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Question for all the independent mobile mechanics!!!

Vetech63

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But assuming just 20% of the technicians out there are any good (and I believe it’s much higher than that) there 40,000 good technicians today.
I would bet its less than 10%...….and those guys have pretty good gigs. It is highly unlikely you would get any from that pool.
 

DMiller

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Only reason this type scenario is offered is due to the offering person seeing the dollar signs associated to it for THEIR side. Going independent is not for the faint of heart, is a learning curve and can be costly where this 'Opportunity' does not come off as much of one and is what appears to be an imaginative way of getting new techs for a cheap buck or same, same working For The Man.

Sounds vaguely similar to the old Owner Operator Driver Training and Sell you a NEW Truck for a Dollar Down scam. 1970's tactic that lasted about a decade. Feed you long enough to get you really hooked then shut the money off and repo the truck/business.
 

check

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Apr 1, 2012
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in the mail
Middlemen are not going to get much respect from people who work hard for a living. But then most middlemen are skilled at letting insults and criticism roll right down their backs.
 

Crummy

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Sounds vaguely similar to the old Owner Operator Driver Training and Sell you a NEW Truck for a Dollar Down scam. 1970's tactic that lasted about a decade. Feed you long enough to get you really hooked then shut the money off and repo the truck/business.
It's still going on, stronger than ever- the ol' Lease/Purchase racket. Finance the truck, maintenance, cab card, insurance, tires, everything and haul their "great paying" freight. Generally doesn't attract the top 20% of hands. The other great scam is freight factoring, hey....wait a sec.....I've got an idea......I'll offer to pay independent mobile mechanics A/P net 30 invoices immediately for 10% (20% non-recourse). Brilliant!
 

John C.

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It's the same deal Amazon is offering to its delivery drivers. Buy or lease their vans, wear their cloths, work their hours but you are still a contractor? Heath insurance, state industrial insurance, liability insurance, local, state and federal taxes and you still have to do a business license and meet all the state and federal requirements for any business. I have all that already without having to answer to someone's beck and call and don't have to worry that the dispatcher is going to play favorites and only send me to the "good" jobs.
 

BigWrench55

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Sounds to good to be true. They dazzle you with independence, hassle free logistics, no paperwork or having to look for customers. Just bring your good credit and sign here. You are your own boss, but we will tell you when, what, and where. But that's it other than that you are free to make your own decisions. This is a new way to make you an employee and you pay for all your supplies and expenses. So the employer gets a new employee that not only do they make money off of your skills. THEY CHARGE YOU INTREST TO WORK FOR THEM AS WELL. No thank you. I will stick with the intrest free job I have. And if I do decide to go independent then I'll buy the truck.
 

partsandservice

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There may be a market such an arrangement somewhere else but likely not here. I don't need a dispatcher to keep enough work, hell I turn most of what is offered down. Qualified, cross trained mechanics are going to hard to come by, that will be the largest issue with that venture. You can do such a thing with something like tire repair. Not knocking tire repairmen , it is a hard and dangerous job but is something that can be taught. IMO if someone is not mechanically inclined no amount of school or training will make them a mechanic, or technician if you call it.
 

DMiller

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There may be a market such an arrangement somewhere else but likely not here. I don't need a dispatcher to keep enough work, hell I turn most of what is offered down. Qualified, cross trained mechanics are going to hard to come by, that will be the largest issue with that venture. You can do such a thing with something like tire repair. Not knocking tire repairmen , it is a hard and dangerous job but is something that can be taught. IMO if someone is not mechanically inclined no amount of school or training will make them a mechanic, or technician if you call it.

Said much of it there. All too many 'Code Reader' wannabe's out there now, cannot diagnose as too busy pulling parts for phantom codes that likely will not fix a problem. Kids out there trying but lack the basic understanding of systems, Electric, Hydraulic, Pneumatics, Cooling and Lubricating all basically do the same thing, energy flows point A to Point B or C, turn a switch, push a valve, run a pump all flow from one place to another, gets pretty simple as to diagnostics for hammer and punch mechanics. Engine, Trans, Climate Control gets a WHOLE Lot more dicey with digital square sine wave signatures and time of dwell for circuit control but still doable if can understand what it is attempting to do.
 

JD955SC

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Of course the screening process will be very, very important - as an example, just for cars on www.yourmechanic.com they only accept 5-10% of applicants. But assuming just 20% of the technicians out there are any good (and I believe it’s much higher than that) there 40,000 good technicians today. We would never go for volume, only quality. And each tech gets rated by the customer, and new customers see all those ratings. The best techs rise to the top and get more business. The worst techs are voted off the island by the customers.

We pay by the job, not by the hour

You do realize most of those mechanics are going to retire in the next five to ten years right?

And there is no way I’m leaving an established company to go work for something like this. I get benefits, company supplied specialty tooling, excellent paid vacation time, training, etc not to mention a very respectable hourly rate.

The heavy equipment mechanic world may use computers to do some diagnostics but it doesn’t run on computers- it runs on word of mouth and reputation. You have to cultivate customer trust. I couldn’t leave and work for myself right now- I have no reputation among potential customers.

And I don’t do flat rate, and never will. That’s a recipe for disaster in the heavy world.

Oh and another thing that Uber and a bunch of these companies like that business model like to do is you are a 1099 contractor. Maybe that’s where the “make 2-3 times as much” comes from.
 
Last edited:

JD955SC

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Only reason this type scenario is offered is due to the offering person seeing the dollar signs associated to it for THEIR side. Going independent is not for the faint of heart, is a learning curve and can be costly where this 'Opportunity' does not come off as much of one and is what appears to be an imaginative way of getting new techs for a cheap buck or same, same working For The Man.

Sounds vaguely similar to the old Owner Operator Driver Training and Sell you a NEW Truck for a Dollar Down scam. 1970's tactic that lasted about a decade. Feed you long enough to get you really hooked then shut the money off and repo the truck/business.

Oh no that scam is still going on. I believe some of the companies have been sued over it, not that that has stopped it. I looked into trucking several years ago and that was a popular scam pushed by the bottom feeders.
 

partsandservice

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Have there been any surveys done on the customer side of this? I may have missed it but who pays for the parts and who pays who to get them . Will this leasing agency cover using parts for diagnostic purposes. Who is responsible for environmental issues? I will agree the market is there. May be a drone could be used to deliver parts to site with an app on a smart phone so bezos could be in on it and then it would be possible to order all the parts your Cat will ever need straight off the website. Easy peasy.... one of those kind of days.
 

kshansen

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Central New York, USA
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May be a drone could be used to deliver parts to site with an app on a smart phone so bezos could be in on it and then it would be possible to order all the parts your Cat will ever need straight off the website. Easy peasy.... one of those kind of days.

Yea, well if they start flying cutting edges for 992's over my house I sure hope the have lots of insurance.
 
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