MADA is now accepting single-day registrations for the 2012 Summer Convention in Cambridge, MD. Take this opportunity to hear the latest in Association and Industry news, learn from respected speakers and consultants, and renew important business relationships. The daytime programs are as follows:

Monday, June 18:

•           Buffet Breakfast, 7:30-9:00 AM
•           Business Meeting, 8:45-10:30 AM

Featured Speaker: Chip Thomas, President, Chip Thomas Consulting. Chip will share his insight and experience culminating from over 30 years in the automotive sales industry. He has been a featured NADA Convention workshop speaker in previous years and has contracts with dealers around the country for his sales training and consulting services.

Tuesday, June 19:

•           Buffet Breakfast, 7:30-9:00 AM
•           Business Meeting, 8:45-10:30 AM

Featured Speaker: Bill Acheson, Professor of Communications, University of Pittsburgh. An expert on nonverbal body language and communication, Bill will teach you how to best project yourself to achieve greater impact. Bill has worked with numerous major corporations on the international stage. Always well-received, his presentation will have an impact on the effectiveness on you and your sales force.

• Following the Business Meeting will be a Legal and Legislative Update, including dealer class action lawsuits.   Presenters: Mike Charapp, Esq., Charapp & Weiss, and Peter Kitzmiller, President, MADA.

The cost to attend either day is only $65.00. To RSVP and take advantage of this opportunity, please complete the Registration Form and return via fax to MADA, 410.269.1549. Please contact the Association at 800.526.7423 with any questions.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, stated today that drivers of passenger commercial motor vehicles, such as buses and RVs, in driveaway-towaway operation, including dealership drivers, may comply with the property-carrying hours-of-service (HOS) rules versus those applicable to passenger carrying vehicles.

Driveaway-towaway operations involve empty or unladen motor vehicles with one or more sets of wheels on the surface of a roadway being transported: (1) between vehicle manufacturer facilities; (2) between a vehicle manufacturer and a dealership or purchaser; (3) between a dealership, or other entity selling or leasing the vehicle, and a purchaser or lessee; (4) to a motor carrier's terminal or repair facility for the repair of disabling damage (as defined in § 390.5) following a crash; or (5) to a motor carrier's terminal or repair facility for repairs associated with the failure of a vehicle component or system; or (6) by means of a saddle-mount or tow-bar. Clearly, dealerships engage in driveaway-towaway operations from time to time.

Dealerships operating commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce generally are private motor carriers for purposes of compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). The HOS restrictions found in the FMCSRs set strict maximum limits for driving and on-duty time. Unless an exemption applies, drivers operating commercial motor vehicles on behalf of dealerships must keep accurate duty status logs showing compliance with HOS limits. Drivers exempt from the HOS requirements include, under limited conditions, certain:

1. Driver-salespersons who do not drive more than 40 hours during seven consecutive days. This exemption potentially may apply to parts drivers.

2. Drivers operating within a 100 air-mile radius of their normal work reporting location. This exemption potentially may apply to technicians and other dealership drivers.

3. Drivers exempt from CDL requirements.

Koons Annapolis Toyota recently partnered with a local middle school and the Spa Creek Conservancy to install rain gardens and other storm water management techniques which will significantly reduce the pollution and drainage of stormwater from the dealership roof and parking lots. Automobile parking lots accumulate pollutants such as gasoline, oil, and heavy metals that cannot be absorbed on paved surfaces. The pollutants are then washed into local creeks and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay by way of rainfall. Rain gardens will catch stormwater runoff from the parking lots. The shrubs and native plants in the rain gardens will help slow and cool the flow of water into Spa Creek, filtering its contaminants by infiltration into the soil and generally improve the Creek's health.  

Local students busy at work.

Spa Creek Conservancy launched the Spa Creek Stewardship Program in 2009 with funding support from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and in partnership with the Center for Watershed Protection. Funding support for the Koons Annapolis Toyota installation was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.   MADA thanks Koons Annapolis Toyota for doing it's part to protect the Bay!

MADA announces the next live webinar coming to you from DealersEdge...    

How to Identify and Stop Internal Theft in the Dealership!

Date/Time: Thursday, June 14 at 1:00 p.m.

Presenter: Jodi Kippe, CPA & Partner, Retail Dealer Practice at Crowe Horwath LLP
Cost: $149.00 per person

Internal theft in the dealership environment is even more troublesome than in other businesses of the same size.  Dealerships handle a lot of money - Your profit margins may be narrow, but the volume of cash that funnels through the typical dealership creates a very enticing internal theft target.

But simple steps designed to monitor and prevent theft can often save the dealership a mountain of cash, not to mention saving otherwise valuable employees from making serious mistakes!

Join us and find out how you can sleep better knowing you are doing all you can to prevent internal theft in your dealerships. 

 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY!