Trucking Industry Blog

The main responsibility of your shop is to keep your trucks rolling down the road in a safe and efficient manner. Shop productivity is a measure of how well this is achieved. Shops are a chaotic place and getting information on productivity is a never ending process, but one that can pay many dividends in costs and employee morale.

Shop managers however, have different priorities and use different measurements to track productivity. One manager may compare the mechanics actual time working on equipment to their time cards. Another may be more concerned with the cost per mile figures for his equipment. And a third may look at how much work needs to be performed between regularly scheduled PM services performed by each mechanic. These issues, plus many others, affect your overall shop productivity.

Regardless of how you measure productivity, you need a method for collecting this data. Having the correct data available at the correct time is essential. However, collecting data, which will never be accessed, may actually lower your productivity. The mechanics are generally the ones that enter the initial data, so if they have too much paperwork, their productivity suffers. Your responsibility as a manager is to find efficient ways to collect the "needed" data without lowering overall productivity.

A good shop software package that is incorporated directly into your TMS software system, so that your dispatchers can be notified of scheduled PM services, can save you money and provide the necessary data to measure productivity. It must be quick and easy for your mechanics to enter data and give you the correct information to monitor your productivity. You should be able to see any work done for any equipment, by any mechanic, and show the costs associated with the work. Plus you need management reports to see the "birds-eye" view of your shop activity.

If you need software or your current truck shop software does not give you sufficient functionality, contact TruckMaster today for a free demo.

Craig Sorensen
TruckMaster Solution Provider
TruckMaster Your Trucking Company™