Cars and Light Trucks – Millions of Them

The sales of new vehicles has long been considered a measure of the health of the US economy and the confidence of consumers. The purchase of a new vehicle represents a major consideration  for most individuals and companies that purchase them. The purchase decision is made millions of times every year. Millions!

Here is the question of the day. What becomes of these vehicles when they are worn out or when owners simply want a newer vehicle?

Initially, unless they have been totaled in a crash, they may show up on the used vehicle lot at the dealership that sold the new vehicle. Hundreds of them go to a local auction yard. Local used vehicle dealers rent a lot and put a few dozen of them there. Thousands that cannot be resold are sent off to scrap yards where they are slowly stripped of parts as the hulks rust into the soil.

At times, owners just park their old and now unregistered hulk in the side yard at home. Why? Who knows? The neighbors certainly don’t see this as an improvement in the neighborhood.

Our love affair with vehicles has left us with a problem. You can see it in every community. The next time you are out for a drive, take a look around. In your hometown, countless acres are covered with vehicles. There is nothing pretty about that.

Across America, millions upon millions of vehicles clutter the landscape. Recycling is running years behind and there are very few community-wide efforts to solve the problems they create.

Ours is a wasteful society. It seems unlikely that we will ever change that fact.