Fewer than 1% of the dealerships we’ve visited had what I would consider a comprehensive porter training program supported by documented standard operating procedures. That is a Citrin operating observation, not an industry survey, but after years of seeing stores of every size and brand, the consistency of it still surprises me.
In many dealerships, porter training amounts to a quick tour and a few shifts shadowing whoever happens to be working that day. For a role that touches customer vehicles, keys, traffic flow, staging and often the customer experience itself, I think the industry can do much better.
The Porter Role Looks Simpler Than It Is
From thirty thousand feet, the job can look like “move cars.” Spend a day inside a busy service department, though, and the picture changes quickly because the porter is touching far more of the customer and vehicle workflow than that description suggests.
The training challenge is that the role crosses several kinds of risk at once. A porter may handle customer vehicles and keys, manage traffic and staging, respond to advisors and technicians, coordinate wash or pickup, and interact directly with customers. In a single shift, that employee may drive dozens of unfamiliar vehicles, including EVs and six-figure luxury models.
That combination of vehicle risk, customer contact and operational responsibility is exactly why informal shadowing is not enough.
Most Training Is Tribal Knowledge
I’ve seen this countless times: a new porter arrives, gets a quick tour, rides around with another porter and within a few days is expected to understand the operation. The problem is that the person doing the training may have learned exactly the same way, so informal habits get passed down until they become institutional knowledge.
What Should a Porter SOP Include?
At minimum, I think dealerships should document standards around customer greeting, vehicle movement, key control, staging, customer property, incidents, communication and pickup.
Customer greeting: How quickly should customers be acknowledged? What language should be used? Who owns the handoff?
Vehicle movement: Where should vehicles go at each stage of the repair process? What are the speed and safety standards?
Key control: Where do keys belong during intake, repair, wash and pickup?
Staging: How are waiting vehicles organized? How are completed vehicles prioritized?
Customer property: How should employees handle belongings inside customer vehicles?
Incidents: Exactly what happens if an employee notices damage or is involved in an accident?
Communication: Who can prioritize work? How does a porter handle conflicting requests from advisors and technicians?
Pickup: What condition should the vehicle be in before it reaches the customer?
Those standards don’t need to create a 100-page manual. They need to create consistency.
SOPs Make Coaching Easier
Without a standard, managers end up coaching based on preference.
One manager says the employee is doing fine. Another says they’re too slow. The porter may have no idea what “good” looks like.
A documented SOP gives everyone the same definition.
That matters particularly in high-turnover frontline positions where new employees need to become productive quickly.
Treat the Role According to Its Impact
One of the contradictions I’ve noticed in dealerships is that porter positions are frequently treated as relatively unimportant while being entrusted with incredibly important things: the customer, the customer’s vehicle and keys, and the physical flow of cars through the department. That does not mean the role needs to become bureaucratic, but it does mean the position deserves intentional training.
If I were running a dealership service department tomorrow, a written porter SOP and repeatable onboarding program would be one of the first things I’d want in place.