Labor review
A look at your schedules, time punches, car counts and labor reports to see where hours go.
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Car wash labor and staffing consulting
Labor is usually the biggest cost a car wash can control, and the easiest one to get wrong in both directions. Too many people on a slow afternoon, too few at the Saturday peak. We help you schedule to your car counts, cover every station and keep the right people, without cutting into the customer experience.
Problems we fix
Labor problems we fix.
- Overstaffed slow shifts and short-staffed peaks
- Schedules built from habit instead of car counts
- Constant hiring that never catches up with turnover
- Overtime and labor percent that keep creeping up
Our team brings over two decades of car wash operations and 3,000+ people hired and trained, crew to CEO. We have built schedules and staffing plans for every kind of wash. Cutting labor never comes at the expense of the customer; the goal is the right people, at the right stations, at the right times.
What's included
What we build with your team.
Schedules built on car count
Staffing templates by day and hour, based on your traffic. Our labor scheduling guide explains the approach.
Station coverage plan
Minimum and peak staffing for each station, plus cross-training so one call-out does not break a shift.
Staffing and retention
Recruiting and onboarding that keep the roster full. See hiring and training programs.
Weekly labor review
A simple routine for managers to review labor against car count and adjust the next schedule.
Manager training
Teaching managers to build and adjust schedules themselves, through our manager training.
How we work
From first call to a standard that holds.
- Discovery callThirty minutes on your staffing, schedules and labor reports.
- Data and site reviewWe review your numbers and watch the site across busy and slow shifts.
- Staffing planSchedule templates, station coverage and a written plan you approve.
- RolloutWe train your managers to schedule and run the weekly labor review.
- Follow-upCheck-ins on labor and service levels until the new schedules hold.
Right people, right stations
Labor is a schedule problem before it is a cost problem.
When schedules follow car counts, the peak gets covered, the slow afternoon stops bleeding hours and your best people are not burned out by Saturday.
Built from your own car counts
What we measure
The numbers that tell you it's working.
Every engagement is tied to numbers from your own reports, agreed on before work starts, and scoped in writing with a not-to-exceed cap.
- Labor percent by site and week
- Cars per labor hour
- Overtime hours
- Crew turnover and 90-day retention
- Wait times and customer reviews at peak
Straight answers
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate car wash labor cost?
Labor percent is total labor cost divided by revenue for the same period. Cars per labor hour is car count divided by labor hours worked. Tracking both weekly, by site, shows where scheduling is off.
How many employees does a car wash need?
It depends on the format, the number of stations and your traffic by hour. The right answer comes from your own car counts, not a rule of thumb. That is what a staffing plan works out.
Will reducing labor hurt the customer experience?
It should not. We look for hours that do not serve customers, like overstaffed slow periods, and protect coverage at the peaks.
Can you help with hiring when we are short-staffed?
Yes. Labor and staffing work often includes recruiting, onboarding and retention, so the schedule you build can actually be filled.
What reports do you need to start?
Usually car counts by hour, schedules, payroll or time punch reports and revenue by site. We go over exactly what to pull on the discovery call.
Related reading
LaborHow to schedule car wash labor to car counts
PeopleThe real cost of car wash employee turnover
HiringCar wash interview questions: how to screen and hire attendants
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Next step
Tell us what's not working. We'll tell you straight.
A free 30-minute discovery call. You describe the sites; we tell you what we'd look at first and whether we're the right fit. Florida-based, working with operators nationwide.