Since all of the SuperTech Steering Committee members work full-time in our day jobs, SuperTech is really a labor of love. With the holidays and a busy year-end, our SuperTech planning has been on the back burner. But now that registration is only four months away, it’s time to get serious.

This past week, we held a very important STSC meeting to finalize some of the major details. We were able to select our sponsorship levels. We started pulling together equipment lists and have already had a few companies step up to help with equipment, judging and sponsorships.
I would be neglectful if I didn’t mention the support we have received from the Arkansas Trucking Association. Major thanks go out to Sarah Sheets, director of operations for the ATA, along with Carl Tapp of P.A.M. Transport. These two have been instrumental in helping us out with score sheets and ideas for registration. Both went above and beyond to help us, and we Nebraskans appreciate it.

This next month is going to be a huge month for us promotion-wise. Not only will the blogs be featured in Fleet Maintenance magazine, but we will also be doing an article in the Nebraska Trucker magazine. We plan to use that publicity to start approaching our state trucking association’s members to help with sponsors and judging.

So, like anything that goes slightly off course, you make adjustments and pick up the pace. That’s what we did this week, and I am quite pleased with our successes!

This week, in what is surely a sign of the times, Kenworth and Peterbilt, the two American truck brands of PACCAR, Inc., announced that they would not have exhibits at the Mid-America Truck Show (MATS) in Louisville, KY, perhaps the biggest truck show in the country.

So what, you say? This is like the NFL bowing out of the Superbowl, or Madonna taking a pass on the Grammies, or Matt Kenseth skipping the Daytona 500. It’s just not done.

What’s really scary is that MATS is still two months away as I write this, and as there’s not much hope of the economy turning itself around in the next eight weeks, it’s a pretty sure guess that PACCAR’s announcement will just be the first of many. MATS is one of the busiest weeks of the year for a trucking editor; there are press conferences and press events running from dawn ’til dusk. That’s in a normal year. This year, who knows? It could be a long, slow week in Kentucky…

I’ve never sold anything in my life. Except a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies in the fourth grade. However, I have morphed into a salesperson role since September, after I witnessed the SuperTech competition for the first time.

What am I selling? Not a brand new truck or service to keep the truck on the road. I’m selling SuperTech.

Every industry meeting I attend, I make it a point to wear my 2008 SuperTech pin. I make it a point to bring up SuperTech in conversations. I hand out flyers. I tell people to tell their friends, or other service managers. People seek me out at meetings and ask questions about SuperTech.

Just this last week, I was able to present about the Nebraska SuperTech competition to the Metropolitan Community College Diesel Advisory Council, as well as to the managers of my own company, Omaha Truck Center, Inc. The reception I received from both groups was fantastic. Everyone wanted to know how they could be a part of it. I think the consensus throughout the state of Nebraska is that this is an industry-leading competition that makes sense for Nebraska businesses to compete in.

So although some people think it’s silly I wear my SuperTech pin everywhere, I’m happy to do it. It’s easy to be a salesperson when it’s something you’re truly passionate about.

Maybe it’s not that crazy… Fiat, Chrysler (and Cerberus, Chrysler’s owner) issued a joint press release today stating that the Italian automaker will be taking a 35% stake in the troubled American firm. In exchange for that stake, Fiat will provide Chrysler/Cerberus with “product and platform sharing, including city and compact segment vehicles, to expand Chrysler’s current product portfolio; technology sharing, including fuel efficient and environmentally friendly powertrain technologies; and access to additional markets, including distribution for Chrysler vehicles in markets outside of North America…”

While this is, undoubtedly, good news for Chrysler and its owners, I can’t help but wonder where it might lead… Will we someday see Alfa Romeo branded Sprinter vans (to go along with the Dodge, Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner Sprinters already out there)? How about Lancia Grand Cherokees? Fiat Ram pickups? Will we stop associating Dodges and Chryslers with “hemis” and start joking that they are now the “Fix it again, Tony” brands?

I do admit that this is a ray of hope for Chrysler, and perhaps the wisest thing that Cerberus has done with the company, but that’s not really saying much, is it?

The other day I attended a presentation by Jim Hebe, the Senior Vice President of North American Sales for Navistar, Inc., about International Truck’s decision to buck the industry trend and avoid using a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system in its 2010 heavy-duty diesel engines. New diesel emissions standards from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 2010 have pushed most diesel engine manufacturers to adopt SCR systems for their new engines, so International’s stand is bold and somewhat risky. Hebe knew that, and to his credit, he didn’t shy away from it.

What surprised me the most about his presentation was that he directly confronted the now-famous SCR benefit of improved fuel economy. Hebe said that the added cost of urea, or Diesel Emission Fluid (DEF), the essential ingredient of an SCR system, would wipe out any savings from increased fuel economy. Fleets running 2010 trucks with SCR would save 1.2 cents per mile in reduced fuel consumtion, he said, but using DEF would add three cents per mile in operating costs. “The initial cost,” Hebe said, “never goes away.”

At this point it’s hard to know what to believe. In the last go-around of diesel emissions standards, Caterpillar famously went its own way, and today that company is out of the on-highway diesel business for good. Now International is charting its own contrary course; will it suffer the same fate as Caterpillar?

From an outsider’s perspective, it may be easy to think SuperTech is just a frivolous, expensive idea. But as I’ve learned from many Technology and Maintenance Council members, this is absolutely incorrect.

In a conversation I recently had with Nebraska Trucking Association president Larry Johnson, he mentioned how excited he was to have the competition in the state. He said it’s a great way to highlight the professional skills of our hardworking technicians in Nebraska, and definitely long overdue.

But what else can it add to your company? From a recruiting and retention standpoint, a lot.
Instead of focusing on mistakes our technicians make, we are now rewarding them for the hard work they do. Technicians are increasing their abilities by tackling new tasks at the competition. Some companies choose to have internal competitions to add even more incentive. This can even help with training, because you can focus on certain areas.
From a recruiting standpoint, think about those who are not currently in the industry and how they can be involved with the competition. In Nebraska, we are planning to invite students from the local community colleges to help serve as volunteers during SuperTech. Additionally, we have invited the people from the local community as well as local media.
There are many reasons why SuperTech is great, and we’re looking forward to having it in Nebraska. It’s about time we give our technicians the recognition they deserve!

July is months away, and I’m certainly aware that the date is only getting closer. But, since we’re enjoying a little break in the planning, I thought this would be a good opportunity to go “behind the scenes” to introduce you to the rest of our steering committee, and what they’ve been working on.

Jeff Hoefer from Nebraska Truck Center and Dave Jacobs from Wick’s Sterling Trucks are heading up the judging rules and recruitment of volunteers. They are working hard to get knowledgeable people to work the stations.

Kevin Ingalls from Werner Enterprises is heading up publicity, promotions and sponsorships. He serves as president of Metropolitan Community College’s Diesel Advisory Council, so he is good at getting people signed up for things! His years of training experience will help the STSC immensely.

Kelly Christensen from Central Community College and Jerry Wessel from Vantage Pointe Homes, who have both been previously mentioned in this blog, are in charge of logistics. These gentlemen have been pouring over catering menus and figuring out the best way to stage all of the stations. Both bring a lot of good ideas to the committee.

So there you have it- the 2009 STSC. We also are working closely with the Nebraska Trucking Association, who sends a staff member to our meetings. Stay tuned for more fun from Nebraska!

We like to start out every new year with a fresh view of the fleet maintenance industry, and one way we do that is to survey our readers, to get their thoughts on industry issues and trends. We recently surveyed readers on their involvement in maintenance councils, both the national Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) and their own state maintenance councils.

One hundred and sixteen readers completed the survey, and the results were both expected and surprising. About 1/4 of the respondents were TMC members, and 3/4 were not. Of the TMC members, 100 percent intend to renew their membership, and 65 percent attend TMC meetings.

Among those who indicated that they were not TMC members, only 15 percent belonged to a state maintenance council as an alternative. That means that less than half of the survey respondents do not belong to any maintenance council at all. That could indicate a lot of things, but the first thing it suggests to me is that most of our readers are not interested in professional networking. Could that be true? Have we overestimated the importance of trading maintenance ideas and tips with colleagues? Or are fleet maintenance managers simply networking on a smaller, more informal scale? What’s your take?