ARA Calls Industry Leaders to the Table Amid Historic Fuel and Operating Cost Pressures

The American Recovery Association (ARA) recently issued a call to action, bringing Allied Finance Adjuster (AFA) and many of the nation’s major forwarding companies together for an industry roundtable to address the ongoing fuel crisis and the increasing financial pressures facing professional recovery agencies across the country.

The discussion was productive, candid, and necessary.

But one thing became increasingly clear during that conversation: fuel is the immediate crisis, but fuel is not the entire problem.

Events overseas have dramatically impacted commerce in the United States and around the world. As fuel costs increased, companies across transportation, shipping, delivery, aviation, waste management, and other service industries responded by adjusting their service rates.

They did not wait for fuel costs to return to normal. They adjusted their business models because their costs changed.

Major carriers provide one of the clearest examples. Due to increased fuel costs since 2010, UPS and FedEx reported a 40–60% increase in shipping costs to consumers, and both continually maintain published fuel surcharge schedules that fluctuate with fuel prices. Amazon also implemented a fuel- and logistics-related surcharge earlier this year in response to increased operating costs.

These companies did not ask every customer whether they agreed with the increase. They identified a significant change in the cost of providing their service, established a mechanism to address it, communicated the change, and continued doing business.

The Recovery Industry Operates Differently

There is another important distinction.

When a delivery company transports a package from Point A to Point B, it is paid for providing that service. When a waste company sends a truck to service a customer, it is paid. When an airline transports a passenger, it is paid.

The repossession industry operates under a fundamentally different model.

A recovery professional may travel to an address once, twice, three times, five times, or more in an effort to locate collateral. Every one of those attempts consumes fuel, employee time, tires, maintenance, equipment life, insurance, technology, and other operating resources.

Yet if the collateral is not recovered, in most cases the recovery agency receives nothing for those attempts.

Even where a fuel surcharge has been implemented, it is generally contingent upon a successful recovery. An agency may run an account repeatedly, incur all of the associated expenses, and never receive compensation or fuel reimbursement for those efforts.

That model deserves serious examination.

The Final Invoice Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

During the recent roundtable, it was mentioned that clients are continually watching final recovery invoices increase.

That observation deserves consideration, but we also need to understand why those invoices have increased.

It is not because the base repossession rate has increased proportionately with the cost of doing business over the past decade. Rather, the vehicle and recovery environment has changed dramatically.

Today’s vehicle fleet increasingly requires specialized towing and recovery equipment. Flatbeds, dollies, skates, Go-Jacks, specialized key services, advanced technology, LPR systems, compliance programs, training, background screening, insurance, and increasingly expensive equipment have all become part of operating a professional recovery agency.

Keys are being made more frequently and at significantly higher costs. Vehicle technology has changed, requiring more vehicles to be flat bedded or dollied. Today’s repossessor also frequently transports vehicles to auction or another final point of sale—something that was not as common in the past.

As a result, the final invoice may be increasing because of ancillary services, while the underlying compensation for the actual recovery service remains relatively stagnant.

That distinction matters.

Does the Compensation Model Still Make Sense?

Perhaps it is time to ask whether the compensation model itself still makes sense.

Why should a recovery agency bear nearly all of the financial risk associated with locating collateral?

Why should multiple legitimate attempts to service an account receive no compensation simply because the vehicle was not ultimately secured?

Why should mileage outside an agency’s normal coverage area routinely be absorbed by the agency?

Why should storage of collateral—which requires real estate, security, insurance, personnel, and regulatory compliance—often be treated as though it has no value?

And without appropriate increases in base recovery compensation, who ultimately pays for increased insurance, training, compliance, technology, equipment, wages, and safety requirements?

The answer is simple: the recovery agency does.

That is not a sustainable long-term model.

Fuel Relief Is Important—but It Cannot Be the End of the Conversation

ARA is grateful to every lender and forwarder that has already implemented or increased fuel assistance. Those actions matter, and they provide immediate relief during an extremely difficult period.

But we cannot allow the current fuel crisis to become another temporary conversation that disappears when fuel prices eventually decline.

Fuel has exposed a much larger structural problem.

The industry needs to begin evaluating a modern compensation structure based on actual data and the realities of operating a professional recovery company in 2026 and beyond.

That conversation should include:

Sustainable base recovery rates
Automatic fuel surcharge mechanisms tied to objective fuel-price benchmarks
Non-contingent mileage or service fees for assignments outside established basic coverage areas
Appropriate compensation for legitimate repeated recovery attempts
Regional cost differences
Equipment and specialized recovery charges
Key expenses
Storage compensation
Compliance, training, technology, and insurance costs
Periodic review of compensation so that another decade does not pass before rates are reevaluated

These conversations cannot take months or years.

Agencies are paying today’s fuel prices, today’s wages, today’s insurance premiums, and today’s equipment costs today.

We need action today.

ARA Recognizes RMG for Taking Immediate Action

ARA would like to specifically recognize Resolution Management Group (RMG) for its response following the roundtable.

Less than 24 hours after the meeting, RMG implemented a fuel surcharge for its recovery agents.

What makes this action particularly noteworthy is that RMG did not limit its response only to accounts where its client had already authorized a fuel surcharge. RMG recognized the immediate need facing its recovery network and made the decision to provide fuel assistance on all accounts.

That is leadership.

RMG recognized a problem, listened to its recovery partners, and took action.

ARA commends RMG for taking this step and thanks the lenders and forwarders throughout the industry that have already implemented fuel surcharges, increased existing programs, or begun working with their recovery partners to address these challenges.

Recognition Must Become Action

The forwarder roundtable demonstrated that there is significant recognition throughout the industry that these issues are real and that change is necessary.

Now recognition must become action.

We talk frequently about the changes our industry needs. It is time to begin making them.

Recovery agencies, forwarders, lenders, and industry associations need to work together, using real operating data, to establish a new baseline for repossession and ancillary services—one that reflects regional differences, modern vehicles, modern compliance requirements, modern operating expenses, and the actual cost of servicing an assignment.

This is not about one side winning and another side losing.

A financially healthy recovery industry benefits everyone.

Lenders need professional recovery agencies. Forwarders need strong recovery networks. Consumers deserve trained and compliant professionals in the field. And recovery agencies must be financially capable of investing in the people, equipment, technology, training, insurance, and compliance necessary to perform this work safely and professionally.

The Time for Action Is Now

ARA appreciates every lender and forwarder that has heard the industry’s concerns and has already taken action.

For those still studying the numbers or considering what to do next, we respectfully ask that you recognize the urgency.

Every day that we continue operating under an outdated compensation model is another day that a recovery professional somewhere in this country must decide whether continuing to operate makes financial sense.

We cannot allow that to become the future of this industry.

The current fuel crisis may have brought us to the table.

What we do next will determine whether we build a stronger and more sustainable repossession industry for the future.

One Industry. One Professional Standard

Todd Case
President
American Recovery Association

About the American Recovery Association (ARA)
The American Recovery Association is the world’s largest association dedicated to the advancement and professional development of the recovery and remarketing industry. ARA provides compliance support, education, and advocacy for hundreds of recovery professionals nationwide. ARA is the founder and host of the annual three-day North American Repossessors Summit (NARS) — the largest repossession conference in the industry. For more information, go to repo.org or call (972) 755-4755.