OK, so I promised I wouldn’t continue to write about the cash for guzzlers plan… (sigh) So I’ll sum up new developments quickly: the program is having all kinds of trouble because it’s not equipped to handle such a large market. Basically the website and the help hotline have been jammed with traffic (no pun intended) and have not been helping dealers wanting to register for the program. As with anything, opinions on whether or not this program is working are varying. Some dealers see it working so well they believe that the money set aside to fund the program will run out by late August. And moving on.

Now for some potentially GREAT news for the auto shipping industry! Earlier this month, as part of their efforts to revitalize business, GM began to suggest opening up a partnership between themselves and eBay. Now it’s no news that regular people use eBay to sell their old or rebuilt cars to people all over the country (and a huge part of where an auto shipping business comes into play), but apparently; this isn’t that big of a leap for the auto manufacturing industry. Apparently dealers all over the country have been listing GM certified pre-owned vehicles on the website eBay Motors (eBay’s online auto marketplace). This would be a huge step in regards to new vehicles, something GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson characterized as “an exciting day.” Now who will wind up shipping these cars to the consumers? It is unclear at this point if the automaker will have set in place pre-existing contracts or if this will be left up to the consumer. All I know is this would be a very welcome breath of fresh air in this cruel economic time.

How about this! The day after my update on Thursday about the congressional initiative to support failing dealerships: the House of Representatives passed the bill. This means of course that it now needs to make it through the senate (which is always near impossible) and pass through the president’s approval. Might I reiterate that just because it made it through the house does not necessarily mean that it will be signed into law. As I discussed on Thursday, this bill faces a Senate that is not nearly as supportive as the House, and presidential opposition. Still, many changes can and probably will be made to the bill which means it could be a law before (oh let’s just say) the end of August.

I know we have heard plenty of complaining from both sides of the aisle that this congress is a bit too loose in the purse strings, and believe me: this bill only furthers their point. This dealership bill is part of 24 billion dollar spending bill, which could be a key indicator of why Obama opposes it. As this latest bit of trouble for GM during their bankruptcy court trudges on, I’ll keep you posted.

So dealerships are closing in multiple places. Living anywhere in the country, chances are you have seen a dealership close to you shut its doors. In some extreme cases, what do you do if there is now nowhere close by to buy a new vehicle? I’m speaking only hypothetically of course, but the hypothetical may be a reality in certain instances. What about people who live in very rural areas that definitely do not have car dealerships? It is possible that before, they could have driven to a small town nearby (within an hour of course) to purchase a vehicle. And is it also possible that now, that dealership is no longer. Now I’m not saying that I hope this actually happens, but I do intend to point out that having a reliable auto shipper may be the answer to these people’s problem. With Terminal-to-Terminal shipping, extra cost could be incurred for these people who don’t live anywhere near these terminals. This is something that makes Door-to-Door delivery such a valued thing, and finding the right transport means finding the shipper that will cater to your needs.  Leave that to M3 Auto Shipper! (haven’t plugged them in a while, plus I don’t feel like I’ve ever taken the time to explain what it is that they do).