In the course of updating our State Maintenance Council directory (available in our July issue, and online at www.fleetmag.com/council/), my Assistant Editor, Scott DeLaruelle, heard some comments that aroused some concern. Scott was calling State Trucking Associations to find out if they had their own State Maintenance Council, then if they did he was calling the Maintenance Council contact to get an update on the Council’s officers and contact information, and to ask if they ran a State Technician Competition for their members. Thirty-six states have Maintenance Councils, 14 don’t. Of the 36 that have Maintenance Councils, seven run competitions, and 29 don’t.

Out of those 29 states that don’t run technician competitions, a handful have very disturbing reasons for why they don’t.

One State Maintenance Council officer told Scott that he couldn’t get fleets in his state to support a technician competition because of their fears of technician theft–too many smaller fleets were worried that if they sent their top technicians to compete, those techs would be recruited away by bigger fleets at the competition.

Two other State Maintenance Council officers said that they can’t get support for a technician competition because of the cockiness factor–their member fleets worry that if a technician wins a state trophy, he or she will come back to the shop demanding more pay.

I have two reactions to this. First, are these really legitimate fears, or are they just excuses for not getting involved? Second, if they are true, so what? Why are these fleets unwilling to reward their technicians for their accomplishments? If a technician is good enough to go to a state competition and win, isn’t he worth paying more to hang on to? Why not tie a competition into a pay incentive for your best technicians? Imagine what kind of loyalty that would create, and imagine how envious those bigger fleets would be, knowing that they can’t steal a technician who is so happy in his current job…

And then there’s this: if your technicians win at a state competition, wouldn’t other technicians want to come work for you, because they’re so impressed with your training and incentive program?

It just seems to me that those fleet maintenance managers in those states are looking at things in absolutely the wrong way. And they probably don’t need the help of a state competition to lose their best employees.

The big news last week that Caterpillar plans to exit the on-highway diesel engine market as of 2010 probably didn’t come as a complete surprise to anyone in the trucking industry. Over the past several months, as other diesel engine manufacturers were loudly proclaiming their plans to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 emissions standards, Cat had been notably quiet. In fact, so little news has come out of Peoria in the past year that I had started to wonder if the company had shut down its public relations department.

In last week’s press release from the company, Cat’s Group President, Douglas R. Oberhelman, said, “Caterpillar and our dealers will continue to provide product support and service beyond 2010 for all Caterpillar on-highway engines regardless of truck brand.” That will, no doubt, be a relief to the countless fleets that depend on Cat power, but if I were in charge of purchasing for a fleet and I had 2008s or 2009s on order with Cat engines, I think I might feel a little betrayed and abandoned.

This isn’t the last we’ll see of Caterpillar, of course–the company also announced a strategic alliance with International Trucks, and plans to introduce its own line of severe-service trucks at the same time they leave the on-highway market. Just the same, Cat’s move will leave a big hole–and probably some hard feelings–in the industry.

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit a pretty remarkable place: ArvinMeritor’s aftermarket parts distribution center in Florence, KY. My publisher, Larry Greenberger, and I were invited to Florence by ArvinMeritor Commercial Vehicle Systems executives to get a good look at the volume of business they do, and they way they keep all those parts flowing from factory to end-user.

What took me by surprise is that the Florence distribution center is an all-brands operation. You won’t just find ArvinMeritor-branded parts at this operation; what you’ll find is ArvinMeritor parts mixed in with a whole lot of other manufacturer’s parts, so that ArvinMeritor can deliver exactly what the customer needs, even if someone else makes it.

There were so many parts, and so much activity, packed into this place that I really had hard time imagining how they manage to keep expanding, but expand they do. ArvinMeritor recently acquired Canadian remanufacturer Mascot, and has started handling Allison transmission remanufactures as well as remanufactured trailer axles, and yet the parts packers and forklift drivers seemed completely in control of the process, and proud of the fact that they can handle any job that’s thrown their way.

Well done, ArvinMeritor. It’s inspiring to see so many hard-working Americans dedicated to the success of their company, and to the satisfaction of their many customers in the trucking industry.