21
H
ave you ever considered building
a body shop? If you haven't, now
might be the time.
Adding body shop capabilities to
an existing repair facility allows heavy-
duty service providers to capitalize on
an underserved market with increasing
demand, says Don Putney with Collision
Equipment Experts.
"There aren't a ton of businesses out
there offering heavy-duty [body shop]
service," he says. "So many service facili-
ties are started by technicians … and
they are so focused on what they are do-
ing mechanically they don't really think
about the body shop side [of service]."
Customers love the concept of one-
stop shopping, but very few heavy-duty
service providers truly offer it.
Dave Chandler, president at Chandler
Services, Inc. in Mokena, Ill., says that's
one of the reasons his business entered
the body shop business in 2013.
"We wanted to be able to cover all the
bases for our customers," says Chandler.
"We've been in the truck repair business
for 32 years, but [body shop service] was
one area we had not entered."
Chandler says he started consider-
ing body shop service when he noticed
growing concern among his customers'
with their current body shops.
They didn't enjoy relying on multiple
shops for different areas of service.
"We had one customer in particular
who was very vocal," Chandler says.
"They told us we were doing everything
else and if we also did that [body work],
it would make it easier on them."
Body shops also offer service provid-
ers an opportunity to capitalize on a
recent insurance trend to fi x, not total,
crashed trucks.
"I think we're going to see a whole lot
more of that down the road," says Greg
Witt, vice president of operations for
Virginia Truck Centers in Harrisonburg
and Richmond, Va. "With these new
engines being so much more expensive, it
makes sense."
He adds, "For a while the used truck
market dropped and insurance com-
panies were totaling them out, but now
their value is coming back up and we're
W W W . T R U C K P A R T S A N D S E R V I C E . C O M J u n e 2 0 1 4 | T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E
By Lucas Deal, Editor
lucasdeal@randallreilly.com
Service Bay
Opportunity
knocks
An aging vehicle population
means increased demand
for body shop services
Frame straightening and alignment service is
regularly required during collision repairs and body
shop related work.
