A pedestrian bridge being built across an eight-lane highway collapsed at a Miami-area college Thursday, crushing eight vehicles under massive slabs and killing multiple people, authorities said. Search ...
Although they aren't the first dealership to do it, Steve Dupuis, COO of Summit Truck Group, believes dealers partnering with suppliers is likely to gain traction going forward.
Denise Rondini
" width="185" height="217">Late last year, Summit announced a strategic partnership with Fontaine Fifth Wheel. Under the terms of the partnership, Fontaine will be the exclusive supplier of fifth wheels for all stock trucks ordered by Summit, and will also be the standard fifth wheel on retail sales, “unless the customer specified another brand,” Dupuis says.
The dealership's management decided to “take a look at how we go to market and how we could leverage scale with Tier 1 vendors that share the same customer service philosophy and approach to business we do.”
He says the dealership decided to “strike a relationship that was a little more formal than the typical dealer Tier 1 vendor relationship.” Typically, Tier 1 suppliers have relationships with the truck OEMs, but not with the dealers themselves.
Dupuis says the dealership looked at how it could work with Fontaine to leverage economies of scale “to get better pricing, better warranty and some type of service agreement.”
Summit customers benefit from discounted prices with better service. “We have parts stocked at all our locations and have a preferred service agreement with Fontaine whereas if a fleet has a unit down, Fontaine will overnight parts, components and even a whole fifth wheel to us or the customer to get them up and running again.” Summit operates 27 full-service locations and five parts and service locations in eight states.
Basically the customers get “a better product, at a better price with better service,” Dupuis says. “Once we tell them the story, I think the vast majority of customers are going to see the benefit of these kinds of relationships.”
The benefit to Fontaine is more sales and ...Read the rest of this story
A wide range of engine options that allow fleets to spec for tough applications is one of the top trends in vocational trucking today. Photo: International
">The advent of new technologies such as autonomous and connected vehicles has put over-the-road fleets squarely in the national spotlight. But vocational fleets face many of the same operational issues, and they, too, increasingly are turning to new technologies and options to work more efficiently and profitability.
Some industry observers believe it will be in vocational fleets where we'll see the first real-world tests of vehicle-to-vehicle communication, self-driving trucks, self-diagnosing powertrains and other new technologies. Volvo, in fact, recently predicted that refuse trucks working at a walking pace in residential neighborhoods may well be the general public's first exposure to self-driving trucks.
For now, many cutting-edge medium- and heavy-duty vocational fleets are looking to more established, and often less flashy new technologies, to help them work smart and profitably. And three of those trends are gaining momentum.
<img src="http://www.automotive-fleet.com/fc_images/articles/m-freightliner-m2-vocational-1.jpg" border="0" alt="
Freightliner recently added to its medium-duty vocational power offerings with the launch of the new DD8 diesel engine. Photo: Freightliner
">Advanced vehicle safety systems have become a common spec for over-the-road fleets. Yet vocational trucks may need them even more, says Ralph LoPriore, director of fleet assets and processes for Stoneway Concrete/Gary Merlino Construction in Seattle. His mixers and dumps spend far more time in tight city areas surrounded by passenger cars than the majority of OTR trucks. And given the increased congestion in and around Seattle, along with his younger, less experienced team of drivers, spec'ing advanced safety systems for his fleet was a no-brainer.
“I'm really working hard today to try to get as many of the same safety features on my trucks the over-the-road guys are already getting,” LoPriore says. “I'd like to ...Read the rest of this story
CNBC's Sue Herera reports the latest on the collapse of a bridge at the Florida International University campus.
He does own some shares in his personal account.
It emphasized SUVs, hybrids, and battery electric vehicles. Three years of strong sales and steady profits — and the bestselling vehicles in the US, the F-Series — pickups haven't moved the needle on the company's stock price, which has lagged the broader markets, crosstown rival General Motors, and upstart Tesla.
As shoppers flock to Amazon.com Inc and children choose smartphones and screens over toys, Toys 'R' Us has struggled to boost sales and service debt following a $6.6-billion leveraged buyout by private equity firms in 2005. At a hearing at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Virginia, Toys 'R' Us lawyer Joshua Sussberg said the company was working to avoid any contagion from the U.S. liquidation on the foreign businesses it is trying to sell. Part of that effort means separating the U.S. business from foreign operations to ensure that shipments can reach stores in Canada, Europe and Asia, where the company will be reviewing bid proposals in coming weeks.
