BRIGHTON, MI - The National Trailer Dealers Association (NTDA) released its 2018 Service Department Labor Hours Guide. The survey measures time for repairs, employment levels, compensation and establishes productivity benchmarks for semi-trailer dealer service departments.
Gwendolyn Brown, NTDA President, stated, “NTDA’s service department labor hours guide gives dealers a valuable tool in measuring their shop operations against other semi-trailer dealers and in assessing appropriate costs and compensation.” One hundred thirty-three trailer dealer members provided confidential responses to a host of questions gauging actual times for repair or installation across 20 semi-trailer service categories, including for suspensions, wheels, painting, electrical work, liftgate, roof assembly and more. Several repair metrics are also analyzed by semi-trailer type, including dry vans, flatbeds, and refrigerated trailers (reefers).
Brown added, “Sharing best practices to improve each dealer’s service operations is a critical benefit of NTDA membership.” Additional findings of the NTDA Service Department Labor Hours Guide include:
- Based on the responses received, there are no significant differences in time for repairs among dealers across different regions of the country.
- There are also no significant differences in time for repairs based on the size of the dealership.
- 19% of respondents provide mobile repair services.
- Approximately 33% of dealers offer a retirement plan for select workers.
- In some categories, there was a minor productivity drop from the 2015 Service Department Labor Hours survey, likely due to higher than average employee turnover in the current economy.
