PRESIDENT Jerry McNee, Ultimate Collision Repair, Inc. 732-494-1900 / ultimatecollision@att.net
COLLISION CHAIRMAN
Dennis Cataldo, Jr., D&M Auto Body 732-251-4313 / jr@dnmautobody.com
MECHANICAL CHAIRMAN
Keith Krehel, Krehel Automotive Repair, Inc. 973-546-2828 / krehelauto@aol.com
TREASURER
Tom Elder, Compact Kars, Inc. 609-259-6373 / compactkars@aol.com
SECRETARY
Thomas Greco, Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc. 973-667-6922 / thomas@grecopublishing.com
BOARD
Brad Crawford, Livingston Collision, Inc. 973-992-5274 / livingston.collision@gmail.com
Gary Gardella, Jr., County Line Auto Body 732-363-5904 / countylineautobody@gmail.com
Dave Laganella, Peters Body and Fender 201-337-1200 / petersbandf@gmail.com
Sam Mikhail, Prestige Auto Body 908-294-1985 /prestige@goldcar.us
Ken Miller, 821 Collision, LLC (973) 949-3733 / kmiller@821collision.com
Ted Rainer, Ocean Bay Auto Body 732-899-7900 / ted@oceanbayautobody.com
Anthony Trama, Bloomfield Auto Body 973-748-2608 / anthony@bloomfieldautobody.com
BOARD ALLIED
Joe Amato, The Amato Agency 732-530-6740 / joesr@amatoagency.com
Mike Kaufmann, Advantage Dealer Services 973-332-7014 / mkaufmann@advantageds.com
PAST PRESIDENT ATTENDING Jeff McDowell, Leslie’s Auto Body 732-738-1948 / chacki@aol.com
PUBLISHER
Thomas Greco / thomas@grecopublishing.com
SALES DIRECTOR
Alicia Figurelli / alicia@grecopublishing.com
SALES REPRESENTATIVE
Bill Moore / bill@grecopublishing.com / (201) 209-1989
EDITORIAL/CREATIVE COORDINATOR
Alana Bonillo / alana@grecopublishing.com
MANAGING EDITOR
Chasidy Rae Sisk / chasidy@grecopublishing.com
OFFICE MANAGER
Donna Greco / donna@grecopublishing.com
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Joe Greco / joe@grecopublishing.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Charles Bryant • Mario DeFilippis • Dennis Cataldo • Mitch Portnoi • Ron Ananian • Keith Krehel • Jerry McNee • Jacquelyn Bauman
Published by: Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc.
244 Chestnut Street, Suite 202, Nutley, NJ 07110
Corporate: (973) 667-6922 / FAX: (973) 235-1963
www.grecopublishing.com
Pete Cook
Ed Day
Dave Demarest
Phil Dolcemascolo
Tom Elder
Bob Everett
Alicia Figurelli
Thomas Greco
Dan Hawtin
Rich Johnson
Wes Kearney
Nick Kostakis
Jim Kowalak
Keith Krehel
Joe Lubrano
Michael Lovullo
Jeff McDowell
Sam Mikhail
Ron Mucklow
George Petrask
Russ Robson
Jerry Russomano
George Threlfall
Cynthia Tursi
Lee Vetland
Paul Vigilant
Rich Weber
Brian Vesley
Glenn Villacari
Stan Wilson
I Wonder Why
A few weeks ago, despite our past history, my wife, my son and I traveled to Atlantic City during our annual Wildwood vacation. I guess the dollar signs on the slot machines erased their memories of getting arrested and almost put behind bars there a few short years ago (which you can read all about in New Jersey Automotive at bit.ly/OOB0216 and bit.ly/OOB0316.)
But I haven’t forgotten. I still do not like the city. And I do not like to gamble. It bores me. So, before going, I decided to see if there was any entertainment that could keep me occupied while they tried to get rich and stay out of jail.
Lucky for me, one of my all-time favorites, Dion (no, not of Celine, but of “& the Belmonts”) was making his return to performing after the pandemic. So, I bought a ticket and actually looked forward to going back to that dreaded place.
Dion was playing the Borgata. Now I don’t know about you, but everytime I hear the name “Borgata,” I think of spray-tans, gold chains, high hair, Brut cologne and IROC Z28s. And of course, “Dion’s Greatest Hits” on the eight track.
So, I jokingly told my son, “When we get there, be ready to see a casino full of men that all look like your Uncle Ralph
by THOMAS GRECO, PUBLISHER
and/or the cast of The Sopranos.” But when I got there, we didn’t see anything like that in the casino at least. “Okay,” I thought, “I guess they all must be getting to the concert early.”
I walked into the ballroom, and they weren’t there either. All there was were a few thousand guys who had at least three of these features:
Gray, balding or no hair;
A gut too large to fit comfortably in the seats;
A cane;
A walker;
And an oversized Hawaiian shirt.
I laughed and thought to myself, “So much for smelly cologne.” Then, two guys sat next to me. Trust me, I’ll take Brut over IcyHot any day. Even funnier was when I looked down. In my seat, I saw someone who was balding, had a gut too large to fit comfortably in the seat, wearing an oversized shirt that was pretty damn close to Hawaiian (my wife said it was more like Dennis the Menace). It was ME!
It just goes to show that no matter how old we get, we still have that forever young image in our heads. As I looked around at the crowd, and as Dion sang “A Teenager in Love,” “The Wanderer” and “Runaround Sue,” in my mind, we were all still driving around in our IROCs, Trans Ams and GTOs.
Another thing stood out about the show for me. Dion has had an amazing career. His first hit was in 1958. He was fourth on the bill of the infamous Buddy Holly Winter Party tour and was supposed to be on that plane that crashed. He left the Belmonts and had a successful solo career only to be derailed by heroin addiction. To see him on stage at 83-years-old was a gift in itself. But back in 1968, he had a huge comeback hit with a song called “Abraham, Martin and John,” which paid tribute to the recently assassinated leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President John F. Kennedy and his brother Senator Robert Kennedy, along with President Lincoln. As Dion played the song that night, the thought occurred to me that in 2022, most people under 30 probably wouldn’t know who the song was about.
Look what has happened in the last decade or so. Abraham Lincoln has gone from being our greatest president to having groups try to take his name off of schools. George Floyd is referenced more than Martin Luther King, Jr. And the Kennedys? My bet is if you’re under 30, you have no clue who they were…other than maybe that they were both shot dead.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I don’t know anymore. What I thought was good or bad for 60 years no longer applies. People want to learn what they want to learn if they want to learn. Or they just follow what social media tells them to.
As for me, as long as my man Dion keeps singing “Donna the Prima Donna,” I’m happy.
Good for the Goose but Not for the Gander
Picture this scenario: An insurer’s appraiser refuses to pay a certain labor rate because it’s higher than the socalled “prevailing rate,” but to pacify the shop’s estimator during negotiations, they inflate pricing on a certain part in order to close the gap between your estimate and theirs.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “cost-shifting” as a noun that refers to “a situation in which the price of one product or service is higher than it should be, in order to pay for losses on another product or service for which the price is too low.” For decades, insurance carriers have used cost-shifting to manipulate estimates to reach a repair reimbursement amount that both parties will agree to, and although the industry has been discussing it for years, it still happens constantly.
During a negotiation, we’ve all had an appraiser inform us, “That’s above my paygrade.” Appraisers working at the street level don’t have the authority to truly negotiate a claim…and that’s absolutely by design!
In the legal situations I’ve been involved in related to this matter, cost-shifting on the insurer’s part appears to be acceptable to judges – but can you even imagine the reaction from the court if a shop charged for a part that wasn’t being installed?! That shop has violated the law, yet it’s perfectly acceptable when the other side does it. I don’t know about you, but that seems a lot like a double standard to me.
Carriers don’t want their appraisers making decisions, and in addition to rejecting a shop’s door rate, they’ll even choose to ignore certain procedures, only to pay for unnecessary items. Does the appraiser realize what they’re doing? Of course, they do, but they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Their management team
by JERRY MCNEE
is coming down on them, demanding they cut costs at any cost. They need to keep their jobs, so they do exactly that.
During a recent negotiation, the appraiser kept throwing his hands up and insisting, “These are our hourly rates!” I told him I have no problem sending the car to the dealer (at their labor rate)...turns out he was able to get my rate increase approved since even that higher rate was half the price of sending it to the dealership. That carrier actually adjusted his labor rate in the correct category instead of burying it in the body of the estimate.
Why does it matter? By neglecting to adjust labor rates in the right category on the estimate, insurers suppress the labor rate. Using cost-shifting to close the gap allows them to fly under the radar when they do pay a shop’s door rate because they didn’t make that concession in black and white on the actual estimate.
It’s easy to give up fighting…after all, YOU’RE collecting what you need, but is it right or wrong? It’s definitely wrong for our industry! Insurers know what’s needed and what needs to be done, and it’s not that they’re unwilling to pay for it – they simply don’t want those payments to be made public by providing us with the evidence in a written estimate. Instead, they cost-shift so we don’t have that evidence, so they can continue insisting, “You’re the only one.” It’s all smoke and mirrors.
Unfortunately, a lot of shops agree to the cost-shifting since it’s easier than continuing to fight, but by doing that, they are essentially conceding that the rates dictated by insurers are adequate. When will we decide to stand our ground and insist on accurate estimates? Because they’ll continue doing whatever they get away with if we continue to allow it.
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The Ball Is in Our Court
The “Great Resignation” and the lack of quality employees along with supply chain woes, parts shortages and material availability have given rise to an industry-wide backlog of repairs waiting to be completed.
Across the country, shops are backed up by a minimum of three to six weeks with no end in sight to the number of claims coming in as summer rages on! The
question is: How do we turn this into a better and more profitable opportunity for ourselves? The answer may be to just say “no.”
We have been saying for years now that it is the customer’s claim; we only repair the vehicle. If the owner of the vehicle is having an issue with their insurance company, they should be involved in getting properly compensated or reimbursed for their repairs. With our current backlog of work, if a customer is unwilling to fight for what is right and what they are owed, it is the perfect opportunity to say, “No, thank you” to their claim. To insurers that are unwilling and unable to come to a negotiation…“No, thank you. Here are my charges. When are you picking up the vehicle?!”
The daily costs of running a business are increasing, and the temporary “transitory inflation” looks like it is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Why accept less than you deserve? The ball is in our court, and it always has been!
by DENNIS CATALDO, JR. NJA
What Makes a Good Parts Supplier?
Parts, parts, parts – shops can’t perform repairs without them, but they don’t show up by magic. Each facility has its own process for ordering and acquiring the vehicle components needed for each job, yet even the best developed parts procedures rely heavily on the vendor or dealer supplying the shop.
Meeting cycle time expectations and other KPIs is impossible without receiving the right parts in a timely manner, and successful shops recognize that sourcing from a good parts supplier plays a vital role in their business outcomes.
But what are shops actually seeking when they select a provider to work with – what makes a good parts supplier?
Shop expectations vary to some extent, depending on their business model and whether they have a dedicated parts manager; however, most shop owners agree the most important factor in choosing where to source parts comes down to their relationship with the vendor and the level of customer service they receive.
“I can go to any dealership for parts, but I’ve looked for those whose staff is willing to take ownership of
the job and ensure the shop’s needs are met,” notes Danielle Molina (Perfect Bodies Collision Center; Passaic). “Responsiveness and responsibility are huge; I’ve got an eye on which parts person is on their game, who contacts me about issues versus finding out when only half the order shows up, etc. The importance of a supplier who tries to meet and exceed my customer service expectations can’t be understated; I’ve sourced from different dealers until I found a reliable, responsible salesperson with whom I’ve been able to develop a good relationship.”
Of course, any good relationship flows both ways and requires mutual respect, as Pete Kelly (821 Collision; North Haledon) points out:
“We have to treat them how we want to be treated because they’re people too. When you form a relationship with the parts people who you use on a regular basis, they’ll call you to let you know about a part’s availability or if something is backordered. They keep you updated, and we need those updates so we can schedule the vehicles when the parts are expected.”
“Relationships are incredibly important,” agrees Paul
Edgcomb (CARSTAR Champion Collision; Hightstown). “We’ve dealt with some of our vendors for two or three decades. For each one, we have one point of contact, and after we submit our order, we can expect an email that details what is available and when each part will be delivered.
“Communication enhances comprehension, so it is critical,” he continues. “With other vendors, we’ve come to recognize that we’ll need to initiate contact, instead of expecting them to get back to us. We also work with suppliers who do what they say they’ll do – they need to earn our trust by being reliable and following through on their commitments.”
Obviously, delivering the parts on the indicated date ranks as a pretty important commitment, but that’s not shops’ only consideration during the delivery process. Parts handling, paperwork organization and the customer service provided by the driver also factor into how shops measure a specific parts supplier.
“All the small stuff adds up,” Kelly emphasizes. “Lots of shops just want a driver to throw the parts ‘over there’ and hand them the bill, but we have signage that indicates where the parts should be stacked to make sure nothing gets run over. Punctuality is important, but at the same time, they can only do what they can do.
“Still, even when the truck is full, great suppliers make an effort to organize the parts in a neat stack to deliver with clean paperwork,” he continues. His pet peeve is “when the paperwork is all marked up with checkmarks and notes. I need to make copies to scan to the insurer and other parties, so I need a clean copy. When they don’t provide it, I have to invest time and cost into making copies. Small things matter and add up in a typical day at the shop.”
Edgcomb believes, “It’s really important to have two deliveries a day for the major OEM’s, and although it is very difficult for the supplier, getting them to ship a complete order a few days before we start the repair, that’s ideal.”
Molina attempts to order all parts upfront to avoid the need for last-minute requests, and she appreciates this type of forethought from vendors as well. “Some drivers plan their shift based on the shop’s hours. It’s even better when they allot enough time to give us a chance to check the parts.”
In an ideal world, every order would contain exactly what the shop needed, and all parts would be in perfect condition. Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in – parts often need to be sent back when shops receive incorrect or damaged parts, the job gets canceled or the vehicle is declared a total loss – and as such, a vendor’s return process can make or break how shops view their customer service.
Streamlined return processes make the chore much easier, according to Molina. “How long do we have to wait for our money back? They charge us the same day, so why do we have to wait six weeks for a refund?”
“We understand that a credit cannot be processed
immediately, but we’ve stopped ordering from dealers that took forever to process a return,” Kelly says. “When a part goes back, the credit should be applied in a timely fashion, not in four to six weeks.”
For Edgcomb, the shop needs to do all they can to alleviate some of these issues by completely disassembling the vehicle, ordering all parts upfront and then mirror-matching the received items to confirm they’re correct.
“Once you know what you’re missing, follow up every day so you don’t get surprised at the end of the process when you’re trying to put the car back together,” he recommends, suggesting, “Having one person who is solely responsible for parts creates accountability and helps maintain our timeline. Our CSI over the past year is over 98 percent, but every unusable part we take in will negatively affect that rating, so it’s critical that we’re getting the right parts the first time and that they’re of a quality that we can actually use.”
“If something is wrong, you have to deal with the return,” Molina laments. “After a part never made it back to the warehouse, we tightened up our process…drivers have to sign the invoice because we grew tired of getting stuck when parts were lost. Unfortunately, drivers are often busy and don’t have time to wait while we check the quantity, let alone the quality, of the parts.”
Quality is an important consideration – yet, it’s largely alleviated by shops that emphasize the importance of utilizing OEM parts during the repair process. Warranties also play a less vital role for the shops predominantly utilizing OEM parts in the repair process.
“We had mostly used OEM parts in the past, but the back order status on OEM parts in the past two years has forced us to use more “alternative” parts. No doubt using OEM parts when they are available and cost effective is more profitable and streamlines the production process. We test fit aftermarket parts, and we try to work with only a very few high quality like kind and quality (LKQ) vendors who know our high standards. I can count on one hand how many warranty claims we have made in the past year. It is not worth the hassle unless it is a significant loss.
Molina agrees that aftermarket warranties “don’t mean much – maybe not even the paper they’re written on – so we transitioned to using OEM parts. Dealing with OEM parts doesn’t mean we never receive damaged goods, but those problems are less about quality and more about incorrect boxing or damage that occurred during storage or transport.”
Kelly feels similarly, but he breaks down the different types of non-OEM parts in his estimation.
“Junkyard parts sit in the weather for long periods of time, so how much rain got into that trim panel? It may look okay, but there could be corrosion around the joints that we cannot see around the door skin. We don’t use aftermarket parts because they aren’t crash-tested, and although the warranty on OEM parts matters a lot, many carriers are now selecting opt-OE parts – these aren’t continued on pg. 24
by ALANA QUARTUCCIO
Parkway Auto Body Expands
Parkway Auto Body has been successfully providing quality service to its customers for 65 years and counting –with zero signs of slowing down.
In fact, the decades-old family run business just expanded into a second location.
The facility – which has called Park Avenue in Nutley its home for the past 18 years – now has a second location in Lyndhurst in the same spot where its founder, Robert “Bobby” Villacari, began his legacy in auto body repair.
“My father originally started in Lyndhurst out of a very small two-bay garage,” shares Parkway Auto Body owner Glenn Villacari about the business’s humble origins. “Later, he moved down the street to Riverside Avenue where the shop remained until he retired and I took over in 1996.”
Now, Parkway Auto Body has returned to that Riverside Avenue spot in its hometown birthplace where it was located until Glenn decided to move to Nutley in 2004 to meet the needs of the business at the time. Following the move, the Lyndhurst location was rented to other businesses. But as if it was fate, the building was unoccupied last year when Glenn found he needed more room to deal with the overflow at his Nutley shop.
“We were so busy we needed more space,” relays Glenn. The vacant Lyndhurst location presented itself as a logical means to managing Nutley’s overflowing bays. Luckily, the Lyndhurst location was equipped with a spray booth and other equipment to handle painting and other needs.
“It’s like the perfect storm that it all fell together that way.”
Then fate stepped in again. Customers began coming through the Lyndhurst door asking for estimates, and insurers also expressed interest in work at the location. The opportunity presented itself, and “it just made sense” to open it as a second Parkway Auto Body location. They renovated the building and officially opened its doors in early May of this year.
“Without my father, this wouldn’t be in the cards,” Glenn says of the legacy he’s been honored to continue. His father passed away last year at the age of 85. Had he not grown up in the business and followed his father’s footsteps, he doesn’t know where he’d be working today.
Before his father brought his business to Lyndhurst, he started with a Gulf gas station just off the Garden State Parkway in Irvington. That is where the Parkway name comes from, Glenn explained. His father was introduced to auto body via a bodyman who rented space at his gas station. His interest in collision repair reshaped his career and business. When it came time to open the Lyndhurst shop, Bobby kept the Parkway name, and Parkway Auto Body was born.
Although he spent his summers working at his father’s shop from the age of 13, Glenn didn’t know what career path he’d take, yet the enjoyment of working on cars never left him.
“I went to Montclair State University for two years, but the demand at the shop grew; I was needed there, so I
continued on pg. 36
(L-R) Parkway Auto Body’s Nutley location & the newly renovated Parkway Auto Body in Lyndhurst
Body shops work hard for every dollar earned, but is your money working hard for you in return? Unless you’ve developed and are following a pretty comprehensive financial plan, the answer to that question is likely “no.”
Car guys typically want to focus on the repair, yet for any business to be profitable, someone needs to be keeping an eye on the finances. That’s where the financial advisors at Certified Financial Services (CFS) flex their muscles.
Andrew Gilliland, a financial advisor at CFS, believes a multi-generational approach to financial planning will best serve the collision repair industry. “Focusing on multi-generational planning, especially looking at wealth management and insurance planning, enables us to identify ways to transfer wealth between generations. It’s interesting because we’re all in the midst of a multigenerational plan at any point in time as we simultaneously benefit from where we’ve come while leading the way for whatever comes after us, but we want to lean into the intentionality of it all to make sure our plans are articulated and understood by all involved parties.”
Gilliland’s mentor, Larry Moskowitz (CFS) was the third generation of auto body professionals born into his family, and he introduced his team to the world of collision earlier this year during AASP/NJ’s NORTHEAST® 2022 Automotive Services Show.
“It was an eye-opening experience that allowed me to really understand the depth to which these shops and industry leaders were rooted to past and future generations,” Gilliland shared. “Understanding the shop culture, the different expectations among shop owners and how this community supports each other provided a lot of insights into how we can best serve our clients and have the most positive impact possible on that community.”
Community is an important concept to CFS.
“Our roots run deep within our communities. We take great pride in supporting and working closely with local charities to give back in any way we can, and our team enjoys participating in various community events that continue to build strength for those around us.”
CFS recently worked to strengthen the auto body community in New York through a “Financial Wellness” educational series, and Gilliland’s team hopes to introduce something similar in New Jersey in order to help collision repair facilities get a better grasp on their financial situation and how to improve it.
“Larger businesses often have sophisticated financial plans, but smaller body shops don’t necessarily know how
to do that for their existing businesses,” Gilliland lamented. “We want to find those individuals within the business space who most need support and financial help, and then we want to help them maximize the personal benefits of their businesses – not just for themselves but also for their families and communities. By recognizing the value they’ve built, we can help them access it and put it to good use.”
Established in 1986, Thomas Ciardella, Sr. and Michael Savino, Sr. founded CFS “with the vision of creating an elite wealth management firm built on the values of family, protection and community,” Gilliland explained. “With 120 professionals in three states managing $4 billion1 in investments and insurance, the firm has demonstrated decades of success maximizing the relationships between the CFS team and their clients to help impact the lives of those who put their trust in us. Since 1986 and for generations to come, we have been and look forward to being an environment of protection and trust with potential for growth.”
Moreover, CFS is devoted to helping individuals, families and small business owners achieve their financial goals. “While the world is constantly changing, it is comforting to know some things stay the same: that we can rely on each other,” Gilliland stressed. “We understand that each member of this community has important goals – some financial, others personal – and at the core, our goals begin and end with a focus on the people who matter most in our lives.”
CFS offers financial planning services ranging from tax strategies to retirement planning and exit strategies. For more information on Certified Financial Services, contact the firm at (201) 843-7700 or visit cfsllc.com
1Represents in force cash values for life insurance and market values of all securities accounts. Market values of securities accounts are subject to significant changes due to market conditions. The values provided should not be used in making a determination on the quality of services provided by representatives of this agency. Securities products and advisory services offered through Park Avenue Securities LLC (PAS), member FINRA, / SIPC. OSJ: 52 Forest Ave, Paramus, NJ 07652, (201) 8437700. PAS is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America® (Guardian), New York, NY. Certified Financial Services is not an affiliate or subsidiary of PAS or Guardian. 2022-140874 Exp 07/24
guaranteed or warrantied. If there wasn’t an issue with the part, it would be sold as a regular OE part.
“Installing non-OEM parts jeopardized fit, finish and functionality, which could lead to an inadequate repair,” Kelly clarifies. “Now, you’re putting an unsafe vehicle back on the road. Shops don’t always think about these things, and that can open them up to liability. High-quality parts are essential to performing a high-quality repair and protecting your business.”
Securing the sustainability of an auto body shop requires collecting sufficient profits, so pricing and discounts offered by suppliers certainly contribute to shops’ selections of whose services to use.
“A supplier’s discounts don’t have to be the best,” Edgcomb hedges, “but they need to be close to the best. Just like good shops, good vendors need to be profitable to provide the service we are looking for.”
“
A supplier’s discounts don’t have to be the best, but they need to be close to the best. Just like good shops, good vendors need to be profitable to provide the service we are looking for.
“Running a business is expensive,” Kelly asserts. “I have to get the best price possible because that discount becomes my revenue in an environment where carriers expect to dictate our labor rates.”
The smaller size of Molina’s shop prevents her from accessing the significant discounts that larger companies enjoy, even though low volume makes pricing “super important;” however, her experience as a customer is more important.
“I’ll take a hit on the discount to deal with a parts department that actually has it together. A vendor may offer an additional two to three percent discount, but if they send me a bunch of damaged parts and just can’t get it together, I’ll pay the higher amount to a more accurate supplier who puts the effort into taking care of my shop’s needs.”
Over the years, the demands placed on parts vendors have changed – and the supply chain issues that began in 2020 with the pandemic elicit new concerns from shops selecting a supplier.
“Many parts are on backorder or so difficult to get that it may take weeks to get them, and if the car isn’t
driveable, it has to sit there,” Kelly states. “But that’s the whole supply chain. Electronic ordering has made some aspects easier, but I always follow up with a call to make sure they received our order, to find out if anything is delayed and to generally make sure they don’t forget about me. Those relationships with suppliers are imperative, and the digital era doesn’t make them any less so.”
“Once you have a system down, parts ordering has become easier online, but dealing with the people on the other side has gotten worse,” Edgcomb contributes.
He acknowledges that suppliers have been contending with the same workforce shortage that plagues the collision repair industry.
“The only thing more important than obtaining parts is having the right people. A year ago, the salespeople taking orders were also picking the parts because there was no one else to do it. The quality of drivers decreased, and suppliers dealt with other challenges as well, but I think it’s getting a little better now.”
“Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy!” Molina’s response included an anecdote: “Once, I received a part that was boxed incorrectly. I showed the driver, sent him a photo, called the dealer, explained the situation and stressed how urgently I needed the correct part, yet I received another incorrectly-boxed part the next day. Why didn’t they check the replacement before sending it out?”
A vendor’s knowledge and willingness to assist may be the most important components that cause many shops to categorize a parts supplier as “good.”
“They need to be available and willing to help when there’s a problem or we’re in a bind,” Molina indicates. “With the lack of availability from the OEMs that we’re facing, is your dealer going to spend time scouring their network to source what you need, or is your job stuck until the backorder is over?”
Edgcomb imagines his perfect vendor. “You’d send them an order, and they would respond to let you know what’s in stock, what’s not, how far the backorder is and when you can expect to receive the order. Their driver would be helpful and considerate, providing us time to go through the parts and taking returns back immediately. Then, the company would process our credits in a timely fashion without us chasing it down.
“Parts are like raw materials in a restaurant; you can’t run the business without them, so you have to know what’s going on and track it,” Edgcomb quoted his brother-inlaw’s wisdom. “Once we find a good supplier, we stick with them.”
Many factors contribute to classifying a parts supplier as “good,” but auto body shops overwhelmingly expressed the need for a vendor who understands their needs and goes above and beyond to meet them. It seems like shops want the same thing from vendors that consumers want from shops, reinforcing the common belief that customer service is king!
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Will the Backlog Ever Let Up?
This past year-plus has given most body shops quite a workout. Supply chain issues on top of low manpower and insurer delays have led to a backlog of work so severe that shops have had to flex their creative muscles when it comes to scheduling work – in some cases, even turning customers away – all while trying to find a few minutes just to catch their breath.
As the summer got underway, things lightened up enough to allow for the ability to exhale once in awhile for some, but despite sky-high gas prices – which one might think would deter people from taking to the roads as often – and minimal improvement with obtaining parts, most continue to huff and puff their way through week after overloaded week.
“The phones are ringing off the hook,” reports Dean Massimini (Autotech Collision Service, Inc.; Sewell) who was already booked up until September as of mid-July. “I’m a small shop. I’ve been in business for 32 years, and before all this, I’ve never been booked up more than two weeks.”
The same can be said for Bloomfield Auto Body. Owner Anthony Trama indicates his shop is currently scheduled out about six to eight weeks.
“That comes with a disclaimer,” he explains. “It’s really based on back ordered parts. So, some customers on backordered parts are scheduled out based on when we anticipate those parts may come in. I don’t want them to have to wait two months, so I will book out eight weeks for
backordered parts and roughly four to five weeks for cars that I know I can get parts for.”
Jerry McNee (Ultimate Collision; Edison) is currently seeing a backlog of one month to six weeks; however, that is an improvement over his previous jam that left him scheduling out two to three months! Ken Miller at 821 Collision (North Haledon) says prior backlogs of three to four weeks out have subsided.
Does this mean things may be getting close to heading back to normal?
“It definitely seems like it’s getting better, but I wouldn’t say things are back to normal,” suggests McNee.
Delays with parts obviously present an issue, but other factors play a role as well.
McNee believes “it’s a combination of parts issues and insurer delays.” On top of that, he’s even had problems with his vendors. In one circumstance, he discovered one of his vendors never followed through on an order for a part he submitted. Instead of receiving the part and getting the car out the door, he received no apology and a response from the vendor that perhaps the part was sent to another shop. Clearly, McNee was left with more frustrations, no solution and an angry customer.
Trama agrees that parts delays have definitely played a role. He believes this all started when the pandemic hit, but it was the supply chain issues that accelerated things and led to the problems that shops have been battling all this time.
“There have been times we just couldn’t get any parts,” he relays. “Some that would come out from California would normally take about five to seven business days wound up taking weeks because we were told they were just sitting on a dock out there with no drivers or trucks to be able to unload and distribute them.”
The Bloomfield shop owner does believe things are getting better as parts have begun to come in sooner than expected, but when it comes to normalcy, that’s something “I don’t think we’ll see for a long time.”
Massimini has a whole different outlook. He doesn’t think it’s about supply chain issues at all.
“I honestly feel that once COVID broke loose and people got back on the roads, they honestly forgot how to drive. There’s more angry people on the road.”
He thought gas prices would change that, but it does not seem to have brought much change to a problem that isn’t just being felt in the Garden State but nationwide.
“Eventually, there will be some normalcy, but no one has a crystal ball. It’s an unusual time. And when we do have supply chain related issues or insurance delays, we just move on to the next job as there is always something to work on here.”
Miller acknowledges several factors contributing to the backlog including the industry-wide manpower issues, something he was lucky to not have been affected by as he was able to take on employees as a result of other businesses closing down.
Instead he points his finger at insurer steering. As a non-DRP shop, he believes that insurers are slamming their program shops with work, therefore causing the backlog.
“They are steering harder toward DRP shops which is why some shops are slammed and others are not,” he believes.
McNee agrees that insurance steering is taking place through all this. He’s witnessed it firsthand, watching an insurer lie to a customer as they steered work away. In the end, he was more than willing to let the car go.
“I said, ‘Take the car. I have 100 here. I don’t need another.’”
As for where things are headed, “I’d love to say it’s getting better. Our count is lowering. Something that should take a week can take two to three weeks,” McNee says.
Although shops may differ in size and makeup, all have had to find new ways to combat the challenges these issues have brought forth.
Trama says the backlog has completely changed the dynamic of the office by adding one more layer of administrative work.
“Aside from scheduling cars to come in, we have a pile of paperwork to focus on dealing with backorder parts. If a customer has been waiting for a backordered
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continued from pg. 18 took a leave from school with the goal of returning. That never happened.”
But he has zero regrets. He was meant to work in this business, doing what he enjoys.
“Back in the day, when I physically did repairs, I always enjoyed fixing something that was damaged and seeing the final product. Running the business is also interesting to me, and I enjoy learning about it continuously. There’s always something you need to know, something to learn, and to this day, it hasn’t stopped.”
With over 60 years under their belt, Parkway Auto Body’s success can be attributed to three main factors: Performing the right repair, curb appeal and the customer experience.
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A lot of guys don’t get it. They want someone to come in and rescue them. It’s about putting in the time, doing the extracurricular things to learn and grow.
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Customers keep coming back because they know the shop is clean and presentable, they want their car fixed the right way, and they know that Parkway Auto Body is the shop to do those things. Most important of all is the positive experience they get from the time they drop off their car until they pick it up. The team strives to exceed their customers’ expectations, always keeping them up to date throughout the process with a personal touch via phone calls, texts and emails. They also make sure to document every customer contact, so nothing is ever missed.
Cleanliness in and out of the shop is another key factor, which Glenn learned from his father and never stopped carrying out.
It also takes continuing education to stay ahead in a complex industry like collision repair, so he frequently attends seminars and hosts educational and motivational seminars for his employees. Back in the 1990s, Glenn got involved with the Automotive Service Association of New Jersey (ASA/NJ) serving as a Board member and later as president. He recalled the days of working closely with all involved with the merger with Garden State Federation to form what is now AASP/NJ.
“That’s where it all started for me,” he says of his longtime association with AASP/NJ. “I would go to industry seminars and take in as much knowledge as I could. I made lifelong friendships all around New Jersey and outside of it by being part of the association and serving as president..”
He strongly believes working together and taking part in the educational offerings AASP/NJ provides is key to all auto body shops.
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As for the future, Glenn can’t be certain if more growth will be on the horizon. He hadn’t set out to expand into a second location – the cards fell in place naturally; however, with the face of repair changing every day as more technology advances and EVs come into play, there just may be a need for further growth in the future. For now, Parkway Auto Body will continue to go above and beyond for their customers at both their locations.
Glenn and his father Bobby
continued from pg. 34
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continued from pg. 29
part, we have to call and verify the part will arrive in time for their scheduled appointment. We have to constantly check on things to make sure a customer never falls through the cracks.”
McNee has been practicing the same.
“Before a customer comes in, we have to call and check on these
parts. We have to set the stage and verify because, if something is on backorder, it will do us no good to bring the vehicle in.”
Massimini also goes out of his way to make sure communication with customers has been honest and upfront at the start.
“I don’t want to be doom and gloom, but I make sure to cover the
worst case scenario with them,” he explains how he addresses delays. He makes it a point to explain the insurance delays and parts issues as “an ounce of prevention goes a long way” and has even kept his customers involved in all forms of communication on their vehicle status.
“We try to get them to plan for the worst but hope for the best. That way if something does go wrong, they are aware of it. I can’t control how long their insurer will wait on a claim or how long parts issues will take. Another thing I do is not take any payment until the work is done; that way, they know I am not taking their money and then dragging out their repair. I want to make sure they know I am not playing games with them.”
Miller is looking at the backlog problem as an opportunity to learn and continue to find ways to improve internally. With parts delays still being an issue, although not as bad as it was, he’s found new ways of approaching scheduling. His shop is also exploring new ideas and ways to market his business in preparation for the return to normalcy.
As for the dynamic of the business and where we are headed, perhaps Trama’s thoughts sum it up best: “I learned that we were very spoiled years ago. Things have been turned upside down. At one time, if you had a bumper job, you knew how quickly you could get the part if you ordered it at 3pm. We were spoiled by having parts readily available to us at all times. It’s now changed cycle times and the way we do business. It’s difficult to give our customers a completion time with so many unknown factors.”
As the summer winds down and the final quarter of the year approaches, one can only hope that any signs of improvement are sure to bring along easier times – and with that – long overdue sighs of relief.
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Wharton Insurance Briefs
As insurance company underwriting becomes more stringent, one of the areas companies are looking to improve, with their customers, is a safe working environment. They are looking for written safety programs that management has implemented and will enforce. Once you have developed your safety management program, you need to communicate your safety program to your employees. This involves educating your employees about the program, including its goals, benefits and safe work practices.
You can use a number of methods to communicate your safety management program and safe work practices to employees. Safety meetings are one of the most effective methods. Set a designated time each week or month to discuss safety procedures, prior months’ incidents and measures to prevent these incidents from occurring again.
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