Unlocking the Right to Repair: Understanding HR 906 and Its Impact on the Auto Care Industry

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Welcome to Auto Care On Air, a candid podcast for a curious industry. I'm Stacey Miller, vice President of Communications at the Auto Care Association, and this is Traction Control, where we chat about recent news from the global to the local level and what it may mean to the industry, featuring guests on the front lines. Let's roll. It's time for a Right to Repair update and if you don't know what Right to Repair is, it's a global movement that really centers around the simple premise that people should be able to fix their own stuff. It's your stuff. You should be able to fix it right, and this movement really spans a wide range of items, from personal electronics like your cell phone or your laptop, to appliances like your stove or your smart fridge, to agricultural equipment like tractors We've been hearing a lot about John Deere in the Right to Repair news and medical equipment. So state legislation is increasing, federal legislation is increasing and the conversation surrounding this movement just keeps exploding over the past couple of years. So, whether you own a car or not, the right to repair affects every single person on this globe. But we're going to focus here on automotive and then we're going to bring some guests in to talk about right to repair and some of the other industries and what parallels we could draw to our fight in some of the other industries and what parallels we could draw to our fight. So the concept of right to repair is extremely true with vehicles and really pertinent One of the biggest purchases a consumer or a driver like you and I is likely to make after buying a house. So the average age of a car is over 12 years now and more than 70% of after warranty vehicle repairs occur at independent shops in the automotive aftermarket. So what I mean by independent shops is those shops that aren't part of a dealership, aren't attached to a dealership. There's nothing wrong with the dealership, but overwhelmingly, drivers like you and I tend to take those cars to those independent repair shops because one they're closer, they're more convenient, it's easier to get in the same day and the prices are considerably cheaper. So drivers need access to this wirelessly generated repair and maintenance data from their cars to continue to service them at the shop of their choice. All that data that's coming out of your car that says I need an oil change or my transmission is about to fail, that's wirelessly being generated now thanks to the new technology in these vehicles and it's being sent back to automaker and so that way the automaker can tell you, hey, it's time for you to come to the dealer to service your car. Meanwhile you may not be thinking, hey, I might be able to get this a little bit cheaper or a little bit easier at an independent shop that's a little bit closer to me. So there's a lot of awareness that needs to occur and education to make sure that drivers understand that they still have those choices in independent repair.

In the end, we don't want manufacturers to force drivers to take their cars to the dealership for repair because that's where repair costs are higher and wait times are typically longer. We don't want to eliminate choice. We want to allow the choice and make sure that the independent aftermarket, which has always been here for drivers, is always going to be a viable choice. So these vehicle technology advancements, while they're really amazing for safety and security, they're really threatening to the livelihood of this massive industry which we call the automotive aftermarket. It's an over $500 billion industry and that would eliminate consumer choice. It would eliminate competitive prices and that's a real American issue.

So some of these vehicles, we talk about them being computers on wheels or smartphones on wheels, because some of these late model vehicles have more than 100 million lines of code, which is more than an F-22 Raptor fighter jet Does that not just blow your mind? And so this technology requires really specific parts, manuals, diagnostic tools, and sometimes you go to the vehicle manufacturer and they say, hey, these are our proprietary parts or tools. And sometimes you go to the vehicle manufacturer and they say, hey, these are our proprietary parts or tools, you have to get them here. You know which is wrong? That really eliminates the ability of more than over 150,000 repair shops in the US to compete for that business, where they've always been given access to those tools, the types of restrictions that they're having. We're going to get to here in just a second via a survey that we conducted. That is really astounding.

So, in response to this issue and you know, this really dystopian future where we may not be able to repair and maintain our vehicles where we choose and at a price that makes sense for us, and maintain our vehicles where we choose and at a price that makes sense for us, especially in these really tough economic times with inflation and such we introduced the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair Act the Repair Act, that's HR 906. It's bipartisan legislation and it makes sure that drivers get access to high quality and affordable vehicle repairs as the technology advances, to make sure that both drivers but also fleet owners and their repairs of choice have equal access to repair and maintenance data. Now we talk about vehicles and not just cars, and that's because this bill covers not just the cars and trucks in our driveway. We're talking about heavy duty vehicles. The semi trucks that deliver the goods and services that keep America running is really, really important to this bill, because these repair and maintenance issues can also affect the uptime of these vehicles and when a semi truck goes down or a fleet can't get service, there are catastrophic effects to the nation's supply chain, which can affect how quickly we get things like medical supplies, groceries and water Really really critical to the trucking industry, to our economy. So that's a very, very big part of it, and we do thank Representatives Neil Dunn, brendan Boyle, warren Davidson and Marie Glusenkamp-Perez who introduced this legislation in February of 23.

Now we've had a lot of progress on this bill, a ton of progress. What is happening right now? It's kind of crazy. When you look up the stats, there are over 16,000 types of legislation that were introduced, this Congress and the Repair Act of one of them. So far only 70 of those 60,000 have been signed into law. And may that may seem really scary and concerning, we have a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of progress and a lot of momentum which we're going to talk about. Our committee specifically has over 2000 bills. That's the energy and commerce committee. But our committee has the most bills on their plate out of all the committees as well. So, despite, despite those astounding numbers just so you get a picture of how much our Congress is dealing with in a limited amount of time there's been a ton of progress.

So the US House Subcommittee on Innovation, data and Commerce, or also known as the IDC, they approved the Repair Act by VoteVoice during a November subcommittee markup session. So we're waiting for that legislation to go before the full house committee on energy and commerce for consideration. In addition to that, uh, we've had members send over 80,000 letters to their legislators advocating for, um, the right to repair, and to ask them to co-sponsor the bill and to make sure that they're supporting that bill. Uh, we've had support from the FTC with the nixing, the fixed report, which also shares support for right to repair. The Biden administration put out a statement um stating their focus on the right to repair. And you know, thanks to all of the auto care association members who have taken the time to visit their legislator in our fall leadership days and legislative summit, they've hosted legislators at their place of work to show them what their contributions are to the local economy, and those types of conversations are really what is making the difference. Every person we talk to showcases really overwhelming support for this bill. We just need a gust of wind to get it to the floor for a vote this September. So time is running out.

We know that many of you who have been listening have already sent those letters to your legislators. We are asking you again. We've updated that letter with some more urgent language and support. Please go to repairactcom If you haven't already send another letter. That's the best thing you could do at this point other than continuing to reach out to your legislator personally, inviting them to your place of business. And if you need help with that, you can always reach out to our government affairs team and you can reach out to Todd Moore. That's T O D dot M O O R E at auto careorg and he can help you schedule a visit with your legislator.

For those people who think, hey, I really don't want to get involved in politics, this is just not for me. This is a bipartisan issue and it's not about what side of the aisle you're on. It's really about communicating to your legislator how something like right to repair affects your business, but also affects you personally, and sharing with them a little bit about what your contributions are as a constituent in their district. They work for you, so you're providing jobs, you're paying taxes, you're supporting your local community. All of that is important for your local legislator to hear, to understand hey, I need to make sure that this goes to a vote and that this passes, because this is going to satisfy the constituents in my district and make sure that they're as happy as possible. So we really do really urge you to do that. So back to what Repair Act does so, allowing drivers like you and I to control access and to have access and choose where their vehicle gets maintained and repaired. It's about freedom the freedom to utilize the most accessible and affordable repair options available. Nothing in the Repair Act, like I said earlier, removes the option for a driver to choose a local dealership. It allows for open competition, for free markets. So that means more innovation, more price reductions. The more accessible and affordable car repair is, vehicle repair is, the more drivers are going to actually take and do those repairs and maintenance which make the roads safer for all of us.

There's some really interesting data in the Auto Care Factbook, which is our annual publication. Data in the Auto Care Factbook, which is our annual publication it's our flagship publication that gives stats, impacts and analysis of what's going on in the auto care industry. And there's a really astounding number called delayed maintenance, and that comes from our partners at IMR Inc. And what we found is that the delayed maintenance number has increased year over year to the tune of several billion dollars. That folks are not repairing and maintaining their cars because cost, maybe they haven't found someone that they really trust, they don't have the time, they don't think the repairs are necessary and, as inflation continues and costs continues to be one of those primary factors, that means that we've got more unsafe cars on the road, which can really be scary for any driver that's on the road. Right, I would prefer not to be on the road, knowing that there are some folks that haven't changed their brake pads and maybe they're not able to stop that vehicle properly at speed right. There are real safety implications to not being able to provide affordable and accessible maintenance and repair. So that's point one.

The other piece that we hear about the Repair Act and we get about the automotive aftermarket is there are lots of misconceptions about the quality of our repairs or the quality of our parts. And obviously our technicians are ASE certified, they're trained, they're as passionate as all of them and the businesses that provide the parts are manufacturing these parts to extremely high standards. There are studies that show that. You know we are manufacturing parts as good, if not better, than the manufacturer and many aftermarket parts actually come from the manufacturer that are manufacturing those OEM parts just under a different label. So lots of information there to kind of put in your pocket for any conversations with your legislators on. You know why aftermarket is a great choice, why it's a safe choice and why it's a proper choice.

And nationally our industry is, is massive. It is so important to the American economy, right, our, our, um, our industry employs 4.7 million Americans and nearly 2% of GDP in economic activity. So we're really critical. We're up there with construction, we're up there with healthcare, we're critical to the nation's continued success. Right so the Repair Act. It provides those shops with rights to that critical vehicle diagnostic data and we want to make sure that there are no restrictions imposed by the manufacturers. For all of those reasons and above, I mentioned the commercial sector earlier. So it's critically, critically, critically important to fleets, to heavy duty vehicles. There are over 9 million vehicles in the heavy duty trucking industry and the United States depends on them to transmit those goods and services on America's highways and byways and those companies rely on the ability to utilize independent mechanics and technicians and aftermarket parts to keep those vehicles on the road, keep that uptime and keep the maintenance affordable and efficient. So right to repair is important for everyone and plays a significant role in our nation's supply chain.

Again, what can you do now is to go to repairactcom and make sure that you send that letter again. Congress is on recess right now, in August. They will be back in office in September and that's our last chance to get this bill to the floor for a vote. So I'm really urging everybody to take the time, send the letter, get educated at repairactcom or autocareorg, and there's additional things that you can do. We've got some really amazing companies who've been working with us to educate their employees and educate their end consumers consumers. So I want to give a shout out to a couple of those companies who have really gone above and beyond in making sure that their employees know about what right to repair is, how they can contribute to it and getting more folks to speak up, because this is this is a numbers thing. We need volume, we need voices to speak up. So really big shout out to voices to speak up. So really big shout out to CTR.

They put the right to repair QR code in their email signature. Dma Industries they've been posting to LinkedIn about right to repair is important and making their own videos. Crp has been sending emails to their employees. Srp has been sending emails to their employees. Federated has had right to repair on their homepage. Thank you so much, federated. And both Federated and the Alliance have been placing ads for right to repair in all of the industry publications, urging for support. Mpa Motor Parts of America has been sending information to their customers. Gpd made a flyer talking about if it's yours, own it. So support right to repair. Here's what you can do about it. So thanks GPD. Jasper Engines and Dorman Products. They've both been publishing blogs about right to repair Mond and Hummel. They did some PR around it. They put the QR in their signature, they hosted legislators and made custom shirts. So thank you so much, mon and Hummel. Medco O'Reilly put this on the front page of their first call portal, which absolutely driving tons and tons and tons of traffic to the letter. So huge shout out to O'Reilly. Pronto has been putting this in their email and sending it out on their intranet. They've been putting it on their shirts.

Old World Industries, ssf, sunx XL Parts, tpn, again, automotive Parts Warehouse, dynamic Automotive, vypar, autozone, advanced Auto Parts, napa. Thank you so, so, so much NAPA. Napa ran an entire company campaign. They printed all sorts of materials. They put them in their offices, they put them in their shops, they sent them digitally. Napa has been a huge supporter since the beginning and we can't thank you enough. Parts Authority, automotive Parts Associates. Hda Truck Pride, fleet Pride, hubvis Auto and Truck Supply. Cliff Hubvis on the Auto Care Association Board of Directors has been incredibly supportive throughout all of this and even more. Isn WorldPak Specialty Products Company, meineke, bbb, rps, bma, tosco, na Williams, highline, warren, samuel Bywise Auto Parts, smp East Penn 1A Auto. Wow, wow, wow, wow.

The industry's leading companies have been advocating for right to repair and they're not stopping. So if you can do something like any of these companies to help contribute to the cause, we really do urge you to do that, and we thank you so much for your support. On our next episode, we're going to get some updates on right to repair from other industries and draw some parallels between those industries and automotive, so stay tuned for that. For now, now visit us at autocareorg or repairactcom and share with us on social media what you're doing about right to repair using hashtag right to repair. Auto care on air is a production of the auto care association dedicated to advancing the auto care industry and supporting professionals like you. To learn more about the association and its initiatives, visit AutoCareorg.