Using technology to create efficiencies in mobile tyre service

One of the most pronounced effects of the pandemic on the tyre retail business has been the uptick in online and mobile tyre business. RubberHub, a Software-as-a-Solution (SaaS) project originating in Canada, launched its beta product in 2019 and went fully goes fully live this month (February 2020), with followers and test users already hailing from around Canada, the USA and the UK. Tyres & Accessories found out more from RubberHub Inc. president and founder, David Meulensteen.

Even though the internet, technology, and global inter-connectivity have transformed countless industries allowing for greater reach, a 24/7 marketplace, and significantly improved efficiencies, it is clear that – up till now – there hasn’t been such a marked effect on the service side of the tyre industry. So, how do we utilize those great benefits when someone needs mobile tyre service for a flat tyre? Or a drive tyre blowout on the side of the highway? Or new tyres on the combine before harvest?

In the tyre industry, mobile service calls usually still start with a phone call from a customer to any one of a range of staff at a tyre shop. Often details are written or typed onto a piece of paper and passed onto the guy in charge of the service trucks. He readjusts his already readjusted plan and seeks out the next available ‘tyre guy’ for the job. That invaluable, hardworking lad is then sent off to a farm, field, roadside, or laneway, not quite sure what sort of mess he will come upon when he arrives. Managers wait patiently for his return just so they can send him off again. The bill and payment can usually be handled later. Fixing the tyre as soon as possible and getting the customer on their way is top priority. Worry about the communication, paperwork, and productivity later. Surely the internet and technology can help us find some efficiencies in that process?

RubberHub founder David Meulensteen shares his story

David Meulensteen shared from his own experience: “In our shop, the first and greatest problem was a whole lot of guys taking calls and funnelling it all down to only one guy who dispatched the service trucks. Always wanting to provide exceptional service, our helpful staff would ensure our mid-harvest, clearly distraught, running-out-of-time-before-the-rain, farm customer that we would have a service truck there just short of the speed of light. His distress was our distress, of course. Unfortunately, often three or four or five of our other helpful staff were also on the phones making the same warm-blanket promises to
other dire-emergency-tyre-casualty customers.

“We then hurriedly rushed our newly scribbled service call sheet to the central location for all service call sheets – the front counter. Here managers converged with the dispatcher guy to stress the importance of their call and how it was of the utmost priority. Except we all said that. We had all promised the world, at the same time. Our intentions were great. Our system was flawed. One hand did not know what the other was doing.

“Upon realizing the depth of our overcommitments, we would scramble and frantically dispatch any company truck with a compressor and a warm body off to save these tortured-tyre souls. Prioritized by the customer that screamed the loudest, our service guys were sent off with a laundry list of tyre problems to solve, hopefully to return before the last shop door was locked later that evening. Armed with a handwritten service sheet including the customer name and phone
number, details of his tyre ailment, and, our specialty, a hand-drawn map, the tyre tech raced off to save the world, just as we had promised.

“The hours would pass by as managers went about their day, assuming their mobile service guys were nearly finished and might be back in time to maybe get to one of tomorrow’s promises, today. Often, several phone calls were made to ‘check-in’ with the tech and assess their progress. As any mobile tyre service technician will tell you, while crawling underneath a combine, or lying under a trailer on a frozen gravel road trying to knock off the inside dual, a phone ringing in your pocket isn’t necessarily a welcome sound. Chit chat isn’t exactly on your mind at that moment. But your boss needs to know how you are doing and when you’ll be back – so he can make more promises.”

The problems with such an approach are obvious and while some forward-thinking business are already working with electronic systems, but many aren’t and there’s more once the work is finished:

“…Your dirty, beleaguered, but happy and loyal tyre guys return to the shop clutching a handful of filthy service call sheets. Some even with the added benefit of still holding that jobsite manure smell. Managers then set to the task of sorting through these sheets, deciphering hieroglyphic handwriting,
and making bills for your now-happy-again customers. That is of course, assuming the tech remembered to fill in the sheet after finishing the job. Several more laps around the shop are often needed to find your tech and confirm the many missing details he omitted on his form. What about this part? What was the wheel location? Did you use a tube?” RubberHub is Meulensteen’s solution to this age-old problem – a specialized scheduling system designed specifically for mobile tyre service – that works in real time.

All “To-do” and “In-progress” service calls are available and prioritized for anyone to see. Any RubberHub user at your shop looking to book a new service call can see instant, real time status and the priority of all the other calls currently in queue, right from their workstation, laptop, or mobile device. Staff can see there are already other tyre calamities on the schedule, where the service trucks are, and make their ‘promises’ accordingly. No more visits to the front counter only to realize you have made a commitment you can’t keep.

Instead of handing the technician a piece of paper, RubberHub allows management to assign a service call directly to the tech’s phone. The technician receives instant notification and a direct link to his next call through RubberHub on his mobile browser. The manager no longer needs to track him down in the back shop, call him under that combine, or wait for him to return from lunch to give him his next service call. All the information the tech needs for the job is
instantly available to them on their mobile device – complete with Google maps directions and an easy ‘status’ button they tap to communicate their job stage (accepted, en route, in progress, on hold, or complete). From the jobsite, technicianss simply fill in the blanks on their mobile device to input service details, parts, labour, and vehicle info. All of this information is instantly available to management, on any device, before the tech has left the farm, yard, or roadside. If needed, invoices can be prepared and emailed to the customer while the tech waits for payment.

Unexpected Problems? Puncture too large? Rim cracked? Stud broke? According to Muelensteen, RubberHub includes a photo feature with each and every job. Techs can easily and instantly add pictures so managers can quickly advise on next steps, order parts, or address problems. Job went well? Email before and after pics to your customer to let them know the work is done.

‘That tyre you fixed went flat again.’ It happens. RubberHub allows shops to re-open a previously completed service call, including all the original information, tech notes, and pictures, and place the job back into the queue. RubberHub includes a handy search feature to source old calls by customer name,
tyre size, invoice number, and more. How many service calls did your shop do last year? What was the average travel distance per call? Who was your busiest tech? How many were 11R22.5’s? Or 520/85R42’s? With RubberHub all of your historical service call data is stored and measured. Shops can use this invaluable data to reward or motivate techs, forecast and budget for fuel, even plan inventory requirements. In today’s world, data is everything. All of this detailed information is stored securely in your personalized RubberHub cloud server. All service call photos, customer and vehicle information, and tyre related data, is stored safely and available for easy access and future reference.

In short, according to Mulensteen, drivers of every kind can send a mobile tyre service request, complete with details, photos, and location coordinates directly to their chosen, or nearest, mobile tyre service provider. Or, in other words, technology has finally entered the mobile tyre service space.