Horizon By Sandy Blalock • ARA Executive Director W
orried about your business? ... Sales and calls are down? Employee morale is down? How do you
stay positive? A place to start is engaging with the issues facing the professional automotive recycling industry. It is not enough to show up to your office 5, 6, or even 7 days a week anymore. You have to be more efficient and use your time constructively. If all your employees can do their jobs effectively, stop micromanaging them and spend that time really helping your business. We have all spent a fortune analyzing business trends that affect our daily numbers, but that may not be a great use of your dollars and cents. We have effective manage- ments systems built by the best minds in the industry to manage our numbers and inventory. Let those systems do what they were built to do, and make changes accordingly. However, all that is still not enough.
There will always be external factors that will cause even those sophisticated systems to run amok, when we have programs that are growing around us daily to manage the flow of our products and salvage, not to men- tion who can and cannot use our end-product quality recycled parts. Even more concerning is the fact that we pay more and more for salvage vehicles and yet that does not relate to how much we can charge for the parts any- more. This is a challenge that few other industries face. Frankly, we have to do even more! Yet, there just are not enough auto recyclers out there who are willing to stand up for their right to be treated fairly in the marketplace. Sadly, even those who are will have less and less impact as time goes on because the numbers who are willing are dwindling. I see this as the top challenge facing our industry today – yes, even more significant than all envi- ronmental and government oversight that has had monu- mental influence on legitimate recyclers for decades. Why do we sit back and just let all this happen? Why
aren’t YOU engaged on these important life and business changing policies in our industry? Why do we continue to discuss the issues without taking productive actions? I believe that the average auto recycler simply does not understand the power they have to effect change. They can be the leaders we need in our states and communities to work on issues that affect us all. Only focusing on what happens daily in their facility is not enough. There is a much bigger threat to our survival that could find them looking for new avenues for job security. I know you have heard me say this many times, but you need to get out of your office! Attend state and national
6 // March-April 2019
association meetings and get up to speed with what is hap- pening. Don’t just pay your dues. Make your voice heard and be part of the solution.
The small army of professional auto recyclers – who are just like you – that are out there fighting on your behalf deserve to know that they are backed up by the strength of numbers in our industry.
Despite the size of our facilities or ownership status, we cannot afford to let outside influences divide us. If we allow it, they will conquer us and the weakest will fall first. Stop believing the stories that big corporate recyclers are behind some of the changes to steal your business. It is simply not true. What most do not comprehend is that these changes that have occurred have hurt all recyclers – big, medium, small, full-service, self-service or hybrid. Let’s circle our wagons. Blame will not solve our prob-
lems. What might is collectively finding solutions. If you do not see progress, demand to know why, right now! Leaders are only as effective as those willing to work with them. If you can’t be one of them, ask yourself why. There are only so many vehicles to go around and,
daily, we are seeing fewer of them entering our industry ... so when do you think it is time for YOU to stand up and demand an answer as to why unqualified people are allowed to purchase your product? We can no longer afford to bear the rising costs without some respect on the flip side of that coin. We deserve fair treatment for our efforts to produce higher quality recy- cled parts that meet the ever-changing repair market. Professional automotive recycling plays a vital role in the automotive repair cycle, yet we are not doing enough to protect that ever-shrinking marketshare. We all have to participate in cost savings, but not to the extent that it will cause elimination of an entire industry. Find your local and state allies, and generously support
them. It may mean the difference between your survival and your extinction. More importantly, find your voice and let it be heard. You will never know what impact you can have unless you try. Together we’ve got this! Keep the faith and keep recy- cling! Raise your voices, grab a friend, do something.
Reach Sandy Blalock at
sandy@a-r-a.org. Share your thoughts pertaining to the advancement of professional automotive recycling. Your letter could be published in an upcoming issue.
Automotive Recycling
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