Where are the Mechanics?

[fixou812]

Oh and Cam....You came in at noon and left at 2am with a huge mess on the floor. (Don't let it happen again )
Welders get helpers, pipefitters get helpers. ...when's the last time you've heard of a Mechanic's helper?
Management doesn't realize how dangerous being Superman every day is. ....and for what?
Even something Simple' like putting (wrestling ) a new 300 pound tarp on by yourself could be your demise.
My favorite. ....."Bring in truck X and repair Z...It' Take You Five Minutes! "

 

[kshansen]

improve the roads and highways.

That would help the road materials companies like the quarry I work for for 45 years! Not sure how it is in other areas but around here it seems every time a bridge on a secondary road gets a bit too old instead of repairing or replacing it they just barricade it off and install detour signs.

 

[Wes J]

I would be fine in increasing the maximum gross vehicle weight as long as we had a progressive ton-mile tax...The higher your weight is above 80k, you go up on mile rates based on damage to the road bed by the extra weight. I call it pay as you go.

Most studies I have seen show that fewer truck with a higher gross weight is actually easier on the roads. You don't increase the axle weight limits.

 

[hetkind]

Most studies I have seen show that fewer truck with a higher gross weight is actually easier on the roads. You don't increase the axle weight limits.

You should try the coal trucks in West Virginia and Kentucky...140k with a triple on the trailer, and regular 14k fronts, so 25k plus per axle. And the coal haul roads are in terrible shape.

Howard

 

[Truck Shop]

The word Mechanic in the thread title kind of says it all. IMO. Sorry folks I can't stand the term TECH.

I started out part time after school sweeping floors and washing parts in a truck shop. After high school I got a job at a foreign cat shop, from there automotive machine.
And I was still working after hours at a truck shop also. Latter on I worked truck repair strictly. I went through what was an apprentice ship in those years. I learned from
some damn smart mechanics. God rest their souls. And I owe a lot to those fellows.
The repair business does not want to invest in mechanics like that anymore. They want votech schools to take care of that for them- But in the end they don't like what
hired. Personally I like training someone-give them a chance. Try to teach them what I know or don't know. But most of all train them how to cuss properly at the junk
they might have to work on. And I am a professor at that task.

Truck Shop

 

[Truck Shop]

The word Mechanic in the thread title kind of says it all. IMO. Sorry folks I can't stand the term TECH.

I started out part time after school sweeping floors and washing parts in a truck shop. After high school I got a job at a foreign cat shop, from there automotive machine.
And I was still working after hours at a truck shop also. Latter on I worked truck repair strictly. I went through what was an apprentice ship in those years. I learned from
some damn smart mechanics. God rest their souls. And I owe a lot to those fellows.
The repair business does not want to invest in mechanics like that anymore. They want votech schools to take care of that for them- But in the end they don't like what
hired. Personally I like training someone-give them a chance. Try to teach them what I know or don't know. But most of all train them how to cuss properly at the junk
they might have to work on. And I am a professor at that task.

Truck Shop

Foreign cat shop---car shop---Gee I need to look closer at my spelling.

 

[wornout wrench]

Well said Truck Shop, well said.

 

[Wes J]

My brother went through a 2 diesel technology program at a local community college. I think it was a great program. He graduated with an associate degree and plenty of training to do most tasks. I know they rebuilt an engine and transmission. He even rebuilt a 5 speed Mazda trans from an F-150 that had a bad synchro.

I worked for a guy who went to Wyo-tech. He didn't have many good things to say. I think it was a 6 month program. He said there was just no way to learn enough in that short time to know what you were doing.

 

[Truck Shop]

We have a 26 year old working in the shop that spent 2 years at WWCC diesel program right here in town. After the first two months went by he admitted
he had learned more in two months than two years at school. I used to be on the WWCC diesel board, I quit because of the line of bull I was presented at
meetings.
It took guts years ago to walk into a shop-green as a gourd and ask for a job. But you were getting paid to learn the trade, even at the the low pay it was
a good deal. Providing that person put some good effort forth. The business has lost it's way, IMO. I have run or managed three shops and trained several
along the way. Three quarters of them became decent mechanics.
But the most important thing a mechanic has to have is pride in his work, It's that mechanics name on it when it rolls out the door. And screw everything
else. It's not about being a hero, or a so called hot shot. 99% of people won't know your work, but you will and that is what matters. In the end the best
one can hope for is when your name comes up in a discussion someone will say you did damn good work.

Truck Shop

 

[JD955SC]

My brother went through a 2 diesel technology program at a local community college. I think it was a great program. He graduated with an associate degree and plenty of training to do most tasks. I know they rebuilt an engine and transmission. He even rebuilt a 5 speed Mazda trans from an F-150 that had a bad synchro.

I worked for a guy who went to Wyo-tech. He didn't have many good things to say. I think it was a 6 month program. He said there was just no way to learn enough in that short time to know what you were doing.

Everything I have read about WyoTech is it's a rip off of the highest order, same goes for UTI.



School teaches you theory and some of the basics but the shop is by far where you really learn/absorb how to do the job. i have one more semester to go. I recognize that it's still gonna be a couple of years before I'm really comfortable with the job and have the confidence to do it, plus I recognize that I'm not king **** straight out of school by any means. My instructors are pretty good but there is only so much they can educate when they have so much to cover, too, and so little time to do it in. A year and a half on the job and it's still like trying to drink from a firehose for me and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

 

[Wes J]

It's no different with any college degree. I have a degree in mechanical engineering. It's a huge and diverse field that can be very specialized. There is no way a school can prepare you for any kind of job. They don't know if you will work in sales, large construction projects, power plants, automotive, fundamental research, manufacturing, medical, robotics, computer programming, etc. All they can do is build you a foundation that you can use to learn your actual job.

The only good thing about Wyotech is that it's over quickly and should give you an edge over entry level guys with nothing. I think a real associate degree from an accredited school is a great thing to have. Even a degree in diesel tech or something else automotive will help you get a job in a different field if you choose to change paths.

 

[kshansen]

I think the best things a course could do would be to teach things like how to read a wiring schematic and hydraulic schematic. Then add to that the basic theory of how different pumps and engines work.

You could spend months teaching about say one brands fuel injection system but then if the student gets a job that leans more towards the repair of undercarriage of dozers he will feel he wasted his time. Plus with the speed technology is changing in the heavy equipment field five years after leaving the course so much will be changed. So knowing the basics is more important than worrying about how Cat did something last year.

Another thing would be to be straight up with students about some of the less attractive parts of the job, like working in nasty dirty places with oil and who knows what else dripping in your face. It's not all siting in the cab pushing keys on a laptop, once the computer points you in the general direction of the problem you have to get out of that cab and find that bad sensor and figure out how you are going to get your butt in there and change it!

 

[Wes J]

Another thing schools offer is placement, especially local schools. Lot's of shops want to hire guys from their local schools and they fill their openings with students first before they look at the walk-ins. Schools can't get students unless they can find them jobs.

 

[Former Wrench]

Another thing that I always push is for the newbe to learn how to rig and move heavy stuff safely. There's a reason old-timers have all sorts of shackles, short pieces of chain, and straps with woven eyes handy. Wooden blocks are a must to help prevent chains from slipping on greasy surfaces.

 

[lantraxco]

Another thing that I always push is for the newbe to learn how to rig and move heavy stuff safely. There's a reason old-timers have all sorts of shackles, short pieces of chain, and straps with woven eyes handy. Wooden blocks are a must to help prevent chains from slipping on greasy surfaces.

Learn to let the tools/machines do the work. I had one helper always wanted me to "grab an end". I always responded with "That's why we paid good money for a forklift/hoist/crane, you go get it, I will watch this heavy thing to be sure it doesn't go anywhere while you're gone."

 

[Wes J]

Just don't be the guy lifting everything with transport chains and unstamped homemade equipment. OHSA has no sense of humor about that.

 

[mrappels]

Yea, an equipment operator can be paid the same as a mechanic here and all he has to supply is his lunch and coffee! Goes home nice and clean and sits in a machine with A/C and heat. And they still b1tch about how they are working so hard to load the customers trucks.

I've only been a qualified mechanic a few years now, but always had to have my own tools. it took 8 years, from the 1st day of my apprenticeship to accumulate it all. then i left the country. had to sell the lot.. barely got half of what it was worth,nvm that the shipping was hectic expensive. now i am starting over, i know its going to take a while.

 

[mrappels]

The word Mechanic in the thread title kind of says it all. IMO. Sorry folks I can't stand the term TECH.

I started out part time after school sweeping floors and washing parts in a truck shop. After high school I got a job at a foreign cat shop, from there automotive machine.
And I was still working after hours at a truck shop also. Latter on I worked truck repair strictly. I went through what was an apprentice ship in those years. I learned from
some damn smart mechanics. God rest their souls. And I owe a lot to those fellows.
The repair business does not want to invest in mechanics like that anymore. They want votech schools to take care of that for them- But in the end they don't like what
hired. Personally I like training someone-give them a chance. Try to teach them what I know or don't know. But most of all train them how to cuss properly at the junk
they might have to work on. And I am a professor at that task.

Truck Shop

Most of the work done where i started my apprenticeship was (and still is) done by apprentices. we learned the hard way and it sucked not having an artisan to show us the way. but we learned. tech was a waste of a year for the most part as the govt. system is broken.. yet still i count myself lucky, because we worked longer and harder to get it done.

 

[92U 3406]

I took an 8 month "Pre-app" course instead of grade 12 (did the required grade 12 courses in grade 11 so I still graduated). Was a pretty good deal since you finish already indentured as an apprentice. We did all kinds of things like mounting/demounting truck tires, basic welding/torch use, pulling apart non-running engines to measure crank journals, valves etc. Sometimes we'd even get machines brought in by staff members for us to diagnose and repair. I didn't much care for sitting in a classroom but they taught us how to read schematics and we spent a ton of time on truck air brakes.

You definitely learn more in the real world but I still think those 8 months were worth it. 8 weeks of school each year for 4 years isn't enough to properly grasp the theory behind electrical and hydraulics (at least that's been my experience anyways).

 

[mrappels]

it works a bit differently where i was. an apprenticeship is 4 years. one of those you're required to go to a technical college. to say that it was a waste isn't entirely true, because i did learn from it. was just a pain sitting through the propaganda lessons that had absolutely nothing to do with what i was there to do..

i agree with you, there's so much to learn. electrics is its own trade, so is hydraulics when you really get in to it, and there will always be more to learn, even 30 years from now.