the Alliance's job is to make sure the mobile mechanic segment has a voice on the issues that affect it. These are our stated positions — public, specific, and open to refinement with founding-member input.
A note on these positions. Mechanics Alliance is a new association. The positions below describe what Mechanics Alliance stands for as a matter of policy — not a list of legislative wins. We will track and report concrete advocacy activity (testimony, letters, coalition work) on this page as it happens.
Founding members have direct input on which issues Mechanics Alliance prioritizes and how positions evolve. To weigh in, reply to any Mechanics Alliance email or use the contact form.
Six positions on which Mechanics Alliance actively advocates.
Mechanics Alliance supports federal and state Right-to-Repair legislation — including the REPAIR Act at the federal level and state-level R2R laws like Massachusetts' Question 1 — that require vehicle manufacturers to provide independent service providers with the same diagnostic data, repair information, software access, and tools available to franchised dealerships.
Why: Mobile mechanics service every make, every model. As vehicles become more software-defined, OEM-controlled diagnostic and software access becomes the difference between being able to repair a vehicle and not. R2R parity is existential for independent service — including the mobile segment.
Mechanics Alliance opposes blanket HOA and municipal restrictions that prohibit home-based mobile-service businesses where the actual service is performed at the customer's location — not at the operator's residence. Mobile mechanics legitimately operate businesses from a home address; the customer-facing work happens elsewhere.
Why: Many HOAs and zoning ordinances were written for traditional brick-and-mortar businesses (where customers and traffic come to the home). Applied to mobile service, they often have no rational basis. Mechanics Alliance supports clear state-level protections for home-registered service businesses that perform work off-site.
Mechanics Alliance supports clear, consistent state-level licensing frameworks that recognize mobile automotive service as distinct from shop-based service. Where licensing is required (e.g., California's Bureau of Automotive Repair MVR), mobile operators should have a defined compliance path — not a patchwork of municipal rules that can't be reasonably navigated.
Why: Today, a competent mobile mechanic can be in compliance in their primary state but technically out of compliance the moment they cross a county line because some municipal ordinance was never written with mobile work in mind. This isn't deregulation — it's regulatory clarity.
Mechanics Alliance advocates for insurance carriers and regulators to recognize mobile mechanics as a distinct risk class. Many carriers default mobile operators into shop-based ratings — including garage-keepers liability assumptions that don't fit (the operator doesn't keep customer vehicles overnight in most cases) — resulting in inappropriate premiums.
Why: Mobile work has a different risk profile than shop work. Carriers that price accurately for the segment will win share; carriers that don't will lose mobile business to specialty MGAs. the Alliance's job is to make the case to both groups — and to support carrier partnerships that get this right.
Mechanics Alliance supports apprenticeship pathways, expanded ASE recognition, and partnerships with vocational education programs (UTI, Lincoln Tech, WyoTech, NACAT-affiliated community colleges) that can route new techs into the mobile segment as a real career path — not a fallback.
Why: The auto-tech workforce has a well-documented shortage. Mobile is one of the fastest-growing segments and one of the most viable career paths for an independent operator. Treating mobile as a destination — with the same recognition and apprenticeship infrastructure that shop-based work has — broadens the pipeline.
Mechanics Alliance supports continued OEM-tooling access, training availability, and parts pipelines for independent service providers as the vehicle fleet electrifies. EV-specific procedures, software-defined functions, and high-voltage safety training need to be available to mobile operators on the same commercial terms as franchised dealers.
Why: EVs are mechanically simpler but software-richer. Without parity in tooling and training access, the independent service segment shrinks as the fleet transitions — meaning consumers lose choice and pay more for routine service. This is the next-generation R2R fight.
Mechanics Alliance pursues policy goals through coalition with peer associations rather than going it alone. Where issues align, we co-sign letters, contribute mobile-specific data, and offer member testimony.
Active alignments include: Auto Care Association (R2R), CAR Coalition (R2R), CVSN (REPAIR Act co-signers), ASA (state-level repair-trade interests). Cross-association activity is opportunistic, not exclusive — Mechanics Alliance engages whoever's working the right issue.
Working mobile mechanics carry credibility legislators don't get from association staff alone. Mechanics Alliance actively recruits members willing to:
A running, dated record of every concrete advocacy action Mechanics Alliance takes — testimony, letters signed, regulator meetings, position-paper publications.
No formal advocacy actions logged yet. the Alliance's advocacy program is being established alongside founding membership — the first concrete coalition activity will be added here as it happens. Honesty matters more than a fabricated paper trail.
Founding members have direct input on advocacy priorities.