On March 24 at the American Truck Dealers (ATD) Show in Las Vegas, I had the privilege of accepting the role of ATD chair. I am humbled and excited by the weight of this responsibility. There is much opportunity coming to truck dealers, and I urge everyone to take advantage. Truck sales are healthy as Class 8 orders continue to skyrocket, with…

Spring is here and now is the time to refresh your accounting processes and surroundings. After the flurry of winter activity ... the year-end close, LIFO preparation, OEM financial statement changes, and audit and tax preparations…many of our New Year’s resolutions to clean up our books and implement new processes may have become buried under…

Keeping customers through the life cycle of vehicle ownership is a major goal for new-vehicle dealerships. Achieving that goal goes a long way toward increasing your bottom line. Both goals are dependent on your employees. Good employees create trust. And trust is what keeps customers coming back, for service, for parts, and for their next new…

Do you pay attention to Work-in-Process? If not, you should. The best way to monitor this is to have this account on a schedule controlled by the RO number. (See my previous post OPINION: Why I Disagree with Work-in-Process (WIP) Accounting) How does the schedule work? When the RO is posted, the cost of the technician’s labor is posted as…

America’s diversity is on the rise. According to the Census Bureau, all racial and ethnic minorities grew faster than whites from 2015 to 2016. Just 61 percent of U.S. residents were non-Hispanic white, down from 64 percent in 2010 and 76 percent in 1990. By 2060, the white share of the population is expected to fall to 43.6 percent, and…

It’s hard to attend an automotive conference these days without hearing about the end of personal vehicle ownership. According to so-called “conventional wisdom,” the proliferation of ride-hailing options like Uber and Lyft combined with autonomous vehicles (AVs) are destined to align and make the prospect of owing your own vehicle too…

Today EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that he has signed a federal register notice, "Mid-term Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Model Year 2022-2025 Light-duty Vehicles." In the notice, the Administrator finds that the MY 2022-2025 greenhouse gas standards are no longer appropriate in light of the latest and…

As we wrap up this year's amazing NADA and ATD Shows in Las Vegas, we're already making plans for our next shows in San Francisco, January 24-27, 2019! A big part of what makes our annual shows great is the educational programming that we put together from industry experts, NADA Academy instructors and experienced dealers and…

Today the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, concluding that dealership service advisors fall within the “salesmen, partsmen, and mechanics” overtime pay exemption under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. In doing so, it reversed a January 2017 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals…

NADA and ATD members may now access workshop recordings from our 2018 shows as part of their membership benefits. View the timely topics discussed at this year's shows from speakers and auto industry experts first hand. Learn about the latest solutions that are making a difference for dealers across the country. Members may access our Education…