View From The Trenches

If one has a dog or cat that they have had for a decade it becomes part of the family. As it gets older and more infirmed, the tendency is to lower one’s expectations for its activities. Sometimes, when one gets lucky, both owner and pet gets to choose the time to say goodbye. Well, that time has come me. Luckily it is not Fido, nor Mittens, but it is for my 2000 Chevy install truck that does not have a real name, but has been called many things. By the time this is posted, it will have seen its last days on a road—in one piece.

Ten years ago I needed to replace my aging Dakota. I was tired of over-the-rail storage and having an exposed tool box. One of my friends at a dealership was prepping an unusual vehicle for sale. An electrician had traded in his truck that had a “sport-utility” bed. There was a local truck body manufacturer that created a service truck that had six cabinets but had built the bed to the same width as a stock one. The truck was perfect since it was narrow enough to maneuver on car lots without creating more work for vendor body shops and risk for my liability insurer. I could carry far more tools and supplies without fear of theft and most important, I could give my dog a larger passenger seat.

I bought that truck with 74,000 miles on it and by the time I hand it over the recycler, I will have added 210,000 more. I can’t say it has been a bad truck. It has only left me stranded once in a decade—far less than I can say for dealership managers and ex-wives. However in the past year it has drained me of finances faster than a 20-something with a rich sugar daddy. In 2010, I rebuilt the entire front end and steering box. Brake rotors and pads were replaced with not-so-perfect results. Only in the past month have further repairs loomed. The fuel pump was failing, tires had reached their limit, electrical short in rear tail lights and an ominous ticking sound emanating from the engine.

Reaching the decision to buy a replacement truck has not come easy. I just crashed through my sixth decade, a time one should be thinking more about what kind of easy chair to buy rather than an installation vehicle. There are far too many glass concerns in my town I could thank for prolonging my career. Yet, while much can be said for their depressing profits (and craftsmanship), sadly I have been the poster child of cost plus pricing for decades. If anyone believes that business model is a road map to financial success, I would argue otherwise.

I was not overcome with creativity when picking a replacement vehicle. I have a large distaste for mini pick-up purveyors so buying an 80′s model of a Japanese truck was not an option. I toyed with buying a used cargo van, but in addition to undesirable driving characteristics over my daily mountain freeway commute, accessibility to the contents of the storage cabinets was an issue. Cost is always a concern and durability is as well.  I ended up finding a 03 Chevy 2500 with a Knappheide service body that only had 30,000 miles on the odometer. It was a USN base truck sold as surplus. It is practically the same stripped truck I had before but far newer with wider cabinets. Same color so my regular accounts, as well as my dog, won’t be confused.

The one thing I am both dreading and fixated on is the day of the actual switch. I have literally become a shop on wheels when it comes to clips, moldings and an assortment of salvaged parts. I must have six sets of rear glass mounts for older Explorers, lift gate hardware for various vehicles and all sorts of connectors for all sorts of cars.  Should I employ the theory that if you haven’t needed it for five years then toss it?  I can’t say that I would want to throw out a mirror mount for a 50s or early 60s era Ford. Those are the type of choices that one could end up paying for some time in the future.

One thing I am looking forward to is being organized. That has always been a transient state of mind for me. I figure one side of the new service vehicle will be dedicated to tools and the other for materials and support items. I have super scraper blades in my tool box and in at least two different locations—same with cold knife blades. Got wire?  I have spools stashed in various places. I have had my Express behind my truck seat because the case would never fit anywhere in my cabinets and over time almost every cabinet lock became inoperative making overnight security a question mark. I’ve also upset the dog every time I fold the seat forward to retrieve it. Batteries, chargers and gloves can now all have a proper place to call home. The biggest change is that I plan to rid myself of my tool box. I have always had a Snap-On five tray top box with a lockable cover. I simply am tired of sliding the box out on my tailgate, dealing with unleveled surfaces and worrying about theft. I plan to dedicate one cabinet to those tools and have a carrying tray to hold the ones used on almost every job. Why not—I’ve got working locks again.

Getting something different is always a time of excitement yet I feel a wistfulness of sorts for the veteran being place out to pasture (literally). I really can’t give it a “perfect day” before pulling the plug on “Old Faithful.” I guess I could add a quart of synthetic oil to the crankcase as a “last meal.”  I’m not sure what else I can do to thank a ton of metal for helping me make it through a decade, unscathed.

It will live on in a way. I expect its hood, doors, and cab among other parts will see the road again. My 24” nine lite, Burco glass rack will also have a new life as well since I am replacing it too. One of my service advisors’ friends wants to salvage it off my truck to use as a surfboard carrier. A use, I would bet, the designers and distributors did not ever have in mind for it—only inCalifornia, my friends (a land where square pegs are constantly trying to fit into round holes). My wife is very proud of the fact that I have chosen to recycle. I have only made one request of the wrecking yard—that this truck will be dismantled for parts. I just don’t want to pull up to a glass distributor and see my old truck staring back at me being used by some faux paus installer. I might just be tempted to pull out a firearm and put that truck out of its misery right then and there.

One of the most underrated and stressful tasks an auto glazier has to perform is removals and replacements (R&Rs). Sometimes they are referred to as R&Is (for install). No matter what one calls them, it can be a dirty and hazardous task along with being both physically and mentally challenging. Along with every other labor function, being fairly paid for such operations has taken a sad turn for the worse. I would like to add a few words of protest.

I am not sure what body or glass shops, along with adjustors, are thinking. Removals have not gotten any easier as far as auto designs go. We have so many vehicles that have encapsulated quarter glass or backlites. Take almost any German auto manufacturer and one will find so many wired elements built into a back glass that damaging a component is an everyday risk. Add that designers have incorporated more laminated glass to increase soundproofing or have created such tight tolerances to discourage air flow disruption. All of these factors and more add up to making removals more tough to perform in a timely and profitable manner.

Now, our removal technology has risen from the stone-age—well, sort of. Twenty-five years ago wire was the most commonly used tool to take urethane adhered glass out of vehicles. Sharpened putty knives used like chisels were also popular. Today, there are electric and air tools that have the sole purpose of making any sort of removal less physically strenuous. However to counterbalance that asset, those very same tools in the hands of someone without patience can, and oftentimes will, cause unintended collateral damage to the surrounding areas or the glass assembly itself.

Wire has also evolved. We have gone from the type used in pianos to that of being braided or “squared.” Those advancements have allowed technicians to use less physical effort to cut through urethanes and mounting pegs. Wire is acknowledged as perhaps being the least potentially detrimental to a car’s pinchweld and side wall. Today there are manual and powered wire spool devices coming into use that are designed to encircle a windshield and cut the urethane as it is drawn inward. As with any technology, these implements of “mess destruction” cost money to purchase. In fact, any removal tool other than a simple spool of wire and two handles costs many hundreds of dollars to purchase.

Putting glass back into a repaired vehicle is not without drama or debate. There are AGRSS standards that frown upon the use of used glass (what does one call a part that one has removed?). Urethane adhesion to newly painted surfaces is also problematical.  Perhaps Mercedes’ policy of not painting pinchwelds is the best answer but one has to take in consideration the gassing of new paint which affects urethane adhesion and educating both the body or glass shop in proper surface preparation to prevent adhesion failure or corrosion.

Add into the equation that adjustors along with body shop owners expect the impossible when R&Rs are called for. By impossible, I mean that no damage or breakage should occur in their minds and that they make every effort to assess the removing glass shop’s responsibility for anything other than perfection.

So with tougher removals of expensive glass assemblies, higher costs of tools and more preparation needed for proper adhesion along with liability demands, why are the rates for R&Rs dropping faster than Texas hailstones?

Labor rates have been under pressure from two sources. Some insurers will cite R&R rates quoted to them by Safelite under what I presume are contractual parameters made through TPA management. What I have heard and observed in some urban areas is that Safelite distains such work due to profitability issues, which leaves such activities to independents who will accept those rates, if not lower them further to gain customers.

Competition is further encouraged since glass removals are included in many repair operations and the collision shop can retain more profit for themselves by farming out such work to low bidders.

I wrote about this subject almost three years ago and the slide downward has not continued to abate. I have a colleague here in San Jose that handles a body shop account that works mainly on late model Mercedes priced well over $100K. He was told recently to cut his labor charge to under the century mark for removals due to demands from competition and insurers. This is on cars that have encapsulated laminated back glass that can cost in the thousands of dollars. In fact, there is no bargain glass anywhere on a Mercedes. During three years as a vendor he has never lost a windshield or back glass during removal, never had a comeback and shows up upon request. The financial liability he incurs is tremendous and no regard is given to either his proficiency, professionalism or his costs of doing business. He is caught in a real bind as the shop has grown in size and has developed into his largest account. Yet, he is being squeezed lower and lower to satisfy someone else’s bottom line.

One reason for this type of situation is that in the San Francisco Bay Area we have, like many other areas, mobile services that pander to large insurance driven production collision repair centers. Since these body shops run large crews on two shifts, demands for R&Rs occur both day and night and on weekends as well. Far too many of those who are servicing glass concerns are underground and have a murky legal existence, if any. Yet, they have become established simply due to pricing and availability. I have observed a few of these “services” in action during both the removal and install phases and I shudder in agony at their lack of adherence to existing professional standards.

The craft of auto glass glazing has allowed itself to be compromised, if not sacrificed on the altar of “free enterprise.”  It seems more of us are doing more “free” work or just being paid less for it. Nowhere is that fact more clear when doing collision related glazing. We are allowing outside forces to influence, if not control, certain levels of pricing. To add insult to injury, it seems anyone (and I mean anyone) is free to call themselves auto glass professionals. Many of those are as much to blame for our profit woes as any single insurer, TPA or body shop. The reason being the only business model they know is to undercut the competition to gain access to markets which plays into the hands of those who wish to devalue our craft. It is a vicious cycle that is self-induced and self perpetuating, which is in turn leading to self-destruction.

I am one of those auto glaziers that like the challenge of body shop work. It is hard, oftentimes noisy and dirty, but full of variety. For me, it is a chance to form friendships, practice teamwork and the ability to learn to swear in at least three different languages, if not more. I simply want to be paid fairly for the craft that I practice, the costs incurred and the risk that I assume. Insurers do that—successful body shops as well—so why not auto glass? When and why did this industry become the red-headed stepchild to be minimized? The answer to that question needs a mirror and a Mitchell-based algorithm.

I love competition. I would be the first one to view or to play in one. In golf, in spite of my age and my profession, I try to shoehorn practice time so that I can do my best in senior tournaments come the weekend. Winter is the worst season. With its short days and demands for installs, if I do find time, it would be on a driving range—something I hate. I dislike it because the practice does not in any way duplicate game-like conditions.  So when I read of the Best of Belron events or the Auto Glass Technician Olympics, the thought comes to mind of how unnatural these competitions actually can be when compared to real life.

What is the criteria to become “numero uno?”  Is it technical knowledge? Proficiency? Coordination? How can these traits, much less unnamed other traits, be determined under laboratory conditions being viewed through the critical eyes of judges?  What do these “games” prove?  While there is indeed the pressure of actual head to head competition and the fear of failure, do these “beauty contests” actually identify the “best of the best?” My first thought is no.

My first complaint comes with participants knowing what cars are being used in the competition and how antiseptic those vehicles are.  Let’s see a four year-old BMW with plastic degradation or a DW1341 used during one of these events. I would love to see DW951 Corvettes brought in without any peripheral replacement parts and see how well and how long the install would go.

What about throwing in a late model Jetta and limit removal to the use of mechanical wire systems? I wonder if that criteria was already in play this past week in New Orleans since Belron is rumored to be mandating use of such tools at some point here in the U.S. If so, I will eagerly wait to see how time for removals was rated.  

If we are testing for tempered glass replacement, let’s actually break an Audi, VW or even a Mazda sidelight and rate the competitors on how fast and on how thorough they do clean-up as well as install.  How about jam up a door motor with glass or make them refit a regulator riser to its rail? 

What about molding removal? Bring in a few used Honda Odysseys, late model Acura TSXs  or 2012 Explorers and  judge the contestants on how fast and well they remove said moldings without collateral damage to either those parts or to their retaining parts.  I would hope the use of “liquid clips” would be a cause for point reduction

Would anyone like to see solo cutouts and installs of Honda Ridgeline back glass assemblies done in a competition? I don’t believe the contestants would.

Mobiles have it the toughest and that very prevalent business practice is basically ignored at these gatherings. Give these guys 4-6 jobs in a 50 mile radius of various types of jobs and rate them for time as well as competency.  Doing installs under controlled, almost laboratory conditions in these “Olympic” events don’t always reveal who may be the best when dealing with adversity. The other factor that I would assume to be very hard to rate is conscience. If things go south, so to speak, how do our best react to that?

Not to ignore our glass repair technicians—having a fresh break of any length makes for an easier repair. Let’s see how our elite techs deal with old dirty cracks and not do the competition in air conditioned convention centers.  I’d like to see both ends of temperature extremes and how well they deal with negative work conditions. Same goes for the installers.

I am not here to bash anyone. I have viewed message boards that have trashed the world’s largest glass company’s own internal contests whoseU.S.competitions were being held this past week. More power to them. I may not agree with many of that company’s policies or programs but I do respect good technicians from any employer. I am not smug enough to believe thatColumbusdoes not have any great ones either—they do. What concerns me much more is that there are far too many “hack” independents that exist that can’t hold a candle, much less a suction cup, to many in that company’s employ. Either raising their skills up or removing them from practice would improve the overall reputation of the entire industry more so than any contest could or would do.

However, I do applaud any attempt made by the auto glass repair and replacement industry to try to identify and reward the crème-de-la-crème of our practitioners. It could elevate and perhaps inspire others to raise the level of professionalism. Let’s also realize it for what it is—an attempt. I strongly believe that there are, at a minimum, hundreds if not a thousand or so auto glass technicians in this country that could easily form an elite corps. Some of us are gifted at technical knowledge. Others are extremely proficient with tools and other manual aptitudes that our trade demands. Having both skill sets is indeed a cause for celebration and affirmation. But the reality of actually identifying the very, very best is a tricky and slippery endeavor to undertake. After all, take a lesson from college football, the existing BCS system is hardly one that is infallible.