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How do you handle technician scheduling during peak seasons?

Mike Dolan

HVAC peak season is here and my dispatch board looks like a accident scene. We're already running 60 hour weeks and I'm still turning away jobs.

Currently have 12 techs, normally handle 8-10 calls per day per tech. Right now we're at 14-16 and quality is starting to slip. Callbacks are up.

What actually works? I don't need theory, I need something I can implement Monday morning.

Specifically:

  • Are you using temporary/contract techs? Worth the training overhead?
  • Overtime vs hiring — where's your break-even?
  • How do you prioritize when everything's "urgent"?

Also — anyone using the new bulk assignment feature that shipped last month? Saw the announcement but haven't had time to test.

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  • Contractors... been there. Half of them can't find their own truck without GPS.

    My approach: overtime with your A-team beats contractors every time. Yes it's expensive. So is reworking a botched install.

    We run 4 ten-hour shifts instead of 5 eights during peak. Techs love the long weekends. Dispatch hates the scheduling complexity. Customers don't care as long as someone shows up.

    Break-even for us was around 15% overtime hours. Above that, hire another body.

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  • Contractors... been there. Half of them can't find their own truck without GPS.

    My approach: overtime with your A-team beats contractors every time. Yes it's expensive. So is reworking a botched install.

    We run 4 ten-hour shifts instead of 5 eights during peak. Techs love the long weekends. Dispatch hates the scheduling complexity. Customers don't care as long as someone shows up.

    Break-even for us was around 15% overtime hours. Above that, hire another body.

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  • in reply to Ray DeLuca

    ^ this. In my experience contractors are fine for labor, terrible for anything customer-facing. Had one walk into a house with boots covered in mud from the last job. Customer called me directly screaming.

    Four tens is the way. Your best techs will stay, your mediocre ones will quit. That's not a bug.

  • in reply to Ray DeLuca

    Thanks so much for this thread everyone! Really appreciate all the perspectives!

    We're actually looking at the 4x10 schedule too — did you all offer the same hourly rate or did you have to adjust? And how did you handle the dispatch coverage? Our dispatchers are already stretched thin and I'm worried about burnout there too. Also curious if anyone's tried staggered shifts for the 4x10s (some Mon-Thu, some Tue-Fri) to cover more days? We've got customers who want weekend service and right now we're just saying no but that's obviously lost revenue...

    Sorry for all the questions! Just trying to think through everything before we propose this!