National AutoBody Research (NABR) announced it has partnered with Bob Juniper, owner of Three-C Body Shops, Inc., to launch the Bob Juniper/VRS Ray Gunder Real-Time Labor Rate Survey in Ohio.
Different than other surveys, these Variable Rate System (VRS) surveys measure the current range of market-based prices for shop labor and material rates in the collision repair industry, based on factors such as a shop’s location, training, equipment and certifications. As repair shops complete the online survey, NABR’s VRS technology automatically calculates the range of market-based rates for several labor rates including body, paint, frame and mechanical labor, as well as paint and material rates. These surveys work together with the five-step VRS process and active use of the VRS online tools to “break through the long-time trend of stagnant labor rates and restore rates to higher, free market-based levels,” states NABR.
“We are extremely enthusiastic to partner with Bob Juniper, a real leader and advocate for the collision repair industry who truly desires to make a difference for both Ohio shops and the industry,” said Richard Valenzuela, CEO of NABR. “In adopting any new technology like the VRS, someone has to go first, and Bob has the courage to do that for all of Ohio. He’s a visionary who understands that free market-based labor rates are mission critical to the future viability of the body shop business, that a change needs to be made, and the time to act is now.”
Added Juniper, “Where I come from, if you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem. It’s going to take active participation from all of us, and it’s going to take some time, so we all need to make the long-term commitment now. The industry needs market-based labor rates to earn a fair and reasonable profit so shops can invest in the right training, certifications and equipment to properly repair today’s vehicles and keep consumers safe. We need sustainable, fruitful businesses to provide for our employees and to pass on as our legacy to the next generation.”
In addition to Ohio, NABR recently launched the VRS Ray Gunder Survey in Idaho, Texas, Georgia and Florida. Throughout 2015, the company plans to launch surveys in all states nationwide to add even more labor rate data to its VRS system, building what it says will be “the industry’s first and only independent, third-party and objective source of real-time, market-based, national labor rate data.”
