Bridgestone Names New GCR President

Photo: Bridgestone Americas Inc.

Bridgestone Americas announced that Damien Harmon, current chief operating officer of Bridgestone Retail Operations, has been named president of GCR Tires & Service, effective Nov. 1, 2017.

As president, Harmon will drive the strategic growth of GCR commercial tire and service store locations in North America.

Harmon joined Bridgestone in June 2014 as vice president of operations for Bridgestone Retail Operations. He was promoted to COO where he lead service capability, customer retention, information technology, teammate training, and business development for the company's 2,200 consumer tire and automotive service locations.

Before joining Bridgestone, Harmon spent nine years at Best Buy, where he developed business strategy, merchandising and marketing programming, vendor relationships, and solutions initiatives at the corporate and field levels.

Harmon succeeds John Vasuta, who was named senior vice president of global sales for Firestone Building Products.

Related: Bridgestone Names Head of North American Commercial Business

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Trump Shouts Sweet Nothings in Trucking’s Ear

Photo: via Twitter, @realDonaldTrump

It's one thing for a President of the United States to use trucks as a backdrop and truckers as a verbal prop in a speech flogging a policy initiative that is in serious danger of going nowhere fast.

It would be another thing if that same POTUS used the power of his office to keep pushing for an act of Congress that has a far better chance of passing-- and that would undoubtedly benefit everyone in trucking along with all Americans who depend on trucking to deliver their goods.

What's more, if that more winnable battle was won— or had already been won— it would make it far easier for that president and his party's majority on Capitol Hill to notch other victories they have promised to their voters that they would secure this very year.

Yes, I am talking about the stump speech President Trump gave near Harrisburg, Penn., last night to pump up enthusiasm for the tax-reform package he has wanted Congress to pass all year. The event was part of his ongoing series of “road show” engagements that he uses (as have also his recent Oval Office predecessors) to tout one or another policy goal.

At this one, the invited guests included executives and members of the American Trucking Associations as well as representatives of local government and of such organizations as the National Federation of Independent Business. But in Trump's talk there, truckers were front and center, figuratively standing in for what the president called the “hardworking men and women” of America.

“America first means putting America's truckers first,” said Trump, warming up to his key message for the night that “our country, and our economy, cannot take off like they should unless we transform America's outdated, complex, and extremely burdensome tax code.”

Serving as a backdrop ...Read the rest of this story

Celadon Adds Independent Director to Board

Amid a financial restructuring and an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Celadon Group has announced the appointment of a new independent director to its board.

With an eight-year background as the senior vice president of Bank of America's transportation and logistics group when she retired in 2016, Kathleen L. Ross assumed the director role Oct. 10.

Ross has been in the financial industry since 1989, specializing in transportation, logistics, and supply chain, with experience in arranging financing, arranging and advising on public and private equity and debt offerings, optimizing capital structures, and advising companies on strategy, market conditions, and management of financial and other risks.

Chairman of the Board Michael Miller said Ross' 30 years of experience will help Celadon to strengthen their capital structure and position, and guide the new management team.

Celadon continues to sell off real estate and truckload assets after liquidating its flatbed division in September. The restructuring came after the company suffered a $10 million operating loss in the first quarter of 2017.

The company also announced it was the subject of an SEC investigation and subpoena to obtain documents on Oct. 2. No additional details about the investigation have been released.

Related: In Financial Pickle, Celadon Shuffles Management, Ups Liquidity

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3rd Eye, Gorilla Safety develop ELD solution

3rd Eye and Gorilla Safety have developed an Electronic Logging Device (ELD) solution that integrates into 3rdEye's fleet management platform, the companies announced this week.

3rd Eye develops vehicle safety cameras and radar; Gorilla Safety provides software solutions that automate fleet and safety management.

ELDs will become mandatory on Dec. 18 for motor carriers and commercial drivers by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

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EPA, trucking firm settle over three spills in Alaska

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached settlement with Big State Logistics (BSL), a fuel hauler and trucking firm based in Fairbanks and Valdez, AK, over three separate spills on Alaska's Richardson Highway. The spills took place in 2016, between Fairbanks and Valdez and ranged from 339 gallons to 3,571 gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel.

According to EPA, one spill was caused by equipment failure and the other two spills involved ice and snow packed road conditions.

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Musket opens new DEF facilities

Musket Corporation, the commodity supply, trading, and logistics arm of the Love's Family of Companies, announced it has four new bulk diesel fluid (DEF) facilities across the U.S.

The DEF wholesale bulk racks are now open in Aurora, CO; Quakertown, PA; Lebanon, TN; and El Paso, TX.

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Navistar Executives Look to the Future

Navistar included all its latest models for test drives at an event at its proving grounds outside of New Carlisle, IN, earlier this week.

Photo: Jack Roberts

NEW CARLISLE, IN – Backed by a new family of products and a robust economy, Navistar executives are clearly feeling positive about the future.

“We have [introduced] a lot of new products in the last two years, and we got a lot of new products coming in the next two,” said Denny Mooney, senior vice president – product development, during a briefing to industry media.

Those new products include the LT linehaul tractor, its RH regional hauling counterpart introduced at the Expocam trade show in Montreal, the heavy vocational HX tractor launched last year to replace the PayStar, and the new HV that replaces the WorkStar. The HV was unveiled at the recent North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta, Georgia.

The HX itself represents a market segment that Navistar saw drop in half after it stopped producing 15-liter engines. “Our [13-liter model], because it was an EGR engine, we couldn't cool it at some of the power and torque ratings we needed," he said.

A little over five years later, though, Navistar says it's back in the business. “We're picking up share,” Mooney said, noting that three HX models were entirely new entries in the marketplace. “In the vocational segment, if you don't have the features, if you don't have the power and torque, they're not buying the truck,” he said.

Heavy vocational trucks represent a relatively small market compared to the sales volumes of linehaul tractors, but the segment is growing on news of booming construction and even improving sales in the oil and gas sector.

“It's not a share play. It's more of a profit play. These are high-margin trucks. The volumes are way higher in ...Read the rest of this story