May 1, 2019—National AutoBody Research (NABR) launched its VRS Labor Rate Survey in Massachusetts recently, and the survey is free for all collision repair centers in the state.

The survey is sponsored by AASP-Massachusetts.The survey can be found on NABR's survey website www.LaborRateSurvey.com

Through the VRS Standardized Labor Rate Survey, NABR provides Massachusetts body shops with an independent, third party survey to survey labor rates transparently. The VRS survey is openly and equally accessible to all collision centers nationwide.

The questionnaire and format are standardized, so all repairers take the same survey. The VRS measures posted labor rates, which are better indicative of market rates than are off-market discounted, negotiated, wholesale, or fleet rates not available to the general public. The survey is continuously measuring market rates; it's not limited to once every year or two or longer.

Further, the VRS reports a range of market rates, not one singular so-called prevailing rate for all shops.