A bill awaiting Gov. Phil Bryant’s signature would make inspection stickers a thing of the past in Mississippi on July 1. The governor is expected to sign the bill as soon as today.
While some mechanics who issue inspection stickers can not wait to see that day come, others are rueing the inevitable loss of income.
State law since 1977 has required drivers with Mississippi licenses to obtain an inspection sticker from a certified mechanic shop as assurance their vehicles are safe for roadways. The sticker costs $5 — $3 goes to the mechanic shop and $2 goes to the state’s general fund. The Department of Public Safety administers the program and provides stickers to certified issuers.
Some say not worth the trouble
Bates Tire Shop in Columbus in Columbus issues about 1,000 inspection stickers per year, co-owner Robin Bates said. That translates to about $3,000 in revenue a year.
But for Bates mechanic Jeff Turner, that’s not nearly enough reward to justify the hassle.
“It’s more of a hindrance for us,” he said. “It’s only me and another mechanic here that can do the inspections, and a lot of times we’re tied up doing mechanic work when we have to stop and do a sticker.”
State standards require an 18-point vehicle inspection for drivers obtaining a sticker, but Turner said that inspection would take about an hour. At Bates Tire Shop, he said mechanics typically conducted a 10-minute inspection, during which they check tires, lights, signals, windshield, wiper blades and maybe a few other essentials.
Turner said the 10-minute version of the inspection is typical across the state.
“You can’t do the inspection up to standard for $5,” Turner said. “There’s no way you can do it. Nobody does it. And the state can’t enforce it. If you could charge a fair amount to where shops could actually make some money (on inspections), it would be alright. We charge $75 per hour for labor.”
Turner also dismissed the notion that inspection stickers brought in significant sales from issues mechanics identified and repaired during sticker inspections.
“It’s not very often that happens,” he said. “Most people know what to expect, and they’ve fixed their car before they get here.”
Others will miss revenue
Starkville’s Express Oil Change and Service Centers manager Dewayne Kimble said his shop issued up to 8,000 inspection stickers per year, sometimes at a rate of more than 50 per day. That translates into about $24,000 in revenue for the shop from stickers alone — revenue Kimble said would be missed.
“It’s going to have a tremendous effect when it’s gone, but there’s really nothing we can do about it,” Kimble said. “We’ve got a lot of cars that come through our shop specifically for inspection stickers, and a lot of people come in and don’t know their sticker has been out for two, three years.”
Kimble said his shop knocked out sticker inspections in 8-10 minutes, performing similar tasks as Bates Tire Shop instead of the 18-point standard inspection. But unlike Turner, Kimble said mechanics at Express often glean secondary business from the sticker inspections.
“We may find an oil leak the customer didn’t know about, or something like that,” Kimble said. “We’re not pressuring sales, but we do identify problems and educate our customers on their vehicles.”
State numbers
Sgt. Criss Turnipseed with Mississippi Highway Patrol — which operates under the Department of Public Safety — said 1,002 businesses statewide are certified to issue inspection stickers, including 45 in the Golden Triangle.
“Qualifying shops” have to apply for certification, according to Turnipseed, an must include at least two bays, a car lift or pit a tint meter and other necessary tools. Each qualifying shop must also carry a $5,000 insurance bond, he said, in case stickers are lost, destroyed or stolen.
Inspection stickers brought in $8.6 million in Mississippi in 2014, Turnipseed said, with shops keeping about $5 million and the state keeping $3.6 million.
About 34,000 drivers received tickets for not having a valid inspection sticker in 2014, down from the more than 39,000 inspection sticker citations issued in 2013, according to Turnipseed.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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