Twelve cars on the yard and nobody sure which can be worked on
Walk the yard on a Monday and it is full. There are cars that came in on a recovery truck on Friday, cars dropped off by customers who were told to leave them, and a couple that have been there so long they have a film of dust. Some are waiting for a physical engineer inspection, some for a desk-based assessment of your images, one for the insurer to decide on liability, one because the customer has not paid an excess or signed a form.
The workshop controller wants work for the technicians. The office knows which cars are authorised, mostly. The difference between the two lists is where the Monday morning argument starts.
Waiting is treated as a status, not as work
Your management system probably has a status like 'awaiting authorisation'. What it does not say is what the authorisation is waiting on, who has the next action, or when anyone last checked. A car that is waiting for an engineer visit needs a booking. A car waiting on a liability decision needs nothing from you except patience and an occasional chase. Those look identical on a status report.
- Engineer inspections are booked by phone or portal, and the visit time is not always recorded.
- Desk assessments depend on complete images, so a missing shot can stall a car silently.
- Liability and cover questions sit with the insurer and are rarely chased on a schedule.
- Customer actions (signing, excess, choosing to repair or not) are chased by whoever answers the phone.
What an overloaded yard costs
Yard space is limited, and when it is full you turn away work or start stacking cars in ways that need shuffling every time one moves. Technicians wait for authorised work while unauthorised cars occupy the space nearest the door. Customers without a courtesy car are without a vehicle, and ring to ask why nothing has happened.
Cars that turn out to be total losses have often been on your yard for a long time before anyone decided, which ties up space for something you will not repair.
How we build an authorisation queue
- Every car arriving on site is checked in with registration, photos and location on the yard, so the queue matches what is physically there.
- Each car carries a 'waiting on' reason from a short list: engineer inspection, desk assessment, liability or cover decision, customer action, or supplementary information.
- Each reason has an owner and a next action. An engineer inspection needs a booked time; a customer action needs a call; a liability decision needs a chase date.
- The queue sorts by days on site and flags anything with no next action recorded.
- When authorisation arrives, the car moves to the workshop plan with its approved hours, so the controller can load it straight away.
- Cars that are heading towards a total loss decision are highlighted, so the salvage and storage conversation starts early.
| Waiting on | Next action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Engineer inspection | Book or confirm visit time | Front office |
| Desk assessment | Check images complete, chase | Estimator |
| Liability or cover | Chase on a set date | Front office |
| Customer action | Call, text or email | Customer service |
| Total loss likely | Ask for decision and collection | Manager |
The yard, a month later
The Monday walk round becomes a check rather than a discovery. Everyone looks at the same queue, and the controller knows which cars will be released today. Engineers' visits are booked while they are still useful, and the few cars that really are stuck have a named person on them.
You also get a clear picture of where waits come from, which work provider, which reason, which makes it easier to raise with the people who can change it.
Signs this is your yard
- The yard is full but the workshop is short of authorised work.
- You cannot say for each car what it is waiting for.
- Engineer visits are sometimes missed because nobody knew they were due.
- Total losses sit on site for a long time before collection.
- Customers chase you before you chase the insurer.