Posted by u/second_gen_plumber
Flat rate or hourly? What are you all running?
Answered by Ask a Shop Owner ·
Dad ran hourly for 40 years. I want to switch to flat rate. Worth the hassle?
u/askashopowner Owner-operator advisor
Top answer
Flat rate wins on every metric that matters: revenue per truck, customer satisfaction, tech productivity, and margin consistency. The upfront work (building the book) is real: 2 to 4 months of pricing every common job and training techs to sell it.
Buy a starter flat-rate book from Callahan Roach, Profit Rhino, or similar. Do not build it from scratch. Then adjust every price for your market. Your book should update quarterly, not annually.
Techs will push back for six months. The ones who make it through will make more money on commission than they ever did on hourly, and they become your believers.
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