Auto Recycling eNewsletter AutoSalvageConsultant.com

 

For immediate release – August 2011

Written and published by Ron Sturgeon, autosalvageconsultant.com, email to rons@autosalvageconsultant.com.  To register for future free issues, visit http://www.autosalvageconsultant.com.  Don’t forget to watch for our management articles monthly in Recyclers Power Source Magazine, or posted at our web site.

 

This Month’s News

 

Proposed California Bill Will Require Auto Dealers to Report Salvaged Vehicles: California lawmakers are considering a bill that will directly affect auto dealers and salvage yard owners in that state.  The proposed law would require auto dealers to inform owners about vehicles that have been in major accidents and have a salvage title. This additional information reporting would likely raise dealer documentation fees by around $25, a cost that would be passed directly to the consumer.

 

To find out if the vehicle for sale has a salvage title, also known as a “branded title,” the dealer would be required to look up the car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) in the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System.  Salvage yard owners are already required to register salvaged vehicles in this database.  Dealers and consumer advocates are in support of the bill, but vehicle history website CARFAX opposes the new law.

 

“We think that buyers and sellers should have a choice of vehicle history, and prescribing one limits consumer access,” said CARFAX spokesperson Larry Gamache.

 

Read the full article here.

 

Peer Benchmarking Helps Benefit Auto Salvage Businesses:

Running an auto salvage business can be challenging in any economy, and with the new environmental laws and Internet marketing concerns, today’s auto salvage professionals can’t miss a beat.  One way to stay on top of current trends and keep your business competitive is by taking advantage of others’ professional wisdom.  The key is to avoid competition and work together to improve profits all around.  Ron Sturgeon, Mr. Mission Possible, runs peer benchmarking sessions to help auto salvage business owners connect with other professionals in their field.

 

“We only accept one person from each market,” says Sturgeon. “That means we’re all working on the same team to really improve business and solve some of our common problems.”

 

 

Learn more about how peer benchmarking can help make 2011 your best year yet. The next group will be on October 1, 2011.  Register now.

 

Detroit Salvage Yard the Target of a Police Raid: A Detroit, Michigan salvage yard owner was arrested after a raid on his business in late July.  Police received a tip that Harry’s Salvage Yard was selling stolen vehicles for parts.  The business claimed that it purchased used vehicles and legally sold the parts to owners of domestic or foreign cars and trucks. When police raided the salvage yard, they discovered four vehicles that had been stolen.  All four cars, including a Chevy Blazer, a Jeep Commander, a Lincoln Navigator, and a Toyota truck, are highly desirable for the value of their parts.

Police are trying to locate the owners of the stolen vehicles.

Read the full story and watch a video here.

New York Salvage Yard Owners Required to Pay Fine: The New York Attorney General’s office is requiring the owners of East Side Used Auto Parts and Northern Car Crushers in Hudson Falls, New York to pay more than $330,000 in fines for pollution.  James Maro and George Moore, who own the businesses, have agreed to pay the fine and clean up the pollution caused by their operations.  Allegedly, the businesses polluted area wells when they crushed cars without draining the gasoline, anitfreeze, oil, and other liquids.

 

The businesses were surrounded by residential neighborhoods and immediately border a public school.  Area residents began complaining of physical ailments like headaches and breathing problems.  The state ordered the businesses to shut down in 2009, but the owners have relocated to an industrial park.

 

“Illegal operations at this junkyard put the health and safety of the community at risk by repeatedly and recklessly polluting the environment,” said Eric Schneiderman, the state’s Attorney General. “This settlement ensures that the damage to the community is repaired.”

 

To learn more about this case, read the full article here.

 

Pittsburg Salvage Yard Fire Results in Oil Spill: Pittsburg, Pennsylvania firefighters had to take special precautions to avoid heat injuries as they worked to put out a blaze at D&D Auto Salvage.  The salvage yard and warehouse erupted in flames, which likely started in one corner of the building.  There is an investigation underway to determine the cause of the fire.  The outside temperature of 80 degrees, coupled with the heat from the flames, required firefighters to take extra care to avoid heatstroke.  Firefighters worked in 20-minute shifts, stopping to drink fluids and cool off.

 

The heat was only one of the problems resulting from the blaze. The salvage yard is situated on the Allegheny River, and local residents and environmental workers noticed an oil spill, which eventually spread to 50 feet in diameter.  The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Coast Guard were working to contain and clean up the damage.

 

To learn more about the fire, read the article here.

Writer Tracks Down Salvaged Car: When Washington Post writer Brigid Schulte tried to track down her damaged 1995 Volvo wagon, she found the experience more difficult than she’d expected.  Auto salvage yards often crush and recycle older cars like Schulte’s Volvo after insurance companies auction the totaled cars to the highest bidder, but Schulte was still emotionally attached to her Volvo.  When she called the insurance auction company to track down her car, they told her she’d need to call back in a few months.  When she called back, the vehicle was already gone.

“Because this car has a piece of my soul,” Schulte wrote in an email to the company, “I would really like to know what happens next.”

 

The new owners of the wagon were not interested in helping Schulte say good-bye, but she searched for the VIN online and found out the car had been rebuilt and sold to a new owner.  Schulte is happy the car is still in use and is serving another family somewhere.

See the full article here.

How’s Business?

“The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.”

Dale Carnegie

AutoSalvageconsultant.com was formed in 2001 to help recyclers improve their businesses. The group has become THE definitive source for recyclers’ management and training needs. The founder, Ron Sturgeon is past owner of AAA Small Car World.  In 1999, he sold his six Texas locations, with 140 employees, to Greenleaf.  In 2001, he founded North Texas Insurance Auction, which he sold to Copart in 2002.  In 2009, his book Salvaging More Millions from Your Small Business was published to help small business owners achieve significant success. Ron consults, speaks, and writes about issues key to successful entrepreneurship. Reach Ron at 817-838-8477 8# or contact him on www.autosalvageconsultant.com.