Detroit Diesel Corp. will move Robert Allran into the role of executive vice-president of engineering and operations, effective January. Allran will assume the engineering responsibilities currently held by David Merrion, who has already announced his retirement from the global engine maker.

Caterpillar vice-president John Pfeffer, currently serving as chairman of Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi (SCM) in Tokyo, has been selected to succeed Ron Bonati as head of Caterpillar’s North American Commercial Division (NACD). Caterpillar chairman and chief executive officer Glen Barton stressed that while the company will continue to mourn Bonati’s death, “we welcome John (Pfeffer) as his successor.”

It’s been a busy world at Volvo Trucks of Toronto. Mike Gomes has been promoted to service manager at the Mississauga branch, while Bruce Skelton has been hired as parts and service manager in Pickering. Scott Cook will lead the sales operations at that eastern branch. Paul Kicinski, meanwhile, has been hired as a sales representative, and Jeoff (Nug) MacVinnie will be a sales representative in Mississauga, Ont.

GE Capital Fleet Services has appointed Marian Powell as senior vice-president in charge of E-commerce. He will be responsible for driving Web-based fleet management initiatives across North America, and coordinating global efforts to maintain consistency and leverage synergies.

Jacobs Vehicle Systems has named Gary Masse its new president, reporting directly to Danaher group executive H. Lawrence Culp, Jr. Masse replaces William Butler, who will now be leading Danaher’s newly organized instrument and control group, Danaher electrical products, in Simsbury, Conn. Masse will be responsible for all business operations of Jacobs Vehicle Systems, including manufacturing in the U.S. and Mexico.

David Breedlove, director of program and pre-production management at Ford Motor Co., has been elected chairman of the Truck Manufacturers’ Association for 2000. Dr. V.K. Sharma, director of engineering International Trucks with Navistar, was elected vice-chairman, and Thomas Brown, executive staff engineer, engineering product support group, Mack Trucks, was elected secretary-treasurer. Other board members include Mark Gobessi, director of engineering at Western Star Trucks; Steve Matsil, chief engineer at General Motors Corp.; Michael von Mayenburg, senior vice-president of engineering and technology at Freightliner; Bob Morrison, chief engineer at Peterbilt; and Skip Yeakel, benchmarking and research and development engineer at Volvo Trucks North America. n