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Private’s Equity’s Influence on Consolidation Predicted to Continue Amidst COVID-19 Disruption, Structural Change by Vincent Romans, as told to Stacey Phillips
During the MSO Symposium in November, V incent R o m ans, managing partner of The omans roup, presented a macro-level view of the evolving U.S. collision repair industry. Following the virtual show, omans shared further insight from The omans roup industry research with Au tob od y N ew s contributor Stacey P hillip s, following trends on consolidation, private equity E and the auto physical damage landscape. n the following article, omans
discusses the impact of CO Don the collision repair industry and examines how E continues to influence structural change with consolidation. 2 2 will forever be seen and remembered as a generational foundation year of significant disruption and structural change for the world with far-reaching economic, social and political implications. At the omans roup, we have discussed and profiled the ongoing disruption taking place during the last five decades as part of our study See Influence on Consolidation, Page 4
Collision Repair Industry Associations Make 2021 New Year’s Resolutions by Chasidy Rae Sisk
On New ear’s Eve, people typically en oy reflecting on the ending year, but 2 2 has been a little chaotic, to say the least.
hile no one seems particularly sad to say goodbye to 2 2 , there’s still excitement and hope for the incoming year, expressed by making
New ear’s resolutions. Collision repair industry associations are optimistic about the upcoming year and graciously agreed to share their 2 2 New ear’s resolutions with Autobody News.
Because 2 2 has contained so many unprecedented events and situations, many associations’ resolutions See New Year’s Resolutions, Page 14
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AUTOBODYNEWS.COM Vol. 10 / Issue 4 / January 2021
COVID-19 Hits FCA Workers: 2 From Warren Truck, 1 From Sterling Heights Dead by Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press
CO D- is hitting autoworkers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles once again. Two workers at arren Truck Assembly have died recently, according to the company. That follows the death last month of a forklift operator who worked at the Sterling Heights Assembly lant. The man’s death followed a monthlong battle with CO D- , according to his obituary. The deaths of the arren Truck workers elevate a grim toll connected to the plant. Although it’s not clear
where the workers contracted the virus, six workers from the plant have died since the start of the pandemic. FCA said it believes the exposure of the latest arren workers happened elsewhere. “FC A was saddened to learn of the recent deaths of two employees from our arren Truck Assembly lant and one employee from our Sterling Heights Assembly lant. Based on our aggressive contact tracing protocols, we believe that these positive cases did not come from exposure inside the plants. n fact, one See FCA Workers, Page 3
Distracted Driving Skyrocketing During the Pandemic by Kea Wilson, StreetsBlog USA
A new study of C OV ID-era car crashes finds that a shocking 2 of all drivers were using their cell phones within 6 seconds of impact—and transaportation safety leaders are doing almost nothing to stop it, despite a preponderance of proven strategies that can compel us to put down our devices when we’re behind the wheel. n an analysis of 6, collisions that took place on U.S. roads in 2 2 , mobility analysis firm endrive found our country’s record-setting crash rates in the lockdown months usually involved dangerous distracted driving behaviors like texting behind the wheel, which is illegal in 4 states. Alarmingly, 6. of drivers the company studied were using their cell phones in the five seconds immediately prior to impact—and the problem got increasingly worse as the year wore on, and more and more cars returned to the road and rates of other dangerous behaviors,
like speeding, dropped. endrive’s technology works in the background of a wide range of cell phone apps, from e-taxi software to navigation services countless Americans use every day, so the dangerous phenomenon cuts across both commercial and civilian driving. Those early days of CO D- , of course, were an exceptional time for U.S. transportation. But experts reiterated that distracted driving long predates the pandemic, and the recent upheaval in travel patterns only underscores a long-standing problem. “Distracted driving is a needless crisis, and now as we navigate increased health risks in our day-today, we need to prioriti e safety on the road,” said J o nathan M atus, endrive CEO and co-founder. “ e hope that sharing this data demonstrates the urgency here, and sheds light on a key to keeping our communities safer.” Of course, we know exactly how to stop drivers from scrollSee Distracted Driving, Page 18
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