TMC-Fullbay Report: Repair Shop Sales, Labor Rates Rise
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NEW ORLEANS — Heavy-duty repair shops around the country continued to grow their sales last year as labor rates climbed, according to the fourth annual State of Heavy-Duty Repair Report from the Technology & Maintenance Council and Fullbay, a provider of repair shop management software.
Fullbay CEO Patrick McKittrick presented the results of the latest report during a March 3 news conference at the 2024 TMC Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition.
More than 1,000 individuals from 500 shops were surveyed for the report, which contains insights, trends and benchmarks related to repair shop operations and maintenance of heavy-duty equipment.
In the study, 45% of respondents reported between 21% and 40% increases in counter sales in 2023 compared with the prior year.
We are ready for you TMC! Head to our booth to learn all about Fullbay. pic.twitter.com/JJHEoYZTxV — Fullbay (@fullbay) March 4, 2024
During the same period, labor rates increased 9% percent, which equates to about a $10 per hour increase.
The study also noted that shops across North America reported 27% revenue growth last year, down from a 37% increase in 2022.
Although growth slowed, the data contains signs that the market is stabilizing, McKittrick said.
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“Clearly, 2021 was at the boom, 2020 was down for COVID and lots of other reasons,” he said. “And I think what you’re seeing is more a return to normalcy. While it looks down, it is just slowing. Growth is still there, which for us is good.”
A new addition to the report this year is data on repair shop owners’ marketing efforts. The report found that 43% of respondents spend between $51,000 and $75,000 per year on marketing, and 88% of respondents have a dedicated sales representative on staff. Shop owners also are using social media for more sales and technician help with Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram being the top platforms to promote their businesses. Shops also used LinkedIn and Facebook to help recruit technicians.
In preparing its latest report, Fullbay took steps to capture a more representative sample of respondents, McKittrick said.
“We wanted to really limit people who spend a lot of time working on automotive stuff because that’s a different business,” he said. “We wanted to do a better job of just ensuring data integrity. We’re just being more targeted in reaching out for the survey than we did in previous years.”
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