Gary Plover of Hitachi Astemo Americas, Inc. has been appointed to CAWA’s Manufacturers' Advisory Council. During the appointment process, Michael Rukov, Chair of the Board of Directors, commented: “As the MAC continues to grow, we are pleased to have Gary join our leadership team and contribute to our discussions of current and future industry issues”. “We look forward to his participation and contributions which will assist the Association in achieving its goals as an effective and valuable automotive aftermarket industry organization”, continued Rukov. See the complete press release here.

~ Dan Hanson Jr., Hanson Distributing Company

AB 471 (Low-2021) was signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 28, 2021 and, among other provisions, authorizes the Director to develop inspection criteria and standards for specific safety systems and components of the vehicle in order to promote the safe and uniform installation, maintenance, and serving of vehicle safety systems and components for salvage titled vehicles only.

AB 471, sponsored by CAWA and many automotive industry groups, provides BAR a 2-year window to develop inspection criteria and standards for specific safety systems and components of the vehicle in order to promote the safe and uniform installation, maintenance, and servicing of the vehicle safety systems and components.

BAR held a workshop on April 20, 2022 to gather industry and the public’s input on standards and specific safety measures that could be part of the salvage title vehicle safety inspection program. BAR’s initial input was commented on by 66 attendees during a public webinar.

Footnoted below are the bill text and BAR’s initial thoughts on expanding the salvage title inspection program. Furthermore, our letter encouraging the governor to sign AB 471 is enclosed.

For additional details, our California based Legislative Advocate, Gary Conover can be reached at 916.233.9655 or gary@garyconover.com.

These days it’s extremely easy to stand out in business and sales. Work ethic, sales skills, follow-up, and attention to detail are all at historic lows in many sales forces. Click here for some ideas that will help you stand out from all salespeople, even the best. Some of these are tips for standing out among other salespeople from a client perspective, others are tips for standing out from a peer perspective. Many of these will make the average salesperson groan because they require next-level commitment and hard work. The top salespeople on the other hand will love these, and probably already do most of them. Source: John Chapin

There are a lot of mixed signals out there, along with a variety of opinions on what the impact of Shanghai opening up again will bring. In my opinion, the harsh reality of China’s zero-tolerance COVID policy, is that there is likely to be a strong and sustained spike in imports, layering on top of the upcoming peak season, which will precipitate another spike in the spot rates. This will see space continue to be at a premium until at least Q4.

That said, we are starting to see some good news in that there seems to be a shift of consumer dollars moving from an overheated goods spend back towards services. This along with the recent contraction of our economy should reduce some of the pressure and demand for shipping space after Q4. Once we start to see this trend, the supply chain will continue to remain disrupted and unpredictable until the congestion is cleared up at the ports and those ships idled at anchor are returned back to a normal service schedule.

Finally, we still have three major issues that continue to put the eventual return of normalcy to the supply chain in question; the continuation of China zero-tolerance COVID policies and the knock-on effects, the domino effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the unpredictable ILWU/PMA negotiations. See all comments here. Source: Steve Hughes, HCS International

Applicants can apply for an University of the Aftermarket $6,350 Leadership 2.0 Program full scholarship for 2022-2023 to members of the Alliance of State Automotive Aftermarket Associations (ASAAA) of which CAWA is a member.

It is through CAWA’s affiliation with ASAAA and the University of the Aftermarket at Northwood University that our members and their employees are eligible to apply for this scholarship. The selected individual is only responsible for their hotel and travel. Lodging reservations are handled by the University of the Aftermarket, as it is preferred everyone stays in the same place.

Please see attachment (here) for eligibility requirements and information regarding the scholarship for the upcoming 2022-2023 Leadership 2.0 Program from the University of the Aftermarket at Northwood University.

Note the application and supporting documentation must be received in the CAWA office no later than June 13, 2022.

Additional information about the Leadership 2.0 Program can be found at: www.universityoftheaftermarket.com click “Course Calendar” and find “2022 Leadership 2.0 Session 1”.

Labor and employment attorney Bianca Saad and employment law expert Matthew Roberts share highlights from the “hiring checklist” and discuss obtaining documentation from remote workers, employee handbook best practices, and what employers should look for in a harassment training program (see here).

Recall, CAWA offers this training for free through our business partner CoreMark. Furthermore, our legal counsel in California, Steve Marmaduke can answer your questions regarding hiring practices. He can be reached at Smarmaduke@wilkefleury.com or 916.996.6200.

Tell your company’s HR Department (or the person in charge of hiring your associates) that CAWA has an industry specific job board. We created the job board and participate in conjunction with the Auto Care Association, MEMA, SEMA and ASA to name a few national associations. So, your job opening would be viewed by a great number of candidates given the exposure, though not only CAWA distribution, but the other industry association’s communications vehicles, as well. Another member benefit.

See https://www.cawa.org/Jobs for details.

Choose CAWA’s Association Health Plans for Better Rates! CAWA members and their customers in Nevada with 2 (unrelated) to 50 full-time employees can now offer insurance coverage for their employees and their families with a high-quality, affordable Association Health Plan from Prominence. See details here and here. Another member benefit.