How a Repair Triage Process Can Improve Shop Efficiency

Dealership Service shops are busy places, with Service department personnel doing their best to get trucks in and out quickly so customers can get back on the road. However, a repair can only be made once the root cause of the problem is diagnosed. Unfortunately, if all the Service bays are full, it can take hours, or even days, just to figure out what's wrong. Sometimes, the diagnosis reveals the problem's a quick fix, but that's a small consolation to a fleet that's already waited a day or more for an answer.

Savvy dealers are fixing the problem by following a process similar to that seen in hospital emergency rooms — a triage process to assess vehicles and push the quickest, easiest repairs to the front of the line. These programs, often called accelerated or express service, help dealers diagnose problems faster, reduce downtime and keep customers happy. 

Dedicate Service Bays To Triage

In a traditional Service department, trucks are pulled into Service bays in the order they arrive at the dealership, often tying up multiple bays just to diagnose problems. 

Dealers who use a triage approach typically dedicate at least one Service bay to diagnostics. But before the truck even arrives at the dealership, the Service department tries to get as much information as possible about the problem by speaking to the driver and accessing telematics data that reveals fault codes. Having this information ahead of time helps the Technician know where to start the diagnostic process. 

The Technician then gets to work determining the cause of the problem and writing up a repair order that includes a list of needed parts, an estimate of how long the repair should take, and when the repair can begin. When using mobile repair order reviews and authorization, dealerships have reported positive outcomes, as they don't have to wait as long for authorization. Once the diagnosis has been made, the truck is pulled out of the triage bay so another can be pulled in. 

Ideally, a triage bay should aim to diagnose issues within two hours. The number of bays dedicated to diagnosing and triage will depend on the size of the dealership. 

Master Technicians Should Be Assigned to the Triage Bay

For this process to work effectively, a few key elements must be in place. The first is having the right Technician in the bay. In a Truck News article, Daimler Truck North America recommends assigning the shop’s best Technician to this bay. Ideally, this would be a master Technician, as they'll be able to ensure that trucks are diagnosed properly and quickly. This role isn't suited for an entry-level Technician.

The triage bay must also have its own equipment, including a laptop with OEM software, a diagnostic code reader, a multimeter, a load tester, pressure gauges and a battery tester.

Faster Diagnostics Helps Fleets Make More Informed Decisions

When executed properly, a triage system can improve the shop’s workflow. Once a truck has been diagnosed, it can be assigned to a Technician whose skill set best matches the needed repair. For example, an electrical issue can be assigned to a Technician who’s highly skilled in electrical repairs.

When fleets are notified about the problem within two hours, they can make more informed decisions. For example, if the truck is diagnosed with a noncritical repair, the fleet may send it back on the road and schedule the repair for a more convenient time, especially if parts aren't available yet. Since CDK found that 32% of dealerships indicate parts supply is a challenge, giving customers the option to wait on noncritical repairs can help keep trucks on the road instead of sitting idle while the parts come in.

Quick Repair Bays Can Help Too

In addition to triage bays, some dealers have added quick repair bays for repairs that the Technician in the triage bay determined would take under four hours to complete. Both Daimler and Volvo say that 65% to 70% of the vehicles coming into their dealerships’ Service bays fall into that category.

Completing these relatively easy repairs quickly improves customer satisfaction because vehicles aren't down for long periods of time for a minor problem.

Today's high demand for repairs exceeds dealership capacity, so it's essential for dealerships to improve efficiency to meet their customers' needs. Adding a well-equipped and properly staffed triage bay decreases customer downtime, improves shop workflow, and increases customer satisfaction.