New Life for Old Parts
No matter how carefully and strategically you manage your parts inventory, someone’s going to want something you don’t have. For most distributors, it’s a weekly – if not daily – challenge. In most cases, you can offer a viable alternative or at least order the necessary component.
But if that customer is looking for a 1982 rear-axle housing, chances are you don’t have one, you don’t have an alternative part to offer and you aren’t going to able to find one through traditional sourcing.
So if you want to help that customer with his request, you need to get creative. That’s where truck salvage companies play a unique, and sometimes vital, aftermarket role.
Salvage yards are where trucks go when they die; as a complete unit, anyway. Usually through an accident which totals the vehicle, but sometimes by just reaching the end of their operational life, thousands of vehicles make their way into the hundreds of salvage yards throughout North America each year.
Parts that are taken off these trucks and resold don’t come in boxes. They aren’t pristine. But they are survivors and fill specific aftermarket needs. Chances are that whatever medium- or heavy-duty part a customer needs is out there, it’s just a matter of finding it.
