 Membership renewals have already been sent to members, which makes the end of the year a perfect time for the Association to reflect on how membership dues are critical in supporting the actions, services and educational programs that NATM provides for its members and the light- and medium-duty trailer industry. In 2018, NATM membership dues allowed NATM to:
In addition to paying your membership dues by check or over the phone by credit card, you are also able to pay online using the Members Only portal at www.NATM.com. Once you are logged in using your company’s login credentials, select “Pay My Bills.” If you need your credentials, or have any questions during this process, please contact NATM Membership & Education Director Kelli Maydew Membership dues will again go unchanged in 2019. Rates are $795 for Associate (Supplier) members, $135 for Associate (Supplier) Branch members, $925 for Regular and International Regular (Trailer Manufacturer) members, $300 for Regular (Trailer Manufacturer) Branch members. If you joined between February and October of 2018, your 2018 dues will be for the prorated amount provided when you joined. For trade show exhibitors, it is important to note that NATM DUES MUST BE PAID BY DEC. 31, 2018 to maintain the member rate for your booth at the February 2019 trade show in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. As NATM enters the final quarter of 2018, membership numbers remain strong. All categories of membership are up from the same time last year. As of Oct. 15, 2018, NATM has a total of 930 members. The membership breaks down as 425 Regular Members, 50 Branch Regular Members, 28 International Regular Members, 386 Associate Members and 41 Branch Associate Members. Contact NATM Membership & Education Director Kelli Maydew if you have any questions at (785) 272-4433 or email Kelli.Maydew@natm.com. *Consultation estimates as of Oct. 15, 2018
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 To directly communicate proper trailer usage and safety to end-users, NATM recommends that all trailers include an owner’s manual. As members of NATM, trailer manufacturers understand the importance of safety and build trailers accordingly. Unfortunately, it does not matter how well a trailer is built if the end-user improperly hitches, loads or fails to maintain a trailer. To educate customers, trailer owner manuals provide instructions regarding maintenance and safety, as well as important warnings. Creating owner's manuals for the trailers you manufacture can be a daunting, and often expensive task. Fortunately, NATM has made it easy and affordable for members to include manuals with their trailers as an additional resource and benefit to doing business with their dealers. By providing a quality owner’s manual with every trailer, it not only markets the company as reputable, but also helps to reduce liability due to legal issues and misuse by end-users. NATM offers manuals for 12 trailer types. Bumper pull style trailers include: utility, enclosed, horse, livestock, dump, and boat trailers. Gooseneck-style trailers include: utility, enclosed, horse, dump and boat trailers. Every manual purchased will be personalized to include the company’s name and address, and each manual is product-line specific. The manuals have the required compliance items and include the following sections:
One of the top shortcomings of trailer manufacturers working to become NATM Compliant is failure to include the NHTSA notification statement. It is required that trailer manufacturers provide the following statement to the purchaser in the owner’s manual, or, if there is no owner’s manual, on a one-page document: If you believe that your vehicle has a defect that could cause a crash or could cause injury or death, you should immediately inform the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in addition to notifying [Insert company name here]. If NHTSA receives similar complaints, it may open an investigation, and if it finds that a safety defect exists in a group of vehicles, it may order a recall and remedy campaign. However, NHTSA cannot become involved in individual problems between you, your dealer, or [Insert company name here]. To contact NHTSA, you may either call the Vehicle Safety Hotline toll-free at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153), go to http://www.safercar.gov; or write to: Administrator NHTSA 1200 New Jersey Avenue S.E. Washington, DC 20590 You can also obtain other information about motor vehicle safety from http://www.safercar.gov. By including an owner’s manual, trailer manufacturers are easily able to meet this requirement of both NHTSA and NATM, as well as reduce the chances that customers are left frustrated and confused. The inclusion of an owner’s manual helps to avoid mistreatment and misuse of the trailer in a way that could damage both the trailer and your company’s reputation by word-of-mouth. The manuals are available for purchase by members only and are sold individually, but discounts are available when ordering multiple manuals. Once purchased, they are emailed as a non-editable PDF format and can be easily reprinted as many times as necessary. For more information about purchasing generic owner’s manuals, or having your manuals updated, contact Marketing Coordinator Savana Morrison. NATM Members from more than 20 states have already provided information for NATM’s Association Health Plan (AHP) evaluation. So far the effort has been a big success and Marsh & McLennan Agency is currently working with insurance carriers to structure health plan cost options and network access comparisons across the regions and states represented by interested NATM members. If you are a current member of the NATM, Regular or Associates, and are interested in participating in the evaluation please submit your information to Jamie Conover @ jamie.conover@marshmma.com Marsh & McLennan Agency will be providing periodic updates throughout the process and they will be available to meet with NATM members during the 2019 NATM Convention in February. If you have specific questions regarding your employee benefit plan or NATM’s Association Health Plan progress, contact Lisa Clark at lisa.clark@marshmma.com. It’s no secret that health care costs are rising. A number of factors contribute to these increasing costs—some of the biggest contributors include: Increasing Pharmaceutical Costs and Use Health care costs are growing in part due to the increased use of prescription drugs, and an increase in the number of newer, more expensive drugs prescribed. Though prescription drug manufacturers have revolutionized modern medicine, these advances come at a cost. As pharmaceutical companies develop new drugs to treat serious medical conditions, the market for those drugs expands accordingly. The trend in the pharmaceutical industry is to maximize profits by developing drugs to treat conditions for which there were previously no drug treatments. These new “lifestyle” drugs treat or control conditions like nail fungus, impotence, obesity or hair loss. Manufacturers then use direct-to-consumer advertisements that encourage customers to ask their doctors for prescriptions for these medications. The increased use of lifestyle medications and direct-to-consumer advertising have raised serious questions about where America’s health care dollars are being spent and if consumers are getting the best value for their money. New, Expensive Medical Technology New medical devices, diagnostic tests and medical imaging tools are enabling doctors to deliver care that would have been impossible in years past. Medical technology, just like pharmaceuticals, has revolutionized medicine and improved the lives of many people—but those advances have also come with hefty price tags. As the number of older Americans increases, these new devices and treatments are being used even more and with escalating price tags. Chronic Care The health care system is primarily geared toward providing acute care and curing diseases. However, many people need care for chronic conditions. Chronic conditions are the major cause of illness, disability and death in the United States, and they account for a significant portion of health care spending. • According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA), about 80 percent of older adults have one chronic condition, accounting for more than two-thirds of the nation’s total health care costs. • The NCOA also cites that 95 cents of every dollar of Medicare and 83 cents for every dollar of Medicaid go toward treating chronic disease. • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. Provider Consolidation Before managed care revolutionized the American health care system, individual medical providers determined the fees for their services. However, with the domination of managed care plans, most providers have been forced to negotiate their prices lower or risk losing patient volume from managed care plans willing to exclude non-compliant providers from their networks. In order to maintain or regain some negotiating power, providers in many communities have consolidated their medical practices, effectively monopolizing procedures within specific service areas. These large provider groups have a much greater ability to negotiate with managed care plans that wish to provide convenient care options for their members. Health care costs and, consequently, employee health benefits costs have been increasing at a very high rate for nearly a decade. Unfortunately, cost increases are still outpacing the rate of inflation, making health care a growing cost burden for consumers. As costs increase, frustration grows for health insurance buyers and the consumers of health care in our nation. Advances in medical technology and expanded pharmaceutical dependency will only grow and continue to drive your health care higher. So what is a business owner to do? How can consumers of health insurance better manage the costs of the benefit they are providing? AHPs will allow businesses to join together through an Association (NATM) to form a larger, more influential buying pool for the purchase of health insurance. This leverage should allow the AHP to negotiate more aggressive insurance pricing as well as the cost of administering those plans. If you are interested in participating in NATM’s Association Health Plan (AHP) evaluation, complete and submit the data collection form to MMA by email to jamie.conover@marshmma.com. Click here to access the data collection form. Tracey Goold is the Director, Human Resources Consulting at Marsh & McLennan Agency. NATM has partnered with Marsh & McLennan Agency as the Affinity Partner for Product Liability Insurance and to explore Association Health Plans (AHPs) as a health insurance solution for NATM members. Tracey works with clients in implementing and maintaining solid Human Resource policies and practices including employee relations, performance management, compensation design, employee and management training, employment law compliance and managerial coaching. To reach the Marsh & McLennan team, please call John Kerr at 913-529-3264 or email John.Kerr@marshmma.com.
 NATM successfully published its Guidelines for Recommended Manufacturing Practices for Light- and Medium-Duty Trailers in October. A great deal of time and effort goes into updating the Guidelines to provide members with the most current information derived from the Code of Federal Regulations, state and federal statutes, industry standards, and best practices. In an effort to provide the Guidelines to members more quickly, a link to download the Guidelines and other associated materials has been emailed to NATM Members in lieu of mailed CDs. Unfortunately, NATM accidentally omitted an NATM Licensed Warning Label Provider in Section B9 of the 2018 Guidelines. Tech Products, Inc. - Signs, Tags and Markers was not included in the originally emailed resources and NATM would like to issue an apology for this oversight. For more information about Tech Products, visit www.technproducts.com. All printed copies of the Guidelines, CDs, and the digital copy available on the Members Only Side of www.NATM.com have been updated. Trailer warning labels are critical as they provide the final opportunity for the trailer manufacturer to communicate with the end-user about the potential hazards associated with operating the trailer in an effort to avoid a preventable accident resulting in serious injury and/or property damage. Warning labels concede that certain risks of injury or damage may be associated with the operation of trailers, as well as their use and foreseeable misuse. Warning labels can be purchased from many different label manufacturers. However, the NATM ANSI approved warning labels have undergone testing under the direction and guidance of Weinstein Associates, with a cross-section of the general public for clarity and comprehension in accordance with established procedures of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The labels were certified as adequate and in conformity with the ANSI testing requirements. NATM ANSI approved trailer warning labels can be purchased from licensed NATM Associate members. The NATM warning label series consists of seventeen generic warning labels for light- and medium-duty trailers. NATM has copyrighted these labels but has agreed to allow licensed supplier members of NATM to reproduce the labels and sell them to any trailer manufacturer. The labels meet all ANSI design standards, are weatherproof, durable and well designed for trailer applications. To maximize the effectiveness of the NATM warning labels and minimize the trailer manufacturer's exposure to product liability, the NATM warning labels should be placed on the trailer in locations in close proximity to the dangers and risks associated with the label’s content. NATM encourages all members to revisit their warning label needs and to support the Association by using NATM licensed labels whenever appropriate on their trailers. NATM Licensed Warning Label Providers
Dec-O-Art, Inc. (574) 294-6451 www.dec-o-art.com Kenny & Gyl Company (515) 225-3378 www.kennygyl.com Tech Products, Inc. - Signs, Tags and Markers (718) 442-4900 www.techproducts.com Membership Renewals2019 membership renewal communications will begin to arrive via email on or around November 15th. Membership dues can be paid by check, over the phone, or online using the "Members Only" section of NATM. Com. Membership dues are to be paid by Jan. 31, 2019, unless you are exhibiting at the February 2019 Trade Show in Orlando, FL. For Trade Show Exhibitors dues are to be paid by Dec. 31, 2018 to maintain the member booth rate. If you have any questions regarding membership renewals please contact NATM Membership & Education Director Bill Tofflemire via email (Bill.Tofflemire@natm.com) or at (785) 272-4433. How To Find Veterans and Service Members to |
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More About The Webinar
Featured Presenter:
Brig. Gen. (ret) Marianne Watson, Director of Outreach Center for America
former Director of Manpower and Personnel Planning National Guard Bureau, Washington, DC
Topics:
Brig. Gen. (ret) Marianne Watson, Director of Outreach Center for America
former Director of Manpower and Personnel Planning National Guard Bureau, Washington, DC
Topics:
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