March / April - Automotive Recyclers Association ARA

Transcription

Automotive
Recycling
March-April 2013
Tom Morris on
Rethinking Change
™
Official Publication of the Automotive Recyclers Association
Automotive Recyclers
Offer Their Ideas On:
• Reorganizing Structure
• Remotivating Employees
• Recharging Sales
• Remaking Profits
Reinvent Yourself
in the
New Era of Business
2012-2013 ARA Scholarship Winners
www.facebook.com/
AutomotiveRecycling
Automotive
Recycling
™
March-April 2013 | Volume 33 Number 2
Co lu m n s
President’s Comments | 4
• Chris Wright
www.AutomotiveRecycling-Ezine.com
Editor’s Notes | 6
RETHINKING CHANGE
• Caryn Smith
q
International
Auto Recycling | 58
Making Sense of Success 28
Success is always achieveable if you follow the right formula for it.
Why should you ever settle for anything less?
•Andy Latham
Final Thoughts | 66
By Tom Morris
• Michael Wilson
Departments
REORGANIZING STRUCTURE
q
Plugged In | 7
21st Century Business 32
ARA Benefit on Grainger
How one salvage yard reinvented the way
they do business with a change in perspective.
ARA Action | 8
Marketing 101 | 10
By Michelle Keadle-Taylor
• Mike French
Where We
Go From Here | 12
• Jen and Brad Wilson
Insure This | 14
• Bill Velin
REMOTIVATING EMPLOYEES
q
Investing on Purpose 36
Training and retaining employees:
Metro Auto Recyclers thinks differently and
yield big results.
Safety Matters | 16
• ARA Satefty Committee
RECHARGING SALES
q
That’s My Opinion | 20
• Ron Sturgeon
Playing the Technology Card 41
Making it work for you.
On the Road | 22
• Sandy Blalock
Advice Counts | 23
• Jim Counts
Momentum | 24
• Donald Cooper
Tech Knowledge | 26
REMAKING PROFITS
q
Got Some Tread? 47
Turning your used tire sales into a cash crop.
• Andrew MacDonald
Sales Call | 27
• Rian Garner
Certified News | 59
Capitol Connection | 62
• ARA Government Affairs
Crossword Puzzle | 64
Industry Calendar | 65
Advertiser’s Index | 65
Automotive Recyclers Association
9113 Church Street, Manassas, VA 20110-5456 USA
(571) 208-0428 / (888) 385-1005 / www.a-r-a.org
SPOTLIGHT
q
Rhine Auto, Inc.:
Purposeful Business 51
Understanding the product-driven nature of the automotive recycling
business has been key to their success.
By Lynn Novelli
ARA SCHOLARSHIPS
q
ARA Scholarship Foundation Recipients 54
Academic Year 2012-2013.
AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING (ISSN 1058-9376) is published bi-monthly by the Automotive Recyclers Association, 9113 Church Street, Manassas, VA 20110-5456 USA, (571) 208-0428 / (888) 385-1005, Fax: (571) 208-0430, Internet: www.a-r-a.org. Periodicals postage
at Manassas, VA, and additional mailing offices. Additional member subscription are $15/year. Non-member subscriptions are $40/year U.S. Non-U.S. mailing address subscriptions are USD$55/year surface mail or USD$85/year airmail. $20 libraries and non-profits.
Copyright © 2013 ARA. All rights reserved. Materials may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of the authors alone and do not necessarily imply any opinion on the part
of the officers, directors, staff, or the members of the Automotive Recyclers Association. Postmaster: Send change of address to Automotive Recycling magazine, 9113 Church Street, Manassas, VA 20110-5456 USA.
March-April 2013 | Automotive Recycling 3
President’s
Comments
By Chris Wright, ARA President
ARA Officers
PRESIDENT
Chris Wright
Capital Auto Parts
Thomasville, GA
[email protected]
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT
ARA is on the Move
hope this letter finds everyone doing well. I also hope that your recycling business
is having a great start in 2013 and will continue to stay busy throughout the year.
Speaking of busy, ARA has its plate full. I am writing this letter a week before our
arrival in Washington, D.C., for our annual Hill Day and Legislative Summit. The ARA
staff has been very busy preparing for this event, scheduling legislative visits and organizing our first-ever Legislative Briefing for Congressional Staff.
Our 2013 strategic plan has been finalized and will be presented to the Board and
membership in Washington, D.C., during Hill Days. This strategic plan sets the goals
and guides the Association in its direction for the next three years. Several of the initiatives are already under way and many others will be assigned to the appropriate committees during our event.
As many of you may know, ARA Product Services LLC reached an agreement with
Alteso Group of Companies to provide ARA members and affiliated state organization
members an online auction platform. The Executive Committee is very pleased with
this opportunity. First, we are helping to address automotive recyclers’ number one concern – salvage acquisition. Second, we are creating an opportunity to help with another of the Association’s main concerns and the concerns of our state affiliate associations
-- membership growth. Although the auction will be available to ARA members and state
affiliate members, the fee structure of this auction will encourage auction participants
to become members of ARA and their state association. Please be sure to get your automotive recycling facility registered to participate in the ARA auction.
The planning for our 70th Annual Convention and Exposition is also well underway.
It’s looking like we will have a full schedule of events and informative seminars. This
year’s convention will be held at the Sheraton Downtown & Convention Center in
Phoenix, AZ, on November 6-9, 2013. ARA also has the great honor of hosting the
International Roundtable on Automotive Recycling, which will immediately follow the
convention. This event attracts leaders from all over the world to discuss how to help
each other as one global industry and is worth staying on to attend if possible. I look
forward to seeing you in Phoenix for both events.
Thank you to the other members of the Executive Committee, Staff, Committee
Chairs, and members of the Committees for all of your hard work and dedication to
our Association and our industry. Without you, everything that we have been able to
accomplish would not be possible.
I
Keep Recycling,
Ed MacDonald
Maritime Auto Salvage, Ltd.
Truro, NS Canada
[email protected]
S ECO N D V I C E P R E S I D E N T/ T R E A S U R E R
Ricky Young
Young’s Auto Center & Salvage/Car Crushers
Benson, NC
[email protected]
S EC R E TA RY
Mike Swift
Trails End Auto and Truck Salvage
Des Moines, IA
[email protected]
I M M E D I AT E PA S T P R E S I D E N T
Randy Reitman
Reitman Auto Parts
Melbourne, KY
[email protected]
ARA Executive Staff & Contractors
ARA Headquarters • (571) 208-0428
C H I E F E X EC U T I V E O F F I C E R & P U B L I S H E R
Michael E. Wilson
[email protected] Ext. 14
D I R EC TO R O F M E M B E R S E RV I C E S
Kelly Badillo
D I R EC TO R O F P O L I C Y A N D E XT E R N A L
A F FA I R S & E - C A R C E N T E R
Betsy Beckwith
D I R EC TO R O F S TAT E & G R A S S RO OT S A F FA I R S
Jessica M. Thomas
D I R EC TO R O F P O L I C Y & P O L I T I C A L A F FA I R S
Delanne Bernier
MEETING & EXPOSITION PLANNER
Kimberly Glasscock
(615) 476-4501
[email protected]
A D M I N I S T R AT I V E A S S I S TA N T
Maria Miller
ACCO U N TA N T
John Caponiti
C A R P RO G R A M S , CO N S U LTA N T
Chrissi Moyer
(540) 303-2282
[email protected]
G O L D S E A L P RO G R A M , CO N S U LTA N T
Chris Wright
ARA President 2012-2013
Ginny Whelan
(239) 362-1283
[email protected]
AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING MAGAZINE &
WWW.AUTOMOTIVERECYCLING-EZINE.COM
Caryn Suko Smith
(239) 225-6137
[email protected]
For advertising, editorial, or production information,
e-mail [email protected] or call (239) 225-6137.
www.a-r-a.org
4 Automotive Recycling | March-April 2013
Editor’s Notes
By Caryn Smith [email protected]
How Do You Eat an Elephant?
M
y dad is famous for his sayings. Our
family’s favorite is one that we say
before embarking on a long trip, “‘We are
off’ the captain shouted as he spit in the
first mate’s pocket.” But, the saying I reference most, because I often have multiple large projects going on, is the title of
this column, "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer to this question is, of
course, “one bite at a time.”
You might relate to this question after
reading this issue on recharging your business, your workforce, your processes, etc.
I think the articles herein are full of outside-the-box kind of ideas, and it may, I
must warn, burst your brain cells if you
ambitiously try to act on every idea that
comes from reading this issue.
I recommend that you first flip to page
58 and take Andy Latham’s advice in his
column about thinking and ideas!
I’ve found that small consistent actions
over time, in a new direction makes the
best change, not the shocking starts and
stops most of us do because we get easily
distracted off our intended course.
Self-help guru Wayne Dyer says, “If you
change the way you look at things, the
things you look at change.”
John F. Kennedy said, “Change is the
law of life and those who look only to the
past or present are certain to miss the
future.”
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act
with yesterday’s logic,” is Peter Drucker’s
take on change.
All of these experts from different
worlds have one thing in common; they
all know that change is constant and
inevitable. You can embrace change or
instigate change, but if you ignore change,
you will wake up one day and realize everything has changed, and you’ve been left
behind.
Therefore, I suggest you read this issue
one article at a time. Put the issue down
between each article, and write down your
ideas. Ask yourself what changes can help
you reach and stay on the cutting edge,
and will keep your business viable and
profitable. Maybe its as simple as becoming CAR or Gold Seal Certified, or as complex as changing your business models.
To be sure, “If you always do what you’ve
always done, you’ll always get what you’ve
always got, maybe,” said Anonymous
[emphasis added].
E-mail me your inspired thoughts and
ideas to [email protected]! ■
Plugged In
Your ARA Membership Saves Money on Grainger
A S S O C I AT E M E M B E R
D
id you know that as an ARA member you can automatically save
lots of money by accessing Grainger through the BizUnite? The
best part is that there is no catch to get the savings – it’s free as an
added benefit of ARA membership.
BizUnite was established in 2007 as a
division of CCA Global Partners. BizUnite
was founded to provide their cooperative
members with discounted services. They
then began offering their services to any
cooperative or association that fits their
member-centric business model, comprised of four core industries, including
the automotive industry.
BizUnite partnered with ARA in 2010
to offer ARA members and its affiliate
chapters access to global discounts on all
kind of products and services through the
Automotive Recyclers Association Marketplace. BizUnite’s focus is to offer core programs, such as Grainger whose product
line has expanded to more than 1 million
products and repair parts, that will benefit ARA members the most. Grainger is
one of the most popular benefit offerings
from the ARA Marketplace on BizUnite.
“The average ARA member who is
enrolled in the Grainger program is
spending approximately $2,500 per year,”
said Veronica Pratt, BizUnite Member
Services Representative. “They would
have spent considerably more without the
program discounts. It’s a highly adopted
program among ARA members and 75%
of the ARA members who are signed up
for this program use it regularly.”
Grainger offers products that keep
businesses running smoothly, including
lighting, motors, cleaning supplies, material handling, hand and power tools, security and safety, pumps, electrical, and now
a complete line of fasteners and fleet and
vehicle maintenance products.
The program offers ARA members:
• A 5% discount on all Grainger catalog items.
• Substantial savings for all members, no matter what your business size or segment.
• Hundreds of items with additional discounts including seasonal
items and commonly purchased
office and break room supplies.
• Free standard shipping on stocked,
catalog items. Free standard ground
freight; other charges apply for other freight
services such as expedited delivery, sourced
products, shipments to outside U.S. or other
special handling by the carrier.
“The exciting part about the Grainger
program is that ARA members don’t
have to do anything except contact me to
enroll and they will get additional savings,” said Pratt. “Some of the best bene-
your maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) Parts and Supplies.
• 420 local branches.
• Dedicated team of Local Brand
Managers and Specialists for all your
questions and requirements.
Grainger offers additional resources
such as energy savings and sustainability
programs, inventory management, a
comprehensive safety program and a
Web site that makes one-stop shopping
and ordering fast and easy.
“It’s important to note that our program with Grainger offers exclusive dis-
Grainger offers products that keep businesses
running smoothly, including a complete line of
fasteners and fleet and vehicle maintenance products.
fits are the immediate savings on
shipping that ARA members will experience. If a recycler is using various companies such as Grainger and their
competitors to fulfill their supplies, they
will find that by using Grainger for all
their supplies, they will experience substantial savings through this program.”
In addition to the savings received
from discounts and free shipping,
Grainger offers the following benefits:
• Next Day Shipping – Available on
99% of all orders, those received by
4 p.m. are shipped the following day.
• 24/7 Emergency service.
• One stop sourcing program for all
counts to ARA members that are not
offered to other businesses,” said Pratt. “If
an ARA member already has an account
with Grainger, all they have to do is provide me with their business and account
information and I will have Grainger link
them to the discounted program. If a
member doesn’t have a Grainger
account, we can set them up with one
and then they will have access to all the
savings too. The only thing ARA members have to do is contact me at
[email protected] or call me at (603)
628-2337.” ■
Michelle Keadle-Taylor is a freelance writer based in
Northern Virginia.
ARA Action
Latest News and Reports from ARA
AR-TV Showcases New Feature in
ARA's Certified Automotive Recycler (CAR) Program
utomotive Recycler TV (found online
at automotiverecyclertv.com) recently aired a look inside ARA’s CAR Program
and it’s new educational research initiative which joins parts of the URG 8000
and Canadian Automotive Recyclers
Environmental Code into CAR to further
establish standards of excellence in business practices. ARA also is currently conducting a pilot ISO 9001 certification
study to analyze and review the practicality of incorporating 9001 certification into
ARA’s environmental and business standard, the CAR Program (also referred to
as the Certified Automotive Recycler
Program), was established in 1994 to produce a set of standards for general business practices as well as environmental
and safety issues and to provide guidance
for member facilities in adhering to
these standards. Since it’s inception, the
CAR Program has made great strides in
the automotive recycling industry regarding safety and procedures and continues
to set levels of excellence today. Go to
www.automotiverecyclertv.com for a look
inside it’s newest venture.
“Automotive Recycling 101”
An Historic Briefing for Congressional Staff
RA recently held an historic Briefing for Congressional staff during the March MidYear Board Meeting, Business Conference, Hill Day, and Legislative Summit. This
briefing helped those staff who write policy for Members of Congress to better understand the automotive recycling industry and be more educated about the business facilities of professional automotive recyclers. With extensive staff turnover every election
cycle, our efforts to educate are never-ending. The briefing was led by automotive recyclers and presented in three parts.
The first segment was comprised of various “Automotive Recycling 101” presentations,
focusing on how a recycler manages and processes an end-of-life or total-loss vehicle
with emphasis on the consumer and environmental benefits of such action. Another
segment featured the related legislative and regulatory issues that affect the business of
automotive recycling. The final segment was reserved for discussion from the audience.
Specifically, the agenda included the following:
• Introduction
• Automotive Recycling 101 – Full-service and Self-service Operations
• Definition of Parts
• Green Recycled Parts
• Education
• Certification
• Issues
• Closing and Q & A
This was an excellent opportunity for ARA members to meet, engage with, and educate Congressional staff.
n January, ARA staff attended the meeting of the National Auto Body Council
(NABC) at which members were updated on the activities of the organization.
One key topic centered on NABC’s significant support of Operation Comfort’s
Automotivation program to secure a new
facility in which it can continue to help
disabled U.S. service members and their
families through the instruction and
practice of proper collision repair. They
also discussed recycle your ride initiatives.
ARA Gold Seal Committee Chairman
Eric Schulz participated in the PartsTrader Advisory Board meeting where
they discussed the pilot program.
The week finished with a two-day
Collision Industry Conference (CIC)
meeting. Here, ARA representatives interacted with industry executives at agenda
rich presentations from I-CAR and ASE
and interactive sessions from CIC’s committees including Definitions, Insurer/
Repairer Relations, Data Privacy, Human
Resources, Education and Training,
Marketing, Governmental, and most
interestingly, Parts and Material.
Within the Parts and Material committee, a new subcommittee on Recycled
Parts, headed by Mike Kunkel, PRP
Board Member and General Manager of
American Auto Salvage (Ft. Worth, TX),
intends to focus on the following issues:
• Recycled/Reconditioned Parts,
Condition and Standards
• Impact of State Laws on Parts Use
(total loss thresholds, salvage auction regulations)
• Parts Cleanup Times
• ARA & URG Standards
• Parts Ordering Errors and Defects
(Reporting Mechanism)
• Recycled Airbags.
ARA represents the interests of professional automotive recyclers within the
larger collision and parts industries. ■
I
A
A
ARA Attends Series of
Related Industry Meetings
Marketing 101
By Mike French
[email protected]
How to Outsell the Competition
ecyclers tell me all the time that they
aren’t getting their advertising done
because they are wearing too many hats
and distracted by other important things.
But the reality is, those who advertise are
the ones who end up with the lion’s share
of business in any economy. Consumers
will still purchase things they need, especially value-priced replacement auto parts.
Here are suggestions to help you outsell
the competition!
Do the most important things first.
Even in advertising, you have to schedule
time for important activities or they won’t
get done. Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, in
his book, Life is Tremendous, tells the story
of a frustrated businessman who asked
him for a solution to his problem of never
getting important things done. Charlie
asked the man to describe a typical business day. After the businessman finished,
Charlie wrote down a simple solution to
the problem. Here’s what it said:
“Every night before you go to bed,
make a list of what you need to accomplish the next day. Then number the list
with the most important item being
number one, and the second most important thing being number two, and so on.
The next day when you get to work, only
concentrate on doing the number one
item on your list and don’t do anything
else until it’s done. Shut out all distractions. When the first item on your list is
complete, cross if off and concentrate on
the second item. Do as many things as
you can from your list for that day in their
order of importance. Then, at the end of
the day, make an itemized list for the next
day and repeat this each following day.”
You may not get everything on your list
done for that day, but you will always get
the most important things done. The
man took the note, put it in his pocket,
and asked Charlie to send him a bill. But
Charlie said, “No! Just try my idea for a
month, and then send me a check for
how much you think its worth.”
R
Negativity will rob you of energy, it will spill over
onto others and will affect your ability to sell.
A month later, Charlie received a check
in the mail from the man for $10,000!
This was during the 1950’s when that was
a whopping amount of money.
Add value to your products and services. When I first started in the advertising business many years ago, I proudly
showed a friend of mine an ad I had put
together. My friend was a very successful
salesman whom I respect. He read my ad
copy – which said “The best prices on the
planet!” – and frowned. “Mike,” he said,
“don’t use the sentence about your prices
being the ‘best on the planet.’ If you live
by price, you will die by price. So don’t go
that route in your advertising!”
I argued, “I do have the best prices and
I can prove it.” He said, “That may be
true, Mike, but there will always be someone somewhere who is willing to do it
cheaper, and you will always be fighting
an uphill battle about price.
“Instead, you should say something like,
‘The best value on the planet!’ People can
always argue price with you, but they can’t
argue value. Value is made up of things
that are hard to measure.” He then told
me that when people value something,
money is no object. People will always find
a way to get anything they truly value!
In other words, you can’t always control
product price; but that shouldn’t stop you
from adding more value. Most buying
decisions are not based solely on price,
but on many factors. People consider ease
of purchase, an existing relationship with
someone in sales, and the speed of delivery; these are things you can work to
emphasize and improve.
Improve yourself and how you treat
your customers. Dale Carnegie, author of
How to Win Friends & Influence People, said,
“People who are unable to motivate
themselves must be content with medi-
ocrity.” You have no control over what
your competition is doing, so don’t worry
about that. Instead, concentrate on giving
your customers a very positive experience
when they buy from you. Work on having
a positive attitude – even with difficult customers. Smile when you speak to them on
the phone and they will hear it. Go the
extra mile in getting them what they
need. Follow up each sale with a note or
phone call to make sure they got what
they needed from you.
Never complain. Admittedly, there are
lots of things in the world to be negative
about, but don’t get caught up in it. It will
rob you of energy, it will spill over onto
others and will affect your ability to sell.
Instead, when bad things happen, step
back, take a deep breath and ask yourself,
“What can I do differently to make something good come out of this? How can I
change, take control of or improve from
this situation instead of complaining?”
Focus on helping others succeed. I left
the most important thing for last. The late
great motivational speaker Zig Ziggler
once said, “If you want to be successful in
life, work hard to make others successful.
By doing so, you will automatically
become successful!”
He was right. Above all, the number
one success principle is to give people
and their needs first priority. Make them
as happy and as successful as you possibly
can – and in every way that you can. It will
come back to you in many ways. You will
have repeat customer business as well as
their referrals. You will sleep well at night.
And you will have a happy life! ■
Mike French, president of Mike French &
Company, Inc., can be reached toll free at 800238-3934, or visit his company’s Web site at
www.MikeFrench.com.
Where We Go From Here
By Jen and Brad Wilson of Jencey Consulting, LLC
[email protected]
iStockphoto.com
Identifying, Understanding, and Finding Quality New Hire Candidates
nyone who has ever run a business
knows how hard it is to locate, hire,
and retain good employees. Given adequate time we look wherever we can,
internally and externally. But all too frequently we simply don’t have the time to
do an exhaustive search using all of the
avenues at our disposal. Often times we
may only look internally or simply hire
the first warm body that has a half way
decent skill set. We also know that this
approach often ends with the person leaving the company which is a waste of all of
our time, energy, and money.
What if there was a way to better screen
people when they come through your
door and actually find a great fit for your
organization? While we could give you a
simple list and talk in broad concepts, we
want to take each key trait and discuss it
in more detail.
Having read hundreds of articles,
attended dozens of seminars, and trained
countless employees in different industries, we’ve learned that everyone has an
opinion about what makes a great
employee and they are more than happy
to share it with you. We will start by clari-
A
fying one thing: a great deal of what you
have read or heard up until now is superfluous, vague, or has nothing to do with
traits but personality. We believe that if
you utilize our overall approach and concepts completely, you can have a great
staff of employees.
As a leading provider of industry training, we have spent a great deal of time
with one particular type of employee
which is simultaneously the single biggest
headache and the single biggest source of
profit within any organization. We are
talking, of course, about the salesperson.
Over the years one concept we learned
to identify the traits of a great salesperson
is with an acronym: CAREER.
• C – Creativity
• A – Attitude
• R – Results
• E – Experience
• E – Education
• R – Relatable
Each of these items it vital to finding a
great salesperson. It is essential to understand that these are not traits that some
people possess and some people do not.
Everyone has these qualities; it is a matter
of gauging how much of each they currently possess and determining if they can
improve through training and guidance.
An easy way to measure these are to rate
each trait on a scale from 1 to 10 – write
down where you think each candidate
falls throughout their interview process.
You will also find this to be a helpful exercise to use on an ongoing basis with new
and current employees. Regular evaluation of staff members is vital to any companies’ success.
Let’s look at a break down of each one.
Creativity – Similarly-oriented concepts
are curiosity and critical thinking.
Creative thinkers have a fantastic ability to
look at the world around them from
numerous perspectives to find more efficient ways of doing things.
Attitude – While obvious, this is com-
monly overlooked when “warm body”
syndrome kicks in. The person with the
right attitude knows how to work through
problems without getting bogged down
in the fact that something went wrong.
Results – Candidates that desire results
are goal driven and focused, and they
enjoy the challenge of overcoming adversity through critical thinking. This desire
is frequently illustrated through achievements and recognition, hitting sales figures no one else could, or being the top
performer within a group.
Experience – Having previous experience in a sales position can be a definite
plus when it comes to saving time when
training new employees, but there’s a
catch: salespeople have a tendency to
bring values and processes from their previous employer that may not mesh with
your companies culture.
Education – While having formal education is a benefit to many candidates it
is not necessarily what we look for. It is the
desire for knowledge and the craving for
new information that we want, someone
who wants to learn on an ongoing basis.
Relatable – Sales candidates are the
face of the company and they must be
able to carry on a conversation with a customer in a manner that makes the customer relate to them. Being able to talk
with someone comfortably builds trust,
and trust is a salespersons’ greatest ally.
Don’t miss our next article where we
will expand on these traits by exploring
why they are important, how to spot
them, how to interview for them, and
how to improve them. Great salespeople
aren’t born, they are bred – as long as
they are willing! ■
Jen & Brad Wilson, Jencey Consulting, LLC, have a mission
to enhance a yard’s comprehension of their yard management system by streamlining processes and training.
Armed with over 20 years of customer service, operational
and technical knowledge they have a “boots on the ground”
approach towards process improvement.
Insure This
By Wells Fargo
Business Interruption Insurance
he best place to start a conversation
about Business Interruption Insurance (also known as Loss of Business
income insurance) is to understand what
it is. It insures loss of income in an
amount sufficient to cover continuing
expenses and lost profits, if any. If your
business is operating successfully, it is
earning enough to cover expenses
and generate a profit. If you have
a fire which forces your operations
to cease, some of your expenses
will cease or will be reduced. For
example, you may have a reduction in power or fuel consumption,
which will reduce your operating
costs. Business Interruption Insurance does not cover those non-continuing expenses. However, it will
cover those expenses that you will
be required to pay whether your
business is operating or not – such
as loans, taxes, mortgages, etc.
Also note that you do not have to
be making a profit to benefit from
Business Interruption Insurance.
In fact, non-profit organizations frequently purchase Business Interruption Insurance just to cover ongoing expenses, including salaries of key
personnel. So do not consider this coverage only as insurance against lost profits.
Of course, not every shutdown of your
business will trigger coverage. Before you
can even think about recovering a loss
under a Business Interruption policy,
there must first be direct physical damage from an insured peril to your premises – during the term of the policy – that
causes an interruption of normal operations and a loss of earnings. The policy
will pay for the loss of earnings during
the time required to restore the business
to normal operating conditions or until
the limit of business interruption insurance is exhausted.
The place to start when determining
the appropriate amount of business
income insurance is with your accounting records. Ideally, the entries in your
accounting journal, the record of
accounts in your general ledger, and your
income statement will provide the basic
information you need to calculate the
correct amount of Business Interruption
Insurance needed. Each insurance com-
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T
pany in the marketplace has a business
income worksheet form you can use to
calculate the correct amount as well.
Most of these worksheets will take you
through an exercise that will help you to
come up with an estimated length of
time it will take you to get back to “preclaim” business operations. Once you
know this, and the amount of monthly
earnings and net profits, it is relatively
simple to calculate how much coverage
to buy.
The final question you need to answer
before buying this coverage is whether or
not you should cover “ordinary” payroll.
When you suffer a severe claim and your
business is going to be shut down for an
extended period of time(such as 6-9
months), you will most likely not be able
to afford to pay your ordinary (as compared to key) employees if you have no
revenue coming in. If you went to them
and advised them that they were out of
a job until your business operations
resume 6 to 9 months down the road,
would most of them simply go home and
wait 6 to 9 months without a paycheck
until you called them back to
work? Or would many of them be
forced to take a job elsewhere in
which case you may not ever get
them back once you are ready to
resume operations. Many businesses have a lot of “ordinary payroll” employees that are really
“key” to the success of your operation that you would not want to
jeopardize losing in the event you
could not pay them for an extended period. Therefore, you may
want to include “ordinary payroll”
in your business interruption calculation. That way, you would be
able to pay them their wages and
benefits during the period of reconstruction and retain them
going forward.
In summary, the key to Business
Interruption Insurance lies in understanding what the potential for a business
interruption loss is – future earnings,
length of the shut-down and additional
expenses incurred, including covering
ordinary payroll. Business Interruption
Insurance is the only insurance available
to “insure your income statement.” If you
feel it is critical to have your income statement guaranteed, you may want to seriously consider this coverage, which can
be purchased as part of your Property
Insurance. ■
For more information on how Wells Fargo Insurance Services can benefit your business,
contact Bill Velin at 800-328-6311, ext. 3039,
direct 952-830-3039, or by e-mail bill.velin
@wellsfargo.com.
Safety Matters
Submitted by the ARA Safety Committee
Hazard Communication
Toxic and Hazardous Substances
OSHA Standard Number
1910.1200
can’t hurt to add the following sort of
statement to your purchase orders:
“As required under the OSHA Hazard
Communication Standard 29 CFR
1910.1200, a material safety data sheet
(MSDS) must precede or accompany the
initial shipment of any hazardous material
defined as such under the Act. For items
previously ordered, an MSDS must also be
supplied if the MSDS has changed since the
previous shipment.”
Employers must maintain copies of
MSDSs for each chemical in the workplace. Employers may discard a material safety data sheet for a mixture, if the
new data sheet includes the same hazardous chemicals as the original formulation. If the formulation is different
however, then the employer must maintain both data sheets for at least 30 years.
OSHA Hazard Communications
Standard (HCS)
he occupational safety and health
hazard communication standard requires the classification of the potential
hazards of chemicals, and this information, along with appropriate protective
measures must be communicated to
employees.
T
A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
is a document that contains information
on the potential hazards (health, fire,
reactivity and environmental) of a particular chemical product and how to
work safely with that product. It is an
essential starting point for the development of a complete health and safety
program. It also contains information on
the use, storage, handling and emergency procedures all related to the hazards of the material. The MSDS contains
much more information about the material than the label.
MSDSs are prepared by the supplier or
manufacturer of the material. The
MSDS is intended to tell what the hazards of the product are, how to use the
product safely, what to expect if the recommendations are not followed, what to
do if accidents occur, how to recognize
symptoms of overexposure, and what to
do if such incidents occur.
Product distributors are responsible
for ensuring that their customers are
provided a copy of the MSDS. Upon purchase or receipt of a product, you as an
employer must have an MSDS for every
commercial product you use in your
facility.
To help ensure that your suppliers
comply with OSHA requirements, it
Sue Schauls
Material Safety Data Sheets
(MSDS)s
tainers of chemicals being shipped to
other workplaces;
• A plan for the preparation and distribution of safety data sheets to
employees and downstream employers; and,
• An employee training program
regarding hazards of chemicals and
protective measures.
You must make the written hazard
communication program available,
upon request, to employees, their designated representatives, and OSHA.
Employers must have a safety data sheet
in the workplace for each hazardous
chemical which they use.
Safety data sheets must be readily
accessible during each work shift to
employees when they are in their work
area(s). (Electronic access and other
The MSDS is intended to
tell what the hazards of the
product are, how to use the
product safely, what to expect
if the recommendations are not followed, what to do
if accidents occur, how to recognize symptoms of
overexposure, and what to do if such incidents occur.
Compliance
Improper compliance with the Hazard
Communication Standard (which includes MSDS’s) is the most frequently
cited violation in the manufacturing,
transport, wholesale, retail and services
industries, and it is in the top five in all
other categories.
Communication Program
You must develop and maintain a written hazard communication program for
the workplace which should include:
• Lists of hazardous chemicals present;
• Labeled containers of chemicals in
the workplace, as well as labeled con-
alternatives to maintaining paper copies
of the safety data sheets are permitted as
long as no barriers to immediate
employee access in each workplace are
created by such options.)
Training Program
Employers must provide employees
with effective information and training
on hazardous chemicals in their work
area at the time of their initial assignment, and whenever a new chemical
hazard the employees have not previously been trained about is introduced
into their work area. Information and
training may be designed to cover cate-
Safety Matters
Continued
gories of hazards (e.g., flammability, carcinogenicity) or specific chemicals.
Chemical-specific information must
always be available through labels and
safety data sheets.
Employee training must include at
least:
• Methods and observations that may
be used to detect the presence or
release of a hazardous chemical in
the work area (such as monitoring
conducted by the employer, continuous monitoring devices, visual
appearance or odor of hazardous
chemicals when being released, etc.);
• The physical, health, simple asphyxiation, combustible dust, and
pyrophoric gas hazards, as well as
hazards not otherwise classified, of
the chemicals in the work area;
• The measures employees can take to
protect themselves from these hazards, including specific procedures
the employer has implemented to
protect employees from exposure to
hazardous chemicals, such as appropriate work practices, emergency
procedures, and personal protective
equipment to be used; and,
• The details of the hazard communication program developed by the
employer, including an explanation
of the labels received on shipped
containers and the workplace labeling system used by their employer;
the safety data sheet, including the
order of information and how
employees can obtain and use the
appropriate hazard information.
HCS to GHS
New 2012 changes to OSHA’s Hazard
Communication Standard (29 CFR
1910.1200) are bringing the U.S. into
alignment with the Globally Harmonized
System of Classification and Labelling of
Chemicals (GHS). The Hazard Communication Standard of 1983 gave the
workers the “right to know,” but the new
Globally Harmonized System gives workers the “right to understand.”
The new Hazard Communication
Standard still requires chemical manufacturers and importers to evaluate the
chemicals they produce or import and
provide hazard information to employers and workers by putting labels on containers and preparing safety data sheets.
However, the old standard allowed
chemical manufacturers and importers
to convey hazard information on labels
and material safety data sheets in whatever format they chose. The modified
standard provides a single set of harmonized criteria for classifying chemicals
according to their health and physical
hazards and specifies hazard communication elements for labelling and safety
data sheets.
Major changes to the Hazard Communication Standard:
• Hazard classification: Chemical manufacturers and importers are
required to determine the hazards of
the chemicals they produce or
import. Hazard classification under
the new, updated standard provides
specific criteria to address health and
physical hazards as well as classification of chemical mixtures.
• Labels: Chemical manufacturers and
importers must provide a label that
includes a signal word, pictogram,
hazard statement, and precautionary
statement for each hazard class and
category.
• Safety Data Sheets: The new format
requires 16 specific sections, ensuring consistency in presentation of
important protection information.
• Information and training: To facilitate
understanding of the new system,
the new standard requires that workers be trained by December 1, 2013
on the new label elements and safety data sheet format, in addition to
the current training requirements.
New MSDS Format
In order to promote consistent presentation of information, the GHS now
requires the MSDS to follow the 16-section format established by the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI)
standard for preparation of MSDSs.
By following this format, the information of greatest concern to workers is featured at the beginning of the data sheet,
including information on chemical composition and first aid measures. More
technical information that addresses
topics such as the physical and chemical
properties of the material and toxicological data appears later in the document.
The 16 sections are:
• Identification
• Hazard(s) identification
• Composition/information on ingredients
• First-aid measures
• Fire-fighting measures
• Accidental release measures
• Handling and storage
• Exposure controls/personal protection
• Physical and chemical properties
• Stability and reactivity
• Toxicological information
• Ecological information
• Disposal considerations
• Transport information
• Regulatory information
• Other information
Sample MSDS / GHS
Go to the links below for a copy of a
sample MSDS and GHS for your reference:
• MSDS MATERIAL SAFETY DATA
SHEET – NASA Standard 6001
Igniter:
http://msdsauthoring.com/
images/nasa_standard_6001_
igniter_msds.pdf
• GHS MATERIAL SAFETY DATA
SHEET – Hydrogen Peroxide:
http://msdsauthoring.com/
wp-content/uploads/2011/07/
Hydrogen_Peroxide_2040_USA_sds.pdf ■
ARA SAFETY TIP ON OSHA'S
HAZARD COMMUNICATION PLAN
CLIP&SAVE
I
f your shelves look like these shelves (left), you may be fined
by OSHA! Ensuring that your facility has a complete and updated Written Hazard Communication Plan which includes MSDSs
and a training program for your employees could save you thousands of dollars in fines!
OSHA requires that chemical manufacturers must identify
the potential hazards of each chemical product and how to
work safely with that product in a document called a material safety data sheet (MSDS). Manufacturers or suppliers then must ensure that their customers – YOU – are provided a copy of the
MSDS for each chemical product you use. As part of your written hazard communication plan,
you must make these sheets readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they
are in their work area(s). Many employers keep their MSDSs together in a large binder/spiral
notebook and/or in an electronic format.
In addition to distributing MSDSs to your employees, your plan also must include:
• Lists of hazardous chemicals present (remove old chemicals from shelves!);
• Labeled containers of chemicals in the workplace, as well as containers of chemicals being
shipped to other workplaces; and,
• An employee training program addressing hazards of chemicals and protective measures.
So don’t delay. Clean off your shelves and read the attached protocol so that you know exactly
what your hazard communication plan should include and then log onto the following link below
for a sample MSDS – www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/msds-osha174/msdsform.html.
That’s My Opinion
By Ron Sturgeon
[email protected]
Tracking Your Web site's Performance
hen making an analysis of your Web
site’s performance, you must look at
things like targeting the right traffic, creating content, getting the users’ attention, and converting those users into
sales. One important item that is overlooked in the quest to increase revenue
through your Web site is in tracking these
efforts and how looking at metrics to
help you to continually optimize your
campaigns and improve performance.
Just as you track key metrics of your
business such as sales, vehicles dismantled per day, warranty sales, returns, and
so on, it’s equally as important to track
metrics to measure the performance of
your Web site to determine what works
and what doesn’t.
expand the traffic within your customer
radius, you’ll want to understand if those
numbers are increasing or decreasing.
You might also track whether your organic traffic (traffic that comes to your Web
site via natural or unpaid searches)is
increasing or decreasing. If you are using
search engine optimization (SEO), more
organic traffic is exactly what you’re looking for as return on your investment.
Additionally, it is important to track
conversion rates. You can convert users
by getting them to fill out a contact form,
subscribe to your newsletter, make a purchase, and so on. But how do you know
what percentage of potential conversions
W
This answer will differ slightly depending on what types of campaigns you’re
running, and what the goals and overall
strategy of those campaigns are. Generally
we track high-level metrics, such as
unique visitors, pages per visit, and
bounce rate, on a month over month
measurement. These are easy metrics that
show whether you are attracting visitors
and whether your content is engaging to
them. However, there are other metrics
that are important to understanding the
effectiveness of your campaigns.
For instance, tracking keywords and
phrases that are being used to find your
Web site will help you to understand how
well your keyword targeted content is
working. If you are seeing an upward
trend for the keyword phrase “used Ford
parts” and you’ve been concentrating on
creating content for that key phrase, you
can conclude that your content creation
effort in that area is working. Since you
know it’s working, you can use the same
tactics to get traffic for other key phrases
relevant to the parts you sell.
You can also track where your visitors
come from. If you’ve been working to
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What Should You Be Tracking?
are actually converting? Or how many
users are abandoning the process? Setting
up conversion tracking on all contact
forms, subscription forms, and other
multi-step processes is vital to understanding how much traffic is converting
and, ultimately, converting to sales.
Split Testing Your Campaigns
You may or may not have heard of A/B
testing or split testing before, but this is
another important kind of test you can
use with your campaigns. Split testing is
the process of creating multiple landing
pages which have the same purpose. For
example, you may have set up a landing
page for used Ford engines.
On this page, your conversion goal is
getting the visitor to dial a phone number you’ve setup for tracking the campaign. In a split test, you set up an
additional landing page; however, this
page emphasizes different call to actions,
and might have a slightly different layout, fewer items on it, different colors,
etc. The idea is to test different versions
of the same page to see which one is the
best at getting visitors to perform the
conversion action for the page.
What Should You Do
With This Information?
Let’s talk a little about what actions you
should take when looking at reports each
month. The monthly reports on your
Web site’s performance will tell you
what’s working and what’s not. Knowing
helps you make the most profitable use
of your time by focusing resources on the
strategies that are working best. You
might also uncover things you hadn’t
thought about before, such as a set of
keywords or phrases that are bringing in
lots of traffic. If you’re paying a firm to
manage your SEO or pay per click campaigns, you will want to know what kind
of return you’re getting on your investment, and which efforts are profitable
and which are not.
Free Tools
You can use Google Analytics to track
all of these metrics and is free and easy
to install on your Web site. It can deliver
monthly reports to your inbox on the
first of each month.
I can help you get started as well by giving you an SEO scorecard on your existing Web site and free advice about how
to improve your results. E-mail your Web
address with “SEO scorecard” in the subject line to me, and I will be glad to show
you some ways you can do better.
Remember only you can make business great! ■
Since 2001, great ideas to improve your auto
recycling business have been found on Ron’s
Web site, www.autosalvageconsultant.com,
the definitive source for recyclers’ management and training needs.
On the Road
By Sandy Blalock
[email protected]
Working Industriously
Everyone
ime does
textfly when you enjoy what you
text
are doing and my time has flown by
over the last few years. Last time, you read
about
endit.
my■ adventures working with auto
recyclers in New Mexico and now I
would like to tell you about the great
automotive recyclers in Utah.
In the fall of 2011, I began traveling
around this beautiful state with a diverse
climate including snowcapped mountains, national monuments, water recreational sports, and a diverse culture.
As I drove from one end of the state to
the other, at times it was hard to keep my
eye on the road. The mountains entice
you with their rich bold colors and, if you
are a skier, they boast some of the best
snow in the country. I love the colors of
the southwest, where the greens are
more muted and Utah’s red rock formations are breathtaking.
While Utah’s official motto is “Industry,”
it is also known as the Beehive state – so
named by the earlier settlers predominately since bees are famously hard workers, toiling almost endlessly for the
well-being of the hive and the bees living
within it. This state was built from scratch,
in spite of rough conditions and harsh
land, with little resources other than each
other and hard work, their “industry.”
I found that the auto recycling industry
in Utah embrace their state motto, willing
to work together for the good of the legitimate industry in their beautiful state.
As I drove from St. George to Logan,
and many points in between, I admired
the tenacity and diversity of Utah auto
recyclers. I visited many long-time recyclers who have more than perfected their
craft and also found a few newcomers to
the industry willing to learn more about
what membership in a state association
has to offer them.
As in many of our states, Utah once had
a thriving state association that had
waned, not due to disinterest but because
auto recyclers have businesses to run and
T
an association cannot survive on a few
investing countless hours to preserve it.
This is a common pattern and is a compelling reason I work to get people back
together on issues so important to all of
us. We are only as strong as our weakest
link and auto recycling weak links are
states without strong and engaged state
associations.
In short order I had many willing to
begin again and get an association back
to work for the best interests of Utah’s
recyclers. We organized the Utah Automotive Recyclers Association (UARA),
with elected officers and a board, and
have not looked back. In fact, we looked
forward to being part of the changing
scenery in the regulatory side of our
industry and met with many of the regulators, establishing working relationships
that will be of mutual benefit to not only
recyclers, but the state of Utah and all the
communities our members serve.
Early in 2012, three months after
relaunching UARA, we found ourselves
with an opportunity to have a large
impact in repealing legislation that
stripped auto recyclers of their bid cards,
allowing unlicensed buyers to buy salvage
in Utah with little or no oversight. Utah
recyclers suddenly found themselves in
the driver’s seat of this national dilemma.
I am proud to say we pulled together
and worked diligently with our lobbyist,
industry partners, and with Senator
Stephen Urquhart who was determined
to right the wrong that had repealed the
buying restrictions in 2009. Senator
Urquhart had a vested interest in helping
the industry, and the state of Utah, both
of which he now understood were hurt
when he sponsored the repeal in 2009 of
the Utah Salvage Buyers Bid Card.
It is not often that a legislator will admit
they may not have had all the facts when
he sponsored the initial repeal, but
Stephen Urquhart is not just any legislator. He is a highly respected man of great
We are only as strong as
our weakest link and auto
recycling weak links are
states without strong and
engaged state associations.
moral standards who was able to see that
promises made during the appeal in 2009
did not materialize and, in fact, not only
hurt our industry but resulted in lost revenues for the state of Utah.
I have truely enjoyed working with this
great group. I was able to catch up with
several longtime friends including Miles
and Colin Crabtree and Gordon Wade, as
well as making several new friends along
the way including UARA President Chris
Mantas, Tear A Part Auto Recycling of Salt
Lake City. Chris is a talented young recycler with bold ideas on driving his business and those of all UARA members.
Chris is backed up by a strong executive
committee, with Dusty Rowland of
Rowland Auto Wrecking as Vice
President and Bruce Labrum of Labrum
Auto Wrecking as Treasurer. The UARA
Board of Directors include Miles Crabtree
of Crabtree Auto Recycling, Zach Russell
of All Truck and Car, Mike Vanikiotis of
A-1 Auto Parts, Paul Branch of South
Bountiful Auto, John Roberts of
TransWest Auto and Truck Parts, Gordon
Wade of Dixie Auto Salvage and Jon
Peterson of Western Auto Wrecking.
In working with this multi-talented
group, I have found that the two things
UARA members share is the love of automotive recycling and love for their
Beehive state. ■
Sandy Blalock is a consultant to the auto recycling industry, traveling to help states without an industry association formulate them.
She is the former the owner of Capos Automotive Recycling and an ARA Past President.
Advice Counts
By Jim Counts
[email protected]
What Part of “I Got One” is Selling?
and arrange delivery. But,
when and how did we teach
them to turn the phone call
into a sale?
How Should We
Train Employees?
First, we have to decide what
results we want. For the salesperson, we probably want
them to answer the phone in
a courteous manner, find out
what the customer needs, when they
need it, and how much they are willing
to pay for it. Now that seems pretty simple. However, if we listen closely, we probably notice they rarely get to the “when
they want it” part of the conversation. The
salesperson rarely gets to sell; they are too
busy running the information desk. If the
customer decides, on their own, to buy
our part, the salesperson becomes an
order taker.
A professional salesperson knows that
if they want to close sales, they have to
stay in control of the conversation. They
should ask the questions and the customer answers the questions. But as soon
as our salespeople tell the customer we
have what they need, the customer takes
control of the conversation and start asking the questions; and after they get the
information they want, they hang up. So,
again, I ask, what part of that is selling?
Salespeople don’t know how to sell, so
they believe that a lower price is the
answer. And a lower price is the answer
when we run an information desk and
have order takers. How do we solve this?
Sales professionals should skip the “I
got it!” part and start closing the sale.
Unless we are talking to an insurance
adjuster, nothing is gained by telling the
caller we have the part. Assume they want
it and close the sale. Of course, this means
we are going to need closing skills.
Closing skills are those things a salesperson says to get the customer to take the
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ave you listened to your sales people
lately and thought about what you
are hearing? If you have, you are probably amazed at how little selling actually
takes place. Their actions show that they
think their job is to answer the phone
(before it rings the fourth time) and
advise the customer if they have a part.
Doesn’t this sound more like an information desk than a sales call? Maybe we
should be more honest when we answer
the phone and say, “Information.”
Owners often get upset because the
phone is ringing. Be careful when you
say, “Will someone answer that phone?”
because you may just get your wish. The
salesperson will drop the person calling
about an engine or transmission so they
can jump on to that flywheel or caliper
bolt call.
I don’t want to be too rough on salespeople – let’s be realistic, they get very little training. Most of the time they must
train themselves. They learn what we do
or do not want when we correct them. I
call this “Train by Holler.” They make a
mistake and we holler.
If we create a no-win situation, we may
teach them to take the safe course of
action and quote only what the screen
says. Keep in mind that salespeople get
criticized for what they sell, not what they
don’t sell. If they go off-script, we walk up
to them, drop an invoice in front of them,
and want to know why they sold this part
for less than the screen price. How often
do you sit with them and ask why they did
not sell that part you have ten of?
We talk to a lot of salespeople about
how to close sales and how to sell parts
and labor warranties. Most of the time, I
find they have never been shown how to
recognize what a customer needs or how
to satisfy those needs. We tell them to
answer the phone, to look up the part,
and tell the customer if we have it. If the
customer wants the part, we tell them to
be sure to get the method of payment
H
part and pay a price that is agreeable to
both parties. It takes me a whole day to
teach the “why’s and how’s” of the closing
process, but you can start by listening to
what your people say and work on assuming the sale instead of waiting for it.
If you want your salespeople to receive
formal training, something other than
“Go watch Bob”, send them to a sales
training class. We teach seminars that are
recycling industry specific. We use real
examples and show the salesperson how
to fulfill the customer’s needs at the same
time we meet the owner’s needs and
everyone makes money.
Wouldn’t you like to be able to pay
your customer for the cost of labor to
replace the defective part they bought
from you, at no cost to you? We can teach
salespeople how to do that. As an owner,
you should always go to the sales training
class at least once so learn what changes
are needed to implement.
Otherwise, your sales team could tell
you they did not learn anything new.
Then they go right back to running an
information desk and asking you to lower
the price. Remember, we can sell almost
anything, if we are willing to cut the price
enough, but we may go broke in the
process! ■
Jim Counts, of Counts Consulting Ltd. provides
organizational and financial development for
dismantlers. He can be reached at 817-2389991 or visit www.countsconsulting.com.
Momentum
By Donald Cooper
www.donaldcooper.com
Have You Thought of “Everything”?
type of glue they’ve put a simple chart that shows which
glue, by number, works best
for what materials. If you’re
gluing styrofoam, # 7 is best;
if it’s porcelain, you need # 9.
Sales have increased tremendously and customers are
delighted with the simplicity
of getting perfect results
every time.
Here’s an example of not thinking it
through. The Canadian Tire store in
Gravenhurst, Ontario set up a convenient
process designed to let you drop your car
off for service after store hours by filling
out a simple work order and putting it in
an envelope with your car keys. For reasons of security, you then drop the envelope through a slot in the door and the
theory is that they will repair your car and
call to advise you when it’s ready.
Only one problem, they didn’t think it
through. The slot in the door is not big
enough to fit the envelope. Like I said, it
ain’t rocket science!
So, to “own” your customers and keep
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o “own” your customers and not let
your competitors get their foot in the
door, you need to try to “think of everything.” This may sound like an impossible
task but when you take the time to truly
think and feel like a customer, it will be a
lot easier than you think, and the results
will amaze you!
First, think and feel through the
process of choosing, buying and using
what you sell, step-by-step. Then, think
and feel through the process of doing
business specifically with you. What do
those experiences look like and what do
they feel like?
Here’s another example. LePage’s now
makes nine different kinds of household
glue specially formulated to stick a variety
of materials from leather, to glass, to steel.
That’s enough different types of glue to
confuse anyone – but LePage’s has
thought it through.
Each glue is clearly numbered, both on
the tube and on the package, and all nine
glues are presented, in sequence, in a
convenient and attractive retail display.
On the back of the packaging for each
T
Four Steps to Delivering a “Customer-Owning” Experience
A
re you actually delivering the quality of customer-owning experience that you promise, and that
your customers want? Create a small task force of a few of the best minds and hearts in your
business and work through the following 4-step process.
1) Create a complete list of all the points at which your customers “touch” or experience your
business in any way. This will include every interaction with your staff, your products or services,
your physical facilities, your advertising, packaging and promotion and your policies and
processes.
2) Describe exactly what experience you want your customers to have at each “touch point.”
3) Determine what experience you’re actually delivering, right now, at each “touch point.” “The
beginning of wisdom is the recognition of reality!” Ask your front-line people for their input. They
hear customer complaints every day. Ask customers for their input or use professional “mystery
customers” to measure your experience delivery.
4) Determine what must be done to “close the gap” between the experience that you want to
deliver at each “touch point” and the reality of what you currently are delivering. Commit to specific action. Who will do what, by when ... and hold people accountable!
Finally, follow up, constantly measure, reward success and deal with non-performance.
How can these four steps help you create a world-class customer-owning experience in your
business?
them coming back, here are seven questions that will help you to “think of everything.”
• When it comes to buying what we sell
what are our target customers confused
or stressed about?
• When people do business with us,
what do they want to do, what do they
need to know and how do they want to
feel?
• Are we “easy?” Easy to find, easy to get
to and is what we do easy to understand?
• What kind of information or coaching might our customers need to wisely
choose and effectively use what we sell?
• What might we be doing as a business
that is stressing our customers and perhaps even driving them away? Think
about how we look, how we perform, our
attitudes, our policies, selection and
prices.
• Do we really understand how we
impact our customers functionally, emotionally and financially when we don’t
“deliver?”
• What little simple acts of kindness
could we offer that would amaze and
delight our customers?
So, how can you use these questions to
help you to “think of everything?” ■
Donald Cooper is a Toronto-based international management speaker and coach. He
helps business owners and managers rethink,
refocus, and re-energize their business to sell
more, manage smarter, grow their bottom line,
and have a life. Reach him at (416) 252-3704 or by e-mail at
[email protected]. Visit www.donaldcooper.com.
Tech Knowledge
By Andrew MacDonald
A Case of Range Anxiety – Battery Recycling These Days
I
recently returned from an ARA meeting in Fort Myers, Florida. Not only was
my plane delayed to a 3 a.m. arrival time,
but my luggage got lost and when I got
to my car the gas gauge read empty and
the dash said I had zero kilometer range
left. I remembered that 5 days prior, tight
for time, I had driven with zero kilometers left about ten kilometers. I also realized that at this late hour, the nearest gas
station was not for at least another ten
kilometers. It’s at this point I start wondering how much fuel is actually left in
the tank and how much energy I would
be able to extract from that fuel.
This concept is known as Energy
Density. It’s how much energy is in a given
volume of “stuff.” Now for traditional
combustion engines, the “stuff” is gasoline or diesel, and the magic number is
10. You can get about 10 kWh for every
liter of fuel you have.
When it comes to electric vehicle batteries, energy density is the main reason
they are taking so long to come to market. The more efficient Nickel Metal
Hydride (NiMH) batteries only get about
0.2kWh for every liter of material (only 1
– 2% of gasoline!).
Most hybrid vehicles to date use NiMH
batteries. Some of the newer electric vehicles on the market (such as the Canadian
made Rav4 EV) use lithium ion batteries
which can have upwards of 0.4 kWh, still
only a fraction of the energy storage available in gasoline. Despite this, there is still
a lot of energy and risk for people working with these batteries. Getting burned
by only 1% of your gas tank is still a pretty bad burn; batteries have the same
amount of energy but in the form of
273V electricity.
Core Questions
The main questions we are tackling in
the ARA Technical Advisory Committee
are: 1) How do you safely de-power the
batteries? 2) How do you dismantle the
26 Automotive Recycling | January-February 2013
vehicles safely? 3) How do
you test the battery to
know if it’s good to sell for
resale or repurposing? 4)
What are the safe shipping and handling procedures? and 5) Who will TOYOTA RAV4 EV
buy the materials for recycling (hopefully at a profit)?
First, there are available resources for
first responders on how to identify where
the components of hybrid vehicles can
be found (battery, motor, capacitor, high
voltage cables, etc.) and how to quickly
cut the power. I have two apps on my
phone – QRG from the National
Alternative Fuels Training Consortium,
and Extricate from Moditech Rescue
Solutions – both have detailed schematics for all makes and models.
The dismantling question is not as easy
to answer. ARA’s Hybrid Vehicle Dismantling
Guide details many makes and models
with safety procedures for dismantling.
OEMs such as Toyota have set up a Web
site (https://techinfo.toyota.com) with
information on how to safely disassemble
Toyota hybrid vehicles. GM has gone a
step further on www.recyclemybattery.
com by including the disabling/dismantling information, and recommendations
for storage, shipping, and handling.
Testing the battery to know if it’s good
to sell for resale or repurposing is, well,
currently expensive. There is some equipment on the market that can tell you the
state of health, charge, and de-power
hybrid batteries. Midtronics makes the
GRX-5100 EV/HEV Battery Service Tool
that can de-power, balance, and charge
the batteries. It comes with many adapters
for various vehicle connections.
The problem in the auto recycling
industry is that we usually don’t receive
vehicles in good working order. How can
we safely remove the battery and test it as
a stand-alone unit for things like remaining charge, capacity, and number of
remaining charge cycles?
All of these items would
tell us whether the battery
is good for reuse or repurposing, or whether to sell
it to a scrap recycler.
Shipping and handling
is currently being addressed by the OEMs in collaboration with the
battery recycling companies and the
ARA. Considerable factors are battery
shelf life, proper storage temperatures,
and is there a minimum charge, just to
name a few.
Powering Up Profit
So what does all of this have to do with
energy density? It is one of the reasons
why recycling hybrid and EV batteries
may prove difficult to make profitable –
let alone financially neutral. Low energy
density means batteries are big and
heavy. Given their sheer size and weight,
shipping them to a battery recycling
processor can be very expensive.
Another issue may be the materials
themselves. The “M” in NiMH stands for
metal, which is a compound of a rare
earth mixture and nickel, cobalt, manganese and/or aluminum. These materials have value that should be able to be
recycled for a profit. Lithium-ion batteries contain a lithium compound; lithium
is a plentiful resource and therefore not
worth as much on the open market.
The ARA will continue to work with
the OEMs and battery recycling industry
to figure out all the best practices. Ideally
we’d all like to turn a profit on them.
Oh, in case you were wondering about
the end of my story, I made it to the gas
station, and eventually home, but I sure
didn’t make it to work on Monday. ■
Andrew MacDonald is an owner of Maritime
Auto Parts, and Chair of ARA's Technical Advisory Committee. Formerly, from 2007-2010 he
worked with Toyota in Quality Control Engineering on the Toyota Rav-4 at TMMC-Canada.
Sales Call
By Rian Garner
[email protected]
Extended Warranties Helps Everyone’s Bottom Line
wish that I would have come up with the
idea of selling extended warranties. I
would have put a patent on it and raked
in the cash. But, since I did not come up
with the idea the best I can do is to explain
how important they are to our industry.
Often when I do sales trainings I tell the
people if I could sell extended warranty
and not even offer a part attached to it I
would. That is how great warranties are
and how profitable they are not only to
our business, but also our sales people and
our customers. Selling extended warranties is a win for all parties involved.
People ask me, “Rian, if extended warranties are so great why can’t we sell
them?” The real issue here is how we present them to our customers. Think about
the big box retailers, when they try to add
on an extended warranty when do they
typically try to present it, usually at the end
of the sale at the cash register. When I
make a purchase at one of these places I
know what the price is and when they try
to add extra dollars onto the back of the
sale my answer is usually “NO.”
I
For example, a person goes
into buy a new flat screen
television for their family
and they know the price
is $1,000. When the customer goes to check
out, the sales person then
tries to get another $200
for a two year replacement
warranty. The value added to the
product is diminished.
Let’s look at it another way. If a customer goes into the store and the television is $1,200 with a 2-year replacement
warranty, the warranty now has value even
if the television is priced higher at the
store offering the warranty than another
store that does not offer the extended warranty. This example can be directly attributed to the recycling industry.
When I hear a price objection from a
customer the first thing I ask is how much
warranty does the competitor offer. Even
though my product may be more expensive, the value added of the extended warranty can be priceless to the customer.
Here are a few tips that can improve your results when presenting the extended warranty:
1. Rather than present the extended warranty as a separate presentation, integrate it into your
overall product discussion. Mention just one feature and benefit at a time instead of rattling off everything that your program offers. Don’t wait until your customers are writing up the order to introduce
this valuable add-on feature. This follows the proven logic in selling packages and bundles.
2. Be prepared for objections. Plan responses for the most common objections you hear and practice these responses or rebuttals until they flow smoothly and comfortably. Top selling professionals
do this for every aspect of their interaction with their customers. It makes sense to do it here as well.
3. Mention the extended warranty program to EVERY customer. Many front-line retail staff make
erroneous assumptions about their customers and do not present the information about their extended warranty program to all of their customers. Instead, they pick and choose who they think will
be interested and present the info to those customers. If you believe your warranties are good value
and in the best interest of your customer, as a selling professional, you can do nothing less. The worst
they can say is no and often they will say yes.
4. Ask for the sale. If you have taken the time to present and discuss your extended warranty program with your customer in a professional manner, you have earned the right to ask them for the sale .
Perhaps, present it as a part of the package. For example, this living room setting including the sofa,
loveseat, side chair, coffee table and the extended warranty is only $____.
– © 2007 Bob Hooey, Guardian of The Secret Selling Tips www.SecretSellingTips.com
After all what are we
selling? Peace of mind
that if anything goes
wrong we will take
care of it and get them
back on the road with little hassle. Extended warranties are also good to use
as a negotiating tool.
When we quote our parts
with a warranty and we get a price
objection we can use the warranty to come
off of the price without cutting into the
price of the part. This will have a direct
impact on what we are able to pay for vehicles at the auction. If we continually cut
the price on high dollar parts that we figure at time of auction it will be harder to
get the necessary dollars to purchase the
vehicle unless you want to cut into your
gross profit.
One other way to increase our warranty sales is to help our mechanical shops sell
them to their customers. Get the shop to
understand the value added of the warranty and how they can pass it on to their
customers. It gives the shop the opportunity to set themselves apart from their
competition when they can offer a one
year parts and labor warranty to customers
at virtually no cost to the shop at all.
After all, they pass the price of the part
with warranty onto their customer and it
gets the customer to come back to them
if there are any issues. I don’t know about
you, but I don’t have a problem with
repeat business with no extra cost.
There are other factors to consider
when increasing your warranty sales but
these tips should get you headed in the
right direction. ■
Rian Garner has a wealth of experience in both
full-service and self-service auto recycling,
working with LKQ, Greenleaf Auto Recyclers,
and Pick N Pull. His passion for the business,
his education and abilities allowed him to grow
in many capacities within the industry.
RETHINKING CHANGE
Success
Making Sense of
Success is always achieveable if
you follow the right formula for it.
Why should you ever settle
for anything less?
iStockphoto.com/Federico Caputo
BY TO M M O R R I S
S
ome people seem successful in nearly everything they do. Others constantly
struggle, almost regardless of the situation. What makes the difference?
What do the most successful people have in common that helps lead to
their accomplishments?
And here’s another important question. In every period of
human history, however challenging, there have been people who not only survived,
but experienced great success. How then can we be
among such people in our own time?
I’ve come to believe that there is something like a
personal and organizational toolkit for success. From
Plato and Aristotle to the present day, the wisest people who have ever thought about life achievement
have left us bits and pieces of powerful advice for
attaining true success in nearly anything we do. I’ve
put these great ideas together into a simple framework of seven universal conditions for success. Let
me lay them out in the simplest possible way, and
then we’ll briefly look at what they mean.
The 7 Cs of Success
For the most deeply satisfying and sustainable
forms of success, we need to bring into any challenge,
opportunity, or relationship these inner traits, or
conditions:
(1) A clear CONCEPTION of what we want, a
vivid vision, a goal clearly imagined.
(2) A strong CONFIDENCE that we can attain
that goal.
(3) A focused CONCENTRATION on what it
takes to reach the goal.
(4) A stubborn CONSISTENCY in pursuing our
vision.
(5) An emotional COMMITMENT to the importance of what we’re doing.
(6) A good CHARACTER to guide us and keep us
on a proper course.
(7) A CAPACITY TO ENJOY the process along the
way.
There are certainly many other concepts often
associated with success, but I’m convinced that every
other one of them either falls short of the universal
applicability test or else is just a version or application
of one of these seven in specific situations.
The 7 Cs give us the most universal, logical, integrated, and comprehensive framework for success in
whatever we do. I’d like to share a quick word about
each. We need:
(1) A clear CONCEPTION of what we
want, a vivid vision, a goal clearly
imagined.
In any facet of our lives, we need to think through
as clearly as possible what we want to accomplish, and
what we’d like to see happen. True success starts with
an inner vision, however incomplete it might be. The
world as we find it is just the raw material for what we
can make it. We are meant to be artists with our energies and our lives. And the only way to do that well is
to structure our actions around clear goals. Vague
thoughts cannot motivate specific behavior. We need
clear goals, as precise and specific as we can make
them. In times of change, this is more important
than ever, however difficult it might seem. The fight
for clarity in our vision for what we want to make happen is well worth the ongoing effort it takes.
Two great pieces of advice on goal setting come
down to us from the ancient world. First, every exercise in goal setting should be an exercise in selfknowledge. “Who am I as a person? What’s right for
me? Who are we as a business? What’s right for us?”
Second, we need inner boldness in setting new goals,
bigger goals, and realizing that our goal setting
should never stop. Life is supposed to be a series of
adventures. Great goals make for great adventures.
(2) A strong CONFIDENCE that we can
attain the goal.
Inner attitude is a key to outer results. Over a century ago, Harvard philosopher and psychologist
William James learned from championship athletes
that a proper confidence should be operative in all
our lives. In any new enterprise or challenge, we
need upfront initial faith in what we’re doing. And
we need resilient confidence, confidence that can
take its lumps and keep on going. James called it precursive faith – faith that “runs ahead of” the evidence.
Sometimes we may have to work hard to generate
this attitude. But it’s also well worth the work it takes,
because it raises our objective prospects for success.
The best confidence naturally arises out of competence and then augments it. Of course, it’s no guarantee of success. But it is among the chief contributors
to it. In times of great change and economic uncerMarch-April 2013 | Automotive Recycling 29
RETHINKING CHANGE
tainty, confidence is one of the first things to disappear.
We should follow the champions and guard it in our
hearts. If you find that you need help with confidence,
try to help someone else with it, and you may be surprised how it quickly rises in your own spirit.
(3) A focused CONCENTRATION on
what it takes to reach the goal.
work with stand together? This is what consistency is
all about. It’s a matter of unifying your energy and
efforts in a single direction.
Chinese philosophers call it harmony and use the
image of moving water, which can flow around any
obstacle or push it out of the way. They say, “Be like
water.” Flow forward to your goals, adapting to your
circumstances and, at the same time, staying true to
the essence of who you are, and making sure that
your actions are harmonious with what you most
deeply want. Inconsistency defuses power. Consistency moves us toward our goals.
Big dreams just lead to big disappointments when
(5) An emotional COMMITMENT to the
people don’t learn how to chart their way forward,
importance of what we're doing.
step-by-step. And one of the greatest pieces of advice
Passion is the core of extraordinary success. It’s a
ever given about achieving any big dream is to
key to overcoming difficulties, seizing opportunities,
“Divide then Conquer.” Divide it up, break it down,
and getting other people excited about your projects.
and then take it on, step by step. If I want to be at a
Too much goal setting in the modern world has
certain point a year from now, where do I have to be
been all about thoughts, and has ignored the feelings
six months from now? How
and passions. Philosophers
The more you can enjoy
about three months from
appreciate the role of
now? What can I be doing
rationality in human life.
the process of what you’re doing,
today and tomorrow?
But we know that it’s not
the better the results tend to be.
Daunting goals become
just the head, but also the
It’s easier to set creative goals.
manageable objectives as
heart, that can guide us on
we divide and conquer.
Confidence will come more naturally. to the tasks right for us,
Focus on what’s first, then
and keep us functioning at
on what’s next. Success at anything challenging
the peak of our abilities.
comes from planning your path and then putting
Find a way to be passionate in what you do, then
that plan into action.
communicate that enthusiasm and commitment to
Gestalt psychologists even teach us that a new
the people you work with, showing that you are also
mental focus generates new perceptual abilities.
committed to them as your partners for the goals
Concentrating your thought and energy in a new
you have together. People are attracted to people
direction, toward a clear goal, you begin to see
who care. You’ll all go far as a result.
things around you that you might have missed
before – things that relate to the goal you’ve set and
(6) A good CHARACTER to guide us and
can help you attain it. This focus can allow you to set
keep us on a proper course.
intermediate goals and then more immediate ones
Character inspires trust. And trust is necessary for
to get your plan going, and then act, and adjust as
people to work together well. Good character is
you go. Even a flawed plan can start you off and help
required for great collaboration. In a world in which
lead you to where you can discover a better one. A
innovative partnerships and collaborative strategies
continually focused concentration of thought and
are increasingly important, the moral foundation for
action is key.
working well together matters more than ever before.
And good character does a lot more than just
(4) A stubborn CONSISTENCY in
provide for trust. It has an effect on each individual’s
pursuing our vision.
own freedom and insight. Bad character not only
The word ‘consistency’ comes from two Greek
corrupts, it blinds. A person whose perspective has
roots, a verb meaning “to stand” and a particle
been deeply twisted by selfishness or dishonesty or
meaning “together.” Consistency is all about standing
cowardice cannot understand the world in as pertogether. Do my actions stand together with my
ceptive a way as someone whose sensibilities are ethwords? Do my reactions and emotions stand together
ically well formed. Good character makes sustainable
with my deepest beliefs and values? Do the people I
success more likely.
And good character makes you a persuasive person
when working with others. Aristotle said that to be a
great salesperson, to be convincing with others, you
need to be a master of three things: Logos, Pathos,
and Ethos – Logic and information; Passion and
emotion; Character and integrity. This is the foundation for long lasting success.
(7) A CAPACITY TO ENJOY the process
along the way.
The more you can enjoy the process of what you’re
doing, the better the results tend to be. It’s easier to
set creative goals. Confidence will come more naturally. Your concentration can seem effortless. Consistency will not be a battle. The emotional commitment
will flow. And issues of character will not be as difficult to manage. A capacity to enjoy the process is entwined with every other facilitator of success. When you
relish the journey, you’ll be surprised by the results.
Bringing it Together
These conditions of success are all deeply connected. They constitute a unified framework of tools with
which we can work our way toward the most fulfilling
forms of achievement in our world. When you’re
considering a new goal, use all seven conditions as a
test. Can I form a clear conception of this as a goal?
Can I pursue this with confidence? Ask yourself
questions like this for each condition. If the potential
new goal passes the test, then full speed ahead! If it
doesn’t, find a new goal!
The 7 Cs aren’t magic, but they’re magnificent
inner resources for outer success in the world.
They will help us to make our proper mark in
everything we do. They will move us in the
direction of true success, deeply satisfying and sustainable achievement.
And as a philosopher, I have just one question:
Why should we ever settle for anything less? ■
Tom Morris is the author of such books as True Success, The Art of Achievement, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, and If Harry Potter Ran General
Electric. He writes for The Huffington Post and MorrisInstitute.com, and
his most compact wisdom can be on Twitter by searching @TomVMorris.
Tom Morris has become one of the most active public philosophers in the
world due to his unusual ability to bring the greatest wisdom of the past
into the challenges we face now. His message is helping to change lives
and revolutionize business practices everywhere.
21st Century
Business
A
How One Salvage Yard
Reinvented the Way They Do Business
with a Change in Perspective.
B Y M I C H E L L E K E A D L E - TAY L O R
bout a year and a half ago, John and Holly Cahill and
Mark and Joan Brown purchased Toy Town Auto
Salvage, now known as Brown’s Auto Salvage, in
Winchendon, Massachusetts. The Cahills, who
also co-own (with Tim and Carrie Cahill) Cahill’s
Garage in New York, have over 20 years of experience working for both of the major consolidators in the industry.
John Cahill has observed first-hand the
way business has evolved in the last 20 years. With their new ventures, he was presented the opportunity to re-invent a business
that needed a new approach in order to move forward.
“I feel like there are still a lot of salvage yards today that are operating with
an 80s-type mentality,” said Cahill. “We have an old joke in the salvage industry
that if a part lasts for 30 days then it’ll last forever. Yet, many yards are still
inflexible in their approach to customer service and are reluctant to give lifetime guarantees.
“If we are to revolutionize our industry, I think we have to adopt a customer
service attitude similar to L.L. Bean, the clothing line known for its quality and
high level of customer service, or the shoe company, Zappos, who does the
same. Unfortunately, the salvage industry as a whole gets judged on the lowest
common denominator – the few yards that operate below industry quality
standards. Those yards give the rest of the industry a bad name.”
When they purchased Toy Town Auto, they knew they needed to have a
fresh vision for the business. It had been operating since the 1950’s and
offered a 30-day warranty. According to Cahill, it also had inaccurate descriptions of parts and the physical property and buildings needed maintenance.
iStockphoto.com/akindo
Cahill says the first thing he and his team did was
ask “how can we make this business better?” They
decided to look at three major areas: the people they
employed; the cars they purchased; and the processes
they had in place.
Employee Review
They started with their employees and met with
each one to see if they had the ability to do the job
that would be required of them and the desire to
move forward with the new vision they had for the
newly-named Brown’s Auto Salvage. When they purchased the business there were 11 employees and
Cahill says they intended to keep all of them who
were interested in moving forward with them. What
they found was that over time, all but one decided to
leave because the change was so drastic.
“Our vision was to offer excellent customer service
that was proactive, where you do everything to keep
the customer happy,” said Cahill. “In order to do that
we needed to have a mentality shift from ‘one sale
and we’re done’ to a more continual customer
service that focuses on building relationships with
our customers. For example, we had one employee
who left because he felt it was a waste of time to call
back all of his quotes and sales from the day before.
He thought the customer would call him back if he
or she wanted the part and if he had already sold the
part, what was the need to call the customer back?”
Cahill and team took the time to look at the char-
acteristics and skills they needed for each job and
wrote job descriptions for each position. For example,
they wanted a young employee to work the yard and
a very detail-oriented and thorough person to handle
inventory. They kept these attributes in mind during
the interview process.
“We really took our time with the interviewing
process,” said Cahill. “We would spend a full day just
interviewing for a position. I feel if you spend the
time up front to make sure you are getting the right
person, it will be worth the time you take to obtain
them. If managers feel that they can’t spare the time
because they are too busy, then I would encourage
them to consider using a screening company to do
the interviews so they can make sure to attract the caliber of employee they need.”
Cahill says he feels that their employees are special
and although their business is too small to be able to
have a dedicated trainer, they incorporate training
on a continual basis to better equip their employees.
“A lot of people struggle with having time to train
employees because they are wearing several hats.
Although we don’t have a training manager, we recognize the importance of making sure that we keep
up with training,” said Cahill. “Safety and other specialty training such as the storage and handling of
hybrid batteries are only some of the subjects we
ensure we stay current on. It’s important to have the
safest work environment possible to avoid injuries
and damage to property.”
Reinventing 101
• Buy inventory for quality not quantity.
• Invest time in your employees, starting
with the hiring process. Know what you
want. Write accurate job descriptions for
each position. Use a screening company
in you don’t have time to interview applicants.
• Train your employees, especially with
regards to safety.
• Sell deeper into the car. Sell more parts.
• Provide detailed and accurate descriptions of your parts (starting in inventory).
• Make it easy for the customer to buy
from you. Remove obstacles that would
prevent them from buying from you.
Another area they analyzed
was the option to outsource
certain jobs. If an employee
will take longer to accomplish
the task perhaps it’s better to
give the job to another company who can do it better.
“So many owners want to
spend pennies to watch dimes
go by,” said Cahill. “We evaluated the job performance of
the employees who were doing
certain tasks and decided that,
in some cases, it made more
sense to outsource jobs. For
example, we decided to outsource our truck repair and in doing so we improved
the quality of the repair and saved time as well.”
Cahill says that by making all of these changes, in
less than one year, they have doubled their production.
A New Perspective on Cars and Parts
The next area that Cahill and team took on as they
transformed Toy Town Auto Salvage into Brown’s
Auto Salvage was considering the type cars they purchased. When the Browns and Cahills purchased the
salvage yard, the cars they had for inventory were
what Cahill calls “street buys” – lower priced merchandise, cars under $1,000 dollars that left them
able to compete on price alone, because the parts
were so old and high-mileage that they couldn’t compete on quality.
The quality of the inventory became a problem for
Cahill. “My input controlled my output and my
biggest mistake was to not crush everything and start
fresh,” said Cahill. “I crushed about 85 percent of our
inventory because it had high mileage, some parts
had been on the shelf for five years, and overall the
parts were junk. We had to move from the philosophy
that says, ‘you might as well leave parts on the shelf
since you bought them already and they will sell eventually’ to the 21st-century mindset where cash flow is
king.”
Cahill says that turn of inventory makes a difference
in today’s business and that instead of saving parts to
eventually sell them, there are other avenues available
today to turn those parts into revenue. For example,
besides crushing material you can also sell cores and
turn those parts into cash flow.
Cahill also suggests that 21st-century yards should
consider breaking up assemblies and selling parts as
specific parts. “With the Internet, today’s buyers are
much more aware of the exact part they need and
they may want to buy just a knee, not the whole package deal of knee, axel, spindle, etc.,” said Cahill. “By
selling things like airbags, knees, and other assemblies
as a group, you are limiting your audience and potential customers. Customers want the specific part and
don’t want the other parts or the higher price that
comes with the assembly.”
As a result Brown’s Auto Salvage finds themselves
inventorying deeper into the car today than it did
before. They also pay closer attention to their pricing,
making sure that they attract the most money for the
parts that they can’t keep in stock such as engines,
transmissions, and other major components. Then
they make sure that their prices are low and competitive for overstocked parts such as back seats.
Inventory purchasing is another way that the industry has changed. It is important to consider this when
re-inventing your business. Cahill says that now he
may pay more and buy cars that might have 50,000
miles on them rather than buying something cheaper
that has a motor with 150,000 on it. He goes for
quality over quantity and he says that ten years ago
the average turnover for inventory was between six to
18 months. Today, turnover rates are much quicker,
usually between 90 to 180 days.
Rethinking How It Works
The third area that Cahill and team considered
when re-inventing and shaping their business was the
processes they had in place. They changed three
major processes: inventory, parts description and customer service, including the payment process. These
changes according to Cahill, dramatically increased
their credibility and customer satisfaction.
“None of what we’re doing is magic,” said Cahill.
“The changes we made involved a major change in
mindset and may seem counterintuitive to the way
most salvage yards have done business. We have
removed the obstacles that would prevent a customer
from buying from us. Instead, we have developed a
customer service minded business that makes it easy
for the customer to buy from us. We have also made
it easy for a customer to have a problem fixed, should
one arise. As a result, we have greater customer satisfaction, eliminated wasted labor, have become more
efficient and have raised our credibility enormously.”
One of the first processes that the team at Brown’s
Auto examined was the inventory process. They
started to inventory more parts giving them the
opportunity to sell more parts. Now they sell a lot of
non-interchange parts. For example, instead of just
selling a door, they sell the door panel, sun visors,
center consoles, master switches, and more.
The second process they changed was the way they
described parts. Now, they take great effort to ensure
they enter all the information from the manufacturer
that they possibly can. Instead of entering minimal
information such as left door, blue, they are careful to
enter as much detail as they can. For that same door,
their description would include the trim code, paint
codes, and part numbers. They also use accurate
damage codes.
“Giving an accurate description for parts is essential
to increasing your potential sales,” says Cahill. “If time
is taken upfront to make sure to understand and
write an accurate detailed description of your part,
you increase the likelihood of someone buying it.
Rather than describing your mirror as an interior
mirror, make sure to note that it’s a GPS style interior
mirror. Instantly, you’ve expanded your potential
sales audience.
“We have found that our credibility with insurance
companies, body shops, dealerships, and retailers has
grown considerably since we have taken the time to
provide a more detailed inventory,” said Cahill. “We
have greatly reduced the number of returns because
the customer knows exactly what they are getting.”
This has played a part in changing the customer
service process as well. Due to greater representation
of the part upfront, they have reduced returns. They
also offer a 100% money back guarantee. Cahill says
they continue to take away any obstacle that would
prevent someone from buying from them.
“The security blanket for customers is being able to
get their money back if the part isn’t right,” said
Cahill. “We do our best to ensure they get the part
they are expecting. We also have put a pre-payment
process in place. We don’t have customer walk-ins for
parts that are not stocked on the shelf. In other
words, if the part has to be pulled from a vehicle, we
require customers to pay before they receive the part.
“This may sound counterintuitive to most yards,
but we have seen that it not only enhances our customer satisfaction, it eliminates wasted labor for a
part that remains unsold. Customers pay in advance
over the phone by debit or credit card and we call
them when their part is ready. Think of it as a valet
service for parts. We show the customer that we value
their time by saving them from waiting around at our
yard while an employee pulls the part from the vehicle. The benefit for us is we eliminate the possibility
of wasted labor for a part that may not get purchased.”■
Michelle Keadle-Taylor is a freelance writer based in Northern Virginia.
Investing On
Purpose
Training and Retaining Employees:
Metro Auto Recyclers Thinks Differently and Yield Big Results.
W
hat makes us different? You know, there are a lot
of good auto recyclers across the country and
many of them, like us, are pushing to be better.
We learned you have to think differently, and for
us, we focused on quality processes and quality
people,” explains Steve Dykstra, owner of Valparaiso,
Ind. based Metro Auto Recyclers. He and CEO Neil
Samahon attribute their new way of thinking to their
growth and recent achievements.
With humble beginnings, this family-owned business
launched in 1988 with Metro Recycling, launching
sister company Metro Auto in 1998. Metro Auto continues to grow, adding acreage, new buildings, a
growing staff, and additional locations in Illinois and
Indiana. They recycle over 1,000 vehicles annually.
Dykstra admits their focus on quality is what allowed
them to grow and achieve honors including joining
the PRP Network, ARA’s Gold Seal Program, the
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
(IDEM) Clean Yard Gold Status, and most recently
completing the Recycling Industry Operating
Standard (RIOS) certification. Metro Auto is one of
only seven Indiana auto yards to receive the IDEM
gold status and is the first and only auto recycler to
achieve the RIOS certification. Achieving these certifications was the catalyst for many changes at Metro,
including not only workflow efficiencies, but also a
new focus on their employees – the quality people
that make it all happen.
“We’re trying to be known as a trading partner that
we ourselves would want to work with,” states Samahon.
Workshops have been implemented to help managers improve key skills, such as interviews and the hiring process. NorthStar360 develops and
customizes all workshops to address challenges and opportunities that are specific to Metro.
Quality Processes
is in the ballpark of $100,000These certifications charged
$200,000. Although these certithe Metro Auto team to think
fications were consuming, it was
differently first and foremost
only part of the puzzle.
about their internal processes
A focus on quality people was
and meeting the industry’s stanthe next step and Metro Auto
dard for quality, environmental,
needed help.
and health & safety (QEH&S).
Metro Auto worked with Jim
Quality People
Counts of Counts Consulting Susan Riddering, vice president of NorthStar360 and
“As a small business we fly by
Steve
Dykstra,
owner
of
Metro
Auto
tour
the
yard
after
a
to seek direct improvements to
the seat of our pants sometheir internal processes. coaching session.
times. We quickly recognized
Changes included quality – development of a quality
that we really have a long way to go on how we train
control department to ensure all parts are clean, preand retain people,” explains Dykstra. Metro Auto’s
sentable and as described to the customer; environinitial interest in developing their staff was rooted in
mental – planting several green space areas and
a high turnover with temporary to hire workers with
lining the perimeter of the yard with trees; and,
sister company Metro Recycling. “We knew we needed
health & safety – a redesign of the delivery trucks to
to do something, and that’s when Susan knocked on
accommodate a pallet jack, reorganizing parts with a
our door.”
bar code system, relocating heavier products on
Metro Auto teamed with Rick and Susan Riddering
ground level/lower shelves, installing cranes in the
of NorthStar360 Business Solutions to identify key
dismantling section and reducing fork lift traffic.
business challenges that were impeding growth –
In a nutshell, all these changes contributed to a
starting with the high turnover with temp to hire
more efficient work environment, and have had
workers. The team agreed employee assessments
direct results on their bottom line. With fewer injuries
were the best first step.
and 3 to 4 fewer employees on payroll because of
Taking an assessment is the best first step for many
more efficient workflow, the positive financial impact,
reasons. Even the act of surveying your employees
A better organization of parts and developing a bar code to scan parts was one strategy to improve efficiency and safety at the Valparaiso site. John
Leegwater, operations manager (left), Susan Riddering, vice president of NorthStar360 (middle) and Steve Dykstra, owner of Metro Auto (right) talk
in the parts warehouse.
can have a powerful impact, showing them that you
care about them and are willing to invest in continual
training. For Dykstra and Samahon, the assessment
process helped to accomplish two things: 1. Measure
current employees’ strengths and areas for development and 2. Ensure new hires were a great fit for the
position.
“Providing employees with development opportunities will not only decrease any skill gaps, but will also
cause a tremendous confidence boost – contributing
to an increase in productivity and morale,” explains
Susan Riddering, vice president of NorthStar360.
Current employees have learned about their
strengths and what they bring to Metro Auto. For
managers, skill gaps have been identified and they
attend concept-based workshops designed to bridge
those specific gaps. For the management team, some
of those topics have included time management, the
five roles of leadership, personal productivity and
managing change. After each seminar, managers
work with a business coach from NorthStar360 to talk
about how they have implemented those new skills
and concepts at Metro Auto.
“The coaching call was like a check-up to see how I
was doing and what I had changed or put into play
since the workshop,” said John Leegwater, operations
manager. “Hey what are you doing about this? No
one wants to admit they’ve dropped the ball or not
followed up on a task, so the coaching call keeps a
level of awareness alive much longer than 48 hours
after the session.”
Dykstra agrees that the coaching increases accountability for what you have learned and helped identify
and define action steps to apply to daily work life. “It’s
really a key component of the learning process.”
Second, NorthStar360 introduced a few improvements to Metro Auto’s interviewing and hiring
process. They discovered potential candidates did
not fully understand the job description and expectations before accepting a position. The revised hiring
process includes a pre-employment assessment for
key competencies.
Potential job candidates now complete a brief
survey which identifies their strengths and weaknesses
– helping to better predict success in a new job. The
pre-employment assessment has become an integral
part of the hiring process. When used in combination
with the application and interview, the assessment
helps identify candidates that are a good fit for a particular job.
“It is nice to have a tool that identifies candidates
who are a good fit, so we’re not just going on our gutfeelings,” explains Samahon. In fact, for Metro Auto,
the three new hires that participated in NorthStar360’s assessment have been very effective in their
positions. The pre-employment assessment process
helps to minimize the risks associated with hiring
which can be very costly.
The team also created a more formal interview
process with a standard list of questions for all candidates. NorthStar360 created a custom training program for Metro Auto’s managers and supervisors to
establish this more formalized process. Riddering
explains that not only has this training given managers
and interviewers a new confidence, it ensures Metro
Auto is EEOC compliant during all interviews. The
response from interviewees has been positive as well.
“We hear that we ask questions that really make you
think. It has definitely added more professionalism to
our process, showing new candidates that our team is
One recent expansion at the Metro Auto Valparaiso, Ind. facility includes a new indoor dismantling building, seen above.
prepared and focused,” explains
Hiring a consultant can be up to do. Since we’ve done this,
Dykstra.
we’ve been confident enough to
scary because businesses
Dykstra and Samahon said the
add another location. That’s why
results for Metro Auto have been associate it with a high cost. we partnered with Rick and
business-changing, increasing emSusan.”
But it was exactly what
ployee productivity, retention and
Dykstra admits that hiring a conthis owner needed to take sultant can be scary because busimorale. Employees are happier
Metro to the next level.
and more fulfilled.
nesses associate it with a high cost.
“Our people see we’re trying to
But for this family-owned business,
develop them so we can grow to new levels. We care
it was exactly what was needed to take Metro to the
about them, and we have created more credibility as
next level, and Dykstra assures businesses there is a
a company,” Dykstra explains.
great return on investment. He recommends compaAs for the bottom line, there are direct savings from
nies research area consultants. For Metro, NorthStardecreased turn-over. “We all know turnover costs
360 specializes in growing small to mid-size businesses,
money in searching for a candidate, training and day
a perfect fit for Metro. “Rick and Susan are our
to day turmoil from having a vacant position,” said
experts,” said Dykstra, “they helped us to think differDykstra. In addition, there are savings from indirect
ently and look at the results! ■
costs like increased productivity, retention and morale.
NorthStar360 Business Solutions helps businesses maximize their success
Metro owner Dykstra and CEO Samahon are conthrough comprehensive hiring practices and in-depth employee development programs. For more information on NorthStar360, please call (219)
fident these changes and development were necessary
864-1576 or visit www.northstar360.com.
to take their business to the next level.
Metro Recycling Facility’s commitment to recycling and the environment
“This has been a process to position ourselves for
began in 1988 when it opened in Blue Island, Ill. Since then, two additional
growth,” explains Samahon. “We couldn’t have imagmetal recycling facilities were opened in Indiana. For more information on
ined growing further because we had a lot of cleaning
Metro, please call (219) 462-3753 or visit www.metroautorecyclers.com.
RECHARGING SALES
Card
Y
Playing the Technology
Making It Work For You.
ou’ve heard it all before.
The automotive industry’s
number one gripe is that it
is becoming very difficult to
obtain quality salvage — thanks
to the Internet. You’ve also
heard that in order to expand
your business and stay competitive as we go into the future,
you’ll need to embrace the age of technology
and use it to your advantage.
Whether you see technology and its constant
changes as a friend or a foe, it’s here to stay. So, you
might as well make it work to your advantage and
increase your business. That’s exactly what Tom’s
Foreign Auto Parts in Waterbury, Connecticut has
done.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013 will mark ten years
since Tom’s Foreign Auto Parts began using eBay
and over the years they have learned how to use
the Internet and social media sites to greatly
enhance their business. In fact, eBay has become
their biggest outlet for used parts sales on the
Internet and will continue to be so in the
future according to Jim Eitvydas, President,
Tom’s Foreign Auto Parts.
“We are always looking for new ways to sell
more parts in more places,” said Eitvydas,
“Our future depends on technology and
Internet sales. More and more, do-it-yourself
customers and shops are using the Internet
RECHARGING SALES
to find parts. We will make sure
Tole says that video has also
In order to have you own
that we are where they look when
become important to their online
successful e-commerce customers. They take a narrated
they are looking.”
Web site you must be
Not one to shy away from techvideo of every car they inventory
nology and the endless opportuni- willing to put effort into it. and post it to YouTube. Then, they
ties it offers, Eitvydas started using
use a custom program to log the
eBay ten years ago. His wife, Diane,
YouTube embedded codes so that
started their eBay business by sellthey can automatically insert them
ing owners’ manuals on it. They
into part listings around the
sold over 700 owners’ manuals in
Internet. According to Tole, they
the first year alone and realized
currently have over 3,000 videos
they were on to something. After
on YouTube and are just weeks
two years, they hired an employee
away from hitting one million
to work full-time on eBay. That
video views.
employee, Dan Tole, E-Commerce
Posting videos to YouTube
Manager for Tom’s Foreign Auto
evolved as their eBay business
Parts, joined the team and has Jim Eitvydas, President, Tom’s Foreign Auto expanded. “As our eBay business
been expanding the opportunities Parts, left with Dan Tole, e-Commerce Manager, grew we started to look for more
(along with two other employees ) right.
opportunities to reach our cusfor e-commerce ever since.
tomers online and describe our parts better,” said
“Jimmy hired me when I was about 22 years old,”
Tole.
explained Tole. “I had worked on and off at Tom’s
“Sales-wise eBay is the biggest outlet for used parts
Foreign Auto Parts as a teenager. My father had
for us and will continue to be for the foreseeable
known Jimmy when they were younger and also
future,” said Eitvydas. “Amazon is the fastest growing
worked here part-time. When Jimmy hired me I had
Internet site but offers a lot of challenges for used
been working at a parts store, building computers
parts. It’s been good for us, but on a much smaller
and selling on eBay myself. Between Jimmy and
scale. Craigslist has helped us get a lot of local traffic
myself, I don’t think there has ever been a time we
and allows us to link directly to our Web site. It has
have been afraid to try something new in regards to
to be used in moderation though, to keep from getthe Internet or technology.”
ting posts pulled or banned.
One of the ways that Tom’s Foreign Auto Parts
“I think for anyone wanting to increase the way
makes technology work for them is to use it to autothey use the Internet for sales, I would encourage
mate repetitive tasks such as pictures, YouTube
them to not be afraid of trying new smaller market
videos, updating online inventory, modifying invenplaces as you find them,” says Eitvydas “Ultimately
tory, making price changes, and more. They use cuscreating your own e-commerce site has the best long
tom programs for inventory, ordering, and narrating
term benefits. Our own e-commerce Web site
videos of all of their parts vehicles.
Tom’sForeign.com has been extremely successful.
“Why waste time doing tasks computers can do for
We sell exactly the same parts on that site as we sell
us?” asked Eitvydas. “We find that by using these cuson eBay and Amazon.
tom programs, it helps us to sell more parts. “
“In order to have you own successful e-commerce
“Our most used custom program is for images,”
Web site you must be willing to put effort into it. This
said Tole. “We are able to use wireless cameras and
doesn’t mean building a site with a few pages and
bar coding to take pictures and automatically upload
using a different company’s dynamic look to make
them into our inventory system as well as onto mulyours look interesting. The best results will be from
tiple market places. We knew that having pictures of
a full-fledged e-commerce site, rich with updated
every part was becoming extremely important, but
content. Content is the key to getting your site found
the time to manually rename them and move them
online.”
around our network was a bottle neck for us. Now we
As technology changes, there are more and more
make it a point to take a minimum of three images
opportunities for recyclers to attract potential busiof every part our staff handles. Pictures sell parts
ness. Yet, although it offers exciting and endless
online. It allows us to set customer expectation
opportunities, many recyclers may find that they are
before the sale by showing them exactly what they
still reluctant to take the time to make it really work
are getting.
for them or they simply may not be sure how to max42 Automotive Recycling | March-April 2013
RECHARGING SALES
TIPS TO GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TECHNOLOGY
• If you aren’t tech savvy, start slowly but start using technology.
Don’t be afraid to ask advice and to learn from mistakes.
Approach one aspect of technology at a time.
• Make a conscious effort to use technology in your daily processes
such as with inventory, ordering, videos of your inventory etc.
• Build your eBay business.
• Start to diversify your presence on social media sites, Amazon,
Craigslist, etc. The best place to start is with Facebook. Create a
fan page for your business and post something that would interest
your viewers daily.
• Give your business personality through your posts that encourage
personal interaction with your customers. Examples of this include,
funny images, questions posed to your followers, videos of the more
interesting aspects of your business.
• Jim Eitvydas recommends checking out the following links:
>Internet Retailers Conference, www.irce.internetretailers.com/2013
>Channel Advisor conference, www.channeladvisor.com/
catalyst2013.
Jim and his team have found these sites to be a wealth of information
as they continue to build their e-commerce business.
In order to have you own
imize technology to increase
example, they try asking their
their profits.
followers questions about their
successful e-commerce
The team at Tom’s Foreign
Web site you must be willing cars or about their opinions on
Auto Parts has learned that a key
hot news topics. They post funny
to put effort into it.
to maximizing their presence on
pictures and videos to get peothe Internet is diversification.
ple’s attention. They have found
They have put their business on all
that videos of cars being crushed and
the social media sites they can. They
other parts of the auto recycling operhave created an e-commerce Web site
ation are interesting to people and
that provides fresh content and is
attract many viewers.
updated regularly. They also are on
“I guess the point is to not flood
eBay, Amazon, Craigslist and any other
people with ads about an alternator
social media site they can find.
sale,” said Tole. “It’s important to
“You have to work social media,”
engage and interact with your cussaid Eitvydas. “Used parts are not
tomers so that when they do need
exciting, but you have to find ways to
something your name will be on
make your business exciting and intertheir mind. Make social feeds valuesting to your followers. Give them a
able to them so they keep reading
reason to follow you. Be consistent
and don’t ignore you.”
and deliver content to your customers
So, for yards wanting to really start
daily. No online marketplace is a ‘set
using technology in a more effective
it and forget it’ deal. It constantly
way, where’s the best place to start?
needs to be monitored, added to,
“The good news is that these things
revamped, and updated.”
can be accomplished by any size salThe Internet thrives on fresh convage yard provided they use technoltent, suggests Eitvydas. “Having a
ogy to simplify it,” said Eitvydas. “I
dynamic parts search will not get you
would encourage you to embrace it
traffic, but fresh content will. You also cannot rely on
and don’t run from it. Start to work it into your staff’s
just eBay or your Web site alone. What would
daily processes. For most yards, starting on eBay and
happen if one of them was to fail? Would you be out
growing from there will be the most feasible path.”
of business? You have to look at all new market
According to Eitvydas, it is vital to get everyone in
places and figure out which ones you can adapt to
the business – from the employee taking inventory
your business.” Another way to diversify your presence
to customer service staff to the employee working in
to customers and keep providing updated and fresh
the yard – to take ownership of your e-commerce
content is by producing a weekly e-mail newsletter.
business or it will not work.
You might ask, how do you make your parts sound
“There are several important parts to making your
exciting? Tole admits that there really “aren’t any ways
e-commerce business successful,” says Eitvydas. “First,
to make OEM parts exciting,” but they have devised
it’s important that every employee owns it and sees
various other ways to attract potential customers. For
the value of your e-commerce business. We accom44 Automotive Recycling | March-April 2013
RECHARGING SALES
plish this by keeping the lines of communication
open and showing our employees the benefits and
results of using e-commerce.
“Another important part of e-commerce is setting
customer expectations and delivering on what is
promised. Be transparent, offer a good warranty and
make it easy for customers to send parts back. Make
sure that every customer is happy no matter what it
takes. The last thing you want is bad feedback, bad
reviews, or negative talk about your business on
social media outlets. Those are things that can negatively affect your internet presence.”
Eitvydas feels that as social media goes, the number
one place to start is on Facebook because it’s free, it’s
easy and your customers are probably already using it.
“I would encourage auto recyclers to create a fan
page for your business and keep it updated,” he said.
“It takes no time to post a status update and by posting things like questions for your followers, a funny
image, news, or even a coupon, you will prompt people to interact with you on a more personal level.
This shows that your business has a personality.
Social media is a great path for growth in the future.
Will your business go under for not doing it? No, but
it’s free, easy, and puts you in front of customers
every day so why wouldn’t you use it?”
You may say to yourself, this all sounds good but I
still have no idea how to navigate my way around all
this technology.
Tole offers the following advice.
“The only way to learn technology is to start using
it,” said Tole. “I would suggest starting slowly and
doing things one by one. Don’t try to take on the
whole world all at once. It’s ok to make mistakes and
ask others for guidance. Many sites and off the shelf
software offer help sections and how-to write ups.
eBay, for example, makes it easy for a complete
Internet novice to list items, yet still offers tools for
advanced users. This allows you to start small, learn
the system and then step into more advanced selling
when you are ready.
“It can take as much time as the yard wants it to. It
really depends on how far they want to go and how
fast they pick it up. There are too many variables to
say it will take ‘x’ amount of time every day. At the
end of the day, the sales and customer satisfaction
will reflect the time that is put into it.” ■
REMAKING PROFITS
Got Some
Tread?
Turning Your Used Tire Sales into a Cash Crop.
S
ome people stumble upon their destinies, but Ron Wilbert, of Wilbert’s
Inc. in upstate New York, rolled into his long before he was a teenager.
His father and founder of Wilbert’s Inc., Arthur Wilbert, gave him a job
that no one wanted – to sort and organize the piles of tires at Wilbert’s
back in the early seventies.
“In the late seventies, Dad
never told me to stop so I just kept
going,” said Ron Wilbert, now one of the owners of
Wilbert’s Inc. “We started installing tires which led to
a new tire shop for installations and storage. We also
actively started purchasing used tires from other
recyclers and tire dealers. By the eighties we were
also selling multiple brands of new tires as well.”
At the same time that their tire business was developing, Ron also discovered a passion for wheels.
Wilbert’s started refinishing steel and alloy wheels
over 25 years ago and now stock nearly 10,000 new,
refinished and used wheels. This passion led Ron
and his team to grow his tire and wheel business to
represent almost half of the dollar volume for
Wilbert’s sales.
Today, Ron has taken on other responsibilities since
his father’s passing five years ago, as Wilbert’s has now
grown to three locations, with a recently opened UPull-It yard. Ron says he is proud to not only work with
his two brothers, but also to have three sons and a
nephew amongst their 61 employees.
The hard work of Ron and the team at Wilbert’s
Inc. has caught the attention of fellow recyclers.
“Tires have always been one of our top sellers and
we look to Wilbert’s Inc. for ideas on how to
improve our own business,” said Steve Barkwell of
Gary’s U-Pull-It, Binghamton, NY. “Wilbert’s has
been in business for over 60 years and is well
respected in the industry, especially when it comes
to how to run an efficient and impressive tire sales
business.”
REMAKING PROFITS
Going hand-in-hand with selecting
the right dedicated staff for the job,
is putting thorough and clear processes
in place for your tire business.
Early 70’s at Wilberts.
Leak testing.
Wilbert’s was able to achieve this reputation by
concentrating on areas such as quality control,
organization and exceptional customer service.
“Automotive recyclers have always had the ingredients to be in the tire business, but many have chosen in the past to overlook it,” said Wilbert. “With
the recent great increases in cost, tires have become
a commodity that now cannot be ignored. How
sophisticated a tire business you wish to develop is a
derivative of time, talent, and space. Having the traffic through your store to which to market the tires
isn’t even an excuse any more as thousands of used
tires are sold every day on eBay and Craigslist.”
The first most important ingredient in getting
started is to have the right man for the job. That
means having an employee devoted to inspecting,
labeling, organizing, and selling your tires. That
employee is also going to need a well-lit and climatecontrolled area to set up shop. If you’re processing
anywhere close to 1,000 cars a year, the employee will
need additional help, suggests Ron. Wilbert’s, who
also sells new tires, have two full-time sales people,
two installation techs and two more employees for
processing, inspecting and labeling and that doesn’t
include parttime help.
Going hand-in-hand with selecting the right dedicated staff for the job, is putting thorough and clear
processes in place for your tire business. The team at
Wilbert’s spent a lot of time making sure that their
processes for inspecting, testing, repairing and cleaning tires were detailed, accurate and meet the
highest quality standards.
“The procedure I feel is the most important of all
of them is the proper inspection of used tires when
removed from vehicles for dismantling,” said Wilbert.
“Before deflating tires for dismounting they should
be visually inspected for sidewall bulges or cuts as
well as weather cracking. These conditions are much
more obvious when tires are inflated. Mark damage
with an ink crayon to prevent these tires being sold
thus becoming a liability.
“Most importantly, don’t let your tire processor dismount sellable tires that are flat or low on air.
Instead inflate these tires and inspect for the source
of air loss. The purchase of a dunk tank saves much
time in this process. Don’t throw away money! Tires
with plugs or nails can easily be permanently repaired
with a small investment of materials and training.”
Wilbert’s also internally inspects tires for damage
after dismounting to ensure they are selling a safe
product and to reduce liability issues. Wilbert says
they are able to place stickers on their tires that say
“Inspected and Guaranteed” because their processes
allow them to have confidence in their tires.
Wilbert’s considers tread depth, wear pattern, popularity, and the manufacturer of the tire when determining a competitive price. They are careful to not
overprice their tires worn beyond 50% and offer a
reduced price for single tires. Winter tires, excluding
LT, are only processed during the winter season
when their value is high.
“Don’t over price tires you think you’re going to
make a lot on,” said Wilbert. “For example, if you get
some current model cars with unique size tires
realize that they are going to be the hardest to sell
because the type of customer that would own that
kind of vehicle, is not your average customer.
“Keep your tires competitively priced especially if
you are new to tire retailing. Once you have the traffic, then you can demand more for your product.”
Another part of Wilbert’s attention to detail is the
labeling they do for each tire. In addition to the
“Inspected and Guaranteed” stickers they place on
their tires following inspection, they are careful to
note any blemishes on the label and the invoice.
“We go to great lengths to get special labels that
can’t be removed,” said Wilbert. “If a customer tries
to pull the label to switch it for one on a cheaper tire,
the label tears, alerting the retail staff. This helps
gives us extra protection against fraud.”
Also vital to a thriving tire business is the quality of
staff you employ. Wilbert’s has dedicated staff to
their tire business for 30 years. Their top parts salesman has spent many years selling tires. This reflects
their belief that educated tires sales people not only
sell more tires, but keep customers coming back.
Their attention to customer service also led them to
offer tire installations as part of their business.
Proper equipment.
REMAKING PROFITS
“Be patient. It takes time to develop a
niche whatever it is but you already have
the gold so just mine it. Even though it’s
black it still pays off green!”
– Ron Wilbert
Which one would you buy?
Sales team dedicated to tires.
“Half of our customers wouldn’t come to Wilbert’s
without our excellent customer service,” said Ron.
“We expect to get customers that don’t know what
size tire they need for their car. We frequently
inspect the tires on a customer’s car as the first step
to make sure of what their needs are. Many of our
used tire customers trust us to pick the tires they
need, as they know we are the professionals.
“We probably install 95% of the used and new tires
we sell. Our return ratio is less than 1% on tires
because we take care of everything. Customers are
busy so they prefer a one-stop tire shop.”
Wilbert’s started stocking new tires because they
felt it made sense instead of sending their customers
down the road. If they are out of stock of the used
tires the customer needs they make sure to have the
new tires so they meet the customer’s needs.
“New tire sales are an integral part of our business
now,” said Ron. “It enhances our customer service
allowing customers to find the tires they need here.
When customers come through our door they don’t
know if they will leave with used or new tires because
it depends on our inventory and stock; but they
know they can depend on us to meet their needs.”
And finally when thinking about your full service
tire business, it’s important to have a clean, well-lit
area to store and sell your tires. Tires should be
racked in an organized fashion so customers can easily find what they need. The area should be adjacent
to your retail counter and must be maintained daily.
Wilbert’s uses two tire barns that can store over
1,000 tires at a time and they assist all customers with
their purchases.
When it comes to self-service facilities, Ron says
that there are special considerations for selling tires.
“Most u-pull-its have not adjusted pricing to reflect
the increases in tire cost,” said Ron. “They price by
rim size with no consideration of the tread depth.
Therefore, they quickly sell their high tread tires that
are under-priced to customers who many times will
resell them at their real value for more profit than
the u-pull-it was making. Also the u-pull-its are left
with marginal tires that are overpriced that they
can’t sell.
“Therefore, I developed a color-based tire pricing
system for our u-pull-it yard. All tires are inspected
while the car is on the drain table. All unsafe nonsellable tires are sprayed with a bright orange line on
the sidewall. All other tires are sprayed one of three
designated colors on the tread to represent good,
better, best categories with three different price designations associated to the colors.”
Should you decide to get into the tire business,
Ron’s advice is to, “Be patient. It takes time to
develop a niche, but you already have the gold so
just mine it. Even though it’s black it still pays off
green!”
Wilbert’s has prospered over the years because of
the importance they put on the family, employees,
and the communities they serve. Wilbert’s has three
locations in upstate New York currently with 61
employees and growing!
Ron has also served as Past President of the NEPRP group for the past two years and led them to
great growth. Ron is happy to answer all request for
info at [email protected] ■
SPOTLIGHT ON EXCELLENCE
Understanding the
product-driven nature
of the automotive recycling
business has been key
to their success.
B Y LY N N N O V E L L I
Rhine Auto, Inc.
Purposeful
Business
W
hat do you do with 40 acres of property in Sheboygan County, Wis.
and an assortment of junk cars? When the township orders you to
either move or get a salvage license, you start a salvage business.
That was the inauspicious
beginning in 1958 of what today
is Rhine Auto, an ARA Gold Seal
facility in Plymouth, Wis. Brothers
Steve and Mike Urner, co-owners of the business,
enjoy telling the story of how their father and
grandfather, Paul G. and Paul J. Urner, started the
business on the family farm for the cost of the $15
salvage license. It grew from there,” Steve Urner
says, “The more cars they had sitting around the
more people came.”
Typical of many ARA family-held companies, the
Urner brothers grew up in the business, working
with their father and grandfather after school, on
weekends, and during vacations. After graduating
from high school a year apart in the early 1980’s,
Steve and Mike joined their father in the business
full-time and eventually assumed joint ownership
when their father retired.
Over the years Steve and Mike transformed the
business from retail to primarily a wholesale operation. “It was a slow progression to get to where we
are today,” Steve Urner says. “Where we are situated, between Green Bay and Milwaukee, is a good
crossroads. We sell to the yards in both cities.”
Still in its original location on the former family
SPOTLIGHT ON EXCELLENCE
farm, Rhine Auto today specializes in 2000 and
newer foreign and domestic trucks and sport utility
vehicles, dismantling approximately 1,000 late
model vehicles annually and processing 200 to 300
scrap vehicles that are crushed and sold.
Understanding the product-driven nature of the
automotive recycling business has been key to the
Urner’s success, dating back to when their father
collected scrap vehicles on the family farm. “We
have always believed
that if we have a quality
product, customers will
come,” Steve says.
Smart buying is the
foundation for Rhine
Auto’s commitment to
a quality product. Both
Steve and Mike buy
vehicles online and at
live auctions, using a
bidding module and
following their buying
objectives. “We are
focused on late model
vehicles – trucks and
SUVs – and we stay
away from low-end vehicles,” Steve explains.
“We are aggressive in
our buying.”
Starting out in the
business, the Urners
learned how to buy vehicles the hard way – by
trial and error. In 1998,
they engaged with wellknown automotive recycling consultant Jim
Counts to upgrade and
refine their buying strategies. They have come to rely
on Counts’ basic principles for “purposeful buying,”
tracking their inventory carefully so they know what
they need to buy and measuring what they buy so
they can predict future sales.
Their general plan, Steve says, is to ensure they
buy enough quality product to support their sales
goals. “In the wholesale business, having a quality,
saleable product in stock is the most important
thing,” he notes. In addition to independent buying, Rhine Auto also takes advantage of cooperative
purchasing as a member of QRP since 2000 and
since 2005 when the company installed the
Pinnacle automotive recycling management software.
Efficiency in every aspect of Rhine Auto’s operation is second only to inventory in defining the
company’s success. Although the business is situated on 40 acres, operations are centered in four
clustered buildings that house dismantling, shipping and receiving, the warehouse and offices.
A 1995 fire in the dismantling shop resulted in
relocating warehouse space and offices away from
the dismantling area, which, Steve believes, actually
improved efficiency.
A recently completed major reorganization
streamlined the shipping and receiving area.
Moving some racking created the space to install
a waste-to-water washing system, an overhead crane,
a parts prepping station, a small package wrapping
area and two additional computer stations.
Reconfiguring other existing racking now allows
for inside pallet storage near the prep area for LTL
pallets. To complete the project, two loading docks
for cube vans were added. “The new flow works
really well,” Steve notes. “Two people are able to
handle all parts prepping, wrapping, palletizing
and truck loading.”
The Urner’s passion for efficiency extends to
their personnel structure. They run their total operation with three full-time dismantlers and two fulltime parts pullers and only 10 other employees
(three salespeople, three drivers, two shipping specialists, one office manager and one maintenance
specialist). They believe that a flat organizational
structure, without supervisor or manager-level positions, is the most efficient. “We rely on our employees a lot,” Steve explains. “Each of them is in
charge of their own daily job, and they are accountable for what they do.”
Employees thrive on the responsibility this organizational structure gives them, he reports, and it has
resulted in very low employee turnover in the com-
Rhine Auto’s Principles of Success
1. Focus on buying quality inventory.
2. Understand your market.
3. Maximize efficiency in operations.
4. Keep it simple. (See No. 1, above)
pany. Among the 15 full-time employees, several
have 25 years or more of service and several others
have more than 15 years. This structure also allows
for better control of dismantling costs, which
means that Rhine Auto can maintain competitive
pricing on its quality parts.
During their years in business, the Urners have
come to know what works for them, and they
believe in sticking with proven business and operational strategies and a basically simple approach to
their business. They understand their market, buy
quality inventory and expect their small team of
employees to do their best. Although Steve and
Mike are constantly evaluating the latest technology, they purchase new software, hardware or equipment only when they are convinced it will improve
efficiency.
“We keep things simple, we don’t go into debt,
and we watch our overhead pretty carefully,” Steve
says. “That may be why we don’t run with the latest
technology. Having a quality product is always more
important.”
That’s not to say the Urner brothers are out of
touch. They stay up on what’s happening in the
auto recycling industry through membership in
ARA and Concerned Auto Recyclers of Wisconsin
(CARS), their state association. ■
Lynn Novelli is a freelance writer based in Ohio.
ARA SCHOLARSHIPS
ARA Scholarship
Academic Year 2012-2013
T
he ARA Scholarship Foundation, Inc.
is a non-profit organization whose
purpose is to promote education
through the awarding of scholarships.
Monies are available to ARA
members’ employee’s children for
post-high school educational pursuits.
These scholarships are funded through contributions
from people like you, who care about the future of
our children, as well as money raised at events.
Each year, many generous contributors help the
Foundation achieve its goals. The funds help more
students achieve their dream – gaining a college
education. We appreciate all of you who generously
contributed to this effort.
Now, how can you help? Why not send a donation
today? You can even sponsor a named scholarship!
Those wanting to make a donation of $1,000 at one
time may name a scholarship for one year. For
$10,000 a permanent scholarship may be named.
A donor may name such scholarships in honor or
memory of anyone they wish. Contributions are
tax-deductible and may be made by cash, check,
MasterCard, Visa, or American Express.
The deadline to apply for a scholarship for
the next academic year is drawing near. Eligible
applicants, who must be a child of an employee
of a direct ARA member company, need to complete
and submit a scholarship application by March 15,
2013. The scholarships are awarded based on
scholastic achievement.
Download an application from the ARA Web site at
www.a-r-a.org or you contact Kelly Badillo directly at
(571) 208-0428 or [email protected] to receive an
application by mail or e-mail.
DONALD ROUSE HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Amy Anema, Huntington University,
Huntington, IN
Member: LKQ Corporation, Chicago, IL
Parent: Kenneth Anema
HARRY M. WELLER HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Brad Bartels, Grand Valley
State University, Allendale, MI
Member: LKQ Veneklasen Auto Parts,
Holland, MI
Parent: Brian Bartels
KATIE & ALEX LIEBERMAN FAMILY
MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Amber Bovenmyer, University of
Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI
Member: LKQ Star Auto Parts,
Janesville, WI
Parent: Amy Bovenmyer
NEW YORK ASSOC. OF AUTO
DISMANTLERS SCHOLARSHIP
Harley Dissinger, Wayne Community
College, Goldsboro, NC
Member: Wayne Auto Salvage,
Goldsboro, NC
Parent: Greg Dissinger
SOL & LIN TODER HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Nicole Dutton, Western New England
University, Springfield, MA
Member: Sylvia's Auto Parts, Inc.,
South Dartmouth, MA
Parent: Sharon Dutton
LKQ CORP. SCHOLARSHIP
Daniel Eckel, University of
Illinois, Champaign, IL
Member: LKQ Corporation, Chicago, IL
Parent: Stephen Eckel
KENNY HUBBARD HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Sarah Eich, Dakota State
University, Madison, SD
Member: Vander Haags, Inc.,
Souix Falls, SD
Parent: Jerry Schroeder
SANDY ANDERSEN MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Caleb Bowman, University of
South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Member: LKQ A&R Auto Parts,
Duncan, SC
Parent: Joe Bowman
REGION IV ARIZONA & NEW MEXICO
SCHOLARSHIP
Joseph Fenoglio, Kansas State
University, Manhattan, KS
Member: LKQ Colorado, Denver, CO
Parent: Shawn Fenoglio
CLAUDE A. MILLER JR. MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Casey Carpenter, University
of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Member: LKQ Mid-America
Auto Parts, Topeka, KS
Parent: Kevin Carpenter
HARRY RUBIN MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Ryan Freeman, University of
Dayton, Dayton, OH
Member: LKQ Triplett ASAP,
Akron, OH
Parent: Gary Freeman
DONALD E. & BERNICE L. BEAGELL
Hannah Dahlgren, Endicott College,
Beverly, MA
Member: Jerry Brown's Auto Parts,
Queensbury, NY
Parent: Julia Dahlgren
JAN SORENSON MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Danielle Gaw, Columbia College,
Columbia, MO
Member: J.C. Auto & Truck Parts,
Monroe City, MO
Parent: Brian Dean
Foundation Recipients
BO WROTEN HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Timothy Griffith, University of
Central Florida, Orlando, FL
Member: LKQ Greenleaf - Lake City,
Lake City, FL
Parent: James Griffith
MARK T. SPEARS HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Travis Hankamp, Santa Fe College,
Gainesville, FL
Member: LKQ Greenleaf - Lake City,
Lake City, FL
Parent: John Hankamp
ELVIS MUNTZ MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Austin Harrell, University of Arkansas
Community College, Morrilton, AR
Member: LKQ Preferred Auto Parts,
Conway, AR
Parent: Michael Harrell
JOHN VANDER HAAG HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Ashlyn Hendrix, Rocky Mtn.
College of Art & Design, Denver, CO
Monroe City, MO
Parent: Keith Hendrix
BILL WEAVER HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Michael Henry, Lynchburg College,
Lynchburg, VA
Member: All Foreign Used Auto Parts,
Fredericksburg, VA
Parent: Gary Henry
GERALD C. SHEFTEL MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Emily Heuver, University of Maryland,
College Park, MD
Member: LKQ Potomac German Auto,
Frederick, MD
Parent: Marcel Heuver
VIRGINIA WHELAN MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Teresa Heuver, University of Maryland,
College Park, MD
Member: LKQ Potomac German Auto,
Frederick, MD
Parent: Marcel Heuver
SKIP WELLER HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Quinn Huver, Alma College, Alma, MI
Member: Weller Auto Parts,
Grand Rapids, MI
Parent: Anthony Huver
EDYTH CLELAND MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Lisa Lam, George Brown College,
Toronto, ON Canada
Member: Standard Auto Wreckers,
Toronto, ON Canada
Parent: Amanda Lam
SUSAN WEAVER HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Victoria Morrone, Georgia Southern
University, Statesboro, GA
Member: Weaver Automotive,
Carnesville, GA
Parent: Joseph Morrone
SOUTHERN ONTARIO AUTO
RECYCLERS ASSOCIATION (SOAR)
Victoria Lam, University of Waterloo,
Waterloo, ON Canada
Toronto, ON Canada
Parent: Amanda Lam
KEN VONHOF MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Brittany Nampel, University of
Wisconsin-Platteville, Platteville, WI
Member: LKQ Smart Parts, Inc.,
Hustisford, WI
Parent: Russell Nampel
RUBY GRIGGERS MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Candace Leegwater, Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN
Member: Metro Auto Parts &
Wreckers, Valparaiso, IN
Parent: John Leegwater
NORMAN DULANEY MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Mariah Odom, University of South
Carolina - Upstate, Spartanburg, SC
Duncan, SC
Parent: Michael Odom
JOSEPH ALTFATER MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Marisa Legg, Wayne Community
College, Goldsboro, NC
Member: Wayne Auto Salvage,
Goldsboro, NC
Parent: Ronald Jansen
DICK & DOROTHY MERRELL
HONORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Spencer Pirnik, Baylor University,
Waco, TX
Member: P & C Auto Wrecking,
Milpitas, CA
Parent: Greg Pirnik
DON & CAROL PHELPS HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Harlen McKennett, North Idaho
College, Coeur d'Alene, ID
Member: Spalding Auto Parts,
Spokane, WA
Parent: Patrick McKennett
LINDA PITMAN HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Jennifer Rasco, Texas Tech University
Health Science Center, Lubbock, TX
Member: B & R Auto Parts,
Lubbock, TX
Parent: Terry Rasco
FAY ORCUTT MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Holly Kulm, University of Kansas,
Lawrence, KS
Member: LKQ Mid-America,
Topeka, KS
Parent: Kevin Kulm
EZ CRUSHER SCHOLARSHIP
Taylor Mehr, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN
Member: Pam's Auto, Inc.,
St. Cloud, MN
Parent: Michelle Mehr
NORMAN DULANEY MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Tiffany Rasco, Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, TX
Member: B & R Auto Parts,
Lubbock, TX
Parent: Terry Rasco
CAROL PHELPS MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Ashley LaFrance, Eastern Washington
University, Cheney, WA
Member: Spalding Auto Parts,
Spokane, WA
Parent: Glen LaFrance
STUART SPITZ HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Samantha Miller, Anna Maria College,
Paxton, MA
Member: LKQ Route 16 Used Auto
Parts, Webster, MA
Parent: Ronnie Miller
CAR-PART.COM SCHOLARSHIP
Valerie Rasicci, Ohio State University,
Columbus, OH
Member: LKQ Triplett ASAP,
Akron, OH
Parent: Justine Rasicci
RICHARD J. CASSIDY MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Cassandra Johnson,
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Member: Erie Volvo, Inc.,
Whitesboro, NY
Parent: Jack Johnson
ASHLEY GEIGER MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Jessica Johnson, Eastern Illinois
University, Charleston, Il
Member: Mack’s Auto Recycling,
Urbana, Il
Parent: Sherri Johnson
JOHN ANSPACH MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Laura Jones, Academy of Art
University, San Francisco, CA
Member: Don's Automotive Mall, Inc.,
Binghamton, NY
Parent: Phillip Jones
NAN TODER MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Nikole Komand, Alvernia University,
Reading, PA
Member: Chuck’s Auto Salvage, Inc.,
Douglasville, PA
Parent: James Komand
ARA SCHOLARSHIPS
MARY BUESSING & ROSE KELLY
Geoffrey Riggs, Jr, Arizona State
University, Tempe, AZ
Member: LKQ All Models Corporation,
Phoenix, AZ
Parent: Geoffrey Riggs
DAVID AUTRY MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Cody Steed, University of
Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI
Member: LKQ Star Auto Parts,
Janesville, WI
Parent: Tom Steed
CONTINUING EDUCATION
SCHOLARSHIP
Caleb Swinson, Appalachian State
University, Boone, NC
Member: Foil’s Automotive Recycling,
Harrisburg, NC
Parent: Timothy Swinson
FRANK NICASTRI MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Alanna Ticknor, Nipissing University,
North Bay, ON Canada
Toronto, ON Canada
Parent: Ian Ticknor
BRANDY MASON MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Meredith Rudasill, University South
Carolina-Upstate, Spartanburg, SC
Duncan, SC
Parent: Tamela Rudasill
STEVE WATERBURY MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Renee Stone, University of
Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO
Monroe City, MO
Parent: Ricky Stone
MARK T. SPEARS HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Amber Swogger, St. Louis College
of Pharmacy, St. Louis, MO
Member: LKQ Metro #560,
Caseyville, IL
Parent: Malcolm Swogger
DON COWELL MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Alyssa Venditto, Syracuse University,
Syracuse, NY
Member: Saw Mill Auto Wreckers,
Yonkers, NY
Parent: Michael Venditto
WANDA LINDEMAN MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Victoria Shockey, LoneStar
Community College, Conroe, TX
Member: LKQ Auto Parts of South
Texas, Houston, TX
Parent: Jeffrey Shockey
SCHOLARSHIP
Shaina Streeter, Aquinas College,
Grand Rapids, MI
Member: East Bay Auto Parts,
Interlochen, MI
Parent: Kim Streeter
TERRY GRAY HONORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Alyssa Taylor, University of
Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO
Member: County Line Auto Parts,
Kingsville, MO
Parent: Gary Taylor
AL-JON SCHOLARSHIP
Stephanie Venditto, Syracuse
University, Syracuse, NY
Member: Saw Mill Auto Wreckers,
Yonkers, NY
Parent: Michael Venditto
SCHOLARSHIP
Lori Waters, University of
South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Member: Blue and Gold Auto Storage,
Goose Creek, SC
Parent: Barbara Waters
SCHOLARSHIP
Daniel Weaver, University of
Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Member: Chaz’s Used Auto Parts
& Towing, Toneytown, MD
Parent: Sharon Weaver
G.M. VENEKLASEN MEMORIAL
SCHOLARSHIP
Excene Wolfgeher, Northwest Missouri
State University, Maryville, MO
Member: County Line Auto Parts,
Kingsville, MO
Parent: Sheila Hammond
MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE ARA SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Mail to: ARA Scholarship Foundation, 9113 Church Street, Manassas, VA 20110-5456.
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International Auto Recycling
Reports from Around the World
Time to Think
By Andy Latham
T
ick! Another second gone, one that
you will never get back. We have
86,400 seconds in each day, on average
we will be sleeping for 28,800 seconds so
there are 57,600 seconds available for us
to use. Please allow me to take around
120 seconds of your daily allowance.
One of the best pieces of advice I
received when changing jobs many years
ago was “take time to think and write
your ideas in pencil, because you can rub
out those ideas that were no good.”
Twenty-two years later, this is even more
relevant in the current business climate
we face.
I mentioned this idea of thinking and
writing ideas to one customer a few
months ago, he immediately came back
to me and said, “I haven’t got the time to
do that, I’m too busy.”
Years ago, I regularly attended evening
meetings for local Motor Traders and
noticed a fellow regular attendee had
missed a few meetings. He had been in a
serious car accident and spent over six
weeks in hospital before recuperating at
home for another three months. When I
saw him again he was a changed man –
yes the accident had affected his mobility,
but more importantly it had changed the
course of his company. For the first time
in nearly ten years, he had time to think.
As a result he now takes every Tuesday
morning away from the office to sit and
think, and the company has grown, diversified, and remains very profitable twenty
years later.
While a car accident is an extreme catalyst for time away from a business, anyone reading this shouldn’t wait for that
type of incident to get started. Yet, I
recently spent two weeks at home with a
bad back and plenty of thinking time.
Technology helps; the iPad is easy to use
when you are laid flat on your back, and
you don’t even need a pencil and eraser.
I suggest you set aside a regular time
each week away from the day-to-day activities of the business, and remove yourself
from the office so you won’t be tempted
to get involved in anything else. Switch
off your phone as well.
Once you get started, many struggle
with how to fill their thinking time, especially if the idea is new to them. There
are no hard or fast rules to this, it is more
a case of what works for the individual.
Personally, I like to start with this question: “Why am I in business, what am I
doing now and what do I want to be
doing in three years time?”
This can then help to drive thinking
into different areas such as:
• Sales – Weekly or monthly, could they
be better, how can we sell more?
• Costs – Weekly, monthly or annually,
are there areas to save money?
• Staff – Do I have the right number of
employees, the right type of people
in the correct roles, and are they
doing the best for my company or
department?
• Customers – What can we do to attract
more customers, give better service,
and make them buy from us rather
than the guy down the road or on
the Internet?
• Business – Don’t be afraid to question
the viability of the business. Does it
work as it is or would it be better to
completely change the focus of the
company, relocate, or even sell it
because the land is worth more than
the company can return to you.
This will take a few weeks or longer
before there is a good vision for your
company and its future. The hardest part
of thinking is implementing the changes
you discover you want to make.
I will talk about change management
in another issue, but this is where your
thinking time comes into its own.
Remember that overall, people do not
like change. Despite assurances that
change is welcomed, deep down there
will be anxiety, stress, worry, and much
more, and this will be reflected by resistance to the new ideas, reluctance to make
the changes requested, and a tendency to
revert to old ways of doing things. A regular self-directed “time-out” is important
to enable you to reflect on progress,
remind yourself why the changes are necessary, and how to continue with the
changes required to improve your business and succeed in that vision.
The truth is this, without regular thinking time, there may not be a business to
think about in three-years’ time! ■
Andy Latham is Compliance Manager for Bluecycle in the
U.K. and Europe.
Certified News
Approved Gold Seal Participants
Facility
A & P Auto Parts, Inc.
A-1 Auto Recyclers
AAA Auto Salvage, Inc.
ABC Auto Parts & Sales, Inc.
Albuquerque Foreign Auto Parts
Algar, Inc. dba Grade A Auto Parts
All Auto Parts Co.
All Foreign & Domestic Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Al's Auto Parts, Inc.
American and Import Auto Parts
American Auto Recycling
Automotive Parts Solutions
B & B Auto Parts & Salvage, Inc.
B & B Auto Salvage, Inc.
B & R Auto Wrecking
B Auto Parts
Badger Motors
Baird's Auto Parts, Inc.
Bay Auto Parts
Bessler Auto Parts
Bionic Auto Parts & Sales, Inc.
Bishop's Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Blenkhorn's Auto Recyclers, Ltd.
Bow Auto Salvage, Inc.
Brothers Auto Salvage Yard, Inc.
Brown's Auto Salvage
Butler Auto Recycling, Inc.
BW Auto Dismantlers, Inc.
C & H Salvage Corp.
Calumet Auto Salvage, Inc.
Carcone's Auto Recycling
Central Auto Recycling, Inc.
Centre De Recyclage Universel (1981) Ltee.
Chuck's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Cocoa Auto Salvage, Inc.
Columbia Auto Parts
County Line Auto Parts
Cousineau Auto Parts, Inc.
D. A. Auto Parts, Ltd.
Decatur Auto Parts, Inc.
Denton County Auto Salvage
Diamond Auto Parts
Don's Automotive Mall, Inc.
Eiss Brothers Auto Parts, Inc.
Elmer's Auto, Inc.
Erie Vo-Vo, Inc.
Foreign Auto Salvage
Fox Auto Parts, Inc.
G & R Auto Parts, Inc.
Goyette's, Inc.
Grimes Truck & Auto Parts, LLC
H & H Auto Parts & Salvage, Inc.
Hickman Motors, Inc.
Highway 54 Salvage, Inc.
J & R Auto Recyclers, Inc.
J.C. Auto & Truck Parts
Jantz's Yard 4 Automotive, Inc.
Jerry Brown Auto Parts Center, Ltd.
Jerry Carney & Sons, Inc.
John's Auto Parts
Junior Sinn Auto Parts, LLC
Kadinger's II
Kadinger's, Inc.
Kadinger's, Inc.
Kelly Auto Parts
Kirchhayn Auto Salvage, Inc.
Lacy Auto Parts, Inc.
LKQ - Lecavalier Ste-Sophie
City
Cicero
Rapid City
Rosemount
Riverdale
Albuquerque
Louisville
Fontana
Columbus
Trevose
Sterling Heights
Gilbert
Rockville
Oklahoma City
Rapid City
Corvallis
East St. Louis
Wisconsin Rapids
Fairdale
Green Bay
Wilder
Chicago
Middletown
Brookside
Bow
Indianapolis
Bomoseen
Pensacola
Roseville
Campbell Hall
Milwaukee
Aurora
Syracuse
Val D'Or
Douglassville
Cocoa
W. Columbia
Kingsville
Weston
Dumfries, Scotland
Decatur
Denton
Fond Du Lac
Binghamton
Watertown
Fountain City
Whitesboro
Ft. Wright
Belleville
Oklahoma City
New Bedford
Grand Prairie
Sussex
Hickman
Trenton
Cedar Springs
Monroe City
Kenosha
Queensbury
Ames
Blaine
Cape Girardeau
Barron
Downing
Cadott
Faribault
Cedarburg
Charles City
Ste.-Sophie
State Country
NY
SD
MN
IL
NM
KY
CA
OH
PA
MI
AZ
MN
OK
SD
OR
IL
WI
KY
WI
KY
IL
CT
NS
CAN
NH
IN
VT
FL
CA
NY
WI
ON
CAN
NY
QC
CAN
PA
FL
SC
MO
WI
Scotland
GBR
IL
TX
WI
NY
NY
WI
NY
KY
MI
OK
MA
TX
WI
KY
TN
MI
MO
WI
NY
IA
MN
MO
WI
WI
WI
MN
WI
VA
QC
CAN
Facility
City
LKQ Advanced Auto Recycling
Cumberland
LKQ Auto Parts of Central Texas
New Braunfels
LKQ Auto Parts of North Texas, LP
Hutchins
LKQ Auto Parts of South Texas
Houston
LKQ Four States
Joplin
LKQ Midwest Auto Parts
Omaha
LKQ of Michigan, Inc.
Wayne
LKQ of Nevada, Inc.
North Las Vegas
LKQ of New Mexico
Albuquerque
LKQ of Southern California
Santa Fe Springs
LKQ Pick Your Part/Car World
Candia
LKQ Potomac German Auto
Frederick
LKQ Preferred
Conway
LKQ Smart Parts, Inc.
Hustisford
LKQ Star Auto Parts, Inc.
Janesville
LKQ Triplett ASAP, Inc.
Akron
LKQ Viking Auto Salvage
Northfield
LKQ West Michigan
Holland
Logel's Auto Parts
Kitchener
M & M Auto Parts, Inc.
Stafford
Metro Auto Recyclers
Valparaiso
Midway Auto Parts, Inc.
Kansas City
Miller's Auto Recycling (1992), Ltd.
Fort Erie
Mitchells Auto Parts dba Chuck & Eddies Used Auto Parts Plantsville
Morris Rose Auto Parts, Inc.
Kalamazoo
Morrisons Auto, Inc.
Edgerton
Mott Auto, Inc.
Lebanon
Nordstrom's Automotive, Inc.
Garretson
Northwest Auto Parts
Anchorage
Olston's Auto Recyclers
Lincoln
Pam's Auto, Inc.
St. Cloud
Parts Unlimited, Inc.
Pearland
Peacock Auto Salvage, Inc.
Macon
Pete's Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Jenison
Remington Auto Salvage, Inc.
Eau Claire
Rhine Auto, Inc.
Plymouth
Rhodes Auto S/S/S, Inc.
Streator
Ridge Road Auto Parts
Cleveland
Riteway Auto Parts, Inc.
Phoenix
Robertson's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Wareham
Rockford Auto Parts, Inc.
Rockford
Sandhill Auto Salvage, LLC
Tama
Schram Auto Parts
Waterford
Sharp Auto Parts, LLC
Stillwater
Shroyer's Auto Parts
Lansing
Snyder's Recycled Auto and Truck Parts
Holland
Sonshine Auto Parts
Cumberland
Spalding Auto Parts, Inc.
Spokane
Speedway Auto, Ltd.
Joliet
St. James Auto & Truck Parts, LLC
St. James
Stadium Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Denver
Stafford's, Inc.
Montgomery
Standard Auto Wreckers
Toronto
Stoystown Auto Wreckers
Stoystown
Stricker Brothers, Inc.
Batavia
Tolpa's Auto Parts
Remsen
Tom's Foreign Auto Parts
Waterbury
Toomer Enterprises, LLC dba Doggett Auto Parts
Bryan
Trails End Auto and Truck Salvage, Inc.
Des Moines
Walt's Auto, Inc.
Springfield
Waterloo Auto Parts, Inc.
Waterloo
Wayne Auto Salvage, Inc.
Goldsboro
Weller Auto Parts, Inc.
Grand Rapids
West Side Auto Parts, Inc.
Laurel
Wilbert's, Inc.
Webster
Woodfin Honda / Pick and Save
Midlothian
Yancey Auto Salvage
Perry
Y-Yard Auto & Truck, Inc.
Effingham
State
RI
TX
TX
TX
MO
NE
MI
NV
NM
CA
NH
MD
AR
WI
WI
OH
MN
MI
ON
VA
IN
MO
ON
CT
MI
WI
MO
SD
AK
NE
MN
TX
GA
MI
WI
WI
IL
OH
AZ
MA
IL
IA
MI
MN
MI
TX
ON
WA
IL
MO
CO
IL
ON
PA
OH
NY
CT
TX
IA
OH
IA
NC
MI
DE
NY
VA
MO
IL
Country
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
Certified News
Approved CAR and Gold Seal Participants
CAR
Company Name
Facility GS
Y43 Auto Salvage
N
A & C Auto Parts & Wrecking Co.
A & A Auto and Truck Parts, Inc
A & A Auto and Truck Parts, Inc. (North)
A & C Auto Parts & Wrecking Co.
A & L Auto Recyclers, Inc.
A & T Auto Parts, Inc.
AAAACO Auto Parts, Inc.
AADCO Auto Parts
Aadlen Bros Auto Wrecking
Ace Auto Recyclers, Inc.
Action Auto Parts, Inc.
All Car & Truck Recycling
All Foreign Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Alliance Auto Parts
Allwest Auto Parts, Inc.
Alvin's Automotive Recycling
American Auto Parts
Arnprior and Ottawa Auto Parts
Auto Parts City, Inc.
B & B Towing & Auto Recycling
B & M Cars & Salvage
B.O.S. Auto Parts
Bauer's Auto Wrecking
Bell City Auto Center, Inc.
Bill's Auto Parts, Inc.
Bill's Used Parts, Inc.
Black Gold Import Auto Parts
Borges Foreign Auto Parts, Inc.
Bowie Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Brandywine Auto Parts, Inc.
Brandywine Truck Parts
Brandywine Two, Inc.
Brooks Auto Sales, Inc.
Bruce Auto Parts, Inc.
Cambridge Auto Parts and Wreckers Company, Ltd.
Camp Auto Salvage
Canadian Auto Recycling
Central Small Car Salvage
Central Truxx
Clayton Auto Parts & Wrecking, Inc.
Colorado Auto & Parts, Inc.
Compact Auto Parts
Cookstown Auto Centre, Ltd.
Cosmos Ocean County Recycled Auto Parts
Cosner Brothers Auto Parts, Inc.
Counselman Automotive Recycling, LLC
Cousineau Auto, Inc.
Covey's Auto Recyclers, Ltd.
Danny's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Denison Auto Parts, Inc.
D-N-J Auto Parts
Dom's Auto Parts Co., Ltd.
Don Scharf Automotive, Inc.
Doug's Auto Recyclers, Inc.
Dulaney Auto and Truck Parts of Amarillo, Inc.
Duval Auto Parts
East Bay Auto Parts, Inc.
Economy Auto Parts
Eden Used Auto Parts, Inc.
Ed's Auto Salvage, Ltd.
Elgin Super Auto Parts and Sales, Inc.
Fireside's U-Pull It Auto Parts
Five J's Auto Parts, Inc.
Foreign Car Parts, Inc.
Gary's U-Pull-It, Inc.
Geiger Truck Parts, Inc.
Glenn's Auto & Truck Parts
Grassy Auto Parts, Inc.
Green Point Auto Parts, Inc.
Harry's Auto Wrecking
Higgins Auto Parts
Hillsboro Auto Wrecking
City
City
Cleveland
Joplin
Topeka
Topeka
Cleveland
Comber
Hyde Park
Lorton
Brampton
Sun Valley
Iowa City
Marshalltown
Anderson
Fredericksburg
Woodside
Edmonton
Oakland
Omaha
Arnprior
Gurnee
Englishtown
Sulphur Springs
Windsor
Fresno
Brantford
Cumberland
Christianburg
Nisku
Dighton
Bowie
Brandywine
Brandywine
Brandywine
Oilville
Mechanicsville
Cambridge
Barberton
Mount Pearl
Brandywine
North Bay
Clayton
Englewood
Brandywine
Cookstown
Bayville
Troy
Mobile
Antigo
Blandford
Tulsa
Cleveland
Owensboro
Courtice
Eagle River
Coldwater
Amarillo
Forest
Interlochen
Tulsa
Eden
Westlock
Elgin
Sandusky
Albuquerque
Upper Marlboro
Binghamton
Watseka
Houston
West Liberty
Brewer
Grande Prairie
Bakersfield
Hillsboro
State
State
OH
MO
KS
KS
OH
ON
NY
VA
ON
CA
IA
IA
CA
VA
NY
AB
CA
NE
ON
IL
NJ
TX
ON
CA
ON
RI
VA
AB
MA
MD
MD
MD
MD
VA
VA
ON
OH
NF
MD
ON
OH
CO
MD
ON
NJ
VA
AL
WI
NS
OK
OH
KY
ON
WI
MI
TX
VA
MI
OK
MD
AB
IL
OH
NM
MD
NY
IL
TX
KY
ME
AB
CA
OR
Country
Country
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
Facility
City
Hilltop Auto Wreckers, Ltd.
Richmond Hill
Hi-way Auto Parts
Tyler
Hi-Way Auto, Inc.
Brownwood
Horsehead's Automotive Recycling
Elmira
I-55 Auto Salvage
Channahon
J & J Auto Wrecking, Inc.
Marshallville
Jeff Smid Auto, Inc.
Davenport
Jerry's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Big Lake
Keiffer Auto Recyclers
Canton
Kenny U-Pull
Laval
Knox Auto Parts & Rebuildable Wrecks
Knoxville
Leesville Auto Wreckers, Inc.
Rahway
Lems Auto Recyclers, Inc.
Doon
Lentini Auto Salvage, Inc.
Ringoes
Lewisville Motor Company, Inc.
Winston-Salem
Linder's, Inc.
Worcester
LKQ - Barber's Auto Sales
Ardmore
LKQ 250 Auto, Inc.
Harrisville
LKQ A & R Auto Parts, Inc.
Duncan
LKQ A Reliable U Pull It South
Blue Island
LKQ Arizona (aka: LKQ All Models Corp.)
Phoenix
LKQ Atlanta, LP
Jenkinsburg
LKQ Barger Auto Parts Nampa
Nampa
LKQ Birmingham, Inc.
Traffon
LKQ Brad's Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Redmond
LKQ Broadway Auto Parts, Inc.
Stuyvesant
LKQ Copher Self Service Auto Parts - Bradenton, Inc.
Bradenton
LKQ Copher Self Service Auto Parts - Clearwater, Inc.
Clearwater
LKQ Copher Self Service Auto Parts - St. Petersburg, Inc. St. Petersburg
LKQ Copher Self Service Auto Parts - Tampa, Inc.
Tampa
LKQ Crystal River, Inc.
Crystal River
LKQ Dominion Auto Recycling, Inc.
Stoney Creek
LKQ Foster Auto Parts of Salem
Salem
LKQ Foster Auto Parts, Inc.
Portland
LKQ Gorham Auto Parts Corp.
Gorham
LKQ GreenLeaf - Dallas
Dallas
LKQ GreenLeaf - Fort Worth
Haltom City
LKQ GreenLeaf - Kennedale
Kennedale
LKQ GreenLeaf - Seguin
Seguin
LKQ Hunts Point Auto Parts Corp.
Bronx
LKQ M. Robert, Inc.
Sainte-Madeleine
LKQ Melbourne
Melbourne
LKQ Mid-America Auto Parts, Inc.
Topeka
LKQ Minnesota, Inc.
Albert Lea
LKQ Northern California (Redding)
Redding
LKQ of Central California
Bakersfield
LKQ of Ft. Myers
Ft. Myers
LKQ of Indiana, Inc.
Plainfield
LKQ of Northwest Arkansas dba LKQ Mid-America
Fayetteville
LKQ of Tennessee
Manchester
LKQ Penn-Mar, Inc.
York Haven
LKQ Pick Your Part Anaheim
Anaheim
LKQ Pick Your Part Bakersfield
Bakersfield
LKQ Pick Your Part Chula Vista
Chula Vista
LKQ Pick Your Part Gainesville
Gainesville
LKQ Pick Your Part Help Your Self
Wilmington
LKQ Pick Your Part Stanton
Stanton
LKQ Pick Your Part Sun Valley
Sun Valley
LKQ Pick Your Part Wilmington
Wilmington
LKQ Pintendre Autos, Inc.
Pintendre
LKQ Potomac German
Orlando
LKQ Pull n Save Auto Parts of Aurora, LLC
Aurora
LKQ Route 16 Used Auto Parts
Webster
LKQ Salisbury, Inc.
Salisbury
LKQ Savannah, Inc.
Savannah
LKQ Self Service Auto Parts - Holland
Holland
LKQ Self Service Auto Parts - Kalamazoo, Inc.
Kalamazoo
LKQ Self Service Daytona
Daytona Beach
LKQ Self Service Memphis
Memphis
LKQ Utah
Springville
Manuel's Auto Wrecking
Merced
Marco Auto Recycling, Inc.
Red Wing
State
ON
TX
TX
NY
IL
OH
IA
MN
OH
QC
TN
NJ
IA
NJ
NC
MA
AL
OH
SC
IL
AZ
GA
ID
AL
OR
NY
FL
FL
FL
FL
FL
ON
OR
OR
ME
TX
TX
TX
TX
NY
QC
FL
KS
MN
CA
CA
FL
IN
AR
TN
PA
CA
CA
CA
FL
CA
CA
CA
CA
QC
FL
CO
MA
NC
GA
MI
MI
FL
TN
UT
CA
MN
Country
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
Facility
Maritime Auto Salvage, Ltd.
Marshall Auto Wreckers, Ltd.
Massey's Auto Parts, Inc.
McDill Auto Wrecking, Inc.
Metro Auto Salvage, Inc.
Mid Island Auto Wreckers, Inc.
Middleton Auto Parts
Milliron Auto Parts, Inc.
Misgen Auto Parts, Inc.
Mr. R's Auto Salvage
Newton Auto Salvage, Inc.
Nicklin Auto Parts and Recyclers
Niks Auto Parts, Inc.
Nissenbaum's Auto Parts, Inc.
North Verde Auto Salvage
Novak Auto Parts, Inc.
Ole South Auto Salvage, Inc.
P & C Auto Wrecking, Inc.
Pacific Auto Salvage, Inc.
Parkway Auto Recyclers
Pat's Auto Salvage
Pick-n-Pull Auto Dismantlers - Calgary
Pick-n-Pull Auto Dismantlers - Edmonton
Pick-n-Pull Auto Dismantlers - Kelowna
Popow & Sons Body Shop, Ltd.
Premier Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Pull-A-Part Akron
Pull-A-Part Atlanta East
Pull-A-Part Atlanta North
Pull-A-Part Atlanta South
Pull-A-Part Augusta
Pull-A-Part Baton Rouge
Pull-A-Part Birmingham
Pull-A-Part Canton
Pull-A-Part Charlotte
Pull-A-Part Cleveland I (East)
Pull-A-Part Cleveland II (West)
Pull-A-Part Columbia
Pull-A-Part Indianapolis
City
Truro
Lethbridge
Millington
Stevens Point
Lakeville
Deer Park
Fraser
Mansfield
Ellendale
Buffalo
Covington
Guelph
Neenah
Somerville
Ontario
New Brighton
Lake Placid
Milpitas
American Canyon
Kitchener
Waterloo
Calgary
Edmonton
Kelowna
Lacombe
Cedar Springs
Akron
Lithonia
Norcross
Conley
Augusta
Baton Rouge
Birmingham
Canton
Charlotte
Cleveland
Cleveland
Columbia
Indianapolis
State
NS
AB
TN
WI
MN
NY
MI
OH
MN
WY
GA
ON
WI
MA
OR
PA
FL
CA
CA
ON
IA
AB
AB
BC
AB
MI
OH
GA
GA
GA
GA
LA
AL
OH
NC
OH
OH
SC
IN
Country
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
Facility
Pull-A-Part Jackson
Pull-A-Part Knoxville
Pull-A-Part Lafayette
Pull-A-Part Louisville
Pull-A-Part Memphis
Pull-A-Part Mobile
Pull-A-Part Montgomery
Pull-A-Part Nashville
Pull-A-Part New Orleans West
Pull-A-Part Winston-Salem
Ransom Motors, Inc.
Reitman Auto Parts & Sales, Inc.
Rhinelander Auto Salvage
Ripple's Service, Inc.
Robert's Engines, Inc.
Roberts Salvage, Inc.
Rock & Roll Auto Recycling
Rusty Acres Automotive, Inc.
Salvage GM Parts of South Georgia, Inc.
School Street Light Truck Parts
Schram Auto & Truck Parts Lansing, Inc.
Scotty's Auto Parts
SGI Salvage Moose Jaw
SGI Salvage North Battleford
SGI Salvage Regina
SGI Salvage Saskatoon
SGI Salvage Yorkton
Shipman Auto Parts, Inc.
Smith Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
Smith Auto Parts & Sales, Inc.
Snyder Auto Body & Paint
Southern Maryland Used Auto Parts
Sunscape Enterprises, Inc. dba Ace Auto Wreckers
Swift's Auto Salvage, Inc.
Van Horn Auto Parts, Inc.
Vander Haag's, Inc.
Vander Haag's, Inc.
West Auto Wreckers, Ltd.
City
Jackson
Knoxville
Lafayette
Louisville
Memphis
Mobile
Montgomery
Nashville
New Orleans
Winston-Salem
Brandywine
Melbourne
Rhinelander
Upper Marlboro
Lucama
Moffett
Pleasanton
Jacksonville
Valdosta
Lowell
Mason
Virginia
Moose Jaw
North Battleford
Regina
Saskatoon
Yorkton
Brainerd
Garden City
Fairfield
Clarinda
Mechanicsville
E. Brunswick
Des Moines
Mason City
Spencer
Des Moines
Chula Vista
State
MS
TN
LA
KY
TN
AL
AL
TN
LA
NC
MD
KY
WI
MD
NC
OK
CA
FL
GA
MA
MI
IL
SK
SK
SK
SK
SK
MN
KS
IA
IA
MD
NJ
IA
IA
IA
IA
CA
Country
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
CAN
Online sales
of industrial markers
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Capitol Connection
Latest Legislative Updates from the Hill and Around the Country
Fiscal Cliff Bill Includes
Business Tax Provisions
W
hile most people are aware of the
overarching individual tax consequences of the American Taxpayer Relief
Act of 2012, aka “fiscal cliff” bill that
passed the House and Senate over the
New Year’s holiday, there was less public
dissemination of information on other
provisions included in the final package.
Many business tax provisions that were
slated to expire were extended, to the
cost of approximately $69.9 billion.
Provisions of interest to professional
automotive recyclers are:
• The 50 percent bonus depreciation
is extended through 2013. Section 179
expensing deductions for equipment
purchased in 2012 and 2013 goes to
$500,000 (a retroactive increase from
$139,000 for 2012).
• The 2011 and 2012 temporary payroll tax cuts end which results in a 2 percent tax increase for workers.
• The individual tax rates for earners
of $400,000 (single) and $450,000 (married) become permanent while increasing the tax rate to 39.5 percent from 35
percent for income above that rate.
• Capital gains taxes stay at 15 percent
for income below $400,000 (single) and
$450,000 (married). 20 percent is the
maximum rate for individuals with
income above those levels.
• A 40 percent estate tax rate up to $5
million (raised from 35 percent but it
will be indexed for inflation) becomes
permanent.
• The Research and Development
(R&D) Tax Credit is extended retroactively for 2 years.
Metal Theft Bill Introduced
in U.S. Senate
A
RA met with U.S. House and Senate
staff to discuss details behind federal
legislation targeted at addressing the
theft of metal. The “Metal Theft
ARA Meets With National Highway Transportation and
Safety Administration on Airbags
I
n late January, ARA met with staff from the National Highway Transportation and
Safety Administration staff to discuss the NHTSA policies/statements on the use of
recycled non-deployed OEM airbags. As previously reported, the November 2012
NHTSA press release on counterfeit airbags included many misrepresentations and
errors about recycled airbags which ARA has and will continue to try and dispel. As
a result of this face to face meeting, NHTSA has pledged to ARA that it will request
input from the professional automotive recycling community when it next considers
recycled airbag use guidelines. ARA staff is engaged in ongoing efforts to educate
both policymakers and consumers about the appropriate use of recycled nondeployed airbags.
Prevention Act of 2013” was introduced
by Senators Amy Klobuchar (DL-MN),
Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Chuck
Schumer (D-NY) and John Hoeven (RND) and mandates that purchasers of
“specified metal” acquire documentation
of ownership by the seller, require record
keeping by the buyer of transactions for
2 years and limit the cash payments to
$100. There is no federal preemption of
“any State or local law regulating the sale
or purchase of specified metal” included
in the bill. A House companion was
introduced by Rep. Eric Paulson (RMN).
The aim of the legislation is to stop
the theft and trafficking of metal from
entities such as government infrastructure (telephone, cellular, rail, etc.
equipment) and home improvement
retailers.
ARA provided staff in both meetings
with a detailed explanation of the role
and function of professional automotive
recyclers as well as alerted staff to the
already extensive reporting requirements
they must follow as mandated by state,
local and federal laws and regulations.
ARA is continuing to work with them
and other Congressional staff to advocate
against further proliferation of an ineffective and burdensome patchwork of
record keeping requirements.
ARA Grassroots Network
Resources
W
ith the state legislative season now
in full swing, it is critical that your
state senators and representatives are
educated about quality recycled auto
parts – and hearing from ARA members
is the first step. As constituents and small
business owners in your community, you
are uniquely qualified to communicate
with elected representatives and educate
them about the value of recycled auto
parts.
Information about how to locate your
elected official, how to host a facility
visit/yard tour, tips for developing that
relationship, and available sample letters
and talking points are available on the
Grassroots Toolkit page of the ARA Web
site (www.a-r-a.org).
ARA Grassroots Toolkit
A
RA staff, along with ARA affiliate
state chapters and Regional Directors, will continue to actively monitor legislation in all 50 state legislatures that
could potentially impact the professional
automotive recycling industry.
If you are interested in learning about
what is going on in your state legislature
and in neighboring states, please contact
Jessica Thomas at [email protected] or
call (571) 208-0428.
State Issues
ere is legislation that could potentially impact the professional automotive recycling industry:
Salvage Acquisition: In New Mexico, the House of Representatives is
actively considered House Bill 8, which would require both sellers and
purchasers of salvage vehicles to be licensed by the state, introduce a
limit on the number of vehicles a seller can sell to a non-licensed purchaser and incorporate the electronic reporting of vehicles reports of
sales to the state. The New Mexico Certified Automotive Recyclers Association has been meeting with their legislators to educate them about
the state’s salvage laws and urging support for HB 8. A recent House Judiciary Committee hearing considered the bill.
Scrap Metal: Last year several states introduced and passed legislation
in response to increased metal thefts, a trend which has continued in the
2013 legislative sessions. ARA staff is monitoring several metal theft-related bills, and watching for any licensing and reporting requirements
that may be incorrectly applied to or have implications for automotive
recyclers.
In Rhode Island, Senate Bill 79 was introduced by the Senate Majority Leader to address copper theft in the state. The bill would require
scrap metal dealers to be licensed in order to purchase certain types of
metals, with reporting implications for secondary metals recyclers and
salvage yard operators. ARA joined the Automotive Recyclers Association
of Rhode Island in submitting a letter to the senate sponsors asking that
salvage yard operators be exempted from the proposed bill.
H
In New Hampshire, Senate Bill 104 would establish a commission to
study the state’s current reporting system for junk and scrap metal dealers. Oklahoma legislators are considering House Bill 1296 designed to
curtail metal theft. That bill does include an exemption specifically for licensed automotive recyclers. Scrap metal bills have also been introduced in Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska,
New Jersey, North Dakota, Utah, and Washington this year.
Tire Sales: Legislation regulating the sale of scrap and used tires has
been introduced in Florida, Texas and Georgia. In Florida, House Bill
485 was introduced as a consumer protection bill that would require retail tire dealers to disclose to purchasers the date of manufacture for
used tires and to issue certain warnings relating to the age of tires. Georgia seeks to broaden the state’s regulation of scrap tires to include the
sale of used tires, introducing recordkeeping and inventory management
requirements. In Texas, SB459 would change requirements governing
the sale, storage, transport and disposal of scrap or used tires.
Purchase of End-of-Life Vehicles: Several states are considering legislation governing the purchase of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) without a title
certificate. In South Carolina, HB 3397 would make changes to the
statute regarding how a vehicle without a certificate of title may be disposed of to a demolisher or secondary metals recycler. In Tennessee,
House Bill 30 would require motor vehicle recycler, dismantler, scrap
metal processor to conduct a lien check for motor vehicles 12 years and
older with no title. Several bills are being considered in Mississippi all
dealing with the purchase of ELVs with a range of different holding periods proposed. ■
Crossword Puzzle
By Murray Jackson
Across
Down
1. Accident-scene evidence (4,5)
6. City-commuter’s ride, perhaps
8. Underbody components, collectively
9. Component in anti-theft system
10. Hapless Hazzard Co. cop-car driver
11. Tabletop racers (4,4)
13. City thoroughfare
15. Suzuki’s Sidekick replacement
18. Drivers’ compartments in F1 cars
19. Handout in truck-stop restaurant
22. Windshield-wiper component
23. Body shops’ complimentary cars
24. Word near dipstick’s end
25. Chrysler’s corporate logo
1. Mechanic’s ratchet adjuncts
2. State where Knievel jumped Snake River
3. ’70s TV series with military Jeeps
4. Used-vehicle transaction
5. Chrysler Corporation’s ’60s-’80s angled engine (5,3)
6. Defunct Olds SUV
7. Big rigs
12. Playmates song, Cadillac races Nash Rambler (4,4)
14. Given name, seven-time NASCAR champ Petty
16. Four-time Indy 500 winner (2,5)
17. Chop-shop-car description
18. Carroll Shelby’s muscle-car creation
20. CD-player button
21. ’03-’05 Subaru sedan/pickup hybrid
2013 Industry Calendar
To include your event in ARA’s calendar of events,
e-mail the complete listing to [email protected].
Visit www.a-r-a.org for most up-to-date calendar.
APRIL
JUNE
3-4
Collision Industry Conference
Hyatt Regency Phoenix
Phoenix, AZ
Reservations: (888) 421-1442
resweb.passkey.com/go/CollisionIndustryConference
7-8
Alberta Automotive Recyclers
and Dismantlers Association
25th Anniversary & Annual General
Meeting & Conference
Sylvan Lake, Alberta
Contact: Ian Hope
[email protected]
www.aarda.com
21-22
NEARA Trade Show
Mark’s Auto Parts & Recyclers
22 Russell Road, East Granby, CT 06026
Contact: Marcy King
[email protected]
11-13
URG Conference
Inverness Hotel Englewood, Colorado
For Questions: E-mail [email protected]
or call (303) 367-4391
Keep checking for more information!
19-20
Automotive Recyclers of Michigan
5th Annual Road Show & Business Networking
Conference
Schram Auto & Truck Parts Lansing, Inc.
1325 N. Cedar Rd. Mason, MI 48854-9586
www.automotiverecyclers.org
Contact : Barb Utter
[email protected]
Lexington Lansing Hotel
1-877-322-5544
MAY
3-4
Upper Midwest Auto & Truck Recyclers
Convention & Tradeshow
Morrison’s Auto Inc.
6307 W State Rd 59 Edgerton, WI 53534-9420
Contact: Sandy Dumke
[email protected]
10
B-CAR Midyear Meeting
Penticton Lakeside Resort
21 Lakeshore Drive West
Contact: [email protected]
17-18
Ohio Auto & Truck Recyclers Association
Location: All Foreign and Domestic Auto
500 North Wilson Rd.
Columbus, OH 43204-1458
Hotel: Marriott Courtyard Hotel
2350 Westbelt Drive
Columbus, OH
21-23
American Salvage Pool Association (ASPA)
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa
Tucson, AZ
Registration Coming Soon!
JULY
25-28
Florida Automotive Dismantlers & Recyclers Association
(FADRA) Annual Convention
Hyatt Regency Coconut Point
Bonita Springs, FL
Reservation: (888) 421-1442
Contact: Kim O'Dell
1-407-647-8839
[email protected]
Ad Index
AA Midwest.......................................................................6
Al-jon .........................................................................43
ARA University .........................................................53
Brock Supply Co. ................................................21, 35
Buddy Automotive Innovations ................................40
Car-Part.com ...................................................56, C-4
Company Wrench ....................................................46
Connection, The .........................................................5
CRUSH/S3 Software Solutions, LLC.....................46
Hollander, a Solera company .............................C-3
Knopf Automotive....................................................63
Lamb Fuels.....................................................................61
Liland .........................................................................52
LKQ .............................................................................45
Manheim ....................................................................11
MarkingPenDepot.com ...........................................61
Pemberton......................................................................39
Pinnacle Professional .............................................19
Pull-A-Part ....................................................................57
RAS ...................................................................................13
Recycle Cat .....................................................................58
SAS Forks ...................................................................17
SEDA ...........................................................................18
Sellick .........................................................................31
Sierra International Machinery.................................9
SuperShear ....................................................................49
United Recyclers Group...........................................C-2
Vander Haag’s, Inc...................................................65
Wells Fargo Business Insurance ...............................15
Get Ahead in 2013
To advertise, contact Caryn Smith at
(239) 225-6137 or e-mail [email protected].
Puzzle Answers from page 64
AUGUST
8-10
2013 Car-Part.com Conference
Holiday Inn
1717 Airport Exchange Blvd
Erlanger, KY
products.car-part.com/training/index.html
17-18
NM Certified Automotive Recyclers Association
(MNCARA)
Contact: Sandy Blalock
(505) 301-6849
[email protected]
NOVEMBER
6-9
70th Annual
Convention & Exposition
Phoenix Convention Center and
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel
Phoenix, Arizona
www.araexpo.org
(888) 385-1005
Save the Date! Registration Coming Soon!
31-6/1
Iowa Automotive Recyclers
Jackson County Fairgrounds
Contact: Sue Schauls
(319) 233-7970
[email protected]
Send your 2013 events to
[email protected]
Final Thoughts
By Michael E. Wilson, ARA Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
Leadership Decisions that are Making a Difference
iStockphoto.com
I
n the January-February issue, ARA’s
high-quality publication, Automotive
Recycling, devoted pages to the magic of
change. As an Association, it is imperative
that ARA keep a close eye on our professional automotive recycling members
and make the changes necessary to
address the needs of an evolving industry.
To offer some back-history, in March
2008, the ARA leadership decided on a
course of action that has transformed
the legislative and regulatory landscape
in the professional automotive recycling
industry. It was then that the Association
made a determination that going forward it would provide outreach and
assistance on legislative and regulatory
issues facing local automotive recycling
members.
The increasingly competitive landscape of
today’s vehicle remarketing industry has propelled
ARA to identify for its global membership innovative
ways to access and leverage their buying power.
This decision significantly expanded
the day-to-day interaction between the
Association and its affiliated industry
organizations. The calls, correspondence, and actual feet on the ground
have increased with each passing year.
As the 5th Anniversary of this decision
passes, I believe most member companies still view it as a prudent move that
had to be made. With a vast majority of
the industry’s legislative and regulatory
activity occurring at the state, provincial,
and territory levels, ARA involvement
with sharing model lawmaking language,
position statements, letters, and other
background information and resources
to local entities has made a substantial
difference in their ability to address
important issues and concerns.
As that decision transformed ARA
activity, so will others. In late February,
the Association officially announced that
its subsidiary, ARA Product Services LLC
reached an agreement with Alteso
Group of Companies of Langhorne, PA,
to provide ARA members and ARA affiliate state organization members a robust
online auction platform for the efficient
procurement of motor vehicles.
ARA seized this opportunity to ultimately increase members’ revenue
stream, lower operation costs, and
reduce the number of vehicles being
exported. In doing so, the Association
once again takes a bold step to secure
needed resources to help address members’ top priorities.
The increasingly competitive landscape of today’s vehicle remarketing
industry has propelled ARA to identify
for its global membership innovative
ways to access and leverage their buying
power. The agreement between the ARA
Product Services and Alteso provides
members access to a platform that is
required to secure agreements with various insurance companies, wholesalers,
fleets, franchise dealers, and others to
assist members with additional opportunities for their vehicle acquisition needs.
Now, ARA through its subsidiary has
multiple options within an online auction platform to address opportunities
in a manner that significantly changes
the means by which members’ vehicle
acquisition demands can be met.
As the Association reflects on these
and other decisions it has or will make in
the future, I go back to that Mark Twain
quote referenced in my last article. “You
will be more disappointed by the things
that you didn’t do than by the ones you
did do.” Your Association is making bold
decisions to help better address the challenges of the rapidly changing professional auto recycling industry. Without
the fortitude to do so, ARA would turn
into museum of what once was, but
unable to address what could be. ■
9113 Church Street
Manassas, VA 20110-5456 USA

March / April - Automotive Recyclers Association ARA

Transcription

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