How to Improve Diesel Technician Efficiency: Metrics, Tools, and Strategies

If your shop has fewer techs on its payroll than it should, you’re not alone.

According to the American Transportation Research Institute’s 2025 report on technician staffing shortages, 65.5% of all heavy-duty shops were understaffed last year. Meanwhile, the industry reported an average tech vacancy rate of 19.3%, or 24.5% among shops that reported being understaffed. 

Assuming that problem hasn’t magically resolved itself since the report was published (though you never know!), your shop will probably need to do more with less for the foreseeable future.

When your shop doesn’t have enough qualified techs, focusing on diesel technician efficiency can help. Here, you’ll learn how to boost heavy-duty repair shop efficiency in 2026 (and, presumably, future years) with the right strategies, metrics, and technologies.

Technician Efficiency vs. Productivity: What’s the Difference?

Efficiency is all about how quickly your techs get their work done. When you’re trying to figure out diesel technician efficiency, take the number of hours these employees work and compare that to the number of hours you bill your customers. If a tech really goes above and beyond, they could hit (or even exceed) 100% efficiency.

• Efficiency Rate = (Billed Hours ÷ Clocked Hours) × 100

Heavy-duty technician productivity is a bit different: this stat measures the number of jobs your techs complete in a single day. Even if a tech clocks in in the morning, spends their entire shift working, and clocks out late that afternoon, they’ll still have low productivity if they spent that entire time on a single job.

• Productivity Rate = (Hours Worked on Jobs ÷ Total Hours Available) × 100

Confused yet? Too bad—you’ll also need to understand utilization rates, or the amount of time techs spend working (billable hours) compared to their total hours at work. (Quick sidebar: No matter how efficient your workers are, expecting 100% utilization isn’t realistic. After all, everyone needs to attend meetings, run to the bathroom, or take a lunch break sometimes.)

• Utilization Rate = (Billable Hours ÷ Total Hours at Work) × 100

Efficiency Metrics Every Shop Should Track

So, which of these metrics should you focus on while trying to improve your shop’s performance? Ultimately, the answer is “yes”—the steps you’ll take to improve efficiency will also raise your shop’s productivity levels.

But as you make these improvements, you’ll need to know exactly how your shop’s techs are performing by tracking your technician efficiency rate, productivity rate, and utilization rate. You’ll also want to monitor statistics like:

• First-time fix rate. This is the percentage of jobs techs complete without having to schedule follow-up visits, order parts, or seek outside support.
• Schedule compliance. Schedule compliance measures techs’ ability to meet deadlines for scheduled work orders.
• Jobs completed per technician. This one is exactly what it sounds like. You can measure the jobs your techs finish per day, week, or month.

Mobile Time Tracking for Field Service Technicians

If some of your shop’s techs work in the field, you may have trouble tracking the efficiency stats listed above. These workers usually operate without direct supervision, and since we’re trying to increase efficiency here, heading out on the job with them isn’t a great idea.

Instead, you’ll need to find a system that provides diesel mechanic time tracking for field techs. Your program of choice should let these workers capture hours for individual jobs and create photo documentation of their work (among other features).

While planning to adopt one of these systems, be sure to know how to talk to your workers about it. Obviously, you don’t want anyone to think you’re spying on them. Instead, make it clear you’re adding this to boost your business’s efficiency (and give them added encouragement by celebrating strong performers).

Other Technologies That Boost Efficiency

In addition to mobile time tracking, think about adopting technological advancements like:

• Cloud-based shop management software. Unlike “traditional” programs, cloud-based software lets your employees access inventory levels, work orders, and additional information no matter where they are.
• Digital vehicle inspections. DVIR integration, photo/video documentation, and digital customer approvals can all reduce tech downtime and boost efficiency.
• Integrated diagnostics/repair information. With the right software, your techs can access OEM service data, labor times, and more without leaving their workstation.
• Real-time dashboards. These can help you monitor tech performance, find workflow issues, track ongoing jobs, and spot parts delays without relying on outdated info.
• AI-powered tools. Thanks to today’s cutting-edge AI tools, you can use voice-to-text capabilities, automated note cleanup, and effortless service order creation to streamline your shop’s workflow.

How Can These Systems Improve Your Shop?

Want to see what these improvements look like in action? Sure you do! These stats say it all:

• Since they started using Fullbay’s AI features, techs at Kleyn Mobile Repair have saved about 45 minutes per service order.
• About 80% of customers at Inland Empire Fleet Maintenance have started using Fullbay’s customer portal. Now, workers there spend less time on phone calls and more time on their job duties.
• AAA Semi-Truck and Trailer experienced a 36% boost in labor revenue and 40% net profit thanks to Fullbay’s inventory tracking capabilities and other features.

Practical Steps to Improve Efficiency

Improving heavy-duty repair shop efficiency can feel overwhelming when you don’t know where to start. Make things simpler by breaking this process into three phases:

1. Quick Wins

Early on in the improvement process, you’ll want to:

• Audit your current metrics. The first step toward making your shop as efficient as possible is taking a close look at how it’s already performing.
• Get rid of physical work orders. Even at the best of times, old-school service work orders can act as a bottleneck. If you’re dealing with staffing shortages, it’s definitely time to switch to a more efficient system.
• Start using digital approvals. Approvals are another place where things can go wrong. The best way to speed this process up is to make it more convenient for customers—and a modernized approval system can do just that.

2. Medium-Term Improvements

Once you’ve made the changes listed above, it’s time to focus on longer-term enhancements like:

• Adopting software built for heavy-duty shops. Instead of using a program designed for light-duty shops, find a program that offers features and capabilities created with your situation in mind.
• Setting up efficiency benchmarks. When your shop has clear metrics to track, you won’t struggle to understand how it’s doing.
• Scheduling regular training. A few short training sessions can translate to much better employee efficiency/productivity down the line.
• Surveying your techs. If your workflow has any serious problems, there’s a good chance your workers already know about them. Talking to them about inefficiencies is a great way to find unidentified problems.

3. Long-Term Investments

Finally, you can ensure that your shop will stay efficient well into the future by:

• Creating training partnerships. Working with a partner (like the company that made your shop’s software) to expand your training program will make it even more effective.
• Developing career paths. By mapping out career pathways for your techs, you’ll make it easier for them to pursue their future goals (and encourage them to stay at your shop, conveniently enough).

Boost Tech Efficiency With Fullbay

Diesel technician efficiency is at the core of your shop’s performance, especially when you’re having trouble hiring the techs you need. And no matter how qualified these workers are, they won’t be as efficient as they could be if they don’t have the right tools.

These days, heavy-duty shop management software is the key to boosting your shop’s efficiency. No product in this category beats Fullbay, so set up a demo today to get started!