Shop Employee’s Illness Highlights Industry’s Lack of Health Insurance
When a member of the industry gets sick, it affects their well-being, their family and their employer. When that employee doesn’t have health insurance, not only is their health still in jeopardy, but also their financial future. Jason Van Der Sluis recently started a new job as a body technician at an auto body shop
Assured Performance Offers Marketing Program Materials
Assured Performance Network has produced marketing program materials for body shops to help them succeed in the future. It includes the book “Break on Through! Reinventing Body Shop Marketing, Sales, and the Customer Experience,” by Scott Biggs, chairman and CEO of Assured Performance. The book has two parts – attracting customers and keeping them –
OEM Collaboration Results in Easy Access to Repair Information via Web Site Portal
From Honda to Hummer to Hyundai, manufacturers’ repair information is now accessible to independent shops through one site. Approximately 35 auto manufacturers worked together to launch OEM1STOP.com, the result of an ongoing effort to simplify Internet searches for OEM repair information. Each quarter, United States, European and Asian auto manufacturers meet at the OEM Roundtable
I-CAR Adds to Online Training Library, Offers Student Scholarships
I-CAR has introduced the latest edition of the Liquid and Solid Hazardous Waste Storage and Disposal Overview (HWD01) to its Online Training library. Topics covered in the program include identifying hazardous waste and storage, disposal, and record-keeping requirements for hazardous waste according to local, state, provincial or national regulations. Participants can complete the online training
Thatcham Raves About Collision Avoidance Technology
Insurer-funded Thatcham has tested three auto manufacturers’ collision avoidance technologies, and the U.K. research center claimed last month that they could prevent more than 125,000 injuries a year in England. Thatcham tested Volvo’s City Safety, Mercedes’ Distronic Plus and Honda’s Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS). All three systems use radar to mitigate or prevent low-speed
CIF Adds New Board Member
The Collision Industry Foundation (CIF) has elected Bill Shaw to its board of trustees. Shaw is director of Business Development U.S. at PPG Industries. The Collision Industry Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation dedicated to raising, managing and donating funds while fulfilling the philanthropic goals and needs of the collision industry and the communities they
Claims Group President ‘Separates’ From Progressive
Progressive’s claims group president has been “separated” from the company, the insurer announced last month. Brian Passell had held that position since 1999. Progressive President and CEO Glenn Renwick announced that the company has begun an internal search for Passell’s successor. Progressive, the country’s third largest auto insurer, had no further details.
SCRS Reminds Shops of EMS Issues
In October 2007, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) released a statement on its position on the use and ownership of the EMS extract. SCRS said it’s strongly opposed to any entity copying, downloading or using a collision repair facility’s EMS extract without its knowledge, approval and full disclosure as to which data fields
Recycled Rides Gears Up for 2008
The National Auto Body Council’s (NABC) 2008 Recycled Rides campaign kicks off this month, and the project hopes to donate 100 vehicles to working poor families in its second year. All segments of the industry assist collision repair shops in the program, which has a target donation date of Nov. 24, 2008. To help it
NABC Elects Officers, Plans 2008
The National Auto Body Council (NABC) board met on Jan. 15 in Palm Springs, Calif., to discuss the organization’s strategic plan and portfolio of projects, and elect executive officers. The 2008 executive officers are President Russell Thrall III, CollisionWeek/I-CAR Education Foundation; Vice President George Avery, State Farm Insurance Company; Secretary Janet Chaney, Cave Creek Business
Anti-Steering Legislation Advances in Washington State
The Washington House of Representatives approved Substitute House Bill 3053, which attempts to end insurer steering in auto glass repair claims. The bill is now in the Senate’s Financial Institutions & Insurance Committee. The bill would require an insurer to determine if the vehicle owner had chosen a repairer, and it would prohibit an insurer
Collision Repair Association of California Sponsors Two Bills
The Collision Repair Association of California (CRA) is sponsoring S.B. 1167 to stop insurers from driving through two holes in California’s anti-steering law. The legislation, introduced Feb. 7 by state Sen. Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), requires insurers to first determine if the claimant has selected a shop before any discussion of repairs; it prohibits insurer