Industry Watch November 2013
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1.877.GETS.UTA • www.uta.org Volume 15 • Issue 11 • November 2013 Used Truck Association Chartered May 16, 1988 Published by the Used Truck Association Ronnie 325 Country Club Drive, Suite A Stockbridge, GA 30281 Jordan Table of Contents 2013 hen Ronnie Jordan was a boy his grandfather gave him some sage advice. “Go out and Board News and Views .......................2 Wdo it on your own,” he told Ronnie. In his colorful way, Grandpa pointed to his dog. Quips & Quotes ....................................2 He told young Ronnie, “You see that dog?” he said. “That’s the smartest dog I’ve ever seen, and I didn’t teach him a thing.” The boy took this lesson to heart and set out to make his own way in Face to Face the world. In 1987 he started his truck business, Jordan Truck Sales, Inc., in Carrollton, GA. His with Doug Carmichael ......................4 first location was his own home, and he started out with just two trucks. Today he employs more New Members ...................................6-7 than 50 people, including several members of his own family. Of course, according to Ronnie, Industry Events Calendar ...................8 every one of his employees is part of the family. “Our success is definitely due to our employees,” Ronnie says. NADA Update: Retail Volume Drops; Getting Ronnie to talk about himself and what he has achieved throughout his long career is a Record Prices Continue ............ 10-13 little like trying to convince a bird to walk. You can try, but you’re going to have a struggle on your hands! When asked about his earning the Truck Blue Book “Independent Used Truck The Brooks Group Dealer of the Year” award in 2005, he turned back toward his team. “I have some of the best Sales Tip of the Month .................... 13 employees in the country,” he said. “Some have been here 25 years. They are very loyal.” He Medium Duty Corner ..........................13 credits his success in life to his faith, his family, and his employees. Still, loyal and devoted Industry News Briefs ....................14-16 employees don’t just happen. That is definitely a two-way relationship, and Ronnie has a way of making the people in his life feel important. From Where We Sit ...........................18 “Surrounding myself with people who are smarter than me,” was his reply, delivered with a The UTA… chuckle when asked to elaborate on his successful career. Beyond his formal training at West Members Supporting Members! Georgia Technical College, Ronnie said his greatest training came from “hard work.” Now that’s something Ronnie has never been afraid of. Of course no one works harder than the person who owns his own company, so all of Ronnie’s early dedication to work has served him well. “You need to have a good business plan and stick with it,” he said. “A good solid business plan is essential no matter who you are, whether you are cutting holes out of doughnuts, building airplanes, or selling trucks.” He started his business with three distinct vows, only two of which he has kept. His first was to never wear a suit to work. “I’ve kept that one,” he said. He also vowed to never have a computer. “I lied about that one,” he explained. The last was probably the most important of them all. He vowed to never have a time clock in his operation. He’s lived up to this last one with SHARE YOUR NEWS devotion. “Everyone is on salary here,” he explained. “The janitor is on salary.” with the UTA Industry Watch. Of course, when a person loves his work as much as Send submissions, ideas and Ronnie does, it’s easy to look at that good life and see as comments to: much fun as it is work. Surrounded by his wife of more UTA Industry Watch Editors than 41 years, Debra, and their sons who also work in the business, every day at work is a great mix of Brad and Deb Schepp and Jay Burgess challenge and family. That sounds just about right for c/o Grace Management Ronnie. He remembers his mom telling him that as a 325 Country Club Drive, Suite A child all he wanted to do was play with trucks! “And at Stockbridge, GA 30281 59 years old, I’m still playing with trucks,” he said. Phone: 877-GETS-UTA (877-438-7882) Working hard in an industry he loves surrounded by the Fax: 770-454-0029 family he treasures and the employees he is devoted to, [email protected] sounds like a lifetime of achievement by any standard. n UTA Industry Watch 2013 BOARD Board News and Views OF DIRECTORS “The Times, They Are A Changing” http://www.uta.org/directory hange. Love it, hate it, embrace it, resist it, it’s coming whether you like it or not. Our IT Cdepartment recently told me I had to replace my Blackberry with a new iPhone, because GOVERNING BOARD: the Blackberry is no longer supported. Now this would be good news to most people but I dreaded the change. I knew my Blackberry inside and out, did not want to give up the mini keyboard, President ..................... Rick Clark and was hesitant to learn a new device. Now that I’ve had the iPhone for a few weeks I have to Vice President..............Ken Kosic admit I really like it, although I do miss the Blackberry keyboard. The change to the phone was fairly painless, and the time I spent worrying about learning the new device was unwarranted. Treasurer .................. Tom Pfeiler This was a simple thing, but it is instructive in that we often worry needlessly about something new. Usually, if we approach change with an open mind, it is not that bad. Secretary ...............Sheri Aaberg Some of us older UTA members remember a more innocent time when there was only AM and President Emeritus FM radio, three major networks, perhaps a PBS channel, and maybe a couple of local channels ........................... Marty Crawford on television. The only way to communicate was by rotary-dial landline phones. Now there are thousands of channels on cable and satellite radio and TV, there’s a huge amount of entertainment available on the internet, and there are more ways to communicate than we can count. There are hundreds of different devices including flat screen TVs, smartphones, tablets, and even new Google COMT M IT EE CHAIRPERSONS: glasses that access the internet, and connect us to each other and to the world. It seems like these devices are obsolete every six months, and it’s almost impossible to keep up with all the technological Affiliates & Benefits ... Bryan Boyd changes we face. And what a game changer the internet has been. While it is difficult to imagine how we survived without the internet just a couple of decades ago, we’ve probably barely scratched Convention ................Sheri Aaberg the surface in how we can use the internet to improve our work processes. & Rick Clark There has been no lack of change in the Used Truck Industry. Consider these changes just in the UTA Jerome Nerman Family last 20 years: Foundation Scholarship ■ Automatic and auto shift transmissions ...................Tim Ronan, Jay Burgess ■ Computer systems monitoring almost every function in a truck & Brock Frederick ■ New emission systems (think DPF and SCR) to comply with government regulations And these are just some of the new developments in truck technology over this period. On top Elections ............... George Barnett of this we operate in a marketplace that is highly competitive. This is due to a lack of late-model used trucks caused by low manufacturing from 2009 through 2011, and fleets holding onto their Marketing ....................... Rick Clark trucks longer. And, of course, the internet is a big part of our lives in the trucking industry. Ten years ago who would have thought we’d be using tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, UTA. Medium Duty .............Amy Shahan org forums, or social media in general, to help sell trucks? For that matter, who even knew what social media was ten years ago? Now these tools are indispensable to many in the industry. Membership .......... John Cosgrove, Kenny Doonan & Bryan Boyd Yes, the times they are a changing, but your UTA is here to help you navigate these changes. Training videos on the latest truck technologies are available on the UTA website. We’ve had Training ............................Ken Kosic workshops at the annual conventions on social media and other emerging topics, and will & Brock Frederick continue to hold these at future conventions. UTA’s Industry Watch newsletter is always full of information to help you remain on top of the latest trends and technologies. An article about the Dealer Group ..........Mike Thurston MaxxForce 13 powered Navistar tractors in a recent newsletter, for example, provided critical & Bobby Williams information about an issue that affects nearly all in our industry. So try to be open to and embrace change because, as much as we may want to, we can’t stop it. UTA.org Website .....Bobby Williams Also, keep in mind that most of your colleagues are having as much trouble as you are in keeping up with all this technology. Finally, please let a UTA Board member know if there is an issue you would like to see addressed. We’ll do our best to gather accurate and timely informa- tion so that UTA members stay a step ahead of the competition. Selling is our No. 1 job. Never get George Barnett Election Committee away from selling a lot of [email protected] merchandise personally. The more you sell the more you learn.