Dobbs Truck Group

Decisiv and TruVideo driving a greater level of customer service

As a steadily growing truck dealership, Dobbs Truck Group is focused on ensuring that its ongoing expansion incorporates an unmatched level of customer service. It’s not lost on Jonathan Gipson, Director of Service, that one of the five pillars in the company’s #DobbsValue foundation is S – Superior Service.

The Dobbs operation consists of Dobbs Peterbilt with 17 facilities in seven states, and four Western Truck Center locations that offer Volvo, Mack, Hino and Autocar service.

Technology plays a key role in the service operations across all Dobbs locations. OEM-branded Decisiv SRM solutions are central platforms, including the PACCAR Solutions Service Management (PSSM) platform, ASIST from Mack and Volvo, and Hino Case Management. Autocar service events are managed in the Decisiv SRM system as well. Dobbs credits these platforms with helping the company’s service locations decrease dwell time and increase service revenue.

The Decisiv platforms serve as a single source of collaboration and communication with customers for Dobbs and between the company’s locations. The SRM technology is also integrated with the two Dealer Management Systems in place at Dobbs Peterbilt and Western Truck Center facilities, and a labor time estimating guide.

In the fall of 2021, after TruVideo joined the rapidly-expanding Decisiv SRM Ecosystem, Dobbs incorporated the company’s inspection video technology in their SRM applications across all OEM platforms. Access to videos is provided by a link in SRM Case, the core of Decisiv’s suite of SRM applications that allows users to create and manage end-to-end service event workflow between multiple participants on any computer or mobile device.

Augmenting service management with inspection videos

With TruVideo, Dobbs service locations are enabling a more detailed view of repair needs. This facilitates the ability to rapidly review and approve estimates, which contributes directly to a reduction in downtime for customers.

TruVideo is now used at Dobbs dealerships in several ways:

• Service advisors complete a walkaround of all vehicles as part of the check-in process. The video is then linked to SRM Case when a service event is assigned to a technician.
• Technicians use TruVideo on mobile devices as they perform an initial inspection. The video is then included in the initial estimate sent to customers for approval.
• During a service event, TruVideo is used to document new items that require repair but were not included in the original estimate, for example if a broken bolt is found during disassembly.
• The Dobbs Truck Group centralized warranty team is also using SRM Case data and TruVideo to show damaged components as part of a claim. Using the SRM platform’s Instant Chat messaging function, warranty personnel can send a request to a service advisor or technician, attach a video, and receive the service case number.

In the future, Dobbs will also use the integrated Decisiv SRM-TruVideo capability as part of its quality control inspection process that follows all repairs.

Adding measurable value

With its growth, including adding three new locations in the past year, Dobbs Truck Group estimates it will handle about $50 million in labor sales and five times that amount for parts. Today, it credits the use of Decisiv SRM, and the TruVideo integration, with boosting service revenue by lowering dwell time during service events through a more streamlined and efficient estimate approval process.

In particular, Dobbs points to increased shop throughput while the number of repair orders has been steady and it has not added any technicians. Indications include:

• In Dobbs U.S. Southern dealerships, direct labor averaged 8,800 hours in April compared to 6,400 hours monthly last year, a 38% increase.
• In Dobbs Western U.S. facilities, monthly labor hours billed increased 21% year over year.
• In the first quarter of 2022, labor sales per Dobbs technician rose nearly 50%, compared to the quarterly average in 2021.
• In just one of its locations that opened 74 cases in Decisiv SRM in April, service events managed in SRM Case that included TruVideo generated $3,812 more parts and labor revenue on average.

Solidifying integrity through trusted customer service

Growing organically and through acquisitions, Dobbs Truck Group is equally focused on managing service events by being a technology-forward company. With Decisiv SRM platforms as a central part of that effort it is enabling consistent best practices for its customers.

Dobbs Truck Group, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, is the privately-owned parent company of Dobbs Peterbilt, which operates 17 facilities in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, and Western Truck Center, a Volvo, Mack, Hino, Autocar and Crane Carrier dealership with four locations in California. The company offers new and used trucks, parts, service, body shops, and lease and rental fleets.