AGE RANGE OF SHOP EMPLOYEES
The average age of shop employees tends to be on the younger side—over a third of those surveyed identified themselves as 18-34 years old. But the older generation is represented, too, as 7% of respondents are 65 or older.
GENDER BREAKDOWN
Women are still a considerable minority in the industry, making up just 17% of our overall respondents. Men made up the other 83%.
WHO DOES WHAT IN THE SHOP?
Most responders were technicians, with owners and service managers close on their heels.
WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS DO YOU RUN?
Over half the shops we spoke to described themselves as independent operations. That said, just over 26% of them are focused on internal fleet repair.
HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS?
Thirty-two percent of our respondents have been in the industry for a long, long time—over 20 years! Happily, we’re also seeing new shops emerging, as 29% of operations surveyed are five years or younger.
NUMBER OF LOCATIONS
Over half of all shops only have one location. This wasn’t incredibly surprising, as most independent operations are small businesses without the funding or manpower to open multiple operations. We also noted that mobile-only techs—those without a physical location—made up about 7% of the population.
REPAIR SHOP REVENUE RANGES
We see a lot of variation in revenue across the country! Overall, 22% of shops net $250,000 or less each year, while 20% are bringing in between $1 to $2 million. A handful of operations (4%) pulled in $6 million or more per year.
SHOP NET PROFIT
Upwards of 80% of shops are seeing a net profit. However, we’re still seeing about 17% of shops that just don’t know what their net profit is.
HOW MANY TECHNICIANS DO YOU EMPLOY?
Fifty-nine percent of our respondents reported between 0-5 techs on their payroll. Meanwhile, 33% had between 6-15 techs. This could be due to new shops opening up, as newer locations are more likely to have fewer techs at first. The uptick may also be thanks to several new programs designed to draw new techs to the industry.
SERVICES REPAIR SHOPS PROVIDE TODAY
In-shop repair remained the top offering, with 75% of the shops surveyed providing it. Mobile repair was close behind—71% of our respondents offer this service.
HOW MUCH DO SHOPS CHARGE FOR DOT INSPECTIONS?
What shops charge for DOT inspections seems to depend on their markets. Just over half either make it free or charge up to $100, while a small percentage (just over 16%) charge up to $500. The average rate, however, is $132.38.
DO SHOPS CHARGE FOR DIAGNOSIS?
Over 78.3% of repair shops charge for diagnostics, with the majority of them charging $250 or less. The average diagnostic charge, however, is $177. In addition, the remaining 21.7% don’t charge for the service at all.
TOP THREE SHOP CHALLENGES
Hiring techs is the top challenge repair shops face today, with over half of all shops dealing with staffing troubles. Inefficiencies in repairs came in second, and problems with the supply chain led to our third-place finisher: sourcing parts. That said, shops are running into other issues like inventory management, communication, and managing records.
GREATEST TECHNICIAN CHALLENGES
The most difficult challenge surrounding technicians is finding them, as over 60% of shops report hiring remains a chore. Because of this, shops may end up hiring less experienced techs, leading to the second challenge: a lack of skills and need for training.
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE SHOPS TO GET PARTS IN 2021?
About 84% of the shops surveyed faced increased delays caused by the global parts shortage. In fact, 37% of that number saw severely increased delays, which surely impacted their customers.
PERFORMING INVENTORY COUNTS
About half the shops we surveyed perform at least one inventory count per month. That’s excellent news, but 17% of shops aren’t doing inventory counts at all. That leaves about 34% of shops that fall right in the middle, performing inventory counts annually or quarterly.
ARE YOU ACTIVELY MANAGING CORES?
Seventy-six percent of repair shops are managing cores, which is money back in the shop’s accounts. Granted, some operations (14.5%) are only managing them occasionally, but that’s better than the 9.5% who aren’t touching them at all.
DO YOUR TECHS KNOW EACH OTHERS’ EFFICIENCY?
The industry is split on whether techs should know each others’ efficiency; some believe it creates healthy rivalry, while others feel it can lead to unnecessary competition. Our findings were nearly straight down the middle: 42% of techs knew how efficient their coworkers were, while 41% did not.
HOW MUCH DID YOU INCREASE THE HOURLY WAGES OF YOUR TECHS IN 2021?
More than 73% of shops provided a wage increase for their techs in 2021. In most cases, the increase was between $1-$25 an hour, though the average jump was $13.88.
HAS IT BEEN EASIER OR HARDER TO FIND TECHNICIANS IN THE LAST YEAR?
Almost 40% of shops said it was much more difficult to hire techs in
2021—only 1% thought it was easier!