Industry News & Information

September 24, 2005 - Delivery Surcharge
Over the past six months we have seen petroleum costs rise repeatedly to a point almost beyond reason.  Consequently, the cost of materials and goods, as well as the transportation of these goods has risen significantly.  I know that everyone in the automotive glass industry has been effected by this rising cost.  Accordingly, the cost to serve customers has risen dramatically for all of us.   In addition to our own rising fleet fuel costs, we have absorbed several product cost increases and the implementation of fuel surcharges by many of our vendors over the last several months.  As such, the point has come where we must pass this expense on.

Effective October 1st, we will implement a delivery surcharge that will apply to all customer deliveries provided by our company vehicles that are beyond 30 miles from our Distribution Centers.  While actual per gallon costs may vary slightly, we assume that the overall high fuel costs are here to stay, and as such, the charge will be a single flat fee of $5.00.  This is a one-time per delivery charge regardless of the number of items or invoices delivered.

Again, this delivery surcharge will only affect our company provided deliveries that are beyond 30 miles and will not apply to those within that boundary.  Regardless, it is our will to maintain the same level of service and delivery schedules to all of our customers.   We all hope costs will go down and in the event petroleum prices drop significantly, we will reevaluate the necessity of this charge.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding.
Steve Theisen
Managing Partner/Member LLC

March 1, 2005 - NAGS Rebalancing Plan
The new NAGS rebalancing plan went into effect as scheduled on February 28, 2005.   We are aware that our customers have been busy responding to the greatly varied offers that are being made by insurance companies.

We do not understand the methodology of the NAGS rebalancing pricing and we stand with a significantly large group within the industry who have voiced concerns to NAGS regarding the execution of their plan.  To date, we have not received a satisfactory explanation.   Although we see the need to correct pricing in this industry, the February 28th NAGS calculator does not have an understandable relationship to our purchasing price.

As is the case with several other large distributors, AG Distributors has decided to continue with it’s previous/existing pricing methodology and will not be making a change based on the February 28, 2005 NAGS Winter Benchmark Calculator.  As we always have, we will price our products based on actual cost and market values and will continue to closely monitor the market conditions.  It is our intention to re-evaluate our prices within 60 days to determine what, if any, changes are necessary.  However, we have no intention to ever price our stock items off of NAGS List Price.

We appreciate your business and support of AG Distributors. Please remember, as an exclusively wholesale business with no retail affiliation, we are not competing against our customers in any way!  We have built a reputation of offering competitive prices on quality OEM and aftermarket brands without having our hands in installation or insurance networks