When you’re running a lean operation, chances are you’re reluctant to increase overhead, but the position of an in-house mechanic can pay for itself in increased productivity if the role is created at the right time.
Benefits of an In-House Mechanic
Without an in-house mechanic, when a piece of equipment goes down, you are at the mercy of an outside shop’s pricing and timeline.
Danielle Padilla, president of Padilla Group, Inc., based in Brentwood, California, says that when they had to take their equipment to a third party, it could take up to one or two weeks, depending on the type of service it needed. Now, with their in-house mechanics, they can have repairs done typically by the next morning. Padilla says her in-house mechanics have reduced her mechanic labor costs by 40%.
“The biggest benefit is reduced downtime,” says Nelson Alvarado, director of fleet and asset strategy for Russell Landscape Group, headquartered in Sugar Hill, Georgia. “You don’t have to wait days or weeks for a vendor to diagnose and repair equipment. A good mechanic keeps equipment available, helps maintain preventive maintenance schedules, and supports productivity across the operation.”
Alvarado adds that in-house mechanics can also prevent equipment failure through preventive maintenance and extend asset life.
Kevin McHale, principal of McHale Landscape Design, Inc., based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, says prior to having an in-house mechanic, their mechanical repairs cost them about 10% of their revenue when they had 20 trucks and $10 million in revenue. He says they also didn’t do any preventive maintenance prior to having an in-house mechanic.
“I certainly know the value of it now, and I did not know the value of it before we made that decision, because the intangibles are pretty lengthy,” McHale says. “You look at how much downtime you save without having to send trucks and equipment out for repairs, or when you can send a mobile mechanic to a job site to do repairs. It’s immeasurable the savings that you have there.”
When to Hire In-House Mechanic
The size of your fleet and your revenue are the two main factors in whether it makes sense to hire an in-house mechanic. Alvarado says once you get to around 10 to 12 trucks, along with the associated mowers and handheld equipment, you should consider it.
“I’d say around $2.5 million to $3 million annually,” Alvarado says. “That’s where you’ll begin seeing meaningful savings and operational improvements from having a competent mechanic in-house.”
What’s important to understand is adding an in-house mechanic doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing decision. For instance, Padilla currently only has two part-time mechanics at her company size.
“My mechanics do it at the end of the workday or on a weekend, depending on what’s needed,” Padilla says. “It’s a benefit to us because it also allows our team members to make some extra money doing mechanic work, and the crews are ready to roll the next day.”
McHale says they approached implementing in-house mechanics in stages. When they had 28 vehicles and were at $15 million, they had an employee work as a part-time mechanic and were able to reduce their mechanical repairs from 10% to 8%. Three to four years later, they hired their first full-time mechanic once they were at $18 million in annual revenue and reduced their expenses to 6%.
“If you fast forward to today, Jake and his staff of mechanics, we’re running about 2% mechanical costs and repairs,” McHale says.
Jake McHale, fleet manager of McHale, notes that if you have a good asset replenishment program where you turn your equipment on a regular basis, you may not need a mechanic quite so early on.
“If you’re keeping trucks to 300,000 miles and really holding them until they die, you’re going to have a lot more mechanical issues, and the need for a mechanic comes in,” Jake McHale says.
You also need to think through how you’ll scale your mechanic team with the business. Alvarado recommends having one mechanic for every 15 maintenance trucks.
“I’m a big believer in having at least one mechanic at every location whenever the operation can support it,” Alvarado says. “The closer the mechanic is to the equipment, the faster issues get addressed and the less downtime you experience.”
McHale opts to spread their nine mechanics across four shop locations.
“We use Upper Marlboro as the main hub where we have four mechanics on staff, and the Upper Marlboro shop is able to do the biggest and most challenging repairs,” Jake McHale says . “The other shops are more dedicated to preventative maintenance.”
What Makes a Good In-House Mechanic
When looking for an in-house mechanic some of the key traits to look for include: reliability, trustworthiness and the ability to work on a variety of trucks and equipment.
“Specifically in the landscape industry, the mechanics have to be willing to be well versed,” Jake McHale says. “Being well versed is a huge attribute because the landscape industry has so many different pieces of equipment to work on, and you got to be able to go from a weed eater to a diesel truck really quickly, and be willing to do that.”
Alvarado says you should also look for someone who understands preventive maintenance, organization, and documentation.
“The mechanic’s value isn’t just turning wrenches,” Alvarado says. “It’s helping create a system that keeps equipment running, reduces downtime, tracks maintenance history, and supports the overall operation.”
Another trait to consider is the mechanic’s business aptitude. Kevin McHale says at their company, the shop is a profit center and they track it.
“The shop is contributing to the bottom line of the company, and to have somebody that understands a little bit about business, but the idea that they understand how to read a P&L and that they understand how expenses are determined and how they’re evaluated and analyzed as a percentage of revenue, that’s a big bonus if you can have someone who is mechanical and understands a basic profit and loss statement,” Kevin McHale says.
Where To Find Your Mechanics
Alvarado says most of their mechanics have come through referrals, and they’ve also hired through Indeed. McHale has used headhunters and word of mouth to find most of their mechanics. Jake McHale says two of their mechanics were laborers who showed interest in learning the trade that they’ve trained over time.
Padilla also found her two mechanics within the company.
“When you take the time to get to know your team, that’s when we found out one of our employees used to be a mechanic before he came to work for us in our landscape division,” Padilla says. “He offered to help, and from that point the in-house mechanic program bloomed.”
Padilla says she first started them out on smaller jobs to ensure they had the knowledge.
“Mechanic work isn’t my specialty, so I had to rely on my vendors early on to confirm things were being serviced or repaired properly,” Padilla says. “The one thing I love about our mechanics is that if it’s something they don’t know, they’re willing to learn or ask me to have our vendor look at it. Knowing your capabilities and not trying to do it all is very important, especially with equipment, trucks, and trailers. We have to be sure what we’re doing is correct and that we’re providing safe equipment for our team to work with.”
