How Mobile Repair Techs are Making a Comeback

Looking for ways to take your shop to the next level? Consider taking your show on the road. Going mobile is the trend for heavy duty repair, but not everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. Some shops underestimate mobile repair, pigeonholing it as a tire-only business. That simply isn’t the case. These days, mobile repair techs can do almost anything remotely that they do in your shop. It’s an extremely efficient element to add to your business that benefits your shop as much as it does the customer.

Benefits of Mobile Repair Techs

Using mobile repair techs started as a way to deal with emergencies and roadside repairs. It didn’t take much imagination, however, to see the value of mobile repair techs as a more traditional service option. On the customer’s end, there are many benefits. First, it’s easier for them if they don’t have to bring their trucks to you for maintenance and light repair. They won’t have to pay their drivers to take their trucks to and from your shop. Then there’s the fact that mobile repair techs can work on trucks on-site that aren’t in use, eliminating downtime.

What’s more, a mobile tech can line up 10 trucks and do an oil change on them all simultaneously. That would be an almost impossible undertaking at the shop, but it’s something mobile repair techs can easily pull off on-site for a customer. It spikes efficiency off the charts and makes the most of your tech’s time.

Mobile repair techs efficiency benefits both you and the customer, but there are other ways offering mobile service is to your advantage. It’s a way for a shop to expand without adding bays. Plus, with the right diesel repair software, a tech can do order-to-cash right on the roadside. That’s an additional source of income, and it’s immediate.

Equipping Techs to Hit the Road

It’s true. Service trucks can be expensive to buy, maintain, and fuel. To do the job right, mobile pros outfit their vehicles with most of the equipment they would normally have on hand in the shop including frame and jack stands, hydraulic and air jacks, pumps, hoses, reels, generators, compressors, and digital meters, just to name a few. Additionally, it’s a good idea to stock them with parts that usually need replacing such as lights, brake chambers, batteries, etc. On top of all of that, you’ll want to invest in quality, reliable trucks to get mobile repair techs out to the jobs and back.

You’ll recoup part of the cost of the trucks through increased business your mobile repair service drums up. Increased efficiency recovers some money, too. What’s more, it’s justifiable to add a service call fee and mileage to remote services performed by mobile repair techs.

Also, don’t forget about billing for the technician’s time for these remote jobs. While that element isn’t about recouping the cost of service trucks, it is about making sure offering mobile service increases income instead of costing money. Highly skilled techs earn good money. Whether it’s included in your service call fee or you build it into the mileage charge, be sure you consider how you’ll account for the cost of a mobile repair tech driving out to a job and back.

In the end, adding heavy duty mobile repair to your services can pay off well if you cover your bases to get back the initial investment and pay for mobile repair techs’ time.