The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced today that its vehicle title history and brand information is now available to consumers through the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). The database greatly improves the tracking of vehicles across state lines for law enforcement and motor vehicle agencies. It also allows consumers to learn about the history of a vehicle prior to making a purchase.

DMV Director George Valverde said California is supportive of NMVTIS, and sees it as another valuable tool for consumer protection. “We are delighted that prospective purchasers of vehicles can now access title and brand information on the millions of updated vehicle records California provides to the NMVTIS database.”

California is one of 31 states now participating in NMVTIS, which was established by federal law in 1992 as a major tool to combat rampant nationwide vehicle theft and fraud. According to statistics released earlier this year, 1.3 million vehicles are stolen in the 50 states each year, with losses to consumers totaling more than $8 billion. NMVTIS records are available at http://www.vehiclehistory.gov by providing a vehicle identification number and paying a nominal fee.

NMVTIS is operated on behalf of the U.S. Dept. of Justice by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). Several entities are required to regularly report information to NMVTIS, including: State motor vehicle agencies; Insurance carriers (including some self-insuring entities); and, auto recyclers and salvage yards.

In the end of 2009 the RusBusinessNews correspondent analysed in detail the Russian pilot project on scrapping vehicles older than 10 years. In the month passed the programme has acquired more detail and posed more questions. In order to develop the project, the Chairman of the Russian Government Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putin  -Search using: News, Most Recent 60 Days  Biographies Plus News assigned the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade to start the programme on 8 March and finish the intake of old bangers from the population on 1 November 2010. The number of participating regions has been extended from the initially selected nineteen to include all the subjects of the Federation.

The Prime Minister openly admitted that the country lacks scrapping facilities. “In all the regions of the Russian Federation there are not enough enterprises which could do this work. But I ask in the shortest time in the first half of January, regardless of holidays to develop and finalize the process. It is necessary to focus the effort on those regions where this scrapping can be realized. It is necessary to designate the points of collection for these scrapped vehicles, the logistics, that is transporting these vehicles to locations where they will be scrapped,” is how Mr Putin has set the goal.

According to the latest version of the pilot programme any citizen of the Russian Federation who has owned a car older than 10 years for at least a year can participate in the programme. Having scrapped the vehicle the car owner can get a certificate entitling him to the 50 thousand roubles discount when buying a new car from a dealer.

Alyona Shipilina, the Press Secretary of the Automotive Industry and Agricultural Machine Building Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the RF, told the RusBusinessNews correspondent that 60-65 models of Russian and foreign brands made in Russia will be covered by this scheme. One certificate can only be used for the purchase of a single car. If one person scraps several vehicles under this programme the discount does not add up.

According to the scheme developed in the Ministry the car owner is responsible for the delivery of the “banger” to the official dealer for scrapping, then the owner prints out the special scrap certificate form available at the Ministry of Industry and Trade site and processes the letter of authority to carry out operations on taking vehicle off the register, passing it to the scrap centre and other necessary procedures at the dealership.

Moreover, the parties sign a contract allowing the car dealer to carry out the above actions. Then the participant of the experiment pays up to 3 thousand roubles according to the contract for scrapping and books the chosen new Russian-made car at the dealership purchasing it later with the 50 thousand roubles discount.

Whilst the sequence of actions on the way from and old car to a new one looks quite clear, then the further fate of the dead “iron horse” remains one big question.

According to Valeriy Kuzovenkov, a former Technical Director of the largest Russian scrap processing enterprise Chelyabvtormet (formerly Chelyabvtorchermet), scrapping cars and other machines was not seen as a problem in the soviet times. From all over the Union not only spent cars but also carriages “sacked” from the railways and large size agricultural machinery were delivered to Chelyabvtorchermet as a the leading enterprise of the domestic scrap procurement.

For instance the written off Niva combine harvester without any dismantling having gone through the plant’s scissors and press came out as a compact square block and then proceeded directly to steelmaking plants into a Martin furnace. The issues of dismantling and sorting, scrap fragmentation, to be more precise and utilisation of toxic liquids were not a concern to Soviet metal makers as Martin furnaces were capable to “digest” scrap with any impurity substances content. All associate components simply burned in the furnace at the ultrahigh temperature and released as gases into atmosphere. By the way, the quality of this kind of Martin steel corresponded to the process.

Western scrapping technologies in those years had not been that far ahead. For instance, scrap companies in the US simply chucked dead-beat Mustangs and elderly Fords from a pier into water where they got “utilised” by the depths of the ocean.

At the moment these kinds of ways of getting rid of auto junk are hardly acceptable. According to Mr Kuzovenkov today Russian metallurgical plants categorically refuse to take in the hastily cubed automotive “pick and mix”. The today’s metallurgy all but got rid of Martin process and electric steel furnaces require raw material which is as pure as possible. At scrap intake centres scrap metal has to very carefully sorted, steel must be separated from cast iron and non-ferrous metals, rubber, glass, and autoplastics have to be removed and toxic liquids transferred to special tanks.

The expert reckons that today the scrap intake centres have be given large areas for storing vehicles and the dismantling itself has to be carried out in specially equipped heated bays. It would also be quite logical to assume that spontaneous car markets will mushroom around the scrap intake centres as Russian drivers are not proud and happy to buy cheap second hand cars. This means that everything with any value will end up at car markets as spare parts or go to second hand dealers.

According to Roman Petrov, PhD in technical sciences, the scrap intake centres have to be licensed and equipped with special tools and machines. For instance, there have to be water insulated areas with tanks for collection and separate storage of all liquids, sinkers and purifiers, devices for water treatment and purification, fire safety system in areas for storage of tires, polymers, and other combustible automotive components.

Specialised equipment is also necessary. This includes shredders; these are large plants where special hammer crusher first breaks the car into small pieces and at the same time knocks paint, rust, slag and other impurities off the vehicle. Then, using methods of magnet, air, weight, and manual separation, scrap is sorted into ferrous, non-ferrous and light fractions which include polymers, upholstery, glass etc. These fractions amount to 20-25% of a vehicle’s weight and have to, as a rule, be taken to a landfill site or incinerated.

So far in Russia there are no companies capable of full automotive recycling. The foundation required to create such companies is being established with some intensity. According to Igor Nechayev, the Commercial Director of the Cherepovets Iron and Steel Works, the company has already started the project of the construction of the shredder plant for scrap processing within the investment programme; the plant with the annual processing capacity of 1 mln tons will enable the company to have the full cycle car scrapping process.

The majority of Russian scrap procurement companies, however, are rather suspicious of the pilot project. So far they do not quite understand the sequence of work within this programme; moreover, the needed legislation is still lacking. / http://www.rusbiznews.com

The Right to Repair Act, which has been introduced on the federal level and in several states, has garnered wide-spread support from lawmakers eager to protect jobs and help small businesses.  The legislation would require auto manufacturers to provide access to the same diagnostic tools, codes and other repair information that they supply to the authorized dealerships.

Critics suggest the law is unnecessary and worry that auto manufacturers could be forced to divulge proprietary and safety information that could put drivers at risk.  These opponents go on to say that Right to Repair legislation is an attempt to gain access to information that would allow those companies to manufacture parts cheaply and more effectively, without having to reverse-engineer components overseas.

Conversely, supporters claim that Right to Repair legislation would make it easier for independent mechanics to do their job.  That gives consumers a choice between bringing their vehicle to a neighborhood auto repair shop or to the dealership.  Supporters of Right to Repair claim that they are not trying to gain an unfair advantage.

Based on the arguments from both sides, what is your opinion in regards to Right to Repair legislation?

The Automotive Recyclers Association Education Foundation (ARAEF), developer of educational programs and skill training for the members of the Automotive Recyclers Association and the automotive recycling industry, has announced its collaboration with I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair, a not-for-profit organization that provides training to the collision repair inter-industry.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the two organizations outlined plans for mutually promoting the level of knowledge and skills required to improve communication and educational exchanges between the automotive recycling industry and the collision repair industry.

“Our planned partnership presents an enormous range of potential benefits to the automotive recycling and collision industries,” said ARAEF Managing Director Virginia Whelan. “This collaboration will undoubtedly result in new educational training tools and endeavors with tremendous potential for innovation and far-reaching benefit.”

“A mutual understanding of each other’s industries can go a long way in improving communications and meeting customer expectations.” said Jamie Jacobs, I-CAR Instructional Designer. “This agreement between the ARAEF and I-CAR is a big step forward toward this goal, and provides a commitment from both industries to continuing education with regard to the considerations for recycled parts usage during collision repairs.”

The exchange between the ARAEF and I-CAR will improve communication and promote the value of education between automotive recyclers and collision repairers focused on automotive collision claim and repair process.
About Automotive Recyclers Association Educational Foundation

The ARA Educational Foundation, a non-profit organization, was formed with the purpose to research and develop learning materials that are designed to train the upcoming workforce of the industry and keep automotive recyclers educated in the most current technology and improved methods of better business practices.  The ARAEF is the founder of the ARA University, an online training platform providing advanced technical training to the automotive recycling industry. Visit www.arauniversity.org.

About I-CAR
I-CAR, founded in 1979, is an international not-for-profit training organization dedicated to improving the quality, safety, and efficiency of auto collision repair for the ultimate benefit of consumers. For more information, visit www.i-car.com.

Many organizations host federal lobby days, also known as Hill Days, to bring attention to their issue, members, industry and/or community.  These individuals, companies, government entities and associations take the extra step to educate and inform federal policy-makers of actions that should be taken on behalf of their interest.  In the final analysis, it is most often that the loudest and most persistent voice gets noticed.

Even though it seems that those with the most money, in the form of large Political Action Committees (PAC) and professional lobbyist, have considerable influence, a well-planned issue campaign and organized constituents can have just as much sway over lawmakers.  Needless to say, members of Congress do want to hear from their constituents.  They count on their voters to inform them of local and state needs.  This is why organizations invest resources and time into coordinating events   and personal meetings with congressional offices in Washington, DC.

So, why should you attend?  What makes legislative/governmental relationship-building so important?  How do I carry out a meaningful and successful meeting with a congressional office? 
 
The Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) is calling on all professional automotive recyclers to join us as we raise the awareness of the automotive recycling industry with the Congressional Recycling Caucus (CRC).  Together, we can promote greater recyclability, advance recycler-friendly legislation and decrease intrusive regulations by increasing automotive recycler visibility.

The CRC seeks to establish a vibrant, robust, bi-partisan Caucus that represents the recycling industry and creates a permanent, long-term way to educate legislators and promote recycling in the United States.

Without you and other professional automotive recyclers investing the time to meet with your elected officials, our industry will be susceptible to over-regulation and potentially unfriendly public policy.  To find out how you can participate in ARA’s annual Hill Days event, contact Anthony Livingston, Director of Government Affairs at Anthony@a-r-a.org or (571) 208-0428.