CAWA and its Coalition of Automotive Aftermarket Associations and groups are delighted that AB 471 was signed by the Governor.

Here is a summary of the safety inspection portion of the legislation: generally, when a consumer's vehicle is involved in accident, it is examined and repaired by a licensed automotive repair dealer. If it is determined that repairing the vehicle is economically unfeasible, it is declared a "total loss" and towed to the auction to be sold as "junk" and gets a "salvage" certificate. Most of these salvage vehicles are purchased for parts and are dismantled. However, some of these vehicles are purchased by "rebuilders" who repair the car, generally with the intent of reselling it. In order to legally revive the salvage for use on public roads, the vehicle must only pass a brake and lamp inspection, smog check, and obtain a California Highway Patrol inspection to make sure there are no stolen parts. Many of these revived total loss salvage vehicles could have safety issues such as cracked windshield, illuminated air bag light, or defective seat belts, and still pass inspection. This legislation aims to address this problem and add additional consumer protection measures from unsafe, revived, or total loss salvaged vehicles by combining the existing lamp and brakes inspection program into a new "Vehicle Safety Systems Inspection" program that would incorporate additional safety inspection criteria standards, as determined by the Bureau of Automotive Repair.

For additional information contact our Legislative Advocate, Gary Conover at 916.233.9655 or gary@garyconover.com.

CAWA is hosting our Annual Dinner to celebrate our Memorial Scholarship Fund. Enjoy networking among industry colleagues while experiencing some laughs along the way. We would like to thank our exclusive sponsor Motorcar Parts of America who has again graciously sponsored our event. To register for the event which will take place on the Sunday night (October 31, 2021) of Industry Week, see here.

Without closing nothing happens, products aren’t manufactured, trucks don’t move, people don’t work, and money doesn’t change hands. If there is no closing there will be no business. So, arguably closing is the most important part of the sale however, if you have a great presentation and you give it to a prospect who is not qualified, the best closing skills in the universe won’t bail you out. In this article I’m going to assume you’ve done everything else right, in other words, you have a properly qualified prospect, you have a good presentation, you’ve sufficiently matched your solution with their needs and desires, and the only thing left to do is close the sale. In that case, here are some ideas that will help you. Source: John Chapin

Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 701 by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) into law, which creates the nation’s first transparency requirements and worker protections against warehouse production quotas. The bill requires large warehouse distribution centers to disclose production quotas and work speed metrics to employees and state enforcement agencies, and prohibits employers from enforcing unsafe production quotas that prevent warehouse employees from using the bathroom, taking rest breaks, or complying with health and safety laws. CAWA in coalition with other business groups had opposed AB 701. For more information, contact our Legislative Advocate, Gary Conover at 916.233.9655 or gary@garyconover.com.

On May 7th the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Governing Board approved Rule 2305/Warehouse Actions and Investments to Reduce Emissions (WAIRE) Program. By now, either your business or your organization’s members have likely started to grapple with the immense cost and administrative burden imposed by this rule, which are estimated to cost approximately $1 per year, per square foot of warehousing space operating in Southern California and may eliminate up to 100,000 working class jobs by 2030. On August 4th the California Trucking Association (CTA) and it’s counsel from the internationally recognized law firm Holland and Knight filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the South Coast AQMD’s WAIRE program.

This lawsuit alleges multiple violations of federal and state law, including:

To date, this is the only lawsuit filed challenging this regulation. We anticipate going to trial mid-to-late 2022, ahead of the date regulated entities would be required to submit their first WAIRE points to the SCAQMD.

Please consider contributing to this effort or asking your members to contribute. Without the financial support of the broad universe of retailers, manufacturers, 3PLs, parts suppliers and other industries directly impacted by the WAIRE Program, this effort will not succeed. 

Here’s how you can learn more and help:

(For other payment methods, please contact Chris Shimoda at cshimoda@caltrux.org or Nick Chiappe at nchiappe@caltrux.org)

When the COVID-19 crisis spawned lockdowns and social distancing measures, many shoppers took to their computers. The pandemic significantly accelerated interest in same-day delivery options, particularly for groceries and household products.

Poonam Goyal, senior industry analyst at Bloomberg, said the pandemic opened up the same-day delivery space to a wider range of customers who might not have previously considered the option. Many of those new customers have stuck around, even as lockdowns faded. "We've said COVID accelerated the digital adoption by at least two years," Goyal said. "But it's also opened up the digital realm to people that probably were never going to use it because it was too complicated or they didn't want to learn."

For companies like Shipt Inc., a Birmingham, Alabama-based subsidiary of Target Corp. that offers membership-based, same-day delivery for a growing list of retailers, that wave of new customers sent expansion efforts and revenue into overdrive. Target said its same-day services, which include delivery and in-store pickup, reported 235% growth in 2020! Read the complete article here. Source: Sacramento Business Journal

THE 100% COBRA health insurance subsidies for workers who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic have expired on September 30, and that means employers who have former staff receiving those subsidies must notify them of their expiration. If you have former employees who are still on COBRA benefits and receiving the subsidy that was required by the American Rescue Plan Act, you will need to send them a timely notice that the 100% subsidy has ended. Here's what you need to know and how to go about it. Contact Mat Nabity of CoreMark Insurance for more information. He can be reached at mnabity@coremarkins.com or 916.835.1676.

The letter starts with “we, the undersigned chambers and business organizations from across the state and across all industry sectors - urge you to reject plans in Washington to increase taxes on businesses both large and small. The proposed tax increases that will pay for the massive $3.5 trillion reconciliation package will hurt Arizona businesses, employees, and consumers at a time when the state’s economy continues to grapple with the ongoing effects of the pandemic and acute workforce shortages”. See the complete letter here.

Should you have any comments or questions, contact CAWA’s Legislative Advocate in Phoenix, Stuart Goodman at sgoodman@goodmanschwartz.com or 602.617.5708.

We work in an industry that is at a higher risk for workplace injury. In an effort to keep our workers’ compensation costs lower, can we ask if applicants for employment have an active workers’ compensation claim or if they have ever filed for workers’ compensation benefits? See more details here. Source: Our Friends at the California Chamber of Commerce

The CAWA Career Center is more than just a place to post job opportunities. In fact, it offers something of far greater value than other recruitment sites. CAWA’s Career Center is an engagement platform that brings you even closer to the type of talent that you are looking for. The Association’s job board is built around an established community of state and national trade association members, students and industry professionals; creating an opportunity to network with others in the field and build an employer brand that extends beyond the job board. 

Visit www.cawa.org to begin your search for talent for your company. Another member benefit.

For over a decade, CAWA’s partner, Superior Financial Systems (SFS) has been a premier provider of merchant services for the Automotive Industry. Their partnerships with hundreds of businesses in automotive wholesale, parts, repair, and service among many others has gifted them a unique insider perspective that sets them above the rest. They are here for you, and their team is ready for you to join their family. They cover all the bases, from customized cost-saving merchant programs to gift cards and Wright Express/Voyager, all the way to fraud prevention and compliance mandates. As your partner in credit card acceptance, it is SFS's job to make sure you are maximizing all the benefits a merchant account can offer. Changing providers can be scary, we get it. As a thank you for trusting Superior Financial with your service needs, new merchants can select from one of three top shelf promotional offers, worth up to $500. See more details here.