Ever notice how the best techs are never "looking"… …until their shop gets bought? Think about it. One day, your buddy tech is happy. Good shop. Decent pay. Knows the owner by name. Then the letter comes. New ownership. New uniforms. New KPIs. New "efficiency consultant." New clock-in system. New Saturday expectations. Same paycheck. And suddenly? That buddy tech texts you at 9pm on a Tuesday: "Y'all hiring?" This is happening more in 2026. And it's not random. When Private Equity moves into your market, it squeezes the labor pool… and creates disgruntled free agents who were never going to show up on Indeed. This is the most important recruiting trend none of us are talking about. In a second, I'm going to show you exactly how to detect PE activity in your zip code and what to do about it this week. But first, you need to see what's actually happening right now. WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW (5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW) 1. Sun Auto Tire & Service just crossed 550+ locations. They recently added a new Delta World Tire location in Baton Rouge and acquired Liberty Tire & Auto in Liberty, NC. When a group stacks multiple stores inside a radius, they can dominate Google visibility AND the technician labor pool. Encircling mid-sized markets = controlling the scoreboard. 2. Christian Brothers Automotive is building a talent machine. They're entering Nevada with franchise agreements in Las Vegas and Reno. And they just announced a $12M Technology & Training Center in Katy, TX, slated for early 2027. When a brand can "grow their own" techs at scale, your hiring competition changes overnight. 3. FullSpeed Automotive (Grease Monkey / SpeeDee / Kwik Kar) is accelerating. New CEO Brian Maciak came on board in November 2025. The public messaging is all about accelerating franchise development into 2026. Quick-lube and light repair brands pull from the same labor pool as independents. And they are aggressive on recruiting. 4. Driven Brands is reshaping and refocusing.

Most shop owners interview technicians the same way every other employer does. Sit down. Ask questions. Shake hands. Hope for the best. Then three weeks later they're wondering why the guy who "nailed the interview" can't balance a tire without fumbling around like he's never seen a wheel weight. You've heard me call it "all hat, no cattle." (hat tip to my Texas friends!) They talk a great game. They've practiced their answers. They might even sound like they wrote the ASE study guide. But talking about fixing cars and actually fixing cars are two very different things. That's why the best shops I know don't just interview. They invite candidates to work. And the ones who do it well make it feel like the easiest, most natural thing in the world. No pressure. No weird tests. Just one simple line: 👉"If you ever want to see what a day feels like here, we'll pay you for your time." That one sentence does three things at once. It shows respect. It removes risk. And it tells the technician everything they need to know about who you are as a shop owner. The shops that run even a one-day working interview? They hire faster. They hire better. And they almost completely eliminate the "bad hire" that looked great on paper. The ones who do a three-day working interview? Phenomenal results. Almost zero regrets. You get to see if they show up on time. Come back from lunch on time. Whether they actually know their way around a bay — or just know their way around an interview. Stop hoping your gut feeling is right. Let the work speak for itself. By-the-way... This works for techs on your bench too. Have you been keeping in touch with a tech for a year or two with no forward momentum? Shoot them a quick text with that simple sentence and see what happens. Here it is again so you don't forget: 👉"If you ever want to see what a day feels like here, we'll pay you for your time."

A reporter is working on a story about private equity ownership in the auto repair industry. She's looking for shop owners (or people who know shop owners) who have direct experience with PE - whether you've been acquired, considered selling to PE, or watched competitors get bought out. If that's you or someone you know, drop a comment or DM me. I can make the introduction.

We’ve all mastered the art of ignoring "Unknown Caller" or "Potential Spam." But what happens when the phone rings and the name and number on the screen are real? With the constant stream of dark web data breaches, hackers have more than just our passwords; they have our contact lists and professional networks. This allows them to "spoof" local businesses, friends, or family members with terrifying accuracy. My "Uncanny Valley" Moment I recently received a call that appeared to be from a local business. I picked up, and for the first few minutes, everything seemed normal. However, my gut started telling me something was off. The responses weren't quite hitting the right beat—there was a tiny, unnatural delay and a lack of human nuance. I realized I wasn't talking to a person; I was talking to an AI. I ended the call and blocked the number immediately, but since they can spoof any digits they want, blocking is just a temporary fix. The "New Rules" of the Phone Because AI voice cloning and number spoofing are becoming so sophisticated, I’ve had to change how I handle my phone: - The "Foggy" Rule: If a call feels even slightly "foggy" or "off," I let it go to voicemail. - Verify via Text: If I suspect a spoof, I’ll send a separate text to the person or business to see if they actually tried to reach me. - Trust Your Gut: If the voice sounds like someone you know but the request is weird (like asking for money or info), hang up and call them back directly. Has anyone else noticed an uptick in these "hyper-realistic" spam calls lately? How are you vetting your callers?. It is unsettling how convincing these scams have become. By combining two distinct technologies—Caller ID Spoofing and AI Voice Cloning—scammers can create a "perfect" illusion that you are talking to someone you trust. Here is a breakdown of how they pull it off and how you can stay safe. 1. How They Fake the Number (Spoofing) Scammers use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services to manipulate what appears on your screen. This is often called "Neighbor Spoofing" or "Contact Spoofing."

Your potential best recruiter already knows which technicians in your market are about to quit. He sees inside 20-30 shops every single week. He knows who's miserable. Who's underappreciated. Who's one bad Monday away from walking out. And nobody's asking him. I'm talking about your parts delivery driver. Here's what most shop owners don't realize: That guy dropping off your filters and brake pads? He's a mobile intelligence network. He hears the complaints in every bay. He sees which shops have angry techs slamming hoods. He knows who just got passed over for a raise. And right now, he's sitting on information that could solve your hiring problem—while you're posting another job ad that 75% of technicians will never see because they're not looking on job boards. The math is brutal: For every shop desperately posting on Indeed, there are dozens of wanna be techs who see the ad and very few serious technicians even scrolling. And those very few serious techs who actually see your ad? They're probably just checking what their skills are worth so they can negotiate a raise where they already work. So while your competitors fight over the same 25% of the talent pool, the delivery driver knows about the other 75%. The question isn't whether this approach works. The question is: Why haven't you bought that guy/gal a coffee yet? What's your experience with parts drivers or tool truck guys? Have you ever gotten a lead from one of them? Drop a comment below—curious if anyone's already tapped into this.