Life in the fast lane - ARC at the Auto Aftermarket Expo

For the third time, the ARC exhibited at the Australian Automotive Aftermarket and Collision Repair Expo, this year in Melbourne.

This event attracts a variety of delegates from the automotive and collision repair industries. Relevant to the ARC and the licence scheme are delegates representing - automotive licence holders and collision/smash repairers. Over the three days, the ARC stand had a steady number of visitors interested in a variety of ARC related services. The most common questions were about:

HFO 1234yf - There was a great deal of interest in this new automotive refrigerant, with people asking about its availability and whether they require a licence to handle it. As highlighted in the April edition of Cool Change, you do not require an ARCTick licence to handle HFO 1234yf and it is currently available at selected refrigerant wholesalers, as well as pre-charged in some imported vehicles. Interestingly, when we exhibited two years ago questions regarding hydrocarbon refrigerants were the most popular. This time around, the main interest was around this new gas.

Re-joining licence scheme - People who had let their licence expire 1-2 years ago were now interested in getting a licence again - indicating a renewed interest in the automotive air conditioning sector and use of ozone depleting or synthetic greenhouse refrigerants. This is consistent with the continued increase in licence numbers.

Interest in ARC promotional materials - including: service stickers, hand-outs and code of practice booklets. As always, the free ARC promotional items were very popular.

Training - What training is required for the Automotive licence? Information on training requirements can be accessed from the new website Licence page.