Volvo Trucks Dealer

A bigger deal
Investing heavily in getting your truck back on the road faster than ever before

There are two ways to keep more trucks on the road: create more capacity for repairs and get better at making repairs. Volvo Trucks is doing both in big ways.

"We have chosen to significantly increase the pace at which dealers are putting up new facilities," says Matt Davison, vice president, network development.

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The increase in investment has been significant, indeed. Since 2010, The Volvo Trucks dealer network invested more than $500 million in new or upgraded facilities, increasing technician numbers by 109% and service capacity by 80%. In 2016 alone, $112 million was invested.

Expanding everywhere New investment is happening across the country, from a six-bay expansion in Oklahoma to a 60-bay dealership in Secaucus, New Jersey, and a new 90-bay facility in Fontana, California.

"What this means for the customer is they’ll have their truck diagnosed, fixed and back on the road faster than ever before," says Davison. The expansion is being driven proactively by Volvo Trucks, in response to customer feedback.

It’s night and day how quickly they can turn around those trucks

"We’ve gone to dealers and said, "Look, your average repair time is not acceptable. You’ve got a capacity issue,"" Davison says. "You need to increase your service capacity."

The best technicians The expansion means Volvo Trucks’ dealership network will add between 400 and 450 repair bays per year over the next four to five years. They’re spending money to better train technicians, too.

But it’s not just a case of more is better. More efficient is better, according to Director of Brand and Content Development Rob Simpson.

Streamlining repairs To that end, Volvo Trucks is expanding its Certified Uptime Center program—dealerships with dedicated bays assigned to fast track the intake process and diagnose problems quickly.

As is the case with all Volvo repair shops, when a driver pulls into a Certified Uptime Center, through Remote Diagnostics, personnel from Volvo Action Services have already let technicians know what issues the truck is having before it even pulls onto the lot. Trucks that can be repaired quickly are routed to dedicated, expedited service bays.

"It’s night and day in terms of how quickly they can turn around those trucks," Simpson says.

Aided by remote diagnostics, the centers are 71% faster at diagnosing a problem and 24% faster at getting trucks back on the road.

"Certified Uptime Centers are not a marketing gimmick, they’re not an advertisement," says Simpson. "It is a very, very robust process. Dealerships have to qualify to get into the program. The competency that exists in these facilities, I feel, is best in class."

Better parts make better whole Volvo Trucks has also improved its parts distribution so that its parts availability is "world class," according to Simpson.

"We’re going to keep working on it, but we’re extremely proud of the growth in our dealerships and the investments they’re making," Davison says.

Rob Simpson | Brand and Marketing Development Director

Rob Simpson
Brand and Content Development Director

Dealers Highlights

Certified Uptime Centers

Certified Uptime Centers | Innovative processing

Innovative processing

Volvo Trucks Certified Uptime Centers fast-track repairs based on extensive standards. Trucks are diagnosed within minutes of arriving and, if the repair will take less than four hours, are routed to dedicated bays where certified master technicians complete repairs.

Master Mechanics


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Master Mechanics | Master status

Master status

Volvo Trucks has partnered with WyoTech diesel mechanics training program to help reach a longtime goal: 30% of every dealer’s technicians earn the status of Master Certified. Right now over 90% of dealers have met or surpassed that metric. Importantly, dealers also have a healthy number of technicians one level below master status, training to reach that status. “We’ve got a good pipeline of talent for things to come,” says Matt Davison.

LPA

LPA | Greater than the parts

Greater than the parts

Another Volvo advantage is the commitment to getting the the right parts to service facilities to ensure comprehensive ability to keep trucks on the road.

Asist

Accurate quotes

“It used to be that sometimes customers would wind up with a bill that varied from the initial estimate,” says Rob Simpson. With the ASIST service management tool, customers receive an accurate estimate prior to repair, and they remain involved in the repair process as it occurs. “They know exactly what’s being done and what it will cost.”