inside · 2017. 10. 31. · toll free: 877-525-4589 managing editor fax: 651-458-0125 sheila cain...

November/December 2017

Inside...• Hello From the New TARA President

“Marshall Banks”• TARA Steps Up to the Plate• Greetings to One and All From the Land of

Keeping Things Weird in Austin, Tx• Turn the Tide on Your Poor Processes• TARA Membership Application• On the Horizon• Mold-Cure Manufacturing Process

The Texas Automotive Recycling Report

PresidentHot Rod BanksBox Auto Salvage4209 E Hwy 80Midland, TX 79706Tel: [email protected]

Vice PresidentBruce OrmandA1 PartsmartPO Box 17988Austin, TX 78719Tel: [email protected]

Secretary/TreasurerBarry RubinAmerican Auto Salvage2567 Decatur Ave.Ft. Worth, TX 76107Tel: [email protected]

Past PresidentJames Cooley Jr.Hiway Auto Parts2802 Hwy 279Brownwood, TX 76801Tel [email protected]

DirectorMike KunkleProfit Team Consulting7757 Lexus DrFt. Worth, TX 76137Tel: [email protected]

DirectorByron FerrilCherry Avenue Auto Parts309 W. Cherry Ave.Amarillo, TX 79108Tel: [email protected]

DirectorGrant AllenLKQ North904 Interstate 45 SouthHutchins, TX 75141Tel: [email protected]

DirectorGordon BeardenCentral Texas RecyclersPO Box 548Brownwood, TX 76804Tel: [email protected]

DirectorDonnie PatkeParts Unlimited Texas17511 Pearland Sites Rd.Pearland, TX 77584Tel: [email protected]

DirectorJay RobertsEnnis Auto Recyclers, Inc.3511 Ensign RoadEnnis, TX 75119Tel: [email protected]

Executive DirectorCheryll LambrightPO Box 3547Galveston, TX 77552Tel: 800-710-8272Fax: [email protected]

TARA retains the services of R.J. McClellan, Inc. Newsletter advertising opportunity inquiries should be directed to:

R. J. McClellan, Inc. 445 Broadway Avenue #500 Ron McClellan St. Paul Park, MN 55071 Advertising Sales Phone: 651-458-0089 Sheila Cain Toll Free: 877-525-4589 Managing Editor Fax: 651-458-0125 Sheila Cain Email: [email protected] Layout & Design

The Texas Automotive Recycling Report

The Texas Automotive Recycling Report is published six times per year for the Texas Automotive Recyclers Association. None of the material in this publication necessarily reflects the opinion of TARA, its officers, directors, staff, members or its Publisher. Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of the au-thor alone. Articles and letters suitable for publication will be published in the next scheduled newsletter as space permits. Articles may be edited for length.Throughout this issue, trademarked names are used. Rather than place a trademark symbol in every occurrence of a trademarked name, we state we are using the names only in an editorial fashion, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or techniques does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

The Texas Automotive Recycling ReportTARA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Executive DirectorNewsletter content and association membership

inquiries should be directed to:Cheryll LambrightTARA Executive Director

PO Box 3547Galveston, Texas 77552

Phone: 800-710-TARA (8272)Fax: 713-461-1515

Email: [email protected]

Publisher

4

ASSOCIATION NEWSNovember/December 2017

By James Cooley Jr.

President’s Message

Hello From the New TARA President “Marshall Banks”

Most of you all know me as Hotrod. My real name is now disclosed, yes, its Marshall. I was born in GA but transported to Texas at the age of 17, I would make visits to Texas once a year and have always had a great love for Texas. I moved to Midland TX and have never left. Once I finished High School I went right to work at Box Auto Salvage.

I then later went to College to get a degree in Automotive Technology and in welding. I have also completed ASE Master Certified Technician program on my own.

I have put in many years in this indus-try, I has been dealing with salvage since 1981. This would be the year I started at Box Auto Salvage. No, I am not second generation by blood, but I have worked alongside Marshall Box as if I was a son. I have done all parts of this business, from the accounting to the scrapping, from buying to inven-tory, dealing with TDLR and staying current on all the rules and regulation of the Salvage industry.

I was made partner at the business in 1984, later in 2009 I bought out the partners and became sole Owner.

There have been a few other things in my life that I tried but my love is for this industry, working on cars, taking them apart, and sometimes putting them back together, has kept me around all these years. I have followed my heart and will continue to give all I can to all.

I have served on the ARA Board of Di-rectors as a Reginal Director for district number 9, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, and for the last 2 years I Have served as the Vice-President of the TARA organization, before that I was on the District Board of Directors. I am also currently part of a Roundtable Group of my peers in the industry, and have

been since 2014. I have also attended many of the ARA and the Texas ARA shows and meeting thru out the years. I am always available to help anyone who needs help or just some advise.

I will serve as your president and will do all that I can to keep you all in-formed of what is happening in Texas in our industry. I will always be just a phone call away or a text to hear your opinions or concerns.

I will brings all the above experience to the table as your President for the 2018 year.

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Be sure to consider our associate members first for your business needs.Visit our website for full contact information www.texasara.com

Auto Data Direct, Inc.Phone: 850-877-8804

Bishop InternationalPhone: 214-426-6449

Brock Supply Co.Phone: 800-528-4400

Car-Part.comPhone: 859-344-1925

Electric Guard DogPhone: 803-786-6333

Hollander, A Solera Company Phone: 800-825-0644, Ext. 2449

Mike French & CompanyRecyclers Toll Box Magazine

Phone: 360-354-8326

Phoenix Automotive CoresPhone: 602-415-9166

Platinum Recovery & RecyclingPhone: 830-303-8916

Profit Team Consulting, Mike KunkelPhone: 827-713-3148

[email protected]

Waymer & Associates Insurance AgencyPhone: 800-447-5152

5


A Letter From the Executive Director

By Cheryll Lambright

There are exciting things happening in the Texas recycling industry. TARA has embarked on a journey to bring some recognition to our

industry and our association. Sometimes it is hard for you to see all the things that TARA is doing that makes your membership a neces-

sary and viable tool and platform to dictate from. Following is a letter that TARA compiled with a great deal of input from many members.

This letter was sent, not only to Governor Abbott, but to the Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton and Department of Motor Vehicles.

The goal was to bring to light the importance that our industry will play in resolving and managing the magnanimous task of deposing of

flooded vehicles. TARA wanted the state of Texas to know that this job can only be done with help from our industry. And additionally that

the members of our association want it to be done legally and handled by experts in this industry. TARA members are the most qualified

experts and this letter is already creating some “buzz”. Thanks for your membership and TARA will continue on the path to highlight the

positive impact and importance of this industry.

The Honorable Greg Abbott GovernorOffice of the GovernorP.O. Box 12428Austin, TX 78711-2428

Dear Governor Abbott:

I am writing to you on behalf of the Texas Automotive Re-cyclers Association (TARA). As the country has witnessed, the destruction brought about by Hurricane Harvey is dev-astating. The loss of lives is tragic, as is the hundreds of thousands of Texan families displaced in the aftermath of the storm. Despite this adversity, the American spirit shines as thousands of individuals from across the country have de-scended upon the affected regions to assist and rescue their fellow citizens. TARA commends your leadership and will to persevere during this trying period.

As you lead Texas and issue a myriad of emergency actions and directives designed to mitigate the negative effects of the hurricane and flooding, TARA would like to provide you with information related to motor vehicles that have been

submerged under water or suffered extensive flood damage and what could potentially become of them later if the right measures are not taken now. TARA urges you to establish strict procedures as to how the State will dispose of such motor vehicles and protect all Texans.

Motor vehicles that are fully or partially submerged suffer extensive flood damage rendering them inoperable and de-void of any value except for parts or scrap. The damage rests mostly in the electrical components turning these motor ve-hicles into ticking time bombs. In short, a flood-damaged motor vehicle is just as totaled as any motor vehicle engaged in a wreck with substantial body damage, but perhaps more dangerous to consumers and motorists. While a wrecked motor vehicle’s damages are obvious to any person, a flood-damaged motor vehicle appears pristine and any physical or mechanical damage is not visible to the naked or untrained eye. In fact, a flood-damaged motor vehicle only requires an extensive cleaning or detailing to appear free of any defect. As such, the motor vehicles submerged in water and with flood damage should never be allowed back on the roads of Texas, or any other state.

MESSAGE FROM TDLR

TARA Steps Up to the Plate

6


Whenever natural disasters occur which leave behind a great number of flood-damaged motor vehicles, pecuniary inter-ests seek to maximize profits at the expense of unassuming consumers. The logic goes that if a given state just suffered a natural disaster which yielded thousands of flood-damaged motor vehicles and the residents of that state are well aware of the damage those motor vehicles sustained, then those motor vehicles should be shipped to other states with resi-dents unfamiliar with their damage so profits can be maxi-mized. Hurricane Sandy yielded thousands of these flood-damaged motor vehicles, most of them properly branded as such. But despite this branding or proper titling, many of these flood-damaged motor vehicles were taken to states where this branding was removed, or the title was washed.

Therein begins a dangerous cycle where a motor vehicle branded with “flood damage” that should never be reintro-duced to public roadways is taken to a jurisdiction with less restrictive titling laws and given a new title without such branding. A flood-damage title brand should accompany a motor vehicle from branding to end-of-life. Failure to do so will only result in thousands of defrauded consumers with nothing to show for but a dangerous, inoperable, and worth-less motor vehicle.

Hurricane Harvey has likely inflicted flood damage to ap-proximately 200,000 to 500,000 motor vehicles in the Houston area alone. A potential exists for up to at least 500,000 flood-damaged motor vehicles to leave Texas to neighboring states with less restrictive laws, have their brand-ings removed, and re-enter Texas with a clean title.

For example:

Arkansas:Arkansas uses the term “water-damaged” and defines it as damage to a motor vehicle “caused by submerging or partially submerging the motor vehicle in water to the extent that the motor vehicle was submerged or partially submerged at any water level above the dashboard of the motor vehicle, regardless of the actual dollar amount of the damage.” However, while the water-damaged defi-nition is arguably reasonable, Arkansas limits such desig-nation to vehicles seven-model years or newer. The Ar-kansas Code provides that title brandings or designations such as salvage (which includes water-damaged), “shall not apply to motor vehicles more than seven (7) model years old prior to the calendar year of the occurrence.”

Mississippi:Mississippi defines a salvage vehicle as one “which an insurance company obtains from the owner as a result of paying a total loss of claim resulting from … flood … or other occurrence.” Any provisions applicable to salvage, and thus flood-damaged motor vehicles, do not apply to any motor vehicle “which is ten (10) years old or older with a value of one thousand five hundred dol-lars ($1,500) or less, or to a motor vehicle with damage which will require the replacement or repair of five (5) or fewer minor component parts.”

Kentucky:Kentucky provides that the owner of a water dam-aged vehicle from another state “shall be issued a title with the words “water damaged printed on the face of the title.” More egregious, however, is Kentucky’s le-gal method for title washing. In Kentucky, a salvage certificate “may be issued from an out-of-state junking certificate or other ownership document bearing a des-ignation of ‘junk,’ ‘unrebuildable,’ or other similar clas-sification that disqualifies the vehicle from being titled for use on the highway in that state” if the owner follows certain unsafe procedures.

In the previous three examples, a Texas motor vehicle with a nonrepairable or salvage title may receive a clean title in Arkansas if it is older than seven model years, or in Missis-

7


sippi if it is older than ten model years. More troubling is Kentucky’s willing-ness to give a salvage title to any motor vehicle with a junk or equivalent title as long as it passes an inspection and pictures of the motor vehicle are pro-vided. This same motor vehicle which at one point Texas deemed unworthy and unsafe for its roads could very well end-up on Texan roads with a clean or less restrictive branding. This could be the fate for the 200,000 to 500,000 flood-damaged motor vehicles in the Houston area alone.

The transfers and movements of these flood-damaged motor vehicles must be restricted and restrained to the fullest ex-tent that the laws of Texas permit. The damage these vehicles sustain as a result of water, and much worse, salt water, is substantial to the point that they are only good for parts. As such, TARA urg-es you to establish strict procedures as to how the State will dispose of such motor vehicles and protect all Texans.

Please contact us if you have any ques-tions or would like to discuss this most important issue further.

Respectfully,

Cheryll Lambright, Executive Director Texas Automotive Recyclers Association

cc: Ken Paxton, Texas State Attorney GeneralWhitney Brewster, Executive Di-rector, Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

About TARA:

TARA is the statewide organization of pro-

fessional automotive recyclers. Since 1965,

TARA has represented an industry dedicat-

ed to safe and environmentally responsible

removal, reuse and disposal of automotive

parts and inoperable motor vehicles. TARA

members are licensed as Used Automotive

Parts Recyclers by the Texas Department

of Licensing & Regulation; and most of our

members are also licensed as salvage deal-

ers and used car dealers by the Texas De-

partment of Motor Vehicles.

8


Legislative Report

Greetings To One And All From the Land of Keeping Things Weird in Austin, TX

By Bruce Ormand, TARA Legislative Chairman

Although, with that being said, nobody, and I mean nobody keeps things weirder than Waco TX……. must be some-thing in the water. As I heard it once said in a country song, time marches on and believe me it is not slowing down any time soon. That is why I can accurately state I am getting older and uglier every day.

Back to the business at hand. First item is TARA has been on weekly DMV conference calls with all the stake holders in the salvage industry. Clint Thompson, from DMV, is heading

up the meetings and dictating how things are and should be. TARA has shared concerns about not enough vehicles re-ceiving a non-repairable title but the statutes clearly state that is up to the Insurance company to make that declaration.

Many of you may not be aware that DMV has been mak-ing many changes despite input from stake holders object-ing to the latest interpretation by DMV. It is important and bares watching because they have and could continue to make changes that will impact our ability to sell parts or conduct normal business. So it is imperative that TARA keep watch for new changes. TARA tries to make these changes available and is constantly sending emails to our members. Please confirm that we have the correct contact information.

TARA will be attending the Advisory Board meeting for Used Automotive Parts Recyclers with TDLR. At that meet-ing, TARA will be requesting changes to the penalty matrix that is currently being used by TDLR. They agree with us that the amounts exceed the actual violation and will be working with TDLR advisory board to lessen fines on less egregious items. TARA is also asking to not require cashiers at the Used Auto Parts Recyclers facilities be required to be licensed. TARA contends that they are not actually selling but just fulfilling the position as a cashier much like a grocery store or retail store.

Until we meet again we are wishing you and your business the best.

9


The worst words you can hear in any organization — espe-cially those of us working in salvage yards — are “that’s just how we have always done things.” In a fast-changing indus-try like ours, those words should be poisonous to the ears. It means an organization has become blind to inefficiencies, justifying the status quo because we are too busy to care or because of a prevailing if-it-ain’t-broke mentality.

Poorly designed processes create vast amounts of waste. But if we take time to rework our processes and reduce wasted time and energy the outcome is simple: you can drive bot-tom line revenue.

Often times people fail to recognize the symptoms of bad processes, but if any of these sound familiar, you probably have some poor processes that need to be examined:

• Customer’s complaining about poor product quality and/or bad service,

• Other Colleagues getting frustrated,

• Work is duplicated,

• Costs are increasing,

• Resources are wasted, and

• Bottlenecks develop such that you miss deadlines.

Immediately evaluating your processes should resolve most of the headaches above. It seems like a big task, but the first step is simple: take some time out of your day to watch each department’s workflow. It will become obvious to you which department is in need of dire help: maybe it’s the depart-ment that tells you there is “not enough time in the day to get our work done” or the one where you can cut tension with a knife because the stress of the job has become un-bearable.

For us, it became clear that our shipping department needed new processes. Employees were not happy with the stress on the dock. It turned out it was a 10-year-old process that was making work impossible.

Wasted steps led to missed deadlines which led to poor cus-tomer service. Having identified that our process and work-flow was broken, we rolled up our sleeves, knowing that the hard work of fixing the process would pay dividends in the future. We implemented a 6-step process to improve our situation.

By Ryan Falco

Turn the Tide on Your Poor Processes

10


Step 1We engaged the stakeholders to fix the process. This is the most important step, if we do not have buy-in from the people that are working the pro-cess day in and day out our solutions will fail. This is very much a bottom-up approach instead of a top down man-agement approach. Take time to have open and honest communication, em-phasize what is in it for them (it may lower stress or enhance their ability to get more work done). Besides that, they are the ones working on the shop floor, so they will offer fresh perspectives to the issue in front of you.

Step 2We mapped our current process. Take the pen and paper out in order to document the current flow that you are working with. This will allow you to visualize what’s happening. This is another opportunity to involve your

employees. I was surprised how little I knew about daily tasks until I did this myself.

Step 3We analyzed our current workflow. Try to answer these simple questions:

• Where do team members or cus-tomers get frustrated?

• Where do costs go up and/or qual-ity go down?

• Which of these steps requires the most time, or causes the most de-lays?

• Which of these steps creates a bot-tleneck?

Now that you have answered these questions, find five different reasons “why” you answered the way you did.

Though simple, this is a remarkably simple process. By taking the time to ask “why” five times it forces you to get to the root of the problem. I try to be as relentless as my 3-year-old son Jack —no matter the answer, he always asks why! This forces you to dive deeper until you arrive at the root problem and pinpoint where a break down has occurred. The questions why are not a time to place blame on individuals, but to take incremental steps to become a better and more efficient team.

Step 4We redesigned the process. This is the step where you need to work with your team to eliminate the problems identi-fied in step three. Again, involve every-one from your team: you may design the new process, but it’s the staff that will have to care enough to execute the vision.

• When redesigning the process it is important to ask these questions

• What impact does this new process have downstream?

• What risk do we have by doing it a new way?

• Where are potential failures that may arise after this process is put in place?

• What are the full consequences of each proposed ideas?

It is essential to acquire the resources needed to make the new process hap-pen as efficiently as possible. Don’t

11


bother with any new processes if you aren’t willing to invest the resources to execute it. It may be something as cheap as a new tape guns or as expensive as a new forklift. If a cost analysis justifies the purchase, don’t hesitate. Other sal-vage yards have taken it to the level of completely rebuilding and dismantling facilities to accommodate their new plan. Here’s a general rule of thumb: if the new process lowers stress and streamlines production… invest in it!

Step 5

Implement the Change. This is where all of your pre-planning and strategy meetings pay off. If you included stake-holders in the process, this should be pretty seamless. Consider starting small, a pilot or test of the program will help workout any kinks. This will give you ample time to make any tweaks mini-mizing pain for departments or, even worse, customers. Undoing decades of bad processes are rarely pain free, but it’s vital to stand strong. It’s not so different than my annual January diet. After the holidays, I catalogue the steps I am going to take in the new year: ex-ercise, diet, counting calories. Within a week, after I have yet to see the full benefits of the changes, I throw in the towel, telling myself “it’s too hard.” If I had resisted the urge to go back to old habits, I imagine February would have rolled around and I would have been amazed by the results. Forge on and don’t give up. Plus, if you cut corners, you will end up right where you started. Again, don’t bother unless you invest resources to implement the change!

Step 6

Review the Process. This is the last and final step in our journey. Any time you implement a new process you need to closely monitor to make sure that it has not been derailed and is working how you planned. You should also expect is-sues to arise, this is part of the game. Be prepared to look at these issues with your staff and reevaluate the process when needed.

Processes are evolving things — you should never be complacent. As Socrates said “the Secret of Change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” I have only been in this indus-try for a short 8 years (though that is 28 in salvage yard years). In that time the changes have been mind-boggling. I learned quickly from the owners of my business that, in order to build a lasting business, we have to be open to change and committed to implementing pro-cesses that respond accordingly.

Ryan Falco, is General Manager of Mid-

way Auto Parts in Kansas City, Missouri,

that includes a full-service yard processing

over two hundred vehicles monthly, two

self-service locations, an aftermarket parts

store and a car lot selling new and used

vehicles. He began in the industry 8 years

ago as an outside sales rep/driver for Mid-

way’s Aftermarket division and quickly.

Email Ryan at [email protected]

Being A TARA MemberHas Its

Benefits!

TARATel: 800-710-8272Fax 713-461-1515

[email protected]

Become part of a progressive and strong

organization.Join your friends and

be a member!

4 Legislative Power4 Industry Information4 Connectivity 4 Annual Conference4 Education Sessions4 TARA Report

Newsletter

(PLEASE PRINT)Date: ______________________________________

PRIMARY Yard Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________________

City: ___________________________________ County: _____________________ State: ________ ZIP Code: ____________

Business Phone: ( ______ ) _____________________________FAX: ( _____ ) ____________________________________

E-Mail: ________________________________________________ Web site: ________________________________________

Company Owner/Manager: __________________________________Title: __________________________________

Specify Company Type: r Sole Proprietorship _______________________ r Partnership/Type ______________________

r Corporation/Type _________________________ r Other ________________________________

TDLR Used Auto Parts Recyclers License No.: ______________TCEQ Storm Water Permit Number: ___________________

ADDITIONAL Yard Name: ________________________________________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________________

City: ___________________________________ County: _____________________ State: ________ ZIP Code: ____________

Business Phone: ( ______ ) _____________________________FAX: ( _____ ) ____________________________________

E-Mail: ________________________________________________ Web site: ________________________________________

Company Owner/Manager: __________________________________Title: __________________________________

TDLR Used Auto Parts Recyclers License No.: ______________TCEQ Storm Water Permit Number: ___________________

Please indicate category below:

r Direct Primary Member $400.00 per year r Associate Member $400.00 per year

r Additional Yard(s) - $125.00 per yard/per year

Please attach information for all additional yards

Payment Information

r Check Enclosed (payable to TARA) r MasterCard r Visa r Discover r American Express

r Automatic Monthly Credit Card Payment: $35.00 per month (Payment includes a $1.67 a monthly credit card processing fee for a total of $420 annually. Charges will continue on a monthly basis and membership will auto-matically renew unless written notice of cancellation is received 30 days prior to monthly charge.)

Card # ______________________________________ Verification Code: _____________Expiration Date ___________

PRINT Name of Cardholder __________________________________________________________________________

Signature of Cardholder ______________________________________________________________________________

Address: (If different than above address) ______________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONTexas Automotive Recyclers Association

The undersigned hereby applies for membership in the Texas Automotive Recyclers Association and agrees to be bound by its bylaws accordingly.

By-Laws are available at www.texasara.com.

Return to: TARA • c/o Cheryll Lambright • PO Box 3547 • Galveston, TX [email protected] • TEL: 800-710-8272 • FAX: 713-461-1515

INDUSTRY NEWS13November/December 2017

Professional automotive recycling businesses are aware of the dangers of defective Takata airbags and the federal re-quirement prohibiting the sale of non-remedied recalled automotive parts. Many ARA member facilities are partici-pating in buy-back programs or taking other steps to pre-vent the reutilization of defective parts, such as looking up acquired vehicles using the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) www.safercar.gov website, which allows vehicles under recall to be identified by vehicle iden-tification number (VIN).

As many have likely heard or read, the woman injured by a defective Takata airbag in Las Vegas, Nevada in March 2017, has sued several entities -- including a salvage facil-ity. According to the lawsuit, the salvage facility is one of five defendants and is alleged to have “...fail[ed] to advise or warn that the driver’s airbag assembly was subject to a recall, further failing to advise or warn of the risks that said driver’s airbag assembly posed to vehicle occupants.”

The suspect airbag was allegedly “obtained” from a salvage vehicle by repair facility defendants. The lawsuit states that the salvage facility “...knew or should have known about the dangerous nature of Takata airbag assemblies and the recall pertaining thereto.”

This lawsuit is significant because it is the first time an auto-motive recycling facility has been sued in connection with the nationwide Takata airbag recall.

In a number of media reports covering the March 2017 in-cident, a Carfax spokesperson has recommended that con-sumers considering the purchase of used motor vehicles use the free airbag check available on the Carfax website. With this tool, users can identify if the vehicle they are consider-ing had an airbag deployment in a prior accident. In one newscast, the Carfax spokesperson stated that if airbags have

been replaced due to a prior accident, consumers should check with a mechanic who can trace the airbag’s history with just one number. “They can remove the airbag cover, look at the serial number and figure out where that air bag came from, if it’s a recycled unit and if it’s been recalled.” The spokesperson added that if someone is buying a used car, this provides a method for determining the airbag’s or-igin and any potential problems. However, no such serial number database is currently available to the public or the recycling industry.

In an August 24, 2017 statement released by ARA, the As-sociation called on automakers to publicly release a com-prehensive list of VINs and their airbag serial numbers for all vehicles with Takata airbags. As members are well aware, the professional automotive recycling industry has asked for OEM part numbers from automakers for decades to un-equivocally identify automotive parts from total loss and end-of-life vehicles. Regrettably, automakers have been un-willing to voluntarily provide this important safety informa-tion to the professional automotive recycling industry and others – unlike Europe where the automakers are mandated to do so.

In late 2015, the full House of Representatives passed an ARA supported provision that required auto manufacturers to provide automotive recyclers with parts data on all parts as they do for other segments of the automotive service and repair industries. Regrettably, the final legislation passed by Congress as part of the highway bill and signed by President Obama made some progress requiring important safety in-formation, but only for recalled parts.

In May of this year, Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) introduced legislation [HR 2460] that would require motor vehicle manufacturers to provide the part numbers and se-rial numbers specific to each VIN for all vehicles to improve

By ARA CEO Michael E. Wilson

On the HorizonAuto Recyclers Face Potential Liabilities Without Proper Data

INDUSTRY NEWS14 November/December 2017

automotive safety and consumer protection. This compre-hensive parts data is vital to efficiently identify future NHT-SA recalls that may be in an automotive recycler’s inventory. However, ARA maintains that if auto manufacturers are about remedying recall and safety issues, they would be pro-viding this information without being forced to legislatively.

ARA continues to urge NHTSA to accelerate its rulemaking to specifically spell out auto manufacturers’ recall parts data requirements under the 2015 highway bill. ARA represen-tatives have met numerous times with NHTSA to provide technical assistance on the complexities of part identification in the automotive parts supply chain. ARA urges NHTSA to require automakers to provide electronic digital data on part names, part descriptions and part numbers tied to specific VIN numbers so professional automotive recyclers can ef-ficiently identify automobile manufacturers’ defective parts.

Automakers are accountable for the safety of all their origi-nal equipment parts throughout their life-cycle and should be required to share whatever parts information is necessary to identify and locate recalled defective parts within the re-cycled original equipment parts population. This practice of sharing original equipment parts numbers should not be an anomaly, rather it should be a standard automotive industry practice. Consumer demand for a safe and vibrant replace-ment parts market makes it imperative that automakers to remove the barriers they have constructed so that all of the parts data is immediately available to the automotive recy-cling industry.

Reprinted from the September-October 2017 issue of Automo-

tive Recyclingmagazine, published by the Automotive Recyclers

Association.

Email Michael Wilson with your thoughts on this topic and other

ideas pertaining to the advancement of professional automotive

recycling at [email protected]. Your letter could be published in

an upcoming Industry Letters column.

Re-mold manufacturing is a practice used in tire recycling to replicate new tire manufacturing. TreadWright Tires, LLC. is a Houston, Texas based manufacturing company which is leading the mold-cure industry. Treadwright has been re-molding light truck tires for almost 40 years (note: in 2016, light truck sales - Pickups, SUV’s, Jeeps - accounted for 59.5% of all auto sales). Remolding is a common practice in the commercial tire industry used for high-value tires with strict safety requirements. Remolding is the standard for aircraft tires and steer tires on over-the-road trucks (See “How it’s Made” discussion). For most of its history, Treadwright made non-branded remolds for the agriculture and construction industries. In 2014, Anthony Showen, former Navy nuclear submarine engineer, and veteran of Goodyear’s commercial operations group purchased the company with investors. Treadwright built a new factory in Houston, TX and began making Treadwright branded remolds that were both struc-turally and cosmetically indistinguishable from new tires. While remolded tires for passenger vehicles (non-commer-cial) are common in Europe, Treadwright makes the only consumer remold in North America.

As those involved with ARA, and TARA, know, tires are one of the top pollutants of waterways in the United States. It is a known that a large number tires go to landfills and virtu-ally all privately disposed tires end up placing stress on the environment in some way.

The remolding process spares the noxious fuel burning in recycling, saving a tremendous amount of rubber along with other precious natural resources. A remolded tire uses only 25% of the rubber used in a new tire. When a new tire

Mold-Cure Manufacturing ProcessIt differs from re-tread, while helping to save the environment and money

By Will Hearty, Business Development Manager at TreadWright Tires

15November/December 2017

INDUSTRY NEWS

Contact us for more information.

GRAPPLES

Range in length from 40-55 feet. All Lowboy’s are non-ground bearing and available in custom lengths to meet your needs!

HIGH QUALITY LOWBOY TRAILERS

Wadley, Georgia • [email protected] • Fax: 478-252-9030

www.ironax.com

Design & Manufacture of Scrap Metal Processing Equipment

www.ironax.com

Remote control, automatic cycle. All it takes is ONE minute to bale a car!

IRONAX PACK BALER

IRONAX SHEAR PACKAGES

The Enviro-Rack is the most superior auto fluid removal and dismantling system on the market today — complete fluid removal in less than 5 minutes!

IRONAX ENVIRO-RACK

OVER 45 YEARSEXPERIENCE!

All shears feature 360° continuous rotation.

All Envior-Racks are made in American with American

steel for American-sized cars!

is manufactured, tread rubber is applied to a pre-fabricated casing which sits at the core of the tire. Treadwright follows the exact same process seen in new tire manufacturing, such as automated raw rubber application, singular tire presses and a specialized balancing system.

Tire casings contain 75% of the tire’s rubber and all of the steel, Kevlar and other technology that gives a tire its strength. This infrastructure is known as the ply system, and has a lifespan which is at least 2x of tread wear. The tread is essentially the replaceable eraser on the pencil, a soft, mal-leable extra which can be replaced multiple times before throwing the entire pencil, or tire, away. While Treadwright will only remold a tire once, the casing essentially has an in-finite life unless punctured or otherwise injured on the road. Thus TreadWright is ensuring that the tire lives on without being burnt for fuel or dumped in the environment. Due to the process of remolding, and using 75% less rubber in the manufacturing process, TreadWright is able to supply the market with a durable product at a low price, while saving rubber, oil, petroleum and other valuable natural resources used in new tire manufacturing.

TAR

A11

17The Texas Automotive Recycling Report

RJ McClellan, Inc.2357 Ventura Drive Suite 110

Woodbury, MN 55125

Change Service Requested

PRESORTEDSTANDARD

U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDTwin Cities, MNPermit No. 7911

inside · 2017. 10. 31. · toll free: 877-525-4589 managing editor fax: 651-458-0125 sheila cain...

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