Recyclers News Press
Page 25
ARA Updates
Industry news from the national association
Parts
Trader Rollout Continues as Fax-
Only Ordering Option Phased Out
The implementation of State Farm's Select Service
direct repair program, developed by PartsTrader, con-
tinues in the pilot cities of Grand Rapids, Chicago,
Birmingham, Charlotte and Tucson.
On August 1, PartsTrader conducted a webinar to
provide updates on the parts ordering application, in-
cluding the wind-down of the "fax-only" ordering op-
tion. For users in the Tucson, Arizona area, the option
to place orders through PartsTrader via fax is no
longer available. For those in the other pilot program
cities, the fax-only option will continue until the end of
August/September 1. The fax option enabled Select
Service facilities to place orders with their preferred
vendors even if those vendors were not participating
in the PartsTrader program. As described in a Colli-
sion Week article about the change, Select Service
repair shops will now be faced with two options: en-
courage their preferred suppliers to participate in the
PartsTrader program or find new parts suppliers for
State Farm repairs.
During last week's webinar, PartsTrader Product Man-
ager, Lucy Smith, said that feedback from pilot pro-
gram users about the inefficiencies of the fax option
contributed to the phase out: The users in our pilot
markets felt that [the fax option] disrupted their proc-
ess and took some of the efficiencies out because
they still had to call those suppliers to see if they were
actually going to get the part. When they submitted an
order, we would [fax] the order to the supplier, but
then the repair shop would still have to call to verify
prices, update the prices in their estimating system
[and] we found that they were running duplicate proc-
esses. Other changes to the program outlined during
the webinar included: a vendor star rating system, a
VIN decoder, the ability to save draft parts orders, and
a new welcome page with access to training videos. A
full state rollout of PartsTrader in Arizona is expected
to begin this week. ARA will continue to monitor de-
velopments of the State Farm DRP program and wel-
comes feedback from the membership, particularly
those in the pilot program cities of Chicago, Grand
Rapids, Birmingham, Charlotte and in Tucson.
New Record Age of Motor
Vehicles on U.S. Roads
Last week, ARA issued a press release responding to
new data from R.L. Polk that showed the average age
of light vehicles in the U.S. has reached an all-time
high of 11.4 years, representing significant opportuni-
ties for ARA member businesses and the increased
utilization of recycled, genuine OEM automotive parts.
The data comes from the latest report issued by Polk,
a global automotive market intelligence research firm,
which compiled information from state vehicle regis-
tration databases and reviewed over 247 million car
and light truck registrations for the report.
According to the report, the average age of the
nation's car and light-vehicle fleet has continued
to rise since 2002, a trend which has now resulted
in a record high of 11.4 years.
This represents an
increase from 11.3 years last year and 10.8 years in
2010. In 2002, the average age of a vehicle on the
road was 9.8 years. Industry analysts have said for
years that Americans are holding onto their cars for
longer than ever before -- both for personal economic
reasons related to the recession as well as better en-
gineered vehicles that are simply built to last longer.
According to Polk analysts, the number of vehicles
older than 12 years has increased more than 20%
and that percentage is expected to continue to rise for
at least the next five years.
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