This will be an interesting thread moving forward......

[suladas]

The problem is it doesn't make sense for them to pay someone a service truck rate to look after their fleet, and chances are they have a fully tooled shop? Also wouldn't make sense to be paying $125/hr or whatever it would be to change oil, grease, all that little stuff that could be done by someone for under $30/hr.

IMO there is advantages of it if you had a guarantee on how long it would last. No chasing money or work, guaranteed hours, etc.

Maybe you offer them your services in the yard when it's needed, and for service calls and they hire guys to work in their own shop? As far as rates go here, a guy running a shop is getting around $50/hr. I can't see them even considering offering like $250k.

 

[aighead]

I'd like to comment here but I'm not smart enough.

100-150 bucks an hour seems wicked cheap for a fella that knows what he's doing. 150 pieces of equipment is nuts. I don't know.

 

[suladas]

I'd like to comment here but I'm not smart enough.

100-150 bucks an hour seems wicked cheap for a fella that knows what he's doing. 150 pieces of equipment is nuts. I don't know.

It's a fair rate for experienced mechanic with a service truck, but what the company likely needs is an employee to run a shop and do repairs and that is not worth that kind of money. There is no way you could afford to pay $150/hr to change oil, grease, etc on all equipment, or paying for a truck when you have shop space already. I can say pretty confidently, no one running a shop as an employee is making over $100/hr anywhere.

 

[DMiller]

The problem is it doesn't make sense for them to pay someone a service truck rate to look after their fleet, and chances are they have a fully tooled shop? Also wouldn't make sense to be paying $125/hr or whatever it would be to change oil, grease, all that little stuff that could be done by someone for under $30/hr.

IMO there is advantages of it if you had a guarantee on how long it would last. No chasing money or work, guaranteed hours, etc.

Maybe you offer them your services in the yard when it's needed, and for service calls and they hire guys to work in their own shop? As far as rates go here, a guy running a shop is getting around $50/hr. I can't see them even considering offering like $250k.

In the states about the ONLY region will find $30/hr or less is Really DEEP woods Rural in really poor states as the Deep South. Even here road techs with their own trucks are getting $120.hour, shop Mechanics with decent skills are over $40, even grunts at Jiffy Lube or Lube Express are getting $20-24/hour. Last Shop Superintendent I have spoken with is making a Fixed Salary of $210k/year plus Company truck on Company Fuel with a Company Phone and Laptop he can use at his own discretion along with a Company CC to use as needs to for Company based purchases.

 

[Truck Shop]

I have managed three shops owned one for a short time.

You get to inherit all the inhouse politics, You get to deal with X amount of personalities just for starters.
It would take a minimum of 3 to 4 years to get maintenance under control, and by control I mean working
9 to 10 hour days. What they have is a bomb in their lap because of a lack of leadership. The company
needs leadership not micro managing. In order to get things in order without going willie nillie with their
pocket book the whole set of machinery would have to be prioritized per machine.

Once in that position your skills hands on would be secondary, A high percentage of time would be spent
overlooking 3 other mechanics. So less production out of you. Some where there is a trade off. But they
are not going to pay an incredible salary because all wages are reflected in the overhead. It has to be
reasonable.

I work some pretty crazy hours, I don't make super high wages. But with all the added extras It works
out for me. I don't live in a crowed town, I don't have to put up with crime, It's perfect weather for me,
It takes me five minutes to get to the shop, My shop is located in a park like surrounding with the best
view. All those things need to be accounted for.

I deal with 110 refer trailers and as of right now 63 tractors.

 

[Truck Shop]

In the states about the ONLY region will find $30/hr or less is Really DEEP woods Rural in really poor states as the Deep South. Even here road techs with their own trucks are getting $120.hour, shop Mechanics with decent skills are over $40, even grunts at Jiffy Lube or Lube Express are getting $20-24/hour. Last Shop Superintendent I have spoken with is making a Fixed Salary of $210k/year plus Company truck on Company Fuel with a Company Phone and Laptop he can use at his own discretion along with a Company CC to use as needs to for Company based purchases.

And everyone wonders why shop rates are shy high. That shop boss is way over valued.

 

[ianjoub]

Not even close my friend. I make almost double that now.

I was making the assumption that you would be doing very little 'work'. I figured you would be organizing, telling others what to do, and diagnosing problems for others to repair. If you were to be doing 40 hrs/wk of wrenching, that would be different.

 

[Truck Shop]

It's a fair rate for experienced mechanic with a service truck, but what the company likely needs is an employee to run a shop and do repairs and that is not worth that kind of money. There is no way you could afford to pay $150/hr to change oil, grease, etc on all equipment, or paying for a truck when you have shop space already. I can say pretty confidently, no one running a shop as an employee is making over $100/hr anywhere.

We rarely agree-but I agree 100% with that.

 

[suladas]

We rarely agree-but I agree 100% with that.

That is rare!

I think it's really just two different worlds both with their own perks.

Vetech63 is not wrong to expect $250k or whatever the number is, nor are they wrong to offer $150k and think it's a good offer because it is.

To bill out 8 hours as a contractor, you'll probably spend at least 1 hour between invoicing, collecting, time spent getting insurance, fueling up the truck, all that stuff that you can't bill your time for, whereas the employee gets paid for the time they show up until they leave. Also all the expenses of being a contractor that wouldn't be needed anymore.

And in their eyes, even if it cost 25% more for a dealership service truck it would make more sense. If 5 machines break the same day they can call out 5 people, whereas he can only fix one at a time and would still get paid if nothing is broken. Also would no longer have any liability or free time if a repair isn't done right, it's no longer your issue.

Obviously risk if things don't work out but if someone offered me even 75% of what I make on my own working for them and none of the stress of running a business i'd do it in a second, it would pretty much work out to the same money per hour.

 

[suladas]

I was making the assumption that you would be doing very little 'work'. I figured you would be organizing, telling others what to do, and diagnosing problems for others to repair. If you were to be doing 40 hrs/wk of wrenching, that would be different.

Being a babysitter is a tougher job then doing the work yourself in many cases though. Not as hard on the body, but harder mentally for sure.

 

[suladas]

In the states about the ONLY region will find $30/hr or less is Really DEEP woods Rural in really poor states as the Deep South. Even here road techs with their own trucks are getting $120.hour, shop Mechanics with decent skills are over $40, even grunts at Jiffy Lube or Lube Express are getting $20-24/hour. Last Shop Superintendent I have spoken with is making a Fixed Salary of $210k/year plus Company truck on Company Fuel with a Company Phone and Laptop he can use at his own discretion along with a Company CC to use as needs to for Company based purchases.

With that much equipment it would make sense to have a laborer who wants to learn the trade doing that stuff. $210k is insane for that, must be a massive company because that is really good money and absolutely not common.

 

[Tyler d4c]

In the states about the ONLY region will find $30/hr or less is Really DEEP woods Rural in really poor states as the Deep South. Even here road techs with their own trucks are getting $120.hour, shop Mechanics with decent skills are over $40, even grunts at Jiffy Lube or Lube Express are getting $20-24/hour. Last Shop Superintendent I have spoken with is making a Fixed Salary of $210k/year plus Company truck on Company Fuel with a Company Phone and Laptop he can use at his own discretion along with a Company CC to use as needs to for Company based purchases.

You will stand corrected in western Pennsylvania if you making over 30 a hour pulling wrenches your doing real good

 

[John C.]

Are you talking about becoming and employee, manager or a consultant? No one can keep a fleet of 150 pieces running by themselves. I had about twenty at one company that was me and a helper. I had seven people filling different needs at a company with about forty pieces running two shifts six days a week and most Saturdays. The stress was a killer and the money terrible for what I was doing and the fleet kept going down hill over time. Life got a lot better when on my own. More money, less working time, got to watch my kids in their high school years. Got better as time went on. The company I was working for went broke.

 

[muddog1975]

Boy...you stirred it up! I would stay at your hourly rate, travel milage, double your rate for after hours and emergency call out. Continue making good money you have been, while still being your own boss. That way you don't fall under their rules and procedures and can walk away if you need to. They will always use a great mechanic, until they can find cheaper people to do the work. Which we all know... they will be calling on you again to get them back up to par... when it fails. A full time management position ( which it sounds like it would turn into) in my experience will wear you out, no thanks....just keep turning wrenches and it would be alot less stress. Good luck on what ever you decide to do, please keep us updated.

 

[crane operator]

They're not going to pay you what you can make on your own. You can't keep all their equipment running by yourself. I'd stay just like you are, with doing their more complicated work, and they are going to have to hire some new guys to do the smaller work.

I don't think this is probably the time to put all your eggs in one basket. Why give up all the customers you've spent time building up, to concentrate on just them? When the family that owns it decides they are done and sell out- you'll be back at square one.

I see no advantages to working for them only, unless you want to slow down, get rid of your billing and paperwork, and just cruise until retirement. But they aren't wanting someone that "cruises" to run their shop and equipment. So I guess I don't see any way this is a good change for you, unless you want out of your own truck and customers.

 

[AzIron]

X2 what crane op said

Funny thing about managmebt when your an employee they cant give you a raise but as soon as your an outside vendor cost doesnt seem to matter

Chances are you can bill them a 100 grand or more this next 12 months provided their ship is not already sunk from a lack of leadership so why deal with unrealistic expectations and go on steady you can work at your pleasure and when you need a different view for a week you go to other customers and not burn out

You already got them in the best possible position you can negotiate enjoy it cause it will be 2 years till they have maintenance stability so it's going to be a gravy train for a while

 

[joe--h]

My thinking is how many people do you know that you could hire to work in the shop?
And I mean know personally that you think are capable of doing the work the way you want it done.
If the answer is zero or close to it there's no way this can work out.
If you know 5 or 6 guys that you think could keep 150 machines running while at least 100 idiots try to destroy them daily maybe it could happen IF the money is right.
In the meantime your existing business goes to hell & you possibly end up where you were 10 years ago.
Any if you've been at it 35 years you surely have been thinking about packing it in soon, right?
If I was 40 I might do it, at 50 maybe and you're probably 55+ so it's a big gamble. And money wise are they really going to offer enough more than what you're making now to make it worth considering?
I'd bet not, but who knows.
Firing those 2 AHs sure is gonna take the fun out of this thread, innit?
Joe H

 

[Vetech63]

You ALL have made good points! I threw this out there to see where you yourself may be in the thought process. Let me see if I can make this a clearer picture.........

I realize there is no way in hell I could keep up with this much equipment by myself. There is ZERO pool to pull in experienced heavy equipment techs and apprentices worth a dam are very few. Most all of my customers have been dealing with this problem for years, and the last 5 years it has gotten much worse. This equipment is in the shape it's in because of hiring bodies, not techs.

So, what is a construction company that needs techs to do now days? Their shop facilities and tooling aren't near where they should be.........their pay rate has never been very good for this field that I'm aware of..........and running ads for help hasn't brought in even 1 applicant in the past. The outlook is bleak to say the least. Do they hire another body in hopes they may get lucky? They are set up to fail by doing so which is what continues to happen.

My thoughts are these.....
If per say, I was approached (completely hypothetical) , becoming an employee wouldn't work for me as I couldn't do everything needed. I could either wrench, or manage as an employee.....but as a manager it puts me in the position of trying to hire the impossible at this point in time. Working for them as a wrench isn't feasible as the pay wouldn't be close to where I am now. I dam sure wouldn't be able to train anyone.

Could I assist as a sub-contractor? Sure I could.......that's what I do now in a way. I can continue to do the repairs for them just like I always have. It would be expensive but what other choice is there? Is the equipment dealers going to be cheaper? Can the dealers get to a breakdown on the job quicker than I can? Can the dealers save money on major component parts like I can? That answer is NO!

As a repair contractor can I save them money long term? Can I organize repairs and prioritize? Can I schedule PM's on equipment? Do I have the ability to be Johnny on the spot when needed? Could I manage equipment trade values when replacing equipment? Those answers are YES! ............providing the compensation is equivalent to what I'm doing.

I would never put myself in a position to be owned by an employer. My company has to continue on as long as I can do the work. Its the only real security I will have.

More to come this evening.........I'm heading over to their yard to see how much worse this mess is from when I started this thread. Hold on to your hats!....

 

[Vetech63]

Well, it's worse alright. Remember this?

Moved 5 feet from where it was when I started this thread............nothing has been done since. Why am I not surprised?

 

[Vetech63]

The water truck on the left hasn't moved in over a year. Has brake issues from what I was told.

Same 350D excavator also, not sure if it has ever left...........I don't even know if it's been repaired.