Fast-food chain Sonic (SONC) recently announced plans to revive carhops on roller skates at its drive in restaurants across the U.S. As competitors like McDonald’s (MCD), Burger King (BKC) and Wendy’s (WEN) look for a way to find growth in an already saturdate fast-food marketplace, SONC stock execs may be on to something with the Sonic carhop plan.

Skating carhops were common at Sonic stores in the 1960s and ’70s, but by the end of the 1990s the servers on skates were all gone. Perhaps it just wasn’t as efficient and the ranks of truly skilled skaters were culled by video games and cable TV. But chances are that the insurance and worker’s compensation costs scared SONC stock leaders off a little razzle-dazzle on roller skates.

Sonic is looking to mitigate some costs with suggesting wrist and knee pads and safety head gear… not as cool as the old-school carhops, but surely more cost effective. It remains to be seen if SONC execs are willing to let servers just sign a release and risk their own hides or if they’re going to get heavy handed and mandate equipment for skating servers.

But with the insurance premium for just one store around $20,000 a year according to industry estimates, it may be wise to make some sort of safety gear part of the uniform. (SONC execs won’t admit what the real price tag is per restaurant.)

The skating is not all downside, of course. The average Sonic with skaters pulls in $50,000 more in annual sales vs. one without, says Sonic CEO J. Clifford Hudson.

With a saturated U.S. fast-food marketplace, companies are almost out of tricks to boost same-store sales. Many restaurants from Burger King (BKC) to Wendy’s/Arby’s (WEN) have relied on value menus to boost same-store sales. In fact, Arby’s just launched a value menu, as did casual dining chain Denny’s (DENN).

Others are looking overseas. Yum! Brands (YUM) chain Taco Bell is also seeing big potential in India, and Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) recently announced that global sales are now nearly half of its pie! McDonald’s (MCD) has also relied mainly on overseas sales growth to fuel its success in recent quarters.

And with the recession taking a toll on many restaurants, it’s getting even harder to show shareholders that there is growth and profit potential in your stock.

Sonic may have found a good way to revitalize its existing locations without much expense… that is, assuming the waitstaff can keep up and stay safe. Otherwise Sonic may find out the hard way that the only way to stop when you’re skating down hill is to steer into the grass and fall down as gracefully as possible.

Which, for the record, isn’t very graceful at all.

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