Blackout Fallout

The big news this past month has been the Blackout of 2003. The sudden loss of electrical power impacted the lives of millions of people in the U.S. and Canada. A collective sigh of relief greeted the quickly delivered news that the cause of failure was not a terrorist attack, and many of us (those with a full tank of gas, flashlights and batteries, bottled water, a bag or two of ice, a barbeque grill, and an old-fashioned telephone) will remember fondly a brief break from the high-tech 21st century.

The public has learned a lot about grids and transmissions of electricity and power companies in these past few weeks. The information is definitely unsettling. Clearly, the underlying framework of North America’s electrical power needs updating. The electric lines we have taken so much for granted are fragile threads connecting us indeed.

What lessons are here for our Collision Repair Industry? We must always maintain our office and shop systems in top working order, be willing to update, learn about what’s new, and be ready and able to invest time and money in the future. And, as anyone lucky enough to have been trudging past an ice cream shop’s impromptu blackout block party can tell you - be neighborly.

Sounding too old-fashioned? On the contrary! INSIGHT’s feature article this month highlighting the OEM forum at the annual I-CAR meeting describes some good, open sharing of technical information and dialogue.

The aftermarket parts distribution segment of the industry remains in the spotlight this month.

Keystone Automotive Industries reported excellent financial numbers for the second quarter. CEO Charlie Hogarty can be justifiably proud of his company’s commitment to maintaining and improving an efficient state-of-the-art distribution network. Perhaps Hogarty could give some “neighborly” advice to the electric companies that will doubtless be very busy updating their distribution grids?