Patrick Services, Inc.

From Paper Bottlenecks to 95% Fleet Compliance: How Patrick Services Used Fullbay to Modernize Their Operation

A ticket for a job completed on Monday might not reach the customer until Friday.

Or even the following Monday.

That was the reality for Patrick Services, Inc., a 55-year-old heavy-duty repair operation serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The company had grown from a two-man mobile trailer repair business into an operation with about 40 mobile trucks and additional teams in West Texas and Houston, with roughly 80% of its work taking place at customer locations.

But behind that growth was a process that had barely changed in over five decades of operation.

Techs wrote repair tickets by hand. Those tickets had to make their way back to the office, where reviews and additional information might bog them down further. 

“Our growth got to the point where we had to do something,” said Evan Wall, President of Patrick Services. He’d known about Fullbay for years, having seen an early demonstration of its capabilities. In 2016, he knew it was time to leave paper behind, and Fullbay was “really the only call that we made.”

PAIN POINT: PAPERWORK SLOWED THE MONEY DOWN

The paper trap went something like this: A tech would complete a repair on Monday and turn the handwritten ticket in on Tuesday. The service department would review those tickets and mark them up as necessary for pricing and labor. They often didn’t reach the front office until Thursday, where the staff would in turn get them sent out by Friday or even the following Monday. 

A five- or six-day turnaround to close out one ticket and send it to a customer is hard on any shop. For an operation with about 40 mobile trucks, it created a serious bottleneck between completing the work and getting paid. 

PAIN POINT: TRACKING RECOMMENDED AND UNFINISHED WORK

The paper system made it difficult to see whether recommended work had been completed. “Once we completed a PM service and discovered it was going to need a water pump or hose before the next PM cycle, it was almost impossible to remember if we completed that unit’s hose job without going through a ton of paperwork months later,” said Regional Sales Manager Matthew Prichett. “Sometimes the customer would just overlook the paperwork we gave them, and it would fall [on] the back burner.” 

This led to lost opportunities to earn more business and keep their customers on the road. 

PAIN POINT: INVENTORY WAS SCATTERED ACROSS TEXAS

A large repair operation needs to keep track of a lot of inventory. There were the parts sitting inside the Dallas shop, along with the parts and filters carried by techs working in Houston, Abilene, or elsewhere in the field. Without a centralized view of their entire inventory, the company had to coordinate requests, returns, cores, and stock levels across long distances…all while making sure mobile techs had what they needed for upcoming calls.

The potential impact was not lost on them. “I’m sure we lost millions of dollars through the years,” Evan joked. 

ENTER FULLBAY

The need to go digital led the Patrick Services team to Fullbay. “We love the fact that it’s cloud-based, so it’s real-time information for all our guys in the field,” Matthew said. It could support a workforce that used tablets and phones, and of course, they remembered the initial demonstration they’d seen several years prior. 

There were no other platforms they wanted to look at. Fullbay was the answer.

RESULT: SAME-DAY TICKET TURNAROUND

The Patrick Services crew said farewell to the weeklong ticket turnarounds. With Fullbay, techs and office staff can review and close tickets digitally, allowing the company to send them on the same day. There’s less waiting for physical paperwork and manual re-entry, and the company can invoice and collect sooner. 

“From a cash flow and financial standpoint, it’s been incredible,” Evan said.  

RESULT: HELP FOR THE PARTS TEAM

With Fullbay, techs can submit parts requests digitally from the field. Those requests appear directly in the parts manager’s workflow, reducing the administrative back-and-forth that once bogged down the process. 

“It’s been a game-changer for the parts,” Evan said, noting that it’s also been a tremendous help for tracking returns and cores.

The inventory visibility is especially valuable as the shop expands its mobile operations. The Dallas team can see what techs have on hand in other markets and help keep their trucks stocked for upcoming work. 

While a tech is out in the field, Matthew said, “We can actually help him control his inventory all the way here in Dallas. It helps out tremendously to make sure they have everything they need to be successful.” 

RESULT: 95% COMPLIANCE

The shop sat down with one of its top customers, which operates about 30 trucks. “We found out the DOT and PM compliance of their fleet wasn’t great,” Matthew said. “We’ve been able to show them and stay on top of them month to month to month,” he added. 

The fleet reached at least 95% compliance — a level it hasn’t fallen below since September of the previous year.

Patrick Services became a repair partner rather than just the company the fleet called when something broke. It also strengthened a customer relationship that would be difficult for a competitor to displace.  

RESULT: FULLBAY IS PART OF THE SALES PITCH

Fullbay, Matthew went on, “really separates us from other places.” It gave the shop a customer-facing, PM-tracking capability that distinguished its service from competitors. Prospects may have no maintenance system or an inadequate one; suddenly they’re offered Fullbay’s Customer Portal, where they can review maintenance needs, submit requests, monitor repairs, view invoices, and make payments. 

The Patrick Services team now demonstrates Fullbay’s capabilities when approaching prospects. “It’s helping these people who might not have an extensive background in the transportation realm, especially when it comes to fleet management, to help them manage their dollars a little better,” he added. 

RESULT: EXPANSION HAS BEEN EASIER

Fullbay has also helped Patrick Services carry those customer relationships into new markets. 

When the company expanded into Houston, it onboarded 10 customers it already served in Dallas. Patrick Services credits Fullbay with expediting its growth, while the platform gives its Dallas, Houston, and West Texas teams a common view of the work. The shops and mobile techs communicate through Fullbay, and leadership can see everything that’s going on without needing to be physically present at every location.

FROM REPAIR PROVIDER TO PROACTIVE FLEET PARTNER

Patrick Services, Inc. did not need Fullbay to become a successful repair operation. It was, by all accounts, already successful. 

What Fullbay gave the company was a system capable of keeping up with it. Tickets that once took five or six days to reach customers can now go out on the same day. The team can stay on top of pending repairs, help customers improve their compliance, and even woo new clients as the business expands into additional markets.

Patrick Services built its reputation around keeping trucks moving. We’re happy to help make sure their business can move just as quickly.