COVER STORY
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
28 | New Jersey Automotive | August 2022
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.
