Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/307185
6 Industry Focus T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E | M a y 2 0 1 4 Dealer News CSM Companies, Inc. and French-El- lison Truck Center, LLC have merged, creating a 19-location dealership group. Thermo King has named its 2013 Dealers of the Year. Regional winners were Temperature Control Solutions, Inc., Raleigh, N.C.; Thermo King Sales & Service, St. Paul, Minn.; Thermo King of Dallas, Dallas; and Thermo King Fresno, Inc., Fresno, Calif. Bus Dealer of the Year was Thermo King of North Florida, Jacksonville, Fla. Kansas-based Doonan Truck & Equip- ment is seeking to erect a Peterbilt dealership in Ellis County, Kan. using sales tax funds. Doonan's site requires $3 million in improvements to com- plete the business expansion. Lone Mountain Truck Leasing an- nounces it recently began purchas- ing new trucks to put into its lease purchase program. The initial offering from Lone Mountain consists of 2015 model year trucks from a variety of manufacturers including Peterbilt and Volvo with Freightliner trucks coming later this summer. Kenworth de Mont-Laurier has opened its new parts and service location in Mont-Laurier, a rural area about 240 kilometers northwest of Montreal, on the Trans-Canada High- way/Quebec Route 117. Tallman Truck Centre has secured the distribution rights for Bobcat Equipment for the Kingston, Ontario market and will operate this new busi- ness as Bobcat of Kingston. Bruckner's Truck Sales has opened a new dealership in Albuquerque, N.M. The 7.5-acre full-service dealership offers 18 truck bays staffed by 16 technicians, two of which are Volvo master technicians. Inland Kenworth has relocated its Campbell River, British Columbia dealership. The new 20,000 sq.- ft. facility is located barely half a mile north of its previous site. Preliminary data released last month by FTR Associates says December 2013 through March 2014 was the best four-month new truck sales period since 2006. According to FTR, March 2014 Class 8 truck net orders were 27,139, the fourth consecutive month of solid order activity. The past 14 months have each shown a year-over-year improvement with totals for Q1 2014 35 percent above Q1 2013. Frost & Sullivan has released a report that projects the global sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks, which stood at 2.76 million units in 2013, to climb to 2.87 million units by the end of 2014. North American sales projections exceed 140,000 units in 2014. In comparison Frost & Sullivan expects Class 8 truck sales to total 258,000 vehicles. Economic News Full class graduates from University of the Aftermarket Leadership 2.0, the University of the Aftermarket's automotive aftermarket Leadership Develop- ment Program, concluded on April 11, 2014 with a graduation ceremony for its 38 participants. Leadership 2.0 is an intense and intellectually challenging leadership-development program speciļ¬ c to the vehicle aftermar- ket. Participants in this year's program represented a wide array of aftermarket companies at all levels of the industry, the Univer- sity says. The program began last August with participants gather- ing on Northwood University's campus in Midland, Mich. Be- tween sessions I and II, partici- pants worked on team projects that addressed several important industry issues. Participants received 7.0 credits toward completion of their Automotive Aftermarket Professional (AAP) or Master Automotive Aftermar- ket Professional (MAAP) desig- nations, Northwood says.