Wholesale has traditionally been treated as a “necessary loss” or, at best, a break-even channel.
Kirk Rogers approaches it differently. As Head of Wholesale for McCarthy Auto Group, Kirk doesn’t believe in simply breaking even on wholesale. He aims to make a profit:
“What’s the point of going to work if you’re not going to make a profit?”
Kirk oversees wholesale strategy across nine rooftops, along with much of the recon and logistics. And with competition high and margins tight, he’s doing it in a tougher environment than ever.
Today, every day a vehicle sits, every unnecessary dollar spent on transport, and every preventable mistake in logistics is pure margin erosion.
Taking a strategic and thoughtful approach to every part the company’s wholesale business — from recon to transportation — allows him to pull the right levers for success.
Finding the Balance: High Touch, Highly Efficient
Kirk runs an intentionally high-touch wholesale process. He believes it’s important to buy vehicles in person and to be deeply involved in how they’re sold.
For example, he personally decides where to sell each vehicle to maximize return. In the lane, he watches buy-side engagement, mixes his run so buyers stay interested (not all “cream” up front, not all “problem children” at the end), and holds himself accountable to selling at or above MMR—often 110–115%.
Because so much thought goes into the wholesale strategy, efficiency is non-negotiable. One of the biggest and underestimated pressure points: transportation.
When Transportation Starts Eating Margin (and Sleep)
Traditionally, moving a vehicle from an auto auction comes down to two options:
1. Use the auction’s transportation: The most convenient, “click and ship” option, but usually at a premium. As Kirk puts it:
If you’re willing to give them an extra $300–$500 a car just because you can “click and ship,” you’re leaving a lot of money on the table."
2. Book transport yourself: typically through auto load boards and/or your own carrier network.
For years, Kirk chose the second path. He booked all transportation himself. That means, while physically on the auction block, he was also: juggling calls with individual drivers, negotiating rates, checking MC numbers and insurance, and chasing updates.
As you’d expect, things didn’t always go smoothly. And when something went wrong, he took it personally. For instance, once a vehicle simply never showed up — a loss that cost him more than just money, but also “two, three days of sleep.”
He needed a solution that:
- Kept his pricing control (no broker quietly extracting margin)
- Reduced his time burden so he could focus on buying, selling, and recon
- Tightened security and vetting so stolen vehicles and fraud were less of a fear
- Supported speed to delivery so arbitration windows, customer timelines, and aging goals were protected
How AHX Helped Free Up Time
Kirk had known about Auto Hauler Exchange for years. As the carrier landscape got noisier—with more new drivers, language and security barriers, and even hacking attempts targeting gate passes and dispatch systems—he decided it was time to plug AHX into his process.
Auto Hauler Exchange is built to eliminate the broker in vehicle logistics. Instead of paying a broker to sit in the middle, dealers and carriers connect directly on the Exchange.
A few things about AHX lined up perfectly with how Kirk runs wholesale at McCarthy.
Direct Pricing Control
Kirk still posts the shipment himself and controls what he’s willing to pay on the route. AHX charges a clear fee to the shipper when the shipment is booked, and is transparent about what the carrier is getting paid, unlike traditional brokers, where markup is often opaque.
A Deep, Vetted Carrier Network
The Exchange has 5,500+ highly vetted carriers across the country, monitored continuously for paperwork and insurance. That mirrors Kirk’s own commitment to detail and due diligence. Plus it removes the need for him to manually vet every truck that touches his vehicles.
Speed to Delivery
With that kind of carrier density and transparent market pricing, AHX sees vehicles move fast, most shipments arrive within about four days. That speed directly attacks aging, arbitration risk, and holding costs.
Reduced Burden to Manage Carriers
AHX handles carrier onboarding, compliance, and document tracking. They pay the carrier directly and provide visibility and communication so shippers can track shipments and reach carriers without endless phone tag.
For someone who “takes it personal” when a vehicle doesn’t arrive exactly as promised, having a team and platform dedicated to security, vetting, and on-time delivery matters a lot.
“I basically have a concierge.”
That’s how Kirk describes his AHX support team.
Impact: Time Back, Risk Down, Margin Protected
Kirk believes in staying hands-on with wholesale, but AHX lets him take a step back from transportation. That shift lets him focus on higher-value work.
Let’s look at the benefits he saw when he started using AHX.
Time and Focus
Transport coordination that used to occupy a significant chunk of time and energy is now largely handled by AHX. The reclaimed time goes straight into:
- Wholesale strategy
- Acquisition
- Recon decisions
Those are the activities that actually impact margin.
Lower Logistics Costs vs. “Click-and-Ship”
Kirk is clear: using an auction or platform’s in-house transportation is almost always more expensive than doing it yourself or using AHX.
Add platform markups on top of base transport costs, multiplied across hundreds or thousands of shipments a year, and you can easily surrender tens of thousands of dollars in profit—money that AHX’s direct-to-carrier model is designed to keep on the dealer side.
Reduced Risk and Better Security
Kirk has lived through the stress of a vehicle that never arrives. With fraudulent activity increasing 27% in 2024, partnering with a platform that takes vetting and system security seriously is part of risk management, not just convenience.
AHX’s model, with no brokers, vetted carriers, and system-level visibility for shippers, directly supports that.
Alignment With McCarthy’s Wholesale and Recon Strategy
Kirk’s team works hard to:
- Hit or exceed 100%+ MMR on wholesale
- Maintain a strong sell rate (targeting 80–90%)
- Keep turn tight (roughly 1:1 used inventory to used units sold per month at his store)
Every dollar saved on logistics, every day shaved off dwell, and every avoided transport headache makes those outcomes more achievable.
How Auto Hauler Exchange Fits the Bigger Picture
McCarthy Auto Group’s experience with Auto Hauler Exchange fits squarely into AHX’s broader mission:
Giving power back to the shipper (and to the carrier) to handle their vehicle logistics in a more efficient, transparent way.
For Kirk, that looks like:
- Control: He still sets prices and strategy.
- Transparency: He sees what the carrier earns, and what AHX earns.
- Speed: Vehicles move quickly enough to protect arbitration windows, aging policies, and customers.
- Support: A “concierge” team handles the chaos of real-world trucking so he doesn’t have to.
Watch Kirk talk more about McCarthy Auto Group’s wholesale strategy on the Car Dealership Guy podcast:
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