ARA’s various committees – from certification to education programming to government affairs – are working hard to advance the industry. Here is what they are currently working on!
What makes the Automotive Recyclers Association tick? What keeps the work tracking in worthwhile directions and meeting the needs of members and the industry at large? Well, the answer to that is pretty easy to figure out if you have ever attended an ARA Membership Meeting held in conjunction with the ARA Annual Convention & Exposition. At the meeting, each committee chair reports on committee news. Each committee is dedicated to a specific area to address various aspects of the industry that need response, advancement, development or relationship building. ARA Committees consist of volunteer members who dedicate their own time, efforts and expertise to move forward the agreed upon agenda. They also have an ARA staff member who is their liasion. ARA has been very blessed with strong, capable and visionary leaders who participate in committee calls, run by volunteer chair persons who keep the teams on track.
ARA Committees and meetings are open to any ARA member! They always have room for more members to share the load, and offer solutions to a varying range of problems and initiatives. If you feel like you are ready to serve your industry, email staff@a-r-a.org with your interest. Meeting participation is held through the ARA Tradewing platform, and meetings are held monthly or bi-monthly, depending on the committee.
Awareness Committee
Chair: Scott Robertson Jr.
The Awareness Committee was formed late in 2021 and works to develop programs, partnerships, and marketing content to raise awareness about the auto recycling industry. The Committee is focused on both internal and external awareness. Internal awareness highlights the benefits of ARA, while external awareness is focused on promoting the economic and environmental impact of the modern-day progressive auto recycler to the community.
The Committee is chaired by Immediate Past President Scott Robertson and is currently working to develop marketing materials for the CAR program and raising awareness about the program with external audiences. Other ideas discussed include a New Member Virtual Meet & Greet with the Executive Committee.
Spring has made it difficult to get the Committee together due to road trips and vacations, but we’re excited to get back together soon and continue to work on some of these great ideas.
Certified Auto Recyclers (CAR) & Gold Seal Certification Committee
Chair: Shannon Nordstrom
The Certification Committee meets the second Tuesday of every month via Tradewing conference calls.
At the 2021 convention the committee rolled out the High Voltage Vehicle standards and promised to address the Gold Seal program requirements.
The committee has produced two sample written
plans for members to use as a draft policy that is aligned with the Gold Seal Standards. Once approved, these “templates” will be available for download on https://aracertification.com/. The Return and Warranty written policy and the Recall written policy are complete. The committee also updated the ARA Handling Airbag Protocol.
Rolling out at the convention in 2022 will be updates and resources for the Gold Seal program including a new section specific to Recall Certification given the dire situations that have occurred with recalled airbags in recent years.
The committee is currently tackling the Customer Service Survey questions and process. The committee also publishes articles in the ARA magazine and Toolbox to keep all members, certified and non-certified, up to date on compliance issues covered in the CAR Program and quality standards narrated in the Gold Seal program. Anyone who wishes to join the committee is welcome!
ARA Annual Convention Educational Programming Committee
Chair: Natalie Miller
The ARA Annual Convention Educational Programming Committee, chaired by Natalie Miller, Miller’s Auto Recycling, Ontario, Canada, had a very busy first few months of the year, meeting bi-weekly from January through late April to put together a well-rounded educational program and entertainment lineup for ARA’s 79th Annual Convention & Exposition. Registration is now open at www.a-r-a.org and you can check out the full lineup of speakers and sessions that the Committee came up with!
The Committee reviewed all session proposals submitted for the event and worked to identify gaps in educational content, reaching out to industry experts and fellow automotive recyclers to ensure that all facets of the industry were represented. There truly is something for everyone this year. Volunteer leaders vetted several Keynote Speaker possibilities before voting to select Dave Luehr as the event Keynote, a collision industry favorite who will speak about how to become an “employer of choice” as well as the relationship between repairers and recyclers.
New this year is the addition of two automotive recycler Keynote sessions given by Pat Huesers and Mike Meyers of Pam’s Auto and Ryan Falco from Aesop Auto Parts. Pat, Mike and Ryan will headline Friday and Saturday mornings. The popular Recyclers Roundtable will be back on Saturday afternoon leading into a closing reception.
Committee members have several fun things in store for attendees, including Disney character appearances, live music, trivia, contests, and more entertaining surprises to be revealed on-site! The Exhibit Hall is selling out fast and ARA leadership has been busy travelling around the country to identify new companies to exhibit their products and services to the membership. The Committee is continuing to work over the summer to prep speakers and assist with presentations. We hope everyone can join us in Orlando on September 22-24th for what is sure to be a great event!
Government Affairs Committee
Co-Chairs: Slater Shroyer and RD Hopper
The Government Affairs Committee is chaired by Slater Shroyer of Shroyer’s Auto Parts, Lansing, MI, and Co-Chair RD Hopper of Sonny’s Auto Salvage, Jacksonville, AR. Over the past year, the Government Affairs Committee has been busy promoting automotive recycling to state and federal legislators and regulators. The Government Affairs Committee has also been tracking and responding to legislation and regulations that impact the automotive recycling industry. Some of the subjects that the Government Affairs Committee has addressed this year are: electric vehicle battery recycling, the importance of automotive recyclers within the automotive supply chain, right to repair, vehicle data access, catalytic converter theft, and stormwater permitting.
Along with navigating a complex legislative and regulatory environment, the Government Affairs Committee is continuing to work on creating a standardized industry-
specific glossary of automotive recycling terms. Once completed, this glossary will help the auto recycling industry to unify its voice by providing a standardized set of definitions that can be used nationwide. The need for a standardized industry-specific glossary is becoming ever more apparent as legislators and regulators begin discussions on how electric vehicles and their batteries should be regulated.
The Government Affairs Committee is currently seeking new members and encourages members interested in joining the Committee to reach out to ARA staff at emil@a-r-a.org.
Interchange Committee
The Interchange Committee, chaired by Emily Yancey, Yancey’s Auto Salvage, Perry, MO, has been working diligently each month to identify ways of enhancing the capacity of all ARA members to sell more Recycled Original Equipment® (ROE®) parts that currently have no interchange or adequate description to allow integration into quotes and/or listings.
In consultation with industry yard management systems, earlier this year the Committee identified the 12 parts below as needing part numbers. Many members currently utilize user defined part types (DOT numbers) to inventory these parts. Improving consistency within the industry is something the Committee focuses on each month and as such, ARA is recommending member businesses utilize the part numbers below for the 12 parts. Please note that this is voluntary and up to individual businesses to decide whether or not to implement.
804 Bumper Pad
806 Hood Insulation Pad
807 Bumper Face Bar, Front
808 Bumper Face Bar, Rear
809 Headlight Bulb
810 Wheel Lug Nut
811 Back Door Moulding
812 Brush Guard
813 Hood Scoop
814 Grille Moulding
815 Cabin Air Filter
848 Wheel Opening Moulding
The Committee is currently working on updating the “Inventory Specialist and Parts Grading” course on ARA University, again in an effort to improve consistency in how parts are listed and described across the industry.
Committee members would like to encourage members to reach out with any interchange action requests or eBay fitment issues and will relay that feedback to the appropriate people. For eBay fitment issues, please send an Excel spreadsheet with the Hollander exchange number and a quick blurb regarding the known error(s).
For suggested changes or corrections to the Hollander Interchange, submit an Interchange Action Request (IAR) through your Powerlink system or through email.
If you are a Powerlink user, select the ‘Send SARs and IARs’ menu item in the ‘Tools’ menu of Powerlink. Select ‘Interchange’ for the Type of issue and complete the information requested on each of the three tabs. Once your information is entered, press the Submit button.
If you are not a Powerlink user, IARs can be submitted via email to Interchange@HollanderParts.com. When using email to submit an IAR, please include the following information:
1. Year
2. Make
3. Model
4. Part Type
5. VIN (if available)
6. A description of the change being requested
IARs submitted through either channel are reviewed by the interchange department and a resolution is returned back to the person who submitted the IAR. Contact Chair, Emily Yancey (eyancey@yanceyauto.com) or Jessica Andrews (jessica@a-r-a.org) for more information.
