WHAT’S NEW AT PA EMCA !                    

Jan 20 th - H T Sweeney & Son hosted January’s meeting at their Brookhaven ,Pa facility. Sweeney’s Equipment Manager, Mike Alexander welcomed us with meal & drink. The Sweeney organization has been a great supporter of the EMCA and Mike has been a board officer since start up.
The evenings topic was Crane Operator Certification and we had Clarence and Mathew Hottenstein of Atlantic Crane Inspection Service speak to us about the requirements for CCO license and how to obtain one. See info in our February Newsletter or contact ACIS at 215 639-2579 where they offer courses and set up testing to get your CCO license. We thank the Terry Sweeney, Mike alexander and their entire crew for a very informative evening and for their gracious hospitality. Mike Alexander won the 50/50 and donated his winnings to the EMCA.- Thank you Mike.

Nov 18th -For our last scheduled monthly meeting in 2009 we held a joint NJ and PA meeting at Service Truck Tire’s corporate headquarters in Bethlehem, Pa.
Kyle Kutzler, who is their sales rep out of their Budd Lake, NJ facility, put us together with Scott Bennett, VP and an owner, and they did an excellent job of making sure we had an informative and meaningful meeting. A great meal was provided and Service Tire graciously elected to cover the cost. After introductions, welcoming and meeting opening remarks by Pa Prez Mike Eder and NJ Prez Bob Lynch we got started with Kyle and Michael Gavin - sales rep for their Millville, NJ location by getting info on the history of Service Truck Tire [starting 1967 in Bethlehem, Pa].
Our two speakers also gave us an overview of the vehicle tire history and evolution and the industry norms for repairs. From there we all traveled out into their repair and retread facility with a tour of all stations from tire receiving thru inspections by laser, Xray, ultrasound and of course the properly calibrated human eyeball, all of which we got to see in action as they had their second shift up and running. What is amazing is their attention to detail and although they are process somewhere between 400 to 600 tire repairs and retreads per day at this facility, each tire is individually bar coded and a work order with specific customer requests follow it from pick up to delivery. We also saw their Aluminum wheel polishing system and their steel wheel sand blast and powder coat processes. These two are fully inspected to ensure proper performance, economy, and safety.

We then all returned to classroom for PowerPoint presentation on tire care and maintenance with a detailed discussion on the newer Unitire system where a single wide wheel and tire replace the conventional dual wheel setup. Explained was the weight savings, fuel economy and improved handling performance. more and more this is being spec’ed out on vehicles. We had a 50 /50 drawing which was won by Pa secretary Mike Alexander of HT Sweeney and Son and he donated his winnings back to our organization... thank you Mike. The board and membership of both Pa and NJ wish to thank all at Service Truck Tire Center for an informative and enjoyable evening.

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On October 18th the PA EMCA held our meeting at Flotran Pnue-Draulics at their Horsham, Pa facilities.  Sales Rep Fabian Cortez and Horsham Store Manager  Jonathan Genzer did a great job of setting up and making us all feel welcome. Among the items Flotran offers, such as valves, fittings, filters, and test equipment, they specialize in Parker hose and fittings. Using their “connections” [pun intended] they brought in the evenings guest speaker Chuck Lovett of Parker Hannifin Corp to do training on fitting and adapter identification. Through combined use of a PowerPoint presentation, hands-on dialog and a thread identification kit we went through all of the currently used fitting & thread combinations found in equipment produced in the American, European, and Asian markets. As each type of fitting was identified it’s connecting and sealing methods were discussed along with the pros and cons of each in different applications. Chuck did an excellent job of handling the many questions and comments from our attendees. Differing fittings were passed around for all to try and hone their new found expertise. The group saw first hand what went into the fabrication of hoses and how by being able to correctly identify a hose type, size, length, and fittings, you can call ahead and have the hose ready for pick up when you get there. Word of advice— if you are not completely sure, bring failed hose and wait for it.A very resourceful thread & fitting handbook was given to all attendees to keep along with the identification tool kit. This will prove helpful to id various fittings and also to allow for us to practice and perhaps pass along this knowledge to co-workers. The crew at Flotran provided a meal of sandwiches & pizza, snacks and drinks and they generously covered all costs. We wish to thank all at Flotran, our guest speaker and all attendees for an informative and enjoyable evening.

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Sept 23 2009 meeting was in Downingtown, Pa. The folks at Dowingtown Tire were gracious to let us use their corporate facilities to host meeting. Pa member Mike Beattie of PWD Lubricants worked at getting our guest speaker lined up and also arrangements for the facility and meal. Speaker for the evening was Gabe Giordano who is a Field Lubrication Engineer with ConocoPhillips and he covers the eastern US. Gabe presented the current status and challenges of lube and fuel demands from a refiner’s perspective. Gabe spoke on lubricant specification and sellection for given applications and how the refining industry has reformulated different oils to address application demands. Different emmission technologies for example change the engine operating parameters such as temperature, idle times, rpm range, soot - paticularly EGR systems effect how a particular lube is formulated. Also now considered is how additives affect exhaust catalytic converters and particulate filters etc. Discussed in detail were diesel particulate filters, oxidation catalysts, DEF / Urea systems and LNT or Lean Nox Trap technologies—how they work, what they do, and what demands they put on the systems and ultimately lube considerations.                   

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Check the “Meeting Schedule” to find info on upcoming meetings.