BOTTOM LINE BOOSTER

“You have to look at the whole program not just the ticket and you have to realize that round one and two are not going to go that well,” said Cunningham. “You’ll realize your mistakes and correct them and each load after that will get better and better. I ought to know! In my com- pany’s own first load of commodities, we were only at 32-33% of industry standard to the remanufacturer. The rest was junk. I learned from my mistakes. “But I didn’t push back from the table and say not no way, I’m not doing this. You can’t have a knee jerk reaction; you have to be committed to finding out what is wrong and changing through it.” The more ability auto recyclers have to consolidate it the more leverage they have when it comes to con- trolling and marketing their commodities. “Ultimately it’s about working together to maximize the good for everyone,” said Kunkel. “It requires a cer- tain amount of trust, but we can’t exist without each other so why not accept it and get on with it? Why not say we’re already doing this, and instead of being in

Ultimately it’s about working together to maximize the good for everyone. It requires a certain amount of trust, but we can’t exist without each other so why not

accept it and get on with it? — Mike Kunkel

competition with each other see each other as strategic part- ners? Then we can understand the ramifications of what we are doing and see the long term picture in how it relates to the market. There’s a vacu- um in the market and by work-

ing together, auto recyclers can take advantage of it and get more money for core than ever before. It’s a big thing especially when scrap prices are plummeting. “This is especially a big deal with U-Pull-It’s. The

expenses don’t decrease and revenue doesn’t increase. What do you do? Take it from your employees? Out of your own pocket? Or find more to sell? Which option sounds the most attractive to you?

“Of course, you will find more to sell and the com-

modities program gives you just that using commodi- ties you already own. You can then take those additional revenues to invest in inventory that grows the commodities program.” Whatever your view, both Cunningham and Kunkel want auto recyclers to make a educated choice. Michelle Keadle-Taylor is afreelance writer based in Pennsylvania.

58 Automotive Recycling | July-August 2015