5 Key Takeaways from Our Heavy-Duty Industry Report

Did you know Fullbay recently released a State of the Heavy-Duty Industry report? It’s a first-of-its-kind deep dive into the heavy-duty repair field, tracking the trends and concerns of 2020.

You can download the full report for free here.

To celebrate its release, and to let our readers start putting some of its lessons to work right away, we’ve highlighted five actionable insights that you should absolutely consider if you want to boost revenue right away.

1. Expand into new services.

What do you currently offer your customers? What else can you offer them? For example, a big theme throughout the industry report was mobile repair and how quickly it’s caught on. You can start small with a mobile lube business and branch out further from there. More than half of the shops we spoke to offer mobile repair as a regular service or will at least provide emergency mobile repair to customers stranded on the road. If you aren’t already servicing customers with emergency mobile repair, consider it – this can be a very lucrative endeavor.

PRO TIP: Fullbay has a nifty FleetNet integration that will provide you with a feed of nearby emergency maintenance requests that you can quickly turn into a new revenue stream.

2. Expand the vehicles or industries you work on.

One of our biggest surprises was finding out how many shops work on vehicles outside the usual Class 4-8. Respondents talked about off-roading vehicles and agricultural equipment, and to our great surprise, half our survey respondents revealed they repair Class 1-3 vehicles, too! Broadening your vehicle horizons can give you a substantial income boost.

3. Keep your technicians motivated.

Almost everyone faces a consistent challenge in hiring technicians; this is not surprising information, as the tech shortage continues. That means retaining the techs you do have is more critical than ever! Shops have taken creative steps to do just that by offering rewards and incentives of all sorts. Some of our findings include:

• About 53% of the shops that responded provide some sort of individual recognition for the techs that consistently perform well and boost the morale of the team.
• 47% of shops offer an efficiency bonus.
• Many shops try to boost morale and retention with lunch for the crew if they all perform together.

We’ve always known technicians are the lifeblood of your shop, and you can only perform as well as they do. Treat them like the important team members they are and they will pay you back in spades.

4. Inventory counting is key.

Only a third of shops are inventory counting once a year! Don’t fall into that trap. Be consistent in your inventory counts, doing them at least once a quarter. It will save you time, frustration, and money in the long run. Why hold on to inventory you can’t sell? You could be using that space for parts that actually move.

5. Integrations make your shop better.

Speed up your estimate-building by utilizing a labor guide. Not only will you save time, you’ll also be providing industry-backed estimates to your customers. We were surprised to find that one out of five shops don’t use labor guides. They may be putting together prices on the fly, or having techs estimate out how much time each job will take. Labor guides take the guesswork out of putting together estimates, as well as cut down on the pushback you might receive from customers.

PRO TIP: Fullbay’s FleetCross by MOTOR integration includes some of the best labor guides around. Just sayin’.

If you’ve already read the report, you might already be considering other steps you can take to make your shop more profitable. If you haven’t, then download it right here! It’s full of details and insights about the industry and where it’s headed.