Historical Snapshot
—John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon, who has a body shop in the family and has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contact him by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.
ABRA’s Expansion Plans, Tech Wages, Flat Fees for Repair, BMS v EMS with John Yoswick
sation for technicians had risen 28 per20 years ago in the collision repair cent to $52,997 by the time the Colliindustry (August 1996) Repair Education Foundation had ABRA Auto Bodywith and Glass’s present Chasidy Raesion Sisk owners Rollie Benjamin and Tim conducted its most recent survey in Adelmann have purchases the interest 2013. But had wages held steady with of former shareholder Randy McPherinflation over that time, the 2013 averson. Under the new ownership, ABRA age would have been just over plans to sharpen its focus on expanding $56,000. Department of Labor estiacross the country, with a goal of 300- mates for 2015 wages for painters Chasidy Raeranged Sisk from a low of $32,000 in Neplus shops by the with end of the year 2000. – As reported in Auto Body Repair braska to a high of $61,000 in Virginia. News. ABRA was not the first and cerFor body technicians, Arkansas has the tainly not the last consolidator to make lowest state average for 2015 at just what turned out to be wildly-over-optimistic growth projections. ABRA didn’t pass the 300-shop mark until last year, Chasidy Rae Sisk 15 years later thanwith it anticipated. Adelmann is the company’s executive vice president for business development; Benjamin, the company’s founder, most recently served as a director on its board. McPherson went on to launch CARA Collision & Glass, another Minnesotawith Chasidy Rae Sisk based MSO that in mid-2000 locked the In 2001, Ron Ray was the executive director doors on its remaining 13 shops and of the I-CAR Education Foundation, which later was renamed the Collision Repair Education filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Associations Assembling Southeast News
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Southeast Associations 15 years ago in the collision repair
Foundation. He is now an instructor at Nashville Auto-Diesel College in Tennessee
Sisk of $32,000, while Maryland had industry (August with 2001) Chasidy Raeshy
Technician wages are keeping up with the highest average of nearly $64,000. the cost of living – and shop employee benefits are also improving – accord10 years ago in the collision repair ing to the latest in an ongoing series of industry (August 2006) surveys by the I-CAR Education FounGive some thoughtful people who are dation. about the collision rewith Chasidy Raeknowledgeable Sisk Although there is a wide spread in pair industry a chance to shine up a technician annual incomes, the industry crystal ball and look into the future, and average for technicians over 20 years you’re likely to hear some interesting old is $41,268, Ron Ray, executive dithings. rector of the Foundation, reported at I“I think we might see someone CAR’s Annual Meeting in Baltimore. pilot a program where participating colwith Chasidy Rae Sisk “From 1995 to 1998, we saw about lision repair facilities will be given a a 11 percent increase in that average, standard flat fee to repair vehicles reand from 1998 to 2001 about another 9 gardless of the amount of damage,” said percent,” Ray said. “So it’s keeping up Dan Risley, executive director of the with the cost of living or inflation.” Society of Collision Repair Specialists The latest findings were based on (SCRS), when asked to look at where withabout Chasidy Raethe Sisk survey responses from 400 shops industry might be in five to 10 years. with an average of just under eight em“The thought behind that is that ployees. Ray said the top 10 percent of it would simplify the repair process, the nearly 1,900 technicians represented reduce cycle time and reduce overall in the survey had annual incomes of claims costs,” Risley said. “For examabout $72,000. with Chasidy Raeple, the repair facility wouldn't have Sisk – As reported in Autobody News, to spend the time and resources writAugust 2001. Ray left the Foundation ing and submitting supplements and in 2007 and is now an instructor at waiting for approvals.” Nashville Auto-Diesel College in Ten– As reported in Autobody News, nessee. The industry average compenAugust 2006. Risley went on to spend
five years working for Allstate before becoming executive director of the Automotive Service Association (ASA) in 2013. The capitation model he describes has been only on a limited basis in the United States. But insurers have more recently been experimenting with “predictive analytics,” combining data about the crash from the vehicle with historical claims data to potentially reduce the need for traditional estimating.
5 years ago in the collision repair industry (August 2011) Fred Iantorno of the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) says the information providers’ failure to switch to the “BMS” standard for estimate data transfer rather than the older “EMS” standard means the industry is stuck still using the equivalent of 1990s cell phone technology. The EMS file includes every scrap of data included in an estimate; so if a shop, for example, orders parts elec-
tronically, the parts vendor receiving the parts list via the EMS file also gets information about the customer and his or her insurance. Because the newer BMS standard provides shops with more control over what data gets shared – thus making it easier to protect data privacy for customers, insurers and the shop itself – collision repair organizations have for years asked the information providers to enable shops to use BMS rather than EMS. At last month’s Collision Industry Conference (CIC), Jack Rozint of CCC Information Services said his company has implemented BMS in some limited instances. “There are some large collision groups that are using it to consolidate data, and there’s a couple paint company value-added programs that are using our implementation of BMS to get repairer data to support their 20 groups,” Rozint See Historical News, Page 73
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70 AUGUST 2016 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
with Ed Attanasio
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