At some point next April (I'm not sure of the exact date) I'll pass a milestone in my career. It will be 30 years since I first set foot behind a parts counter, pen in hand, ready to answer phones and look up parts. A lot has changed since then.
The way we look up and invoice parts, as well as track inventory and reorder stock, has seen a huge transformation due to the digital revolution. The products we deal with have also evolved, but one common thread draws them all together, and I wonder how long it will be before that thread snaps.
While the way we conduct business today is far different than what it was in my grandfather's time, the basic task remains the same: provide the customer with quality parts and service. And as much as today's vehicles have changed from the Packards and Model T's he started on, one thing has remained constant: They all operate on internal combustion engines fueled by petroleum products. The question, then, and the problem it brings up is how much longer can it go on?
Depending on whom you want to believe, we have somewhere between 60 and 200 years before fossil fuels become more trouble than they're worth. That's also provided we don't first annihilate ourselves with the by-products or by fighting over the last drop.
What brought all this to mind was not my upcoming anniversary, but an Antique Engine, Farm Equipment and Tractor show I attended recently. On display in the middle of a large field was over 120 years of uniquely American history, most of it operating and all of it gas-powered. The marriage of the internal combustion engine to a set of wheels probably changed our way of life more than any other invention since the wheel itself. When offered the choice, most people were more than willing to give up staring at the south end of a northbound mule when plowing the fields or traveling to town.
With this change came other changes as well. An entire industry sprang up around oil and all the things it could provide. The wagon makers and wheel builders switched over to automotive products and evolved with the times; but the harness makers and farriers were left out in the cold with this new propulsion system.
I wonder what influence things like hydrogen fuel cells, electric vehicles, regenerative braking and composite materials are going to have on both the aftermarket and the transportation industry as a whole. Will some of us end up like the harness makers, failing to adapt or diversify and facing a dwindling market?
If you think it's not possible for an entire industry to disappear in a thriving market, just take a look at British motorcycle manufacturing. From the 1930s through the 1950s, they dominated the world's markets. In 1959, a man named Soichiro Honda had a better idea, and by 1973 motorcycles were little more than a cottage industry in England.
No matter what the future brings, I'm certain of one thing. Just as my father's and grandfather's careers revolved around internal combustion engines, mine has too — even my hobbies are gas-powered. I'm also willing to bet that even if he's inclined to do so, my grandson won't have that option. I just hope that when he's my age, he has the opportunity to spend an afternoon walking around a field looking at machinery from another era, and that there's still enough fuel around to hear them run.
Mike Gordon, a 20-year counter sales veteran, works the counter at Sanel Auto Parts, Concord, N.H.
