Live With A Hurricane Affected NC Dealer, Port Strike Contingencies, Charging Station of the Future

Paul J Daly: 0:01

Alright, it is Thursday, October 3. We still have a strike. We still have massive disruption in North Carolina. We're going to have a dealer, Richard Lupo deal employee, come to us live in a few minutes from just south of Asheville, to talk about what's going on on the ground. Yeah, talk about a few other things after that, like we do. And this is just what the auto industry does, right? Communicate. That's what it help each other.

‍Kyle Mountsier: 0:27

We help each other. Dealers,

Paul J Daly: 0:29

the government can do.

Kyle Mountsier: 0:30

Oh, wow, it's

Paul J Daly: 0:32

truth. He

Kyle Mountsier: 0:33

had to come with it this morning, just like that. Yeah, I think you know, you know what's so interesting and, I got a few calls about something else yesterday, but this industry, it's like the first thing that people think about is, how do I communicate this broadly, and how do I help others? Right? It All. It always is, is there someone I can call? Is there someone who can help me? Is there someone who I can help? And I love that about this industry, there's no like, it's and, and I would say that over the past five to six years, that barrier is breaking down more and more. I think early on, especially, it was a little bit like, I don't I don't know if I want to tell everyone my quote, unquote secrets. It's like the secret's all out, like, just help out. You

Paul J Daly: 1:24

know, I'd like to think that maybe we had something to do with that. I'd like to think that, I don't know if it's true. I mean, we were a component of it, but I think the the element and the the heart behind asotu, from the very beginning, was like, we need to band together to help one another. No matter what right we're all in the same thing and like, the spirit of open handedness, yep, you know, even like the way we try to like present. I'm starting over my words, even the way we attempt to bring industry partners together to help one another. I hope that that makes an impact on what you said, like a positive impact, because as that unfolds, not not like what we've done unfolds, but as what you just said unfolds more and more in the industry, it just shows everybody else, and it shows in the customer experience, and it comes through in the spirit of how people look and work at dealerships. I don't know. It's just an awesome thing to be a part of.

Kyle Mountsier: 2:23

It really, really is man speaking of awesome things to be a part of. We got more than cars. Episode Four releasing on November 13. You can head over to our LinkedIn. We got a whole event live stream. You'll be able to watch it on YouTube or on LinkedIn. We're gonna live stream that Joker to the entire automotive industry. It is Mohawk, Chevrolet. You cannot miss this one. No. Incredible organization, incredible people. I don't

Paul J Daly: 2:49

want to assume that people know what that is. So more than cars is a docu series that we started filming last year, and where Kyle and I go to dealerships around the country, telling the best stories that happen inside dealers, talking about the transformation that occurs in people's lives, in customers lives, because dealerships are the way they are. There's too much negative stigma. We wanted to tell the good stories. So this is the fourth episode. Yeah, and special thanks too to our sponsor for this episode, UVI. We get to they have a system in the store. The UBI systems are so cool, by the way, but thank you for helping us make that happen. We are now well into planning season two. We have some shoots lined up. If you want to be a part of that as an industry partner, as a sponsor, reach out to us crew at asotu com, and we have a lot of good stuff in store on that, but make sure you go to the LinkedIn channel. You LinkedIn channel. Join the event. Join us for the live stream, because it's so much fun. When we do the live streams and release it, you'll be able to watch it later. But it's fun when you're the first isn't it?

Kyle Mountsier: 3:51

There you go.

Paul J Daly: 3:51

I think it is. I think it was always good, right? We're about to bring in our guests. Auto Dealer associations across the US southeast have activated emergency relief funds in response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, connecting with members providing much needed assistance. Nada foundation Emergency Relief Fund is coordinated with local dealer associations to assist affected employees with emergency grants of up to $1,500 and Nia DA is also activated its relief fund with 1000s of members impacted as well. Here's a quote from Leah Kirchner, President of Georgia auto Dealers Association. He says, One of the challenges we're experiencing right now is, frankly, just getting in touch with dealers. Just getting in touch with them. Dealers in Florida, North Carolina, reporting property damage, vehicle losses, some locations losing hundreds of vehicles to flood waters. Matt Murchison, a dealer in Boone, North Carolina, said we've probably three or four employees who have lost everything, but despite that, spirits are pretty good. Now this all comes as FEMA is warning. They announced yesterday that they're they're running out of money. They they don't might as they have another hurricane hits from. And have funds. Also have been hearing reports about, uh, federal employees and agencies going to local donation centers and like taking, like taking the donations, saying we'll handle divvying these out, which is a little bit of a weird thing, but we'll see. We'll see what happens. It doesn't communicate confidence, right? So, like, I'm really thankful for the dealer associations and the people who are we were, we're part of helping coordinate some flights in and out. Somebody commented on the live stream on Monday that they had some planes, and we've since connected them with some resources, and we're still trying to work it out. But like, we have, you know, multiple Cessnas and helicopters coordinating with people who are, like, on Mr. Beast's team. Like this is a real effort of people trying to help other people make it. What we're going to do right now is going to call Richard Lupo Kyle.

Kyle Mountsier: 5:53

I know Richard, Richard. I got to hang out with him a couple times now at this point, a so do con, a Reynolds event, and just a fixed stops director that really cares for his people, cares for the industry too, is always willing to help. And they are. He's at Apple Tree, Honda and accurate in Fletcher, North Carolina. He's about 15 miles south of Asheville. So we're going to bring him in and just see what the vibes are there.

Paul J Daly: 6:18

He said it might be loud because there's helicopter. There are helicopters at the airport everywhere.

Kyle Mountsier: 6:23

Oh my goodness, just paint the picture for

Richard Lupo: 6:25

you all. Good morning. This is rich, rich.

Paul J Daly: 6:31

What's going on? This is Paul and Kyle. You're on the the morning show. Thank you so much for giving us some time today. It's

Richard Lupo: 6:37

my pleasure. I'm glad to get some updates out there. And thank you guys for reaching out and giving us the opportunity to get some information out there for everyone. Yeah, absolutely.

Paul J Daly: 6:47

We've heard a lot that many people in the country don't know what's actually going on on the ground because of limited coverage, limited media coverage. So why don't you tell us, from your perspective, what's actually happening, and we'll talk about it from there.

Richard Lupo: 7:03

Well, obviously there's a there's a lot happening, but from a general overview, the city of Asheville is still standing, and the immediate areas around are in much better shape. There are certainly pockets in the city and the surrounding areas that have been, you know, very, very devastated. A lot of the pictures and images that you see are coming from the the towns that surround the Asheville area, the western North Carolina area, and so we're very fortunate where we are located, right next to the airport Nashville, for you know, where people may know from being in the area, we're very fortunate in this immediate area to have a much less impact than other, you know, areas that may be 1015, 20 miles from from the city. And so the the National Guard is here. A lot of you know, military support. It's hard to tell exactly who see Coast Guard, airport helicopters, and, you know, various markings on lots of different helicopters running in and out of the airport, refueling and the utility, the line crews, they're out there doing everything that they can. One of the biggest challenges that we have is that lots of trees and lots of trees on lots of power lines. So while a lot of the connectivity and utilities have been restored to the main parts of the core parts of Asheville and the other media communities, reaching further out is going to take some time. So that's kind of what's going on. We are helping out as we as we can with the people in our communities, our team members we have had, you know, we've got about 170 people on staff here, and everyone to a T has checked in and is safe. That's great. Yeah, we're very, very, very blessed to be in that situation. We've had several, a handful of people that have had damage, with a couple of people that have had pretty significant damage to their homes, and one, one person has had very, very significant damage to their home so, and we're working to assist them. And there's a lot of, you know, immediate needs that, you know, Red Cross and you know the agencies, FEMA and things like that are helping. There's a lot of work to do. And so you. Can

Paul J Daly: 10:01

Can you tell us what does the I'm going to ask? You know some comments are coming in a live stream. Michelle Langford says, Hi, by the way. Also questions on like, how can we help? And we'll get to that at the end of the conversation. Tell us about what, what the status is of the dealer operations, and what you're hearing from other local dealers. Like, from the industry standpoint, what are the dealers doing? Are you up and running? Are people having like, needs that you're able to help with as the stores close, like, what's going on?

Richard Lupo: 10:31

So what I can tell you is, it's very geographically oriented. We have one dealer is a local family owns some dealerships here in the area, and their dealerships were in some low lying areas, and they there. They were able to move a lot of their inventory out of the way, but their buildings were damaged. I did the drive through the parking lot yesterday, and they had the serve pro guys out there, the restoration guys out there, cleaning everything and doing everything. So I know that they're doing everything that they can. They've got a large organization too, and they're they're doing everything they can do to get back open. We are open. Our our buildings, our campus, sustained very minor damage in the grand scheme of things, utilities were restored, power and water were restored on Sunday. But connectivity, you know, everything is very connectivity dependent, phones or internet computers, all that kind of stuff are all internet dependent. And we have, we've struggled with consistent connectivity. Most of the dealerships are in commercial corridors, so there weren't lots of trees that went down. And I do know that the dealerships that surround us in this immediate area, most of them have some sort of, you know, minimal operations open and are working to normalize the processes and normal operations right now, we go ahead.

Kyle Mountsier: 12:17

No, that's awesome. Yeah. I mean, I think it's great to hear that a lot of the dealerships are still able to serve and be open. You know, we've, I think, from like a help standpoint, I'm sure that there's some coordination going on if, if people wanted to to get down there, we have shared a few things in our daily email. We'll continue to share those as they come up. And Richard, thanks for spending a little bit of time with us today, just giving us a little State of the Union of what's going on there. We are praying and alongside you, and know that there are plenty of automotive people that are ready and willing to help, and we've seen that already come in with things like ni nada, ni Ada, and please keep sharing there, whether it be on LinkedIn or social ways that we can help or be serving the general community of auto dealers. Appreciate you. Richard.

Richard Lupo: 13:14

Oh, thank you. And just along those notes, of course, there's a there's the normal channels we are located if you're coming from the south or if you're coming from most directions. The interstates are open. We are right at the airport. We are right off of the interstate. If anybody has supplies that they want, you know, if they don't know how or where to get them to, feel free to bring them right off the interstate, literally, and you can drop them off here. We have people that need and we can get them to the organizations that they can reach and be distributed. That's

Kyle Mountsier: 13:50

great. That's great to distribute. We

Paul J Daly: 13:52

will get that out for sure. And again, if anything else comes up, right, feel free to text, call, whatever, and we'll do whatever we can to help you. Oh, absolutely community. Thank

Richard Lupo: 14:03

you so much, guys. Any help is, is is needed? You know, there are some communities that are just absolutely devastated right now. And you know, the helicopters and the National Guard will be gone in a couple of weeks, and the TV cameras will be gone, and then the real work starts, you know, and there's so many people displaced, and so many people that are going to need, you know, long term help to get back to normal, you know, get back to a normal way of life. And that's where we're, you know, we've been a part of the community here for over 50 years and and that's where we're really going to try to step in. And there's no, there's no sense in trying to do what the Red Cross does right now. Yeah,

Paul J Daly: 14:46

right. Well, let's do this. Let's, let's make sure that we stay in touch, because it would be great to to reconnect with you on the show, also in a few weeks when all that happens, so that we can continue the kind of that long term care from our industry. To the people that need it. That's a great idea. Well,

Richard Lupo: 15:03

I appreciate that, and you know, we will definitely reach out, connect, and I'll give you some updates. The connectivity is coming back. Has been kind of a mixed blessing, because we haven't had a lot of connectivity to see what everyone else in the country has been seeing. So yeah,

Paul J Daly: 15:19

all right then, well, Richard, stay in touch. We'll be in touch, and let's just keep doing whatever we can to support one another.

Richard Lupo: 15:29

Thank you guys, and I appreciate everything. And let me know we'll get together and I'll give you some updates over the next few days. And if you guys need anything, or if you guys have any stuff that you want to direct here, we will get it distributed to the proper people.

Paul J Daly: 15:47

That's amazing. Well, thanks again. We'll be in touch. And God bless you and Godspeed.

Richard Lupo: 15:52

Thank you so much. Thank you, the prayers, the calls, the support, mean a lot to the people in our community, and we're very blessed to be in this industry with great, great people like yourself and and the people that surround us here.

Paul J Daly: 16:05

Well, it takes all of us. No crisis can win. We'll talk to you soon. Rich. Alright, thanks, guys. Wow. You can just hear the exhaustion in his voice.

Kyle Mountsier: 16:15

There's exhaustion. Yeah, wow, yep.

Paul J Daly: 16:17

Well, listen, you heard him. And so if there is anything you can do or wanted to send, we now have a point of contact as of right now, right next to the airport that we can send and stage things to. So if you have any issues or you want to coordinate, please send an email to crew, C, R, E, W, at asotu com, and we will make sure we connect the dots. All right, let's do this, you know, a little bit of a longer show today. We said we're going to update on the port strike. So let's just get into it the East Coast and the Gulf. Obviously, the disruption has begun. Containers are piling up and, you know, this is threatening to severely disrupt the supply chain in the auto industry, with delays expected to last, you know, beyond the end of the strike. Obviously, each day of the walkout could create a week long backlog. So one Wow. Just think of how many containers coming in. Where do they put those things? It's a multiplier effect, says Michelle drew Rodriguez of Roland burger, explaining how every day translates into longer delays on the backside, even if it ends soon, clearing the backlog is going to is going to be challenging, as all industries will be vying for. Like the limited capacity. Volkswagen's primary import ports are closed, but shipments are being diverted to Freeport, Texas and Dave Davisville, Rhode Island, where operations are continuing. If the strike continues, though, they're going to ship shift their shipping to the West Coast. Wow, I know. So everybody's just kind of scrambling. We're keeping our eye on it. Yeah, I

Kyle Mountsier: 17:47

was with a parts director for a Porsche dealership last night, and they were saying, like, Hey, we're going to be good. We've redirected, or our Porter is fine. Like, there's a lot still. It seems like automakers feel comfortable at this point with with kind of the what's going on and where to get stuff. I said nervous honestly, but it's unnerving. You know, the longer it goes and we'll see how, like even consumer goods are due over the next few weeks.

Paul J Daly: 18:18

It's the level of comfort that's unnerving. That's, I don't know if that's for just getting used to these types of things, right? We did go through a pandemic, and we're like, I mean, we had no toilet paper. Kyle, that's not gonna happen again. Yeah? Maybe Bananas, bananas, bananas, toilet paper. Yeah, I don't know what it is like. The eerie feeling is like, why is this not seem like a bigger deal?

Kyle Mountsier: 18:45

It's not a big deal. I know. It's like, oh, look around. I

Paul J Daly: 18:47

feel like, in two weeks, it could be a massive deal. I don't know. I don't know. That's what it is for me. But regardless, right, we're gonna make our way through it, and hopefully the port workers and the companies can come to agreement that everybody's come together. We got through an auto strike. Sean Fein is okay. I'm surprised we haven't seen or heard from him like I know him and the dock worker strike guy you know, having a drink or something like that little, little, little photo. Gotta

Kyle Mountsier: 19:10

make that meme.

Paul J Daly: 19:12

Oh my gosh. It's Challenge accepted. Hey, look, I know we had a little longer of an episode, but please, if you can do anything, want to do anything to help the dealers in North Carolina affected areas, send an email to crew at asotu com. We'll connect the dots to get your stuff there as we keep taking care of one another. You.

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