After graduating high school, Bruce served in the Navy as a boiler technician aboard the USS Sierra during the Vietnam War, working with very powerful but dangerous "super-heated" steam. After the Navy, Bruce went to work for Westchester County as a stationery engineer operating high-pressure computer-controlled steam boilers—never losing his love for automobiles. Eventually, he began his 40+ year career in interstate trucking.

Owning, operating, and maintaining mechanical equipment under mission-critical conditions has taught Bruce the importance of preventive maintenance for safety, reliability, and longevity.

In 1976, Bruce jumped from cars to tractor-trailers, becoming a Certified Caterpillar Diesel Technician. He worked for Denver (Colorado) Peterbilt, performing all aspects of repair and maintenance on Peterbilt trucks and other brands (much of the same parts as cars, just bigger). After moving back to New York in 1987, he started his own transport company. 

From 1988 to 2011, Bruce established a successful freight brokerage with its fleet of Peterbilt trucks and refrigerated trailers hauling produce all over the US. Matt Harisch maintained those trucks. When Bruce sold his equipment to concentrate on brokering, each had over 1.2 million miles, for a combined 9.6 million miles. The trucks Bruce and Matt maintained never saw a tow truck's hook. They always came home under their power. 

Still, with a passion and love for cars, Bruce again branched out by buying a 1911 Stanley steam car. In 1911, the Stanley was indeed a hot rod, as many cars of that era could only go 30 to 40 MPH. Stanley did 60+ MPH. Pretty impressive for 1911! FYI, Stanley set the world's land speed record at Ormand Beach, Florida, in 1906, reaching a speed of 127 MPH! The land speed record for steam stood until 2009! It took 103 years of technology to beat it.

In 2017, Bruce purchased the assets of South Salem Auto Repair and renamed the shop South Salem Auto Care, continuing with the same core employees and the same excellent service at reasonable costs that long-time customers have grown to expect. Matt, James, and John Harisch, with a combined 50+ years of automotive/trailer and fabrication knowledge, cover weekends and evening hours to complement an already knowledgeable staff. In addition, Bruce has improved the workspace and incorporated new vendors and products to serve the customer better.

If our background impresses you, connect with us today for car parts, tune-ups, or oil changes.