U Pull & Save

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Business becoming customer-oriented By Sarah Anne Wright The Cincinnati Enquirer In the rolling hills of Northern Kentucky, beyond a two-tiered horse fence and swinging manor gates, sits Bessler's U-Pull-&-Save auto salvage yard where 800 cars sit in orderly rows, ripe for the picking. “When somebody comes here and finds parts, they are really just thrilled,” general manager Rob Bessler said. “Older parts are getting harder and harder to find.” Mr. Bessler's lot is the modern method of auto-parts salvaging. Extensive computer cataloging, retail-oriented customer service and increased environmental awareness are transforming the used-parts business into a bargain-hunting activity for the do-it-yourself mechanic. Junkyard dogs, pools of antifreeze and acreages of rusting car carcasses are becoming more the exception than the rule as the industry seeks to orient itself to a greener future. “The word "junkyard' is very much a thing of the past,” said Bill Steinkuller, executive vice president of the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) in Northern Virginia. “These days, you will find far more "professional automotive recycling centers.'” The junkyard moniker is no longer the politically correct way to refer to the customer-oriented salvage yards that are popping up throughout the country. Auto salvaging generated more than $7 billion in the United States in 1997, according to the ARA. Each year, about 5 million cars are retired from the road, most due to age and accidents, and their valuable parts are harvested by resellers. Sometimes, the lots are “we-pull” where an attendant will take the parts off the cars for a fee plus a discounted price for the part. Other lots strip the car for its usable parts and then put the car to the crusher. A good dismantler can pull apart 15 cars a week, Mr. Bessler said. Either way, the automotive leftovers are picked clean before the body is crushed and melted. The “pick and pull” lots stretch the life of a car. Wrecked cars are prepped before they're put out to salvage pasture. Batteries and plutonium-lined catalytic converters are pulled away to be recycled en masse. All car fluids are drained and sorted separately — Freon, windshield wiper fluid, antifreeze, motor oil and gasoline are stored for sale, reuse or recycling. Little is done to regulate the environmental impact of salvage yards; a commercial license and zoning laws are the principal legislation governing the industry. The 1960s Federal Highway Beautification Act requires that a salvage yard be completely fenced or similarly obstructed unless it has fewer than 10 cars, is more than 1,000 feet from the nearest road or is in an industrial area. Most local environmental offices come knocking only if there is a complaint. The ARA has issued recommendations for modern auto recycling centers to follow; the guidelines are economically efficient and create a neater, more organized space where customers feel at ease. Bessler's self-serve lot has three full-time employees; the full-service lot employs upward of 25.

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