National AutoBody Research (NABR) has announced the launch of the Variable Rate System (VRS) Labor Rate Survey in both Kansas and Missouri, sponsored by an anonymous Kansas City metro area collision repair center.

The online survey is free for all Kansas and Missouri collision repairer centers and can be found on the NABR website.

The VRS Labor Rate Survey provides both collision repairers and insurers with an independent, third party, trusted survey of labor rate data in markets across the U.S. The VRS reports labor rate ranges based on shops’ posted labor prices, not on an artificially defined single prevailing rate for all shops. Labor rate data can be filtered by training, certifications and equipment, among other variables, to help find apples-to-apples comparisons among body shops.

“Collision repairers deserve to be paid what they are worth, no more, no less,” said the survey sponsor, a collision repairer in the Kansas City metro area. “Different shops make different investments in training, tooling, equipment and certifications to enable high quality and safe collision repairs. Shops deserve to be compensated commensurate with that investment, and the VRS helps reveal how labor prices for those shops vary with that investment.”

Added NABR CEO Richard Valenzuela, “We are pleased to bring the Variable Rate System and the VRS Labor Rate Survey to Kansas and Missouri, in the heart of our country. These two important states help bridge the current VRS footprint from the South Central states up through the Midwest. Now they too can have the market data and online tools they need to help get paid what they are worth and get paid for more of the work they do.”

To see the VRS for themselves, any collision repair owner or general manager may request a free, no-obligation demo to see firsthand how the system can help them charge and collect sufficiently profitable labor rates and get paid for more necessary but not-included procedures.

Kansas and Missouri become the 18th and 19th states to launch the VRS Labor Rate Survey, joining other states currently running the VRS Survey including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah.