Bridgestone Names Head of North American Commercial Business

Scott Damon Photo: Bridgeston Americas

Bridgestone Americas has announced that Scott Damon has been named president, commercial group, U.S. and Canada for Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, effective Oct. 1.

Damon will oversee all business operations within the commercial tire portfolio, succeeding Kurt Danielson, who is retiring after 23 years with the company. Damon will be responsible for leading the company's commercial tire sales and service operations in North America, which includes truck and bus radial tires, off-the-road tires, Firestone agricultural tires, the Bandag retread business, and commercial retail operations.

Danielson has been in his current role as president of U.S. and Canada commercial tire sales since May 2014. He joined Bridgestone in 1994 as a territory manager in Cincinnati, Ohio, and throughout his tenure progressed through numerous leadership positions within the company.

"Kurt's leadership has been instrumental in growing our commercial tire and service business, and he has positioned the team for continued success after his retirement," said Gordon Knapp, CEO and president, Bridgestone Americas. "Scott started his Bridgestone career in the Commercial organizations and has since gained diversified leadership experience across the Bridgestone portfolio. We are eager to bring his talents to such a pivotal role within the company."

Damon joined Bridgestone in 1996 as a development engineer for Bandag, which was acquired by Bridgestone Americas in 2007. During his career with Bridgestone, Damon has served in various roles including executive director of strategic planning for the Bridgestone Americas Technical Center and, most recently, president of Firestone Industrial Products.

He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, earned an MBA from Frostburg State University, and completed certificate studies in executive leadership and management at the University of Notre Dame.

Related: Love's Acquires Speedco from Bridgestone Americas

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Could Tesla Solve EV Range Issues With Battery Swapping System?

Tesla has filed a patent for a hoist system capable of swapping out electric vehicle battery packs in less than 15 minutes. Image via Tesla

One of the major obstacles — or concerns, at least — regarding electric trucks has been the question of recharge times. Although advances have been made in fast-charge technology, returning a battery big enough to power a commercial truck to full capacity is still a time-consuming process that can take hours. As a result, most experts have theorized that any future electric trucks or vans will have in the commercial space will be limited to set, daily routes with fixed distances. Vehicles on these routes, conventional thinking goes, would return to their shops in the evening and recharge their batteries overnight.

Recently transportation analyst Rick Mihelic, in a study commissioned by the Stifel Transportation Equipment Equity Research Group, theorized that electric trucks could make a move into regional-haul applications if depleted batteries were swapped out for fresh ones at drop-and-hook terminals along the route.

It appears Mihelic is not the only one thinking along those lines. According to a report from Business Insider, Tesla is looking into a specialized hoist system that would make it easier, and faster, to replace batteries in an electric vehicle.

According to the report, Tesla filed a patent application in May for a system that can elevate a vehicle and replace a depleted battery pack with a fresh one. The patent says at least one technician would monitor the machine, which could be installed at remote locations along highways between cities and would be able to complete a battery swap job in under 15 minutes.

In other Tesla news, company founder and CEO Elon Musk said in a Tweet late last week that he hopes to unveil its much-anticipated electric truck ...Read the rest of this story

McLeod: Tangle of trends is changing trucking

ATLANTA. Tom McLeod, founder, president, and CEO of McLeod Software, is fond of saying that, “one of the more immutable laws of the universe is that we reap what we sow,” and at least from his perspective, motor carriers will need to do an awful lot of reaping based on the amount of change now rapidly occurring in the trucking industry.

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HDT is Seeking Emerging Industry Leaders

Heavy Duty Trucking magazine is seeking nominations for the HDT Emerging Leaders honor, a group of young trucking industry leaders already making a difference in his or her fields.

We're looking for young professionals who are influential, innovative and successful, who can point to outstanding accomplishments and leadership qualities, and who have a passion for the trucking industry.

Emerging leaders will be under 40 years of age and work for a for-hire, private, government or vocational fleet. The award nomination is open to those employed in any aspect of a fleet's business and all levels, whether management, maintenance, sales, marketing, safety, IT, training, or elsewhere.

Whether a person is in the top management position of a company, a shop foreman or the IT person who led a key data transition, as long as they are making a difference in the trucking industry they are eligible for nomination.

Leaders honored as an HDT Emerging Leader will be featured in an article in our December print magazine issue. The nominee must be under 40 years old as of Jan. 31, 2017, self-nominations are also being accepted.

The nomination deadline is Oct. 6, 2017. To nominate an Emerging Leader, fill out our online nomination form here.

Related: Can Autonomous Trucks Help You Attract Fresh Talent?

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Keep your mind from ‘zoning out’ on the road

On September 11, truck driver Normand Lavoie was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of causing the death of three high school boys after he admitted that he 'zoned out' while driving through a construction zone in May 2015 and smashing into their stopped car. Lavoie also injured a flagperson who still is not well enough to return to work.

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The fine art of warranty claims negotiation

Warranties are pretty straightforward. Something is covered for 5 years/500,000 miles or 2 years/250,000 miles. Simple, right?

Perhaps. But what happens when a part fails just after the warranty period? Or if something doesn't perform as advertised as a result of another component failing? That is a gray area and a time when having good information, good recordkeeping and a good maintenance program is invaluable.

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Medical marijuana and the workplace

More and more states are legalizing medical marijuana so you need to be aware of its impact in the workplace.

Marijuana was made illegal at the federal level in 1937. However, since 1996, 28 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws legalizing medical marijuana and 15 states have some form of limited medical marijuana use. In addition, some states have also legalized the recreational use of marijuana.

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