Nissan ........................................4

Amato Agency ......................................25

Audi Group............................................32-33

Axalta Coating Systems ........................6

BMW Group ..........................................44-45

Bridgewater Acura ................................49

Cadillac of Mahwah ..............................14

CCC Comp-Est ......................................58

Classic Audi ..........................................10

Continental Auto Parts ..........................51

Empire Auto Parts..................................57

FASTLIGN® ..........................................60

Flemington Audi ....................................5

Flemington Group..................................IBC

Fred Beans Parts ..................................23

Future Cure ..........................................16

Grand Prix Subaru ................................19

Glen Toyota ..........................................OBC

Hyundai Group ......................................42

JMK BMW ............................................17

JMK Saab/JMK Fiat ..............................9

Klean Frame..........................................57

Levittown Ford ......................................19

Maxon Mazda........................................29

Maxon Hyundai......................................27

Mazda Group ........................................48

Mercedes-Benz of Freehold ..................51

MINI of Manhattan ................................8

MINI Group............................................24

Mitsubishi Group ..................................55

Mopar Group ........................................61

NORTHEAST® 2016 ............................43

NUCAR..................................................12-13

Paul Miller Audi ....................................59

Porsche Group ......................................54

PPG ......................................................3

Prestige Motors ....................................31

Princeton BMW ....................................11

Princeton MINI ......................................62

Sherwin-Williams ..................................34,41

Subaru Group........................................22

Town Motors ........................................30

Toyota Group ........................................53

Toyota of Hackensack ............................IFC

Valtek....................................................47

VIP Honda ............................................49

VW Group ............................................50

Westbury Jeep Chrysler Dodge Ram SRT...18

Wheel Collision Center ..........................47

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

New Jersey Automotive August 2015

Documents

Transcript of New Jersey Automotive August 2015