U-R-G On the Go
An informative podcast for the United Recyclers Group. Each week we will feature an entertaining guest that will share their knowledge and information with you, providing you with tips and tools to help you become a more profitable business.
U-R-G On the Go
From Towing to Tech: The Journey of Daurio Auto Truck
Discover the fascinating journey of Daurio Auto Truck, a family-run business with a history that dates back to 1957. In this episode, we sit down with Greg Daurio, who shares his grandfather's story of starting with a tow truck and evolving into a 26-acre automotive recycling powerhouse. We explore the importance of adaptability in business amid changing industry demands and the ongoing challenges of hiring skilled labor. Greg emphasizes the need for fostering a strong workplace culture that promotes loyalty and satisfaction among employees.
Dive deep into the innovative practices that have transformed Daurio Auto Truck into a leader in the recycling industry. From leveraging technology to improve operational efficiency to creating successful internal training programs, learn how Greg is shaping the future of automotive recycling.
Additionally, we discuss the significance of attending industry events, like the URG Conference, and how networking with peers can lead to growth and best practices. With insightful stories and practical strategies, this episode is packed with lessons for anyone looking to thrive in the evolving landscape of automotive recycling. Don't forget to subscribe and join us on this exciting journey!
Welcome one and all. You are there and we are here. This is the URG On the Go podcast, the true voice of the automotive recycling industry. We do our best on every episode to bring you new, informative information and, of course, this is the episode where we have Amanda Morrison, director of member and vendor relations, actually take over the podcast, and I sit in and do the mini commercials as we go along. But remember to like what we do. I'm DJ Harrington, better known as the cardiologist, and this is a true checkup from the neck up. So, without further ado, amanda, I'll turn it over to you.
Speaker 2:Thanks, DJ, for that intro. We have a great guest on today. We've got Greg Dario from Dario Auto Truck in Pueblo, Colorado. Thanks so much for being on, Greg Good to have you.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:Of course, of course. So we wanted to learn a little bit about your yard and how you got started. Can you tell us a little bit about how you guys came to be?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so in 1957, my grandfather was in the service station industry and he had a Texaco gas station, ran that for probably about a year and then he went in and he bought a tow truck. And then he went in and he bought a tow truck. Shortly after he had the truck, texaco came in for a franchise site visit and they told him that he wasn't allowed to advertise for any other business and he needed to either put John A Dario Towing in a different spot or put Texaco on the side of the tow truck. And so he very politely told them they had about 48 hours to vacate their signage off of his property and he closed the service station down, purchased a quarter acre of land where we're currently at today, at 3701 east state street here in pueblo, and started towing cars um. So he had contracts with the state and the city and the county and started to acquire a lot of vehicles um, and then slowly decided to start selling parts off of these vehicles and it was just John A Dario Auto when we first started and one of the guys that was a competitor.
Speaker 3:There used to be about 13 salvage yards down here where we're at and he came over to him one day he saw a guy offloading a couple of trucks and he told my grandfather not to buy pickups and he said he'd never make any money on them. Well, at that point there he realized that by looking at that guy's property it was full of pickups and he didn't want any competition. So Grandpa did what he did best and he went out and bought every truck he could get his hands on and added John A Dario Auto and Truck, which then has morphed into Dario Auto and Truck Today. So that's awesome.
Speaker 3:My dad actually started when he was in, I think, like 6th or 7th grade, coming to work out here after school and, you know, went to college for a while and then things got busy here at the yard and just came to work full-time with his dad. My uncle, mike, soon followed and him and my dad ran all the day-to-day operations for probably close to you know, 30, 35 years, and then I started coming to work out here full-time as soon as I had, obviously, a driver's license in the summertime and then prior to that, you know, I was out here pretty much every waking moment as a kid that I was not in school. And then 2013, I graduated from Colorado State University and decided at that point that I was going to come on board full time with the business and had been basically taking care of all day-to-day operations since 2013. Dad and uncle are still here. They're still around.
Speaker 3:My dad obviously just finished his tenure as area president last year and he's now taken a pretty big step back from the business. It was a good segue for him being involved with the EC to, you know, step back more, but now he's just trying to get to enjoy life a little bit more. I love that. Yeah, so we're facility wise is you know? We sit on about 26 acres and, yeah, we've been cranking away now, for you know, since 1957. So it's, it's, it's pretty neat, it's a great opportunity. We have a great crew.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's impressive that you guys have been around so long. I didn't realize you guys started out in towing. That's a pretty cool story. Yeah, and you guys, you guys are still doing towing right.
Speaker 3:Uh, we are, yeah, yeah, we're actually partnered up with another company here in town now and we still do all the contracts for the city, the state and the county as well.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's impressive. So about how many employees do you guys have at Dario's? So?
Speaker 3:on the salvage side. We've got around 20 guys, Okay, and so yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, awesome. And you said you graduated school. What did you graduate with?
Speaker 3:I majored in business management and marketing.
Speaker 2:Okay, same, same Yep. So that gave you a good kind of foundation for learning and kind of running a business then too right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. I mean you know it's running a salvage yard, I think is unlike anything else. You know there's a million different ways to do it and none of them are necessarily incorrect. Everybody's kind of got their own unique way of operating and you know they find their niche and they run with it.
Speaker 2:I love it, I love it. And so when you started out, when you were 16, at the yard, what position were you at? Were you just kind of doing odds and end jobs, or what were you doing at the start? Full-time?
Speaker 3:was. Uh, it was, I think, sometime in, it's like well, it would have been probably late september, early october, and we had kind of an early snowstorm. It was snowing that day and I showed up and uh, my uncle mike was my direct boss, uh at that time, and uh, he said you see those racks of wheels out there. And I said, yeah, he goes. I want you to go write down every number on them. And I go, it's like a blizzard outside. He goes, yeah, go. And I'm like, well, I didn't bring a coat, he goes. I bet you don't forget one tomorrow.
Speaker 2:I love it, gotta love working with family.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I worked alongside him in inventory for a while, then I kind of transitioned to some of the positions outside in the yard and then obviously into the sales, which my dad at the time was, you know, running the counter. We had, I think, two sales guys at the time, my dad and one other guy sales guys at the time, my dad and one other guy and so we would you know, I answer the phones here and there and then that sales person ended up moving on to another job, and so I walked in one day and basically picked up the phone and, you know, never looked back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome. And so about how many sales people do you have now?
Speaker 3:So we have three sales guys now, plus myself. I still do, you know, still have my handful of customers that I do deal with on a regular basis.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Okay, cool. Well, I think it's time for a quick break, so we'll pause and take a quick break. I think it's time for a quick break, so we'll pause and take a quick break.
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Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. Of course you know you're listening to URG on the go podcast. Please, we want to thank all of you. This is the fastest growing podcast in the automotive recycling industry and I can't thank you enough. We're available on Spotify, iTunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia, amazon or wherever you get your podcasts, and we cannot thank you enough of one person telling another person telling another person and really really grown. So, without further ado, amanda, let me send it back to you for more information.
Speaker 2:All right, thanks, dj. Yep, we're here with Greg Dario and we're learning lots about his yard and how they got started. Greg, I was wondering you know you've been in this industry obviously since you started your career back when you were 16. What have you kind of seen with you know hiring and training wise for your guys, and what and what kind of works for you guys whenever you're hiring? I know hiring can be kind of an issue for a lot of yards and maybe you don't have a problem. I think you have quite a few loyal employees already. But what do you kind of see as an easy way to hire and train?
Speaker 3:What do you kind of see as an easy way to hire and train. Yeah, we are very fortunate that we have, you know, a very solid core crew here. You know several people. One gentleman's been with the family business longer than I've even been alive. He just celebrated his 41st year with us this year. Wow, pretty, pretty impressive.
Speaker 3:And so, you know, when it comes to hiring staff, especially in today's realm, we do struggle, obviously in certain areas.
Speaker 3:As far as you know, your teardown techs or your processors or delivery drivers seem to be the highest turnover areas in this business and you know I always encourage, you know people, obviously, if you're available, you know, if a position's up and somebody shows interest from within the company and you can promote within to definitely extend those opportunities out.
Speaker 3:Obviously, since COVID and you know basically people were getting paid to sit at home and do nothing it's created a very different um in workforce would probably be the right word um compared to what we had, you know, five years ago. So we work closely, you know, with, you know, some of the the local tech schools, uh, to see if you know they've got people that are up and coming or getting ready to enter into the workforce. We do use some of the temp agencies as well. We've got a good connection there to where it seems like we get a lot of good guys that have maybe just moved into town, have auto mechanic, have auto mechanic backgrounds, you know hiring, you know teardown tech, since the it's a perfect mechanic job because they only have to take it apart, they never have to put it back together.
Speaker 2:Mechanic stream right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, the lost bolt is no longer a problem and so you know it's just gotten really interesting. I think you know the utilization of. You know Facebook advertising on social media that you're. You know you've got open positions. You know communicating with your current employees. You know if they've got somebody that you know is looking for a new job, do you have a fit for that person and if that employee, you know vouches for that person and you bring them in. Obviously you know friends sometimes aren't the best coworkers but you know, sometimes you get a good one every now and again. You know me and you know JC Cahill. We're talking about some of the struggles that we recently have encountered in our processing side of things with turnover. And he goes take a $100 bill and staple it to the wall and whoever brings in the guy that you hire next gets the $100. And if the guy lasts for six months he gets another $100 on top of that.
Speaker 2:Hey, yeah.
Speaker 3:Intensivize it, right? Yeah, exactly, so you know, just getting creative with it, I think is, uh, you know, the best opportunity definitely, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you kind of got to think outside the box for for getting people to, to, to get there and to stay right, and I think what you said there you know a lot of people they don't want. If they like their job, they're not going to recommend someone that's going to misrepresent them too, right?
Speaker 3:so yeah, a lot of times saying yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2:A little bit of accountability there on both sides exactly, exactly, yeah, so and yeah, and obviously you guys have created a really great loyalty. Um, there you have a guy that's been there for 41 years and it's funny because a lot of yards, there's a lot of lifers there, you know, they start their career there and they never want to leave because they're treated like family and I feel like that's very much so what your family is about. And just getting to know your entire family, your dad, your uncle they're a hoot and they'd be so much fun to work for, I'm sure, and and just providing a good, good culture at the place that you're working at.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's really what it's about. You know, the, the culture that you create is really, you know, going to be a reflection of, of your production, right? Um, what, what? What's your culture? What's your expectations? You know, yeah, do we like to come in to work every day? And, you know, get right to it and just go, go, go, go, yeah, but do we still, you know, enjoy being around each other all the time? And, you know, taking the time to, you know, invest in your employees and knowing that they have an open door. You know, this isn't just a place that you know they're coming in during a paycheck every day, right, this is where they're spending a large majority of their life and letting them know that. You know, hey, when they're going through stuff, like we're here for you too, like you don't just have to come here just to, you know, be upset and miserable when life's not going right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you got to have an idea to talk to someone too. You know, yep, completely agree. And so I was actually listening to the ARA update today and I heard there that you guys were audited and you guys ended up doing really, really well because of all the certification and the programs you were using. Is that? Is that true? It is yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we, uh, we, we uh. We kind of got a no knock visit from our uh state um health department called department of health and environment and uh, as well, they brought some really nice people with them from the epa. So yeah, it was, it was pretty interesting um the.
Speaker 3:Thing with uh. You know the ara certification program and you know with you know how urgs you know partnering up to you know basically pave the pathway for everybody to have this. You know gold standard um and by us starting that process. You know, five years ago we were doing a lot of things really right. We were doing certain things but not documenting them, and regulators all they care about is the documentation and you can do it right all day long. If you're not documenting it, then they're still going to come down on you. So five years ago when we signed up with Liz from Vet Environmental, she came out, did our initial audit and she is the one that brought that to our attention. So I was sitting there looking at all of this documentation and records that I needed to keep and I just thought to myself how can we make this much more accessible and less of a pain in the neck to keep track of Um? And so we actually developed an in-house software here called dismantle pro, which we are now reselling to other recyclers.
Speaker 3:Um, we have, you know, a handful of yards that are currently on it right now. Uh across the country and uh, even up into canada. Millers uses it in canada. Um, we've got uh ar1 auto parts up in washington robertson's auto salvage, um out of boston, um, and several other yards. But what that has done is that's allowed us to basically customize one our dismantling process for our team. So it's all laid out for them. But as they're tearing the car apart, when they're checking off the boxes, it's recording all of the commodities and the fluids and it's all reportable right back to the vehicle. So if somebody comes in and wants to know why I have 500 catalytic converters sitting in gaylord boxes, I can say, well, here's all the vehicles they came off of and here's when we tore them down. Um, you're welcome to count them if you would like right so uh, which they never would.
Speaker 3:But right when we went through that, that compliance audit with the state and epa, they were mainly here looking for stormwater stuff, right, but they did an entire site inspection. And when we started going through records, I mean Liz's binders and all that that produces is just awesome.
Speaker 3:But, they're going through all these inspection reports. And then, when they got to where, we were like, well, what are you doing with your fluids, what are you doing with your Freon? And I was like, well, what time period would you like to look at? And they're like, well, how about the last six months? And I said, here's all the vehicles we processed, here's how much oil we generated, here's where it went, there's Freon, there's antifreeze. And it was like seconds. I had the information pulled up on the computer and they were like, wow, that's, that's pretty impressive. So it does work, um, and it it really?
Speaker 3:At the end of that whole audit, the only thing that we actually took a ding on and I wouldn't even call it a ding is along where one of our stormwater channels are. We use these big straw um bales. They're like in a round. We call them a waddle. Um, they were staked into the ground, but the epa's requirement is that that waddle has to be buried one third of the diameter of that and it's only like six inches round anyway. So it's like you want me to dig a two and a half inch trench.
Speaker 3:I said okay, and you're gone with my day yeah, those sticklers, yeah, so yeah, that documentation, I bet, saved you hours and hours worth of time of having to look back and potentially not even have the documentation right well, and and the other thing that it does, you know, in the certification program, um, and going through that, it just makes you go through in the certification program and going through that, it just makes you go through your business and look at it with a fine-tooth comb right, and things that you walk by every day or areas that you need to revisit more often, that you may look over. It just brings it to the forefront and it makes your operation better. It provides a better workplace for your staff and it just brings you up to a higher standard as far as an operator goes.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's kind of the goal of all recyclers at this point. Right, we're all trying to get our name out there as automotive recyclers and not junkyards, right, so that we're representing correctly and really showing people that we're not just, you know, a junkyard. We're actually automotive recyclers that have OEM parts that they can utilize Absolutely. Yep, that's key, awesome, all right, so we'll take another break and we'll be right back.
Speaker 4:The URG Scholarship Foundation was founded in 2014 in honor of individuals who give their talent, time and, very often, their own finances to ensure the employees and the children of employees that are attending four-year and technical or trade schools to assist with their education. Don't leave money on the table. If you have a child or if you're interested in attending continuing education, this money is available to you. Go to u-r-gcom and click on the scholarship foundation tab. Urg keeping our industry strong through education.
Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. Of course you know you're listening to the number one podcast in the automotive industry, urg On the Go podcast. Remember to like, review and share everywhere.
Speaker 2:Thanks, DJ. We've got Greg here. We're learning lots of great valuable information about training and how he's running his yard. Thank you again so much, Greg, for being on today. We kind of wanted to dig in a little bit about URG Conference and how that's benefited you guys in the past attending these conferences, and what are some of your favorite parts.
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. You know, april 10th through the 12th, orlando, florida. If you don't have it on your schedule already, make sure you get it on there. The URG Conference is if you've never been, um, you've got to go. Uh, it is one of the, you know, most engaging experiences as far as you know, the, the training sessions that are there, the vendors that are there, um, and just the camaraderie of all the auto recyclers. Right, everybody talks about, you know, going to these trade shows and you know, know, the sessions are always so good. You guys put in so much time and effort to make sure you have good speakers there, good topics and that they're relevant to current times, right, but one of the bigger pieces is the networking of recyclers, some of my closest friends in this industry.
Speaker 3:I would not know if I hadn't started attending these conferences and just the information that you learn in the short time that you're there and as you go through, you know, each day, with the sessions and you walk out and you're getting back to the airport to come home, you're just kind of like, oh my gosh, like what all did I just take in? Just kind of like, oh my gosh, like what all did I just take in. And I would make one recommendation to somebody if you've never been, or if you have been before and you've never done this, just take your list and write down everything that you felt was, you know, very beneficial towards your business, and pick one item and circle it and put it up in front of your desk and accomplish it and make that your goal, that you think that this is the most important takeaway that I got from the conference, and go get it done. And then, when you're done with that one, go to the next one, go to the next one and then, between now and and next April, when you're going to go back again, try to knock your list out.
Speaker 3:Try to make those changes within that 12 month time period, and some of them are going to be small changes. You know some of them may be. You know a vendor that you met that you want to try their you know credit card processing tool out or you know it there's so much right, yeah, yeah, there you go, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 3:Not trying to turn it into an advertising.
Speaker 2:But hey, you know, you're so right. You know just all the vendors that are there too. They spend a lot of time and money going to these conferences and trying to get their products in front of you and just really trying to teach you. And you know, yes, they're selling something, but you're going to get something in return and being able to see that ROI is key, you know, and, like you said, have action items after the conference to where you can actually see what the tangible benefits are from that conference and kind of make a checklist. And I've heard a couple people you know say you know, oh, I want to go to these two sessions that they're running at the same time. I'll bring two people you know, bring, bring, bring your sales manager and have, have them go to that conference, make notes and then switch notes and then that way you kind of can can learn and have kind of more of a well rounded knowledge of what the sessions are about.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and you know your, your staff, a lot of times you know these things just end up being, you know more, you know owners, managers, but I mean, if you have the ability to, I mean grab your inventory guy and bring him with you, grab one of your sales guys and bring him with you. You know a lot of yards are, you know, in the same situation that I am, where it's tough to not have your guys there, right, and when you take one sales guy away and there's only three, you know it makes things a little bit chaotic for everybody else there. But I'm telling you right now, the time that they will spend there will far outweigh any loss that you're gonna see by them not being, you know, sitting on the counter or not inventorying a car for a couple of days.
Speaker 3:Um, and you know, I look back to the first conference I ever went to. Uh, I was, I think I was 21. Uh, it was actually down in Orlando, um, and that that was ARA conference. But when I came back, I mean, I was, I was so excited, you excited, I was fired up. After it I was like yep, when's the next show? I was like yep, got to make URG. I've just tried to go to these conferences as often as you possibly can. You're not going to make every single one of them, but if you're able to go sure you're there. April 10th through 12th right, I do have those dates right, you're good.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, you're so smart, yep, yep you get to go to orlando, florida.
Speaker 2:So exactly, that's a pretty easy arm twist yep, yep, and if you, if you're feeling like you want to play some golf, you can play golf in the golf tournament for the scholarship foundation too on thursday. So that's always a good time. And yeah, we do have. We are doing more sales session focus for a Saturday event. So if you guys have sales people that you're wanting to bring, we'll definitely have a little bit more focus on Saturday for that, and owners and managers as well. So you know, that's just. You know it's all encompassing and, like you're saying, you know all conferences are beneficial. Ara is great too, and it's been so much fun to kind of collaborate with ARA too. I think there was always kind of a rift between the two and since Kristen and I and Christy have kind of been taking over and working with people and seeing that there's really a value to work together, because we all want to just collaborate and make this industry better, right.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I mean we're all. You know we're all getting the thumb put down on us. You know some of the challenges that we're facing. You know, across the industry, as far as you know, oems, right to repair bills. You know electric vehicles I mean all this crazy stuff's going on right now and you know the right to repair bills. You know electric vehicles I mean all this crazy stuff's going on right now. And you know the right to repair bill. Stuff's been going on forever. But you know the more that we can work together and stand up as a group, as quality, unified auto recyclers that hold ourselves to a standard when you are able to actually go to the table with you know this is what we do. This is why we're important. You know we have a pretty good foot to stand on.
Speaker 2:Yep, I love that. That's a perfect note to end on Awesome All right. Well, we hope to see everyone at the URG conference in Orlando. It's 10th through the 12th. Early bird pricing does end March 8th, so make sure you reserve your hotel room as well as your conference attendance. Make sure you get signed up soon. Thank you so much, greg again, for being on the podcast.
Speaker 3:Hey, thank you guys so much for having me and DJ. Thank you, and we'll chat with you guys soon.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 3:All right, see you guys.