Auto Recycling eNewsletter AutoSalvageConsultant.com

 

For immediate release – 2009 V9 Edition 6

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

Peer Benchmarking Groups for Recyclers Led by Ron Sturgeon Scheduled in Fort Worth, TX: One of the most important decisions that I made as the owner of a salvage operation was the decision to join a peer mentoring group. I was much more successful in leading in my local market because of the ideas that I got from other recyclers at our twice yearly meetings. I am looking for a few recyclers (one per market) to join a peer benchmarking group. Learn more about how peer benchmarking can help make 2009 your best year yet. The next group will be on June 13, 2009  More here.

 

Automotive Recyclers Association Presses for Changes in Cash for Clunkers Legislation: Legislation in its current form “paints a bull’s eye on the vehicle recycling industry” and needlessly destroys millions of usable potential replacement parts. Read their full press release.

 

Auto Salvage Industry Doing Better Than Most from Al’s Morning Update at the Poynter Institute: “In general, recycled automotive parts sales are up,” says Jennifer Johnson, spokeswoman for the Automotive Recyclers Association, an industry trade group. “People are fixing their older vehicles rather than buying new vehicles.”

 

Repair shops are also benefiting from the make do with the existing car trend

The Flint Journal said engine, transmission and muffler shops are all benefiting from the fix-up trend:

“‘With the way the economy is right now, people are spending money on their vehicles where maybe a year or two ago they would have just traded them in,’ said Steve Jordan, manager at Linden’s Complete Auto Repair.  More on the fix up trend

Help for Salvage Yard Operators Seeking to Meet New DOJ Reporting Requirements: As most of you know, the Justice Department has introduced new record keeping requirements for salvage yard owners. From a FDRA letter to members:

 

As you have been hearing for the past couple months, the Dept. of Justice is now requiring salvage dealers and scrap processors to send them a list of ALL vehicles purchased, whether for parts, scrap, or resale. They do not want every vehicle you have ever purchased since you opened your doors, only purchases made since March 1, 2009. They wanted this information to be coming in to them on April 1, 2009. However, due to some technical issues on their end, many yards are having difficulties with this. Please, DO NOT
PANIC.

 

Simply get with your yard management system company to figure out the best way to extract the necessary information and begin keeping this list, beginning with March 1, 2009. We will keep you informed as to when D.O.J. is ready to handle this information. Again, the most important thing is to begin collecting the information and then we will send it to them at a later date.

 

Terry Thompson from Old South Auto Salvage in Florida is working with several companies that can help yard operators report the information to DOJ for a small fee. Contact him at 863.465.5810.
Tennessee TV Station Runs Expose on Used Airbags: MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) – Your seat belt and an airbag — one should NEVER be without the other — are the only things that may keep you in this world in the event of a crash. But at 1/30th of a second, about the time of an eye-blink, that airbag could be a killer itself if it was salvaged from a previous accident.

Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/) reviewed 1,446 fatal crashes.  In 255 of them, the airbags had not been replaced after a previous accident, according to the agency. More about Danger in the Dashboard.

Web-based electronic reporting helps salvage companies comply with the new rules, prevent fraud, and keep America’s roads safe: Effective March 30, 2009, Federal Rules require all auto recyclers, salvage yards, and junk yards to report total loss and salvage vehicle data to the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). The rules also apply to any entities that handle, control, own, or acquire salvage vehicles, such as salvage pools, salvage auctions, pull or pick- apart yards, scrap-vehicle shredders, scrap-metal processors, and crushers.

The rules require that companies report, at minimum, every thirty days.
NMVTIS contains title, odometer, and brand information (such as “flood” or “rebuilt”) which is maintained even when a vehicle changes title from one state to another. Without a nation-wide program of this kind, criminals can re-title a damaged vehicle in another state with no record of the damage (“brand washing”) or replace a clean-title junk vehicle with a stolen car of similar make and model (“VIN cloning.”) By making these fraudulent activities more difficult if not impossible, NMVTIS can help keep unsafe vehicles off the road and prevent criminal activity. The “end-of-life” data reported by salvage companies expands the scope and accuracy of NMVTIS.

Currently, salvage companies must report their data through a third-party provider such as Auto Data Direct, Inc. (ADD), which allows electronic reporting via its website at www.add123.com. ADD has developed innovative “back-end” tools that allow batch reporting for high-volume companies but also accommodate smaller operations with fewer cars on their lots.

NMVTIS is used by law enforcement, state DMV offices, and many other entities, but it is also available to the general public. Anyone wishing to obtain a NMVTIS report can visit a website such as www.add123.com. <http://www.add123.com/>

 

 

(Photo Credit Steve Gerbert)

 

Jacksonville Fire Department Gets Creative in Fighting Junkyard Fire: Mark Tregilio writing for Firehouse.com re-tells a terrific story of smart thinking by some Jacksonville fire fighters confronted with a difficult junkyard fire.

 

An out of control fire at a Jacksonville junk yard required an unusual, yet effective extinguishment that proved firefighter ingenuity can overcome any obstacle. On February 18, units from the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department responded to the Ina Street Auto Junkyard for a report of a fire. First arriving units reported heavy fire showing from multiple piles of vehicles. An aggressive fire attack was attempted on the piles of automobiles and SUVs, but fire fighters were forced back due to the amount of fire and lack of water supply deep in to the complex.

 

As the junkyard continued to burn, fire fighters <More>
 

 

How’s Business?

 “Success – To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded.”

Bessie A. Stanley

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.