Tow Professional Podcast
Tow Professional Podcast
Bridging the Gap: Towing Industry Meets Online Auctions
Could your towing business benefit from a partnership with a company that has 40 years of success in the industry? Simon Smock from Co-part joins us to discuss the seamless intertwine of online auctions and the towing industry. Simon will take us through Co-part's extensive services spanning 250 locations in the US, key insights from his 23-year journey with the company, and the life-saving work of their 911 fleet during catastrophes.
Eager to expand your fleet or start your own towing business? Simon introduces us to the Co-part's innovative Truck in a Box program, a golden opportunity that could potentially transform your future in the towing industry. You'll discover the program's leasing terms, acceptance criteria, and how it can help you realize your towing business dreams. Listen in to find out if you're a fit for this game-changing program.
Lastly, we pay homage to the unsung heroes of disasters - the tow truck drivers and professionals. Simon shares how Co-part swiftly mobilizes its teams, equipment, and partners during crises, and the crucial role the towing industry plays in such situations. As we close, we express our deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication of all vendors in the towing industry and the first responders who tirelessly serve our communities. This is an episode you can't afford to miss.
So gear up for an enlightening ride with us and Simon Smock from Co-part, as we unravel the intricacies of the towing industry and its undeniable synergy with online auctions.
Welcome one and all to Toe Professional Podcast. Remember, this is your podcast. It's for the pros that have a need to know, that are on the go. This is truly the voice of the Toeing industry. I'm DJ Harrington, your co-host, better known as The Toe Doctor, And the real man. The host of this podcast is the president and publisher of Toe Professional Magazine, my dear friend Darren Weaver. Darren, how are you This beautiful day?
Speaker 2:DJ, i am fantastic today, thankful for a great Memorial Day weekend and for all those heroes that gave the most and gave all so that we could be blessed with our freedom. So it was a great weekend and also a great weekend for remembrance And man, i am excited about this Tuesday because we have we've been putting this one together for a while. We've had some listeners ask about it, ask about auction processes, how they can get involved, and, guys, you got it. Today We've got Simon Smock on here with Co-part And this is going to be an exciting episode, dj.
Speaker 1:I am 110% agreeing with you, my friend. I'm in a real gift to the industry And if we get all the information out of them. Our 7,000 plus listeners will get a lot out of this podcast. So, Darren, why don't you ask Simon a little bit about himself? We'll go there.
Speaker 2:Definitely definitely. Well, simon, again, it's a pleasure to have you on the show today, and what I wanted to ask is just first I know this is a little off script, but just fill in with a little information about your background, a little bit about Co-part, and then we'll have DJ. move on for our first question.
Speaker 4:Sure, sounds good. Well, hey, listen. great to be here, guys. Darren, it's great to meet you. I've been a long time listener of the show. DJ and I have known each other for probably 10 years. He's kind of a staple at all of the toe shows and recycler conventions. We'd love to see him there. I've been with Co-part for 23 years now as part of a series of acquisitions QCSA, auto auction out of the Midwest and salvage direct prior to that And I oversee our catastrophe response at Co-part as well as our transportation team.
Speaker 2:And that is fantastic, man. We got a lot of hats to wear there, And Co-part has done an amazing job in this industry. when I've seen. So, DJ, I'm going to lead it off to you and let you ask the first question, sir.
Speaker 1:Well, simon, it's always good to hear you. It's always good to see you at shows. I know everybody in the recycling industry knows you Talk to some of our 7,000-plus listeners And my question I'm going to ask you is the connection between online auctions, like your company Co-part, and the towing industry Share a little bit of that content?
Speaker 4:Sure. So at COPA we pick up over 3 million vehicles a year and those are towed to our location by towing company, and we have the same number of cars that are towed out each year as well, and a lot of those are towed out by towing company too, and that number continues to increase as we become kind of the one-stop solution for members. So vehicles are picked up across 250 locations across the US. All of our runs. We do what we call trip build, so you get two tows in the same general vicinity to maximize efficiency and revenue. And while we want these vehicles to be picked up timely, they are not necessarily on demand, like you find with a motor club, so that you can work these into your day with your fleet of trucks, A guarantee he's getting warm now.
Speaker 2:I'm telling you, man, that is good guarantee too, so that I think that's fantastic. Let me ask you this, because I know it's going to be the next question for our listeners here How can towing companies work with COPA?
Speaker 4:Sure. Anyone that's interested in towing for COPA. I recommend going to our website, copacom slash towing and explains the program. Sign up, we'll have one of our agents call you right away. Again, that's COPAcom slash towing and we also have. We have a massive number of 911 fleet and we call our 911 fleet that they respond to catastrophes and other severe weather events. So these trucks travel. They travel across the country into the devastated areas. They help the community get back on their feet by getting the cars picked up and the claims settled quickly. So, for example, recently we had some flooding in South Florida or there's been a handful of hail storms across the Midwest recently. That's our 911 fleet that we respond to those and that's towing towing companies across the country that we have them go in and pick up those vehicles. Also, we have a program called truck in a box that helps lease trucks to new and existing companies. They get a truck, they get a lease and they get a great rate and they get co-part as their first customer.
Speaker 1:Simon, now you got all our listeners really excited. We're going to talk about truck in a box in a little bit, but I want to ask you, why should towing companies want to work with co-parts?
Speaker 4:Well, dj, i think we've got all of these brands with a 40 year track record, and I think that's one of the big reasons We recently celebrated our anniversary. So we've been in business since 1982. Some other reasons steady work so I mentioned the two cars per trip that we'll assign. So steady work, however much work you want per day. Flexible scheduling you tell us how many trucks you have, how much you want to handle and what areas you cover. Competitive pay we're also set up in ACH, so we'll pay weekly on that and gives you an opportunity to work with the latest technology.
Speaker 4:So all of our work is assigned through the app. All the work can be requested through the app. You can go into our CoApp. You've picked up two cars. You're on your way back to the yard. You can request additional work right there so that you get your runs. You know where you're going next as soon as you drop those cars off. Quality support you can always get in touch with a person through the app if you need it, and you can also work directly with any of our yards as well as our corporate operations center here in Dallas, texas, where I'm located, and it's a great opportunity to help CoPART respond to disasters.
Speaker 4:If that's what you're interested in, you want to travel, you want to make great money, you can sign up with that team as well and travel across the country. Again, it's real easy. You go to co-parkcom slash towing. There's going to be a couple questions that they ask you to fill out there Company name, your contact information and zip code, which is important. Hit submit. We'll have our team here in Dallas follow up with you. Our response rate is extremely quick. What we'll do is we'll kind of analyze, determine what yard or yards you would service, where you located, and then what yards can you handle. So I know, gary, you said you're in Birmingham. We have a location there. You know, dj, i know you're under the Atlanta market. We've got five locations out of there that we service. So that team will look that up. They'll make the phone call, they'll follow up with the company that's interested, talk to the program, explain how the app works, you know, discuss everything, any questions that they may have, so that they can get signed up and running with us.
Speaker 1:Well, there's the music, folks, So let's take a quick break and we'll be right back with signing from co-park. Bye, bye Hi.
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Speaker 1:You have been listening to the Toe Professional on the Go podcast. Every week we bring you informative episodes like this one with Co-Fart and Simon. I want all of you to remember. We're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, google Play, stitcher, iheart Media, amazon or wherever you get your podcast. Now, before our break, we were talking about trucking the box, but I want to make a comment to every one of you, all our listeners.
Speaker 1:I was at a Toe show and Co-Fart's making a presentation and in this public speaking industry, you never stop in the middle of your conversation. Well, co-fart's presenters stop. They'll say to the Toe or what zip code are you in? Then he looks at his iPad and says we had 14 Toes in your market yesterday. You could have had 14 more Toes if you were towing for Co-Fart And I'm like what the hell is this guy doing? Well, at the end of the 30 minute seminar, every Toe in the room was up front saying hey, listen, you got any Toes in my market. You got any Toes in my market. So this is why I want you to listen, and every one of these are archives. So I'm going to encourage you my articles to make sure they go to this podcast.
Speaker 2:Alright.
Speaker 1:Dan, i'm going to hand it back over to you, my friend.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, dj. Yeah, guys, if you all weren't listening. For the men and women out there listening to this podcast, 40 plus years on the market with Co-Fart, two cars per trip, flexible schedule, competitive pay, weekly and the latest technology, all you need to know is what is the website? This is great information and, dj, without a doubt, simon Smuck is throwing the heat today, so we're coming to this one. So, simon, next question for you, sir, is let's dig into this. What is Truckin' a Box and how does it work?
Speaker 4:Yeah. So Truckin' a Box is a great way to start or expand your business. This is a program that we came up with about a year ago and you know we've always had kind of an entrepreneurial type of mindset here at Co-Fart and as our business is growing, we want our towing partners to be able to grow with us, so we launched a program to help those create those opportunities. We've sourced hundreds of trucks in the marketplace specifically for this program. These are brand new rollbacks two car rollbacks and we're offering leasing 60 month lease terms at Co-Fart finance rate. Money is expensive right now. This is a really good deal. You get it at Co-Fart trade and we'll be your first customer. No exclusives. We want you to pick up a committed number of pickups for us every day and then fill your day with opportunities like motor clubs and roadside. So this is really the deal of a lifetime.
Speaker 4:There are two types of candidates for this program existing companies these are companies that want to expand their fleet and then also experienced towing operators that want to start their own business. And that's the American dream. Right, and we'll help them get started and set them up for each step of the way. There's plenty of opportunity to work, plenty of opportunities to take other calls and serve additional clients as well. So we want these providers to be profitable and make money and we want to set them up for success.
Speaker 2:Man, i tell you that is a tremendous program, simon, and that's it. That's what I thought of when you were talking about it. This gives a company the ability to expand, but also it gives that guy that's out there working hard in the industry a long time and says you know what? it's time for me to be a business owner, it's time for me to be a leader and to step out here and do it myself. It gives them a not a hand out, but a hand up in the industry, and that's a fantastic program. Well then, the next questions to you DJ.
Speaker 1:Well, here's what I want to ask, simon. Depending on the time, in the marketplace you have 250 locations. How does someone take advantage of the program? Do they have to be in business so many years, or do they have to have an experience?
Speaker 2:Do they?
Speaker 1:have to be rec master certified to become part of this truck in the box. Do they have to belong to this association or that association And is there creditworthiness a part of this, that kind of question?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so great questions and what I would. I'll give you another website address, so I'd encourage everybody to apply. If this is something that they think they might be interested in, then apply. We can get the process started. It's copartcom slash truck in a box or truckinaboxcom.
Speaker 4:And so, dj, to answer some of your questions, they're not. everyone is chosen in the program. We do have a vetting process and obviously you need to serve a scenario where CO-PARC has pickups and has a location which, again, is pretty much pretty much everywhere. We want you to be close to a yard, or where we have volume and endless opportunities, right? So all applications are reviewed, they're reviewed by a program manager. They choose and schedule follow-up interviews. Strong criteria is what we're looking for, and we want to pick people that have, again, that entrepreneurial mindset, just like we do, and we want our candidates to succeed, right? So you're going to be CO-PARC's trusted partner and we want to be a main character in the story of your success. So, again, if you're somebody that has been towing for a long time, you've always said, hey, i want to. I always want to start my own business, but I'm scared about making that next jump will help you with that.
Speaker 4:Or if you're someone that maybe has a fleet of trucks. Maybe you've got three, four, five trucks and you're looking to expand, maybe need help because of credit maybe credit's max or maybe you're having difficulties finding a truck. We've sourced these trucks and again, we've got a great finance program. You can sign up to your truck in a box. There's going to be X number of cars that need to be picked up per day. For us doesn't necessarily have to be that truck that's doing it. It could be another truck in the fleet, but we need to get volume committed to us and, like I said, it's really kind of the deal of the lifetime. Check out the website if you think you'd be interested. Apply coparkcom, slash truck in a box And, darren, i got to tell our listeners.
Speaker 1:You know, god gave us two ears in one mouth. It was a hint. We're supposed to do twice And if we're listening to Simon, here's an opportunity to help our industry, and we know people out there. We have people that are just what Simon said. They're not looking for a handout, they're looking for a handout and here's copark. What better company to be a partner with than a good company, four-year-old, you know company like copark, who's really well thought of.
Speaker 1:So let's take a break and when we come back we're going to talk a little bit more about copark and the response to disaster areas in our country All type folks. we'll be right back.
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Speaker 1:Recovery Billing Unlimited making towers more profitable celebrating over 50 years and over 200 locations. Here's a word from Co-Part.
Speaker 5:Selling with Co-Part is quick and easy, Convenient with B2B interfacing, off-site sales, counter bidding, early toe and more. Co-part takes the hassle out of selling your total lost vehicles. Co-part sells vehicles on behalf of insurance companies, banks, finance companies, charities, fleet operators and dealers. For more information, go to Co-Partcom.
Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. Remember to like, review and share everywhere. If you want to hear another industry expert like Simon from Co-Part operations manager there, by all means you dial our hotline number 706-409-5603. And down in, i will do our very best to get an industry expert like Simon, as a Co-Part, to make a presentation here on this great podcast format. Now, without further ado, let me pass it back over to Dan.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, dj, just what we were talking about before we went to break, and something that excites me as well, because I know tours that have done this before and I think it's a tremendous help when our first responders are able to step in during disasters and look at Co-Part leading them. So, simon, tell us about that. Tell us more about how Co-Part responds to the disasters and what role the tow truck, the tow drivers or tow professionals play in that.
Speaker 4:Sure, yeah, absolutely. So. You know, whenever severe weather strikes, what we call a catastrophic event or a catastrophe like a hurricane, hail, flooding, tornado, we respond and typically, you know, all of our teams mobilize prior to even the storm hitting the ground. So if it's a hurricane and it's five days out, we're there. You know, last year we were there in the, you know, tampa and Fort Myers, in Orlando Market, several days before the storm hit, ready to go, because we want to be able to start picking up cars as soon as the roadways clear and start bringing those back to our facilities. We mobilize our teams, our equipment, our front-end loaders, our tow trucks, our 911 fleet that I talked about earlier, all of our partners. We mobilize them into the impacted area.
Speaker 4:And we want to fast, easy process for our customers and our customer's customer, which is the insured, and that's the people of the community. We want an easy process for them. They've potentially lost their home, they've lost their car, you know, and we want to make sure that we're able to get in there easy, professionally, and get the vehicle picked up. We get it back to our location because that's what's going to get them settled out on their claim faster so that they can begin to rebuild or go out and purchase another vehicle.
Speaker 4:We want to pick up these vehicles that the insurance companies assigned to us as quickly as possible. So again, those insured get their settlement checked and then deliver those vehicles to our facilities and our mega yard. And our mega yards are locations that we've strategically placed throughout storm markets. That's 100 to 200 plus acre facilities that sit ready for storm response. So in Florida, for example, we have two mega yards that support both Southern and Central Florida with that. So to do that we built a winning team and this includes hundreds of people that are on our dedicated catastrophe team.
Speaker 4:We've got 7,000 employees across the country that can support in some way. That's getting cars released, that's getting vehicles dispatched, it's our towing partners, our 911 providers, getting those vehicles picked up, bringing them back to our facilities and getting those processed as quickly as possible. We deploy both our owned and operated co-part tow trucks as well, the CCRF. You've probably seen those before. We've had them parked at some of the shows. Those are two and four car rollbacks. We do deploy those. Those trucks are specific to catastrophe response as well as our 911 towing companies.
Speaker 4:And last year, just to give you guys an example, last year we responded to Hurricane Ian that hit in the southeast Southwest coast of Florida, near Fort Myers, and then sat over Orlando as well, if you recall, and just dumped a considerable amount of rain there. We picked up and delivered over 70,000 cars from that event just in several weeks time And that was again. That was all the towing partners that we have across the United States travel with us, that are part of this team came down and they were able to make that happen. So we've got great partners that make up our fleet across the country And that's a part of the reason why we're so successful And that's a part of the reason why, again, with Truckin' A Box, that we wanna be able to give back to help towars expand and help new towars start businesses as well. You guys have made us successful. We wanna do everything that we can to make you successful as well.
Speaker 2:And Farmin, i appreciate you breaking that down and really explaining that to us, and I tell you it sounds like, without a doubt, dj, we knew this, but we want our listeners to hear it. Co-part is dedicated to the towing industry And whether you're looking at the Truckin' A Box program, they will absolutely, as Simon said here, they will feed you the business. I mean, where else can you go that you can get set up in your business and also be guaranteed there's business waiting on you? And then with the emergency response there to the disasters, simon, that's unbelievable 70,000 plus cars in over in several weeks And that means everybody that was a part of your network was fed well by being a part of that network. And that's what we like seeing companies that are out here making a tremendous difference And fantastic. I want to allow DJ to jump in on this and then we'll finish this one up. What a great podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this has been a good one, darren.
Speaker 1:Simon, i thank you on behalf of the industry. I thank you and all the fine 7,000 employees at Co-part. Not only are you a sponsor to the podcast, which I dearly appreciate it, but you have 250 locations that could help a person out here in the field that wants to enlarge their own business or go into a business with a great partner, somebody who would help them get started. It's like looking at a franchise for McDonald's and saying, well, i don't know if I could handle it, but if you go to Hamburg or you, all of a sudden there's some guy there to help you finance it. Now it's all together. So if you're in the industry and you serve some time, go to our website, learn about just what Simon was saying. This will be a podcast that will be heard again and again, because every one of these are archives.
Speaker 1:Simon, on behalf of the industry, i thank you. I know you for many years. I was gonna say I knew you when I had brown hair and had hair, but I I'm the old guy and Simon's a younger guy, that's for sure, but we've been friends. He was kind of, years ago, sent me the book of the whole history of Copart, which was wonderful, great reading, but Simon cares enough. We met in the recycling industry years ago and every time I've gone to a tow show or a recycling show I've met up with Simon and just good people.
Speaker 2:So, folks.
Speaker 1:If you're getting in bed with someone, get in bed with good people. That's all that matters. That's what my father used to tell me. Just make sure you hang out with the right people and you'll always will be successful.
Speaker 2:All right down, i'm turning back. Yes, real quick. I'm gonna let Simon tell him one more time, simon, where they can go, the website that they can look at for trucking a box and co-part either side.
Speaker 4:Yes, sir. so it's copartcom slash towing. if you're interested in becoming a provider with us across the 250 locations we have in the US, or if you wanna sign up as part of our 911 fleet And then, for trucking a box, go to copartcom slash trucking a box. and guys, i just wanted to say again been a long time listener of the show, love the podcast, love what you guys do, really appreciate your time and the opportunity to speak here, so thank you.
Speaker 2:Man. Simon, you're certainly welcome. We're so excited to get you all here. I know we had a lot of things in the past with shows and fabblin' and everything else, but hey, good as they say, all good things take time and this was one worth waiting on. It was a fantastic podcast. I think it's a wealth of knowledge for our listeners.
Speaker 2:Well, as always, i wanna end in prayer and, dear Heavenly Father, i thank you for every one of our vendors out there for their knowledge, for their support in the industry. We ask that you grow their knowledge base, protect them, prosper them and bless them for their hard work in this industry and for the work they do to bless others. And, dear Heavenly Father, we ask that again that you put a hedge of protection around our towers, around those men and women that are our first responders, that leave their loved ones at home and go out there to serve ours. We ask that you bless them, shake them together, run it over. We just ask that you bless their health and prosper them and everything that they do, and keep them protected when they're out there and bring them back home to their families.
Speaker 2:Blisters, as always, we'll keep stepping out here and bringing you great podcasts like this with Simon Smock of Co-Parc, and more shows to come here in the future. We appreciate their valued sponsorship and everything that they're doing in the industry. Until next week, keep listening, and we appreciate every one of you. Stay tuned.