When Sheila McKenzie took over as general manager of U-Pick-It Arizona, she inherited a software transition in progress. The previous GM was on her way out. Sheila was on her way in. And somewhere in the middle, there was a decision to leave Crush behind and move to YardSmart.
She didn't choose it from scratch. But she'll be the first to tell you she'd choose it again, and she's proving it by taking it back to Omaha.
The Yard
U-Pick-It Arizona runs two self-serve U-Pull-It locations in the Arizona tri-city area - Prescott Valley and Flagstaff. Sheila manages both.
Her day starts before most people's and doesn't follow a script. She buys cars at auction, sets them in the yard, manages staff across two locations, monitors registers mid-day from her phone, and coordinates with an accountant based in Omaha, all while running on Arizona time and making no apologies for it.
"I do everything. I'm everywhere."
What Crush Was Like
Before YardSmart, the operation ran on Crush. Sheila didn't love it.
The workflows were rigid. The system told you how to do things, and if something went wrong, a car accidentally marked as crushed, a data entry error, fixing it wasn't simple. Support wasn't either.
"Crush was like the worst."
That's not an elaboration. That's the full quote. When you've experienced the alternative, the contrast tends to compress into a single sentence.
The Switch: One Week, Two Locations
Onboarding both locations, Prescott Valley and Flagstaff, took about a week each. Sheila credits Caleb and Ginny for making it feel like a non-event.
"Both of them are really awesome. They still help me all the time."
The only real friction point was data migration. Some VIN records transferred cleanly from Crush. Others didn't match up, leaving gaps that required manual entry. Sheila handled it herself and moved on.
"That was the only hiccup I had with it. Other than that, I really like it."
One week to onboard. One hiccup. Back to running the yard.
30 Minutes Per Car. 200+ Cars a Month.
YardSmart integrates directly with the scheduling software U-Pick-It Arizona uses to manage incoming vehicles. VINs and bin data get entered in the scheduling tool, then copied and pasted into YardSmart before the car even arrives at the yard.
"Bam, it's in YardSmart before the vehicle even makes it to our yard."
Sheila estimates that saves roughly 30 minutes per vehicle. At 200+ cars a month across both locations, that's over 100 hours of recovered labor, every month.
That's not a rounding error. That's a part-time employee's worth of time, given back.
The Feature She Asked For, and Got
When customers check in at U-Pick-It Arizona, the system now records what vehicle or part they're looking for.
Sheila asked for that. YardSmart built it.
The reason is straightforward: she buys cars at auction. Knowing what her customers are actively searching for, before she walks into that auction, means she can stock for demonstrated demand instead of guessing.
"I want to be able to track what they're looking for so I can go to the auction and buy what they need and put it in the yard."
That's a closed loop between customer intent and buying strategy. Built custom. No extra charge.
What Harry Thinks Now
Harry, the owner, resisted YardSmart for years.
Sheila got him on board the same way she approaches most things: she walked him through it step by step, showed him rather than told him, and didn't assume he'd fill in the gaps on his own.
Now he logs in to check sales, car counts, location performance, and overall yard data, on his own.
"He can see all our sales, everything, how many cars we bought, where they're at, everything."
Getting an owner from years of resistance to daily active use is a different kind of win. Sheila made it happen in a week.
The Website, the Photos, and the Motor Search
YardSmart worked with U-Pick-It Arizona to rebuild the customer-facing website. Customers can now search by vehicle, see actual photos of available cars, and know exactly which row to head to before they even leave the house.
Ronnie on the YardSmart team added a motor search function, type a 6.0 motor, and every matching vehicle on the lot pulls up. Customers who used to call ahead or show up hoping now have real answers before they arrive.
"They love the fact that they can put the vehicle in there and a picture comes up with it. They get to see the actual car before they get here."
Less uncertainty for customers. Fewer wasted trips. More confident foot traffic.
Support That Runs on Arizona Time
Sheila's support standard is simple: she contacts Caleb or Ginny whenever she needs something, often forgetting that Arizona doesn't observe daylight saving time and that the rest of the country operates differently.
It doesn't matter. The response comes within minutes.
"Whatever hiccups I have, it doesn't matter what time it is. I forget that nobody else runs on Arizona time. Caleb and Ginny work with me in my crazy town."
"I've never had support like that. Especially with Crush."
Within 10 minutes of a missed call, Caleb's already calling back to fix the problem. That's not a help desk. That's a team that acts like they work at your yard.
What Comes Next: Four More Locations
Sheila is planning a trip to Omaha.
The organization runs three additional yards in Omaha and one in Iowa. Sheila is going to prove YardSmart to all four, because she's used it, she trusts it, and she believes the other locations would benefit the same way she has.
"Obviously I like it enough to be pushing it to our other locations."
That's not a marketing quote. That's an operator with two locations already running YardSmart, voluntarily expanding its footprint within her own organization because she thinks it's the right call.
She hasn't even explored the scrap management or vehicle quoting features yet. There's still upside she hasn't touched.
The Part That Never Changes
Every operator who's made the switch says some version of the same thing. The fear of switching turns out to be bigger than the switch itself.
Sheila's version:
"It's a great program. They really did good."
Simple. Direct. From someone who inherited a transition mid-stream, figured it out in a week, and is now going back to Omaha to make the case for four more.
Switch Happens. And for Sheila, it happened fast.
Ready to see what YardSmart looks like for your yard?
→ Schedule a Demo → Request the Migration Plan + Timeline
YardSmart is built exclusively for self-serve U-Pull-It and hybrid self-serve yards. Not full-service. Not parts inventory management.
More Switch Happens stories:
- Scott Buckelew, Pick UR Part (Lubbock, TX): read the story
- Joey Ballew, RTP: read the story
- Jonathan Morrow, M&M Auto: read the story
FAQ's
Q: Can YardSmart support multiple U-Pull-It yard locations? A: Yes. YardSmart supports multi-location self-serve operations with real-time access across all yards. Sheila McKenzie of U-Pick-It Arizona manages two locations and is in the process of rolling YardSmart out to four additional yards in Omaha and Iowa.
Q: How long does it take to onboard a yard to YardSmart? A: Most yards are up and running within one week. U-Pick-It Arizona onboarded both their Prescott Valley and Flagstaff locations in approximately one week each, with hands-on support from the YardSmart team throughout.
Q: How much time does YardSmart save during vehicle intake? A: U-Pick-It Arizona estimates YardSmart saves approximately 30 minutes per vehicle during intake. At 200+ vehicles per month, that translates to over 100 hours of recovered labor monthly.
Q: Is it hard to switch from Crush to YardSmart? A: The transition from Crush to YardSmart typically takes about one week per location. The main friction point is photo and VIN data migration, which varies by operation. U-Pick-It Arizona completed the switch with minimal disruption and was fully operational within a week.
Q: Does YardSmart build custom features for operators? A: Yes. YardSmart has a track record of building features based on direct operator requests. U-Pick-It Arizona requested a check-in tracking feature to record what vehicles customers are searching for, which YardSmart built and deployed. That data now directly informs their auction buying strategy.