Canadian shops struggle to bill an eight hour day. Why?

Independent auto repair shops are barely billing for a half-day’s worth of work, a gap that industry coach Murray Voth said reflects systemic operational failures rather than a lack of skilled workers.

Shops are billing an average of just 4.2 hours of labour per technician during an eight-hour workday, Voth said at the AIA Canada National Conference. That shortfall represents billions of dollars in lost revenue across the aftermarket and contributes to ongoing profitability challenges for shop owners.

“This is not a technician problem,” he said. “This is an operational, systemic issue in our industry.”

During the session Technician or operations challenge: What is holding back repair shops? Voth said industry benchmarks suggest shops should be billing closer to nine hours per technician per day. The gap between actual and potential hours, he said, comes from time that is never charged to customers or is lost due to poor workflow.

He outlined several contributors, including time spent waiting for parts, delays in job dispatching, and lengthy verbal communication between technicians and service advisors. He also pointed to widespread undercharging for diagnostic work, which he likes to rephrase to ‘testing.’

“Think about all the things that happen in a busy shop where the shop is not getting paid,” Voth said.

He estimated that a significant portion of each technician’s day is lost to non-billable activities, including waiting for the next job, clarifying repair approvals or correcting errors in labour guides and pricing structures.

Many shops continue to underprice services such as diagnostics and condition-based repairs, even as other trades routinely charge for all time spent on a job, including travel and preparation, Voth pointed out.

“Plumbers charge for driving time and mileage,” he said. “For some reason, we do not.”

The issue, Voth explained, is often compounded by front-end staffing decisions. Shops with too few service advisors struggle to keep technicians working consistently, resulting in idle time that is never recovered.

“If I wait 15 minutes for my next job, that is lost opportunity,” he said, adding that technician downtime is far more expensive than adding administrative support.

Shops that fail to address operational inefficiencies risk burning out staff while leaving revenue on the table, he warned, further limiting their ability to invest in training, technology and wages.

Voth also challenged the industry’s focus on technician shortages, noting that improving productivity could reduce pressure on hiring.

“If we build eight hours per technician per day instead of 4.2, will we need as many technicians?” he asked. “This is a management issue. This is a process issue.”