PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Mack Trucks is rolling out a network of Certified Uptime Centers, dealers that have taken steps to expedite repairs and improve uptime.

To qualify for the certification program, dealers have to rethink their approach to service. The program standardizes workflow and does away with the traditional first-come, first-served model that often means it takes longer than necessary to complete simple repairs.

Stephen Roy, president of Mack Trucks North America, discussed the program at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition. He said industry-wide, downtime events average four days even when the average repair time sits at just 3.5 hours. Mack Certified Uptime Centers will prioritize quick repairs by dedicating bays and technicians to this work so that customers needing minor repairs can get in and out of the shop more quickly.

Roy said this type of job represents about 40-50% of service events.

David Pardue, vice-president of aftermarket business development with Mack Trucks, said “Certified Uptime Centers are about improving the workflow and the workshop processes within the service bays at our dealerships. It’s not a program, it’s not a campaign, it’s something that’s intended to drive and secure true process changes from the check-in point, when the customer arrives, to the time they leave the dealership.”

At a Mack Certified Uptime Center, quick jobs will no longer get bogged down behind major jobs, Pardue explained. Certified dealers will dedicated one or more bays to the quick jobs, depending on the market and size of the dealership. But Roy said the pilot project, involving more than 20 dealers, has improved overall throughput and has not resulted in the bigger jobs taking longer to complete.

But, “Dealers have to change the way they do business,” Pardue acknowledged.

“This certification goes beyond just improving diagnostic times,” said Roy. “We’re increasing customers uptime by changing our approach to the service process, ensuring our customers’ trucks are diagnosed and repaired efficiently and returned back to them as quickly as possible.”