Salvage Wire

Salvage Wire
Helping Automotive recyclers become leaders in their industry

Wednesday 12 November 2014

AUTO RECYCLERS MANAGEMENT BOOT CAMPS

Do you want to accelerate your business? Read on and find out how.

Salvage Wire is investigating the potential for an Auto Recyclers Management Boot Camp led by Donald Cooper.
About Donald's “Accelerate Your Business” Management Boot Camp:
Who should attend?

  1. This programme is specifically designed for business owners and their management teams from small and medium sized businesses, up to £15 million in sales.
  2. Donald has successfully worked in over 40 different industries throughout the world, so whatever you do this will be enormously helpful.
  3. Experience shows that the more managers who attend from the same company, the more extraordinary the results in the business.
How Donald helps business owners and managers:
Donald has helped thousands of businesses to achieve the following 5 outcomes:
  1. Create a compelling competitive advantage.
  2. Market and promote on a limited budget.
  3. Create a clear vision for an extraordinary and more profitable future...and the Action Plan to get them there.
  4. Manage every part of their business more proactively and effectively.
  5. Create a top-performing team, and deal more effectively with non-performance.
The Extraordinary value:
Each delegate will take away:
  1. A clear understanding of how to be a world-class manager in the business.
  2. A complete handout of Donald’s bottom-line insights and real-life help examples.
  3. Donald’s complete step-by-step Implementation Guide that will help you to more effectively manage your marketing, your team, your future....and your bottom line.
  4. A renewed energy and commitment to be extraordinary, successful and profitable. Mediocrity is no longer and option!
  5. Valuable insights into how to grow a successful business and also have and extraordinary life.
  6. An opportunity to sign up to receive Donald’s monthly Management E-Newsletter at no cost.
For more details and the opportunity to respond, please click here 

Friday 22 August 2014

Moving Written-Off Vehicles Around The World

Some time ago I was asked to investigate the background to an Audi TT that had been written off in the Channel Islands, what I found proved that written-off vehicles can be easily moved around the world.

Following an accident, an Audi TT was being inspected by the insurance company, the insurance engineer wasn’t happy about the vehicle and asked me to complete some further investigations.
The vehicle concerned had a Jersey registration and was Left Hand Drive - not unusual in the Channel Islands given their close proximity to mainland Europe, but the main difference to the majority of LHD vehicles was the speedo and distance recorders where in miles, not kilometres.

The registration paperwork confirmed that the vehicle had come into Jersey from Poland, but this didn’t explain the speedo reading miles per hour, so a little more detective work was required.
Audi UK were able to confirm that the vehicle was produced for the North American marketplace, and some extra work on the NMVTIS (National Motor Vehicle Title Information System) database in the US gave us the information required, the vehicle had been registered in New Jersey and written off after an insurance claim.

None of this was recorded on any of the documents provided to the authorities in the Channel Islands when they registered the vehicle, the owner of the vehicle had no knowledge of the previous history and wasn’t aware that the vehicle had been previously written-off.

So what does this tell us? That written-off vehicles can move across borders with impunity and lose their ‘written-off’ status; that potentially dangerous vehicles could be sold with no checks on roadworthiness or safety; that the vehicle could have been stolen and cloned to a different identity; that the auto recycling and motor salvage industry needs to do more to track written-off vehicles across the world, making certain that potential owners are aware of the previous history of the vehicle, and setting standards for roadworthiness of any repaired vehicles.

The correct forum for this will be the International Round Table on Auto Recycling (IRT) that is being held in Japan in October, for more details refer to http://irt-autorecycling.org/next-irt-kushiro-hokkaido-japan

If you have a vehicle that you would like investigating, please contact Salvage Wire through the web site or at admin@salvagewire.com


Tuesday 5 August 2014

Time to Think

Tick! Another second gone that you will never get back; we have 86,400 seconds in each day, on average we will be sleeping for 28,800 seconds so there are 57,600 seconds available for us to use, please allow me to take around 120 seconds of your daily allowance.

One of the best pieces of advice I received when moving jobs many years ago was “take time to think and write in pencil, because you can rub out those ideas that were no good”.
22 years later this is even more relevant in the current business climate we face.

I mentioned this to one customer a few months ago and he immediately came back to me saying ‘I haven’t got the time to do that, I’m too busy’.

Many years ago I regularly attended evening meetings for local Motor Traders and noticed that one of the more regular attendees had missed a few of the meetings – he had been in a serious car accident and spent over 6 weeks in hospital before recuperating at home for another 3 months, when I saw him again he was a changed man – yes the accident had affected his mobility, but more importantly it had changed the course of his company, for the first time in nearly 10 years he had had time to think. As a result he now takes every Tuesday morning away from the office to sit and think, and the company has grown, diversified and is still very profitable 20 years later.

A car accident is a bit extreme, and I hope that this isn’t the catalyst for anyone reading this item, but it could be an illness or other type of injury that forces a period of time away from the business. I know, I have just spent 2 weeks at home with a bad back and have had plenty of thinking time – technology helps, the I-Pad is easy to use when you are laid flat on your back, and you don’t need a pencil and eraser.

But there is a better way that avoids accidents or illness; set aside a regular time each week away from the day to day activities of the business, and take yourself away from the office so you won’t be tempted to get involved in anything else – switch off your phone as well.

Many struggle with how to fill their thinking time, especially if the idea is new to them – there are no hard or fast rules to this, it is more a case of what works for the individual, personally I like to start with this question:
Why am I in business, what am I doing now and what do I want to be doing in 3 years’ time? 
This can then help to drive thinking into different areas such as:
  • Sales – weekly, monthly, could they be better, how can we sell more?
  • Costs – weekly, monthly, annually, are there areas we can save money on?
  • Staff – do I have the right number of employees, the right type of person in the correct role; are they doing the best for my company or department?
  • Customers – are we attracting more customers? What can we do to attract more, give better service, and make them buy from us rather than the guy down the road or on the internet?
  • Business – Don’t be afraid to question the viability of the business, can it work as it is or would it be better to completely change the focus of the company, or relocate, or even sell out because the land you own is worth more than the company could ever return to you.
This won’t be completed in one session; it will probably be a few weeks before there is a good vision for your company and its future, before the hardest bit – making the changes. 
Change Management will be dealt with in another issue and this is where your thinking time comes into its own; people do not like change! Despite assurances that change is welcomed, deep down there will be anxiety, stress, worry and much more, and this will be reflected by resistance to the new ideas, reluctance to make the changes requested, and a tendency to revert to old ways of doing things. A regular ‘time-out’ is important because it enables you to reflect on progress, remind yourself why the changes are necessary, and how to continue with the changes required to improve your business and succeed in that vision.


The stark truth is this, without regular thinking time there may not be a business to think about in 3 years’ time!

Tuesday 15 July 2014

Join Automotive Recyclers From Around the World at the 8th Annual IRT


The 8th Annual International Roundtable on Automotive Recycling (IRT), taking place October 1-4 in Kushiro, Japan, will bring together leaders in the automotive recycling, insurance, and collision repair industries for what has truly become a global event. Registration is now available at: http://irt-autorecycling.org/next-irt-kushiro-hokkaido- japan.

The Japanese Automobile Recyclers Alliance (JARA), will be hosting the IRT. Program highlights will include a welcoming night reception at the Kushiro Prince Hotel, facilitated roundtable discussions, factory tours and sightseeing opportunities, a BBQ, country reports from ARA, ARC, EGARA, ARAA, MAARA, KARA, AARTI, JARA, and much more.

For more information, travel information, program agenda, and to register for the IRT, please visit the following website: http://irt-autorecycling.org/next-irt-kushiro- hokkaido-japan


Wednesday 18 June 2014

International Dismantling Information System (IDIS)

Free, complimentary, gratis, on the house, for nothing! You cannot say that about much these days, especially technical information from vehicle manufacturers. 

There must be a catch, I hear you say; only if you are not in the automotive recycling industry. IDIS is the International Dismantling Information System that all vehicle manufacturers selling cars in Europe have to provide information to, and this data is then available free of charge to vehicle dismantlers and recyclers across Europe.

The database is designed to promote the safe and economical treatment of end of life vehicles (ELV’s) and is part of the European Union’s ELV Directive.

Information is split into a number of different areas, including Batteries, Pyrothechnics, Fuels, Air Conditioning and more. Data included highlights number of components, what they are made from, tools required and the processes needed to remove these components from the vehicle.

From IDIS you can find out that a fully specced new Mercedes S-Class Hybrid could have up to 24 batteries in it when you include keys, tyre pressure sensors and more, or that the High Voltage Battery of the Tesla Model S is a Lithium-Ion unit that weighs around 600KG.

Safety documents feature heavily in the IDIS contents, including Pyrothechnics, Hybrid Batteries, LPG/CNG and all give lots of good and useful safety advice. Vehicle Manufacturers back this up with their own unique advice and recommendations within the information given for their models.


Reports can be printed from IDIS for each vehicle model giving all pre-treatment and dismantling information for that variant that can be taken to the workstation and used during the de-pollution and dismantling process to ensure full, safe and economical processing of end of life vehicles. 

To access IDIS go to www.idis2.com where you can register on-line and take a tour of the site.

Friday 13 June 2014

More thoughts on VIC

Over the last few days a number of comments have been made about the decision by the Department for Transport to scrap the VIC check and initiate a working group to look at alternatives to this.

The detail from the DfT contained a number of comments that gave hints about their desired outcomes for this working group.

  • considering a statutory basis for the insurance industry’s code of practice about written-off vehicles;
  • The roadworthiness and crashworthiness of rebuilt written-off vehicles should be subject to checking.  The Department is committed to investigating this further with industry.  
These can be interpreted as ‘we WILL introduce statutory regulation of written off vehicles’ and ‘repaired vehicles WILL be subject to enhanced checks before being allowed back into use’.

UK Motor Insurers already have the voluntary code of practice in place, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) who ‘own’ the Code of Practice should now step in to enforce the code, get their member companies performing to the highest standards possible and show the working group and the DfT that they can be trusted to enforce standards fully and correctly before any legislation comes in.

The Motor Vehicle Dismantlers Association (MVDA) and the British Vehicle Salvage Federation (BVSF) both need to show that their members are of the highest quality; they dismantle category A and B vehicles to the highest environmental standard, make certain that these vehicles are destroyed and issue Certificates of Destruction. This can be done by setting the appropriate standards for these members, with transparent auditing and compliance it can be shown that these companies are the most trusted salvage and recoiling operations in the UK and should deal with the majority of all written off vehicles.

Seems simple really........

Monday 9 June 2014

So VIC is no more, what next?

The UK Government announced today that the Vehicle Identity Check scheme (VIC) is to be closed; having spent millions, checked hundreds of thousands of vehicles and identified less than 50 suspect vehicles, it certainly cannot be called a success.
The scheme will run until October 2015, in the meantime a working group will be formed to investigate the next steps.
I understand that making the current voluntary code of practice mandatory is an option; action that must be welcomed by the industry.

Personally I hope that the working group is able to bring strong enforcement action on this issue, including an updating of the current code, stopping category A and B vehicles leaving the country, Certificate of Destructions being mandatory for these vehicles,  a suitable roadworthiness check for all category C and D salvage returning to use, and stiff fines for companies that flout the regulations.

It certainly looks like progress is being made, we won’t mourn the loss of VIC, lets embrace sensible regulations going forward that protect OUR industry, drivers and customers.


Wednesday 14 May 2014

Beat the Blues!

Spent most of yesterday calling auto recyclers to promote my Safe Handling of Electric and Hybrid training course.
As usual, many of them were not interested and didn’t book a place - now I am used to that and accept these rejections as a normal part of business life, but I ended the day really depressed because of the attitude of so many.

What really depressed me was the amount of wingeing and whining about the auto recycling industry, how it is no good, and they wanted to just shut the doors and get out. 
I admit that there are some issues that need addressing, but I see a vibrant business that is moving forward, raising standards and becoming more professional.

This can be seen next month at the CARS Show, held at a working automotive recycling facility this show brings the best in the industry together for 2 days of seminars, demonstrations, teaching, learning and networking. June 5th and 6th are the dates, Motorhog Doncaster is the location tickets for the 2 days cover food and drinks at the show and delegates are coming from all over the world.


The show web site (www.cars-expo.com) has full details of the show, including seminar timetable, booking tickets and hotels. Join the cream of the auto recycling industry at this prestigious event, be enthused about the future, to be the best that you can and secure your future.

Friday 9 May 2014

Back to Basics?

Do you look back to the ‘good old days’ and wish that life now was as easy as it used to be? You cannot deny that the advance of technology has made a difference, vehicles are much cleaner and less polluting than they used to be, transfer of data and news is easy and quick, we could not work without computers and phones, the list goes on….

Was it better 20 years ago? When the first Code of Practice for Motor Salvage was introduced it was designed to prevent unsafe vehicles coming back into use, it targeted those who stole vehicles to change the identity to a written off vehicle, and it raised professional standards in vehicle salvage and car breaking operations. It did exactly what was required at the time and has proved to be a valuable document since.



The Code of Practice is still operating today, but it is being undermined by a number of factors.
  • It is voluntary - companies can choose not to use the code and stand behind the fact that it is voluntary so not enforceable on the industry.
  • It is being ignored by self-insured fleets - so damaged vehicles can be sold with no history of the damage sustained to the vehicle, potentially dangerous to subsequent vehicle owners.
  • Companies interpret the code in their own way - there have been lots of reports of mis-categorisation over the recent months and speculation about the reasons for these categorisation decisions normally focus on the increase in salvage revenue for motor insurers.


Is it time to go back to basics? A slightly amended code that reflects current vehicle design and manufacturing processes, supports green recycled parts, and complements government policy could be adequately enforced by the ABI and provide consistent vehicle categorisation; this simple action would restore full credibility to the code, continue to advance the auto recycling and salvage industry, raise professional standards and continue to protect consumers from lack of categorisation or poor categorisation decisions.

Thursday 3 April 2014

Safe Handling of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

Some might look on them as exotic, new, or just the latest must have vehicle, but these vehicles are now being found as End of Life Vehicles in auto recycling and motor salvage yards around the world, and unless handled properly they can kill or seriously injure employees.

High Voltages are required for the electric motor, the battery voltage is converted from Direct Current to Alternating Current and up to 750volts can be required for the motor. Heat is generated through this process and needs controlling, batteries do not function best in very cold or very hot temperatures so they also have cooling and heating capabilities, and batteries also contain electrolyte that requires careful management if it s split from a damaged battery.

Salvage Wire’s Safe Handling of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Training is a course designed for automotive recycling and motor salvage operations, that helps dismantlers to assess, make safe and dismantle electric and hybrid vehicles, and is an essential part of any responsible vehicle recyclers training programme. 

Courses are available across the country over the coming months, for more details contact Salvage Wire at admin@salvagewire.com for a training programme and full details of this course and all others available.


Have you registered for CARS 2014 yet?

CARS 2014 is picking up the pace, with even more visitors and exhibitors signing up for what promises to be the biggest event of the year in the automotive recycling and vehicle salvage calendar!

In light of ground-breaking new technologies predicted to emerge in the next few years, and Volvo’s recent ambitious claim that ‘by 2020, no one will be killed in a new Volvo’, the CARS conference programme will address 
future vehicles and the impact on auto recyclers. Chaired by Salvage Wire’s Andy Latham, it will explore the impact of new vehicle design and the effect on car repair and recycling businesses.


Mr Latham said: “the advance in vehicle technology is now so quick, and potentially game changing, that everyone in the industry needs to be aware of the changes so they can plan for the impact to their business. This session will highlight changes now coming into production as well as advances due in the coming few years that will all impact vehicle repair, re-use of parts and recycling.”

For more information about the full programme and other show features, please click here.


Tuesday 25 March 2014

Selling Salvage Vehicles and Parts for Free

Do you have vehicles to sell? Do you want to sell these vehicles and pay no sales charges? GBC Professional can assist you.
GBC Professional have customers in Europe that are searching for vehicles and vehicle parts to purchase; vehicles and parts that you may have in your yard.
Register for free on the GBC Professional web site, (http://gbcars.eu/en-u) upload the vehicle details and images and sell - it is that simple and there are no charges for sellers.
The first 10 suppliers who sell 10 vehicles through GBC Professional web site before 31 May 2014 will receive a free ticket to the CARS Show being held at Motorhog Doncaster June 5th-6th (www.cars-expo.com


You can also register to purchase vehicles on GBC Professional, the unique salvage vehicle service where there are no hidden charges, all details can be found on the GBC Professional web site -http://gbcars.eu/en-u

There is also a you tube video available to watch





Monday 24 March 2014

Safe handling of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

Contact Salvage Wire to book any of the advertised training - andy@salvagewire.com or telephone 07710 877411



Leadership and Management Training

2 companies, both in the business of recycling cars, within 20 miles of each other, family owned and run, and I visited both on the same day  – there the similarities end.
Leaving the first company I was enthused and motivated by their passion, vision and energy, I wanted to slit my wrists as I left the second business because I was so depressed.
Completely embracing the internet age, company number 1 has designed a process where the vehicles are dismantled, all parts quality controlled, tagged, imaged and racked, then listed on e-bay and sold. At the time of my visit they had over 12,000 listings on e-bay and were selling in excess of 200 items per day.
When I arrived at company number 2 I was immediately met by de-motivated owners and staff telling me that the business was running on fumes, had no future and was just ticking over; the owners had recently invested in another business and were putting their efforts into that, giving the message to their staff that the auto recycling business was not important to them.
The main question that I came away from this under-performing business was how did this happen? This is a business that has been running for over 30 years, very successfully giving a living to the owners and quality employment to their staff, yet it is now struggling to survive. Unfortunately the negative attitude of the owners didn’t give me any hope for a better outcome apart from closure or sale.
The difference between both companies can be summed up in one word – Vision.
The owners of the first company have a vision of the future where they are a factory that is producing green recycled parts, and sell thousands of parts daily using on-line platforms (e-bay is only one tool that they could use). The other company do not have a vision for a successful future for their business at the moment.
Vision is essential for any business to survive; the vision needs to stretch the staff to perform better, for the company to be more efficient, and for customers to want to return and also to recommend their families and friends to that business.
Salvage Wire have developed a training course for Owners, Managers and Leaders within the Auto Recycling and Motor Salvage industry that asks the following questions.
  • Do you have a vision for the future of your company?
  • Is your company competing at the highest level?
  • Is there one thing your company could do better than anyone else?
  • Do you have the right staff in the best roles for their skills?
If you have answered yes to 2 or more of those questions then you do not need to read any further, because your business is being run in a manner that will drive it towards the financial goals you have set out, but if you answered yes to only one of those statement, or you cannot answer yes to any of those statements then you need to focus on some core aspects to assist you in achieving the goals you want.

To help you do this Salvage Wire are hosting a one day Leadership and Management training day on Thursday 24th April that will focus on the vision for your business, why you are doing what you do and giving you time to think about a number of key business issues. Liberally sprinkled throughout the day will be additional help and assistance on being a leader and manager in your business, helping your staff to grow and develop, looking for and exploiting opportunities to advance your business, and plenty of time for discussion and thinking about the future.
This could be just the opportunity you are looking for, time away from the business to reflect and think, time to start planning for the next business opportunity, time to start or refine that vision you have for you, your family and your business.

Feedback received from one delegate was “ this really challenged how we run/want to run our business, both of us have taken a lot away from this course to work on”.

For more details of the course, including special discounted rates for BVSF and MVDA members please contact Andy Latham at Salvage Wire on 07710 877411, or andy@salvagewire.com.

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Salvage Vehicle Categorisation

1,000’s of motor vehicles are damaged daily in accidents and incidents around the world, and there are different standards applied to each and every vehicle.

Many of these vehicles are repaired by approved body repair centres and continue in use for many years; a proportion are written-off and end up in a salvage yard for disposal.

Many will believe that these vehicles should all be scrapped, but this is not the case as some countries will allow some salvage motor vehicles to be repaired and placed back into use.

In the UK there is a voluntary code of practice in place that is administered by the Association of British Insurers, the header states that all members of the ABI should adhere to the code along with members of some other organisations listed in the same part of the code.
The code separates written-off vehicles into 4 separate categories, A, B, C and D. 
Category A is pure scrap - it is worth so little that all it is good for is processing through a metal recycler.
Category B is Break Only - so badly damaged that in the opinion of the insurance assessor the vehicle is unsafe and should be taken out of use, however there may be some ‘bolt-on’ parts available for re-use in another vehicle. These parts can be removed, once this has been completed the vehicle structure (body or chassis) MUST be destroyed and a Certificate of Destruction issued.
Category C is one category of repairable salvage - the assessed repair cost exceeds the pre incident value of the vehicle, but the vehicle could be safely repaired using cheaper labour and green recycled parts. The assessed repair cost is calculated using the insurers normal methods of repair, labour and parts costs - in many cases these would be a computer generated assessment using Thatcham or vehicle manufacturer generated repair methods and times, dealer labour charges and brand new parts.
Category D is the second category of repairable salvage, the assessed repair costs do not exceed the pre-incident value of the vehicle, but the insurer knows that claims costs can be minimised by writing the vehicle off, paying the market value of the vehicle and then banking the salvage sale funds.

The difference between category C and D is quite clear and easy to determine - the market value of the vehicle is key and drives the decision, repair cost over the market value = cat C, repair cost under the value of the vehicle = cat D, simple!

Deciding between category C and category B is much more subjective and comes down to two words - could or should.
Could the vehicle be repaired safely and economically using accepted industry standards? Manufacturers’ or ‘Thatcham’ repair methods must always be used but independent or second-hand parts and reduced labour rates may be applied.

Should the vehicle be repaired? This is a more subjective question and factors that the engineers should consider include: 
The need to remove the vehicle from a possible theft chain e.g. a stripped out vehicle requiring unobtainable or expensive replacement parts.
No vehicle should ever be categorised as repairable on the basis that second-hand shells/ frames will be used.
Some vehicles, especially higher value ones, may be considered technically economical to repair but often they are so severely damaged that they should be categorised as Break only.

It is the inspecting engineer’s responsibility to apply good engineering practice and safety considerations when deciding whether a vehicle is to be sold for repair, totally destroyed or broken for spares. 

Fire and Flood damaged vehicles must be treated appropriately, and does require a slight change in thinking. Insurance engineers must look at the potential for a safe future repair of flood or fire damaged vehicles and take into consideration the increasing use of Ultra High Strength Steel in vehicle bodies and the electronics present in high tech safety systems. If the vehicle is repaired and is then involved in another incident will it perform as the manufacturer intended and protect the occupants of the vehicle? 
I recently saw this fire damaged vehicle being sold as category C salvage, extensive front end damage affecting structural parts of the vehicle, can this be safely repaired?

I believe that it is time for a choice to be made by UK insurers on vehicle salvage categorisation, and it is simple - use it or lose it.
Use the ABI Code of Practice or face the possibility of losing the code. The worry about the loss of the code is two-fold:
No code at all will result in a free-for-all system where anything goes and criminal elements can prosper.
Legislation will come into force that could be far more stringent and costly than just adhering to the code.

The UK has the chance to become a world leader for vehicle salvage, to set the standards for the rest of the world to follow, to have safe and ethical practices that protect vehicle drivers, users and the general public, to remove unsafe vehicles from use and promote the use of green recycled parts for those vehicles that can be safely repaired, so let’s grasp that opportunity and move forward.

Thursday 30 January 2014

Write Off Concern

A number of recent articles have highlighted concerns around total loss vehicles and how they are handled by Insurers, Salvage Agents and Buyers.

Questions about vehicle categorisation, vehicle sales and vehicle disposal have appeared in various trade magazines and publications such as ATF Professional, The Assessor and more.

Disposal of accident damaged vehicles has been a concern for many years, and was the reason for the introduction of the Association of British Insurers Code of Practice for Motor Salvage in the 1990’s. 
This voluntary code was designed and completed by the Insurance Industry to protect themselves against fraudulent activity that involved written off vehicles, and for many years was a very effective document.
Questions are now being asked about the Code and how relevant it is today. I contend that it is still very relevant and there are 2 actions that need to be taken to restore credibility.
Changes need to be made to categorisation, with category C vehicles to cater for repairable vehicles with structural damage and category D being available only to repairable vehicles without structural damage.
The Code must be enforced, with significant fines being applied for Insurers and Salvage Agents that fail to adhere to the code.

Enforcement of the Code is essential to prevent two possible outcomes:
Complete avoidance of the code
Legislation that could seriously impact the industry

Complete avoidance of the code is not desirable because this then removes all safety and ethical standards and takes us back to the free-for-all that prompted the industry to introduce the Code in the first place
Legislation is unpredictable, it could be great for the industry if it is well thought out and sensible, or it could be a knee-jerk action that results in significant changes and difficulties for the UK Motor Salvage industry.

New technology is coming into vehicles all the time, advances in structural techniques, electronics and vehicle power are making vehicles more and more complicated, and failure to deal with these vehicles properly could result in serious injury or death if one of these vehicles is not repaired correctly and fails to perform as intended in the event of another serious incident.

So, what should be done? 
Industry professionals must get together and resolve this, and quickly - Insurers, Salvage Specialists and Government Agencies all need to be involved with a deadline for resolution; at the same time Insurers must be seen to put their own house in order, open their processes and records for independent auditing, salvage agents must do the same, and Government Agencies must release records showing volumes of vehicles exported, scrapped, back in use, and missing, as well as start showing serious progress on illegal vehicle recyclers - either getting them licensed or out of business.


Is this not too much to ask?

Friday 24 January 2014

Auto Recyclers Leadership and Management

What are we here for?
Profit

How do we make more profit?
Pay less and sell for more
Easier said than done!

So we need other methods.

More motivated and committed staff who will be more efficient, prouder and more loyal could be one option.
Benefits:
          Lower costs (efficiency)
          Better Customer Service (prouder)
          Less staff turnover (loyal)
but HOW?????

Salvage Wire's latest training course specifically designed for Leaders and Managers in the Auto Recycling and Motor Salvage Industry could be just what you are looking for. 
This one day course will give an insight into how different management practices can have a significant impact on the whole business, making it a better place to be, more profitable efficient, safer and a business that will attract customers.
For more details on this and many other training courses designed for Auto Recycling Operations please contact Salvage Wire at www.salvagewire.com



Thursday 16 January 2014

Flooded Out!



As the flood waters recede the clean up begins, engineers, claims staff and colleagues have all been on the phone in recent days asking my opinion on flood damaged vehicles.
Here are my thoughts.

Before going any further, assess the type of water and the water level inside the vehicle.
Salt water, if it got inside the vehicle, then the only option is to break the vehicle
Fresh water (and given the volume of flood water any contaminants will be so diluted that there will be very limited risk of contamination), if the water reached airbag level then break the vehicle, but if it was low level flooding then consideration can be given to selling the vehicle as repairable salvage.
Good engineering practices must be used at all times to assess flood damaged vehicles, taking into consideration the age of the vehicle, type of construction, major component damage, possible electrical issues, and if any of the Supplementary Restraint Systems (SRS) components have been flooded.
Most of these vehicles will appear relatively undamaged to the casual observer and they are ripe for fraud, so great care must be taken when selling flood damaged vehicles - specially category B cases.
The ABI Code of Practice for Motor Salvage states that Category B (break only) vehicles should be dismantled and destroyed, however we see many of these vehicles being sold to overseas customers at prices that UK customers cannot afford, and this raises many questions.
How can a customer in Eastern Europe afford to pay so much for these vehicles and make a profit?
Are these customers being audited to ensure the vehicles are dismantled and destroyed?
What is actually happening to these vehicles?
This is a serious concern because we are talking about the safety of driver and passenger. If these vehicles come back into use, or sections of the vehicle are used to repair another, or SRS components are re-used and fail to work correctly if the vehicle is involved in another accident, then who is liable for the death or serious injury of the driver and passenger of the vehicle?
I don’t have the answer, but I believe that all Insurance Professionals should be concerned about this and I suggest that there is possibly a Duty of Care on UK Insurers to audit these vehicles to ascertain compliance to Terms and Conditions of purchase, ABI Code of Practice etc.

It only takes one vehicle to hit the headlines and there could be a knee-jerk reaction that will have a negative impact on the Auto Recycling industry.

Salvage Wire can assist in the correct and ethical disposal of flood damaged vehicles, call or e-mail for more details.
www.salvagewire.com

Friday 3 January 2014

Safe Handling of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Training


Designed specifically for Auto Recycling Yards, Salvage Wire are delighted to announce a training course that gives staff the expertise and knowledge to safely handle Electric and Hybrid vehicles without putting themselves or others at risk of electrocution.

22nd Jan at Car Transplants, the training will be a mix of practical and theory, it is fully interactive and led by a trained Electric and Hybrid Technician.

The cost is £225 +VAT for the one-day course, which includes all training materials and lunch. There are discounts for MVDA and BVSF members.

Contact Salvage Wire at www.salvagewire.com for more details or to book your place(s) on the course.