TRAILER, TRUCK & BODY OEMs
Wabash National Corporation’s Tank Trailer business, which designs and manufactures Walker, Brenner, Beall and Bulk brand tank trailers, has appointed Gordon Groshong to the new position of senior product manager, aluminum. He spent 33 years in the tank trailer industry in sales, engineering and most recently as director of operations at Wabash National’s Portland plant, where Beall tank trailers are manufactured.
Palfinger AG has named Lennart Brelin president of the consolidated Americas Region, reporting to the company’s executive board. Business Area North America remains led by vice-president Mark Woody and Business Area South America by vice-president Ingo Erhardt. Both will report to Brelin, who has more than 20 years of industry experience in both business regions.
AM General announced that retired General Jack Keane has joined the company as its executive chairman. A four-star general, he completed more than 37 years of service, culminating in his appointment as vice-chief of staff of the US Army, a position he held from 1999-2003. Keane has worked with and served on the boards of several companies in the private sector including defense and national security-related organizations.
COMPONENT MANUFACTURERS
Haldex has appointed Walter Frankiewicz senior vice-president–North American sales, Fredrik Seglö senior vice-president–product management, and Andreas Jähnke senior vice-president–research and development. Frankiewicz previously served as president for Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC and vice-president and general manager, Strategy and Business Planning and Global Chassis Systems for Meritor. Seglö has served with Haldex since 1993, most recently as director of global product management. Jähnke previously held various positions within the Haldex R&D function.
Reyco Granning announced the hiring of Rex Cearlock as program launch manager and David “Dave” Handley Sr as quality engineer. Cearlock will draw on his 20-plus years’ experience in product development and program management. Handley brings more than 35 years of experience in problem-solving and process improvement efforts within quality and operations management.
announced that Joseph Saoud has joined the company as president, truck and bus radial (TBR), Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO). Saoud brings more than 20 years of leadership experience and most recently served as president, global construction, agriculture, and military for Commercial Vehicle Group Inc (CVG).
Phillips Industries has announced expansion and changes to its OEM, OES, and Aftermarket sales organizations. The truck and trailer OEM/OES sales team includes: Patrick Carungi, national sales manager–OEM/OES Truck & Trailer; Dan Wallace, account manager–OEM/OES Trailer; Kent Crymes, account manager–OEM/OES Truck and Trailer; Thomas Lewis, account manager–OEM/OES Truck and Trailer; and Randy Therneau, strategic account manager–OEM/OES Trailer. The aftermarket sales team covering US and Canadian regions includes: Mathew Sayre, strategic fleet sales manager, North America; Shon Couch, Western regional sales manager; John Nugent, Eastern regional sales manager; Mike Poschner, Canadian national sales manager; Scott Storie, senior territory sales manager; Nick Chelman, senior territory sales manager; Austin Tondreau, North Central territory sales manager; Tim Campbell, Pacific Northwest territory sales manager; John Bailey, senior territory sales manager; Brent Griffin, territory sales manager, western Canada; Michel DuBois, territory sales manager, Quebec and Atlantic Canada; Bart Sullivan, senior territory sales manager; Andy Summers, senior territory sales manager; Chaz Murray, territory sales manager, Northern California and western Nevada; Randy Long, territory sales manager, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas; and Jeremy Snider, territory sales manager, Southern Territory. Parker Hilands has retired as national sales manager–OEM/OES Trailer after service with Phillips since 2013.
ATRO Engineered Systems Inc announced that Joe Samel has joined the company as vice-president of marketing and business development. He has more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience and worked for more than two decades at Anheuser-Busch InBev, most recently as director of trade marketing for national accounts.
Allison Laing has joined Karmak Inc as a lease/rental product adviser. A dealer principal of Cooper Kenworth, she started Cooper Leasing in 1982 and grew the leasing business from 10 to 1,000 units. Laing also spent time as a member of the Paccar ITAG (Information Technology Advisory Group) and as a member of Truck Rental and Leasing Association.
DEALERS/DISTRIBUTORS
VIPAR Heavy Duty has named Chris Baer its new president. Baer joined VIPAR Heavy Duty in January 2002 as director of program management and in November 2003 he was named vice-president and a corporate officer. Baer was promoted to executive vice-president of the organization in November 2014.
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION PROFILES
The Chicago Area Clean Cities Coalition (CACC) has elected Chris Lyon, the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) director of fleet relations since July 2015, to its executive board. He also previously served on CACC’s Steering Committee. ♦