AARDA to present at upcoming CCIF

Edmonton, Alberta — Sept. 25, 2013 — Professional auto recyclers want to play a larger role in Alberta’s collision repair industry, and they’re ready, willing and able to do what it takes to deserve the increase in business. That will be one of the key messages delivered at the next meeting of the Canadian Collision Industry Forum (CCIF), taking place at the MacDonald Hotel in Edmonton, Alta., on Sept. 28.

The association’s President Steven Cox, Executive Director Ian Hope and board members Sarah Brophy, Kelly Popow and Raelene Day will make their case to the members of the auto claims economy gathered at CCIF.

“While we’re an important part of the collision repair economy in Alberta, we want to play a much larger role in the future,” says Hope. “The second part of our message is that our members can provide repairers with quality in our parts and services, and we’re on track to further improve our operations and parts availability so that we will deserve that increased business.”

Hope is passionate about increasing the use of recycled parts in collision repair. He says something he saw in his early days with the association has stuck with him ever since.

“I was visiting one of our members, and I was quite impressed to see the many half-ton trucks that were set out in a neat grid across his yard,” says Hope. “These were clean looking cabs and boxes with little damage anywhere. Indeed, they looked like they had just been washed and polished.”

The AARDA member explained to Hope that although the trucks had plenty of reusable parts, they were due for a date with the crusher simply due to how long they’d been sitting in the yard.

“It seemed shameful to me, with so many of these vehicles still on the road and able to use those parts, that the collision repair industry would tolerate sending them for crushing and shredding.”

In addition to the central message of the presentation, AARDA’s board members will also fill CCIF attendees in on the difference between association members and “scrapyards,” including how members follow the Canadian Automotive Recyclers Environmental Code (CAREC), the desire of many in the insurance industry to see increased utilization of quality recycled parts and more.

For more information on AARDA, please visit aarda.com and watch for a full report on the Edmonton CCIF in the next issue of Collision Repair magazine.