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

[AzIron]

Its probably more along the lines of the supers bitch to the office that nothing is getting fixed the office turns around and puts the screws on the mechanics or whatever they actually might be in this case so some action happens witch in turn goes back to a song and dance back to the office that they are overwhelmed by all the stuff the operators keep breaking and that they are actually the hero because it could be worse

Since production is trackable on paper much easier than breakdowns especially to those that dont know there buissness nothing changes cause the supers pull rabbits out of there hat and make things happen

I am currently working around a company that has simalar issues and the 3rd generation that's taken over cant get out of the office to see how much broke stuff is sitting on the job parked

This scenario has been a big driving factor in why the rental game has become a principal way for buissness to manage a fleet

 

[nicky 68a]

Interesting post Vtech,and thanks for taking the time to post it.
My gut feeling is that you’re going to come out of all this wishing you hadn’t bothered.

 

[DMiller]

Fueler and general labor guy(64) that has been around machines most his life was out to the 963B I operate, he pushed up the remnant of the original pile to a condensed mass as I was not being given time to do so. More of my time is to get loaded and get it gone. He was amazed at how loose the old loader was, said first try at the edges of the pile thought it was gonna Submarine on him as bucket rolls down so fast so hard and so far. Did back out before got into dirt under the pile so not a issue there, then he scraped the platform area another treat trying to use the loose loader but got it mashed together into the mainpile.

He made that comment to the boss, boss said tractor was too old to worry of a little slack noting I had made a similar remark when it replaced the newer B, then HE went out to the pile and tried it. Said 'his boys' back at the shop were a lot less admirable today as had told him was not so bad and could be lived with. Cutting edge rolled nearly four to six inches by the bosses account where the order was placed for pins, bushings and shims, the 'Boys' will be busy when I finish the haul off in refitting the loader if not already too far beaten. He also said the rest of the tractor would be getting a little more Lovin.

 

[56wrench]

Reminds me of a mechanic we used to have at our county shop. He was known as ' Maytag Mike'. He was only part-time but he had to have a helper. For a routine re-man transmission replacement on a pick-up truck, he would haul it to a dealer an hour away, leave it, and then go back and pick it up when it was done. It took him and his helper both to come over to our hamlet to change the fuel hose on the storage tank for the grader. The graders were always bought with the full maintenance package so he never touched them. Then, on the old spare grader, he didn't do the service on it and the transfer drive piled up. So, he sent it to the dealer and the bill was i think 30k. Finally, a new county council started questioning this kind of crap and the CAO couldn't protect him anymore. When questioned about his high wages, her response was ' Well he's more like a supervisor'. A lot of work wasn't getting done so she gave him the option of working full-time and he declined. So, he was finally replaced. End of problem. Ya they eventually replaced the CAO too.

 

[Vetech63]

Not much to report today. I got to work by myself without any distractions even though I was at the same equipment yard. What I did today is in the roller and paver sections. TNH and HNC were gone all day.....no one knows where or what they are doing.

 

[Mike L]

Not much to report today. I got to work by myself without any distractions even though I was at the same equipment yard. What I did today is in the roller and paver sections. TNH and HNC were gone all day.....no one knows where or what they are doing.

You got to work by yourself without any distractions or people wanting you to drop what you’re doing and put out their fires? Sounds glorious!

 

[DMiller]

No one knew where or what they were doing, hmm
Maybe each other??

 

[JD955SC]

No one knew where or what they were doing, hmm
Maybe each other??

better put HNC’s desk on some jack stands so TNH doesn’t bump his head!

 

[funwithfuel]

No one knew where or what they were doing, hmm
Maybe each other??

better put HNC’s desk on some jack stands so TNH doesn’t bump his head!

Man you guys are a bad influence. (Cough, cough, clears throat roflmfbo)

 

[JLarson]

Interesting post Vtech,and thanks for taking the time to post it.
My gut feeling is that you’re going to come out of all this wishing you hadn’t bothered.

IDK I think that sometimes with a few customers, but they are good for repeat business every few years as the cycle of f**k up repeats.

 

[Vetech63]

Let's see what today brings. I'm back there to finish up the roller and the Cat paver should be there sometime this morning. Unlikely I will see HNC or TNH......that's been the trend. Not that I really have the authority to do so, but I told both paving super's yesterday that HNC, TNH, or any other company mechanic is NOT to touch any of the paving equipment again. I explained HNC spent $6K+ on a $2500 job. They both agreed so it shouldn't be a problem again. I also explained that when I have to follow behind him it's just driving the costs up. I highly doubt the owner will have an issue with it but they would relay the message so I didn't have to.

 

[JD955SC]

Not much to report today. I got to work by myself without any distractions even though I was at the same equipment yard. What I did today is in the roller and paver sections. TNH and HNC were gone all day.....no one knows where or what they are doing.

The Buddy Club is an amazing thing. Lunches for its members can last anywhere from 2 hours to all day

 

[Vetech63]

Got the roller finished up today, but 2 paving machines down this afternoon. It seems like for every machine thats fixed there is 2 more going down. I'm so dang tired that on the way home I stopped at my PO box at the post office. I go inside and find myself trying to put my wallet in the key slot........even took me a few seconds to realize what I was doing.  TNH was gone again all day. HNC decided to do something today.......he swept the shop a little. He lasted 10 minutes and disappeared.

Its paving machine work tomorrow.

 

[Pony]

Isn't there anyone around higher up the company food chain to see what's going on?
It would drive me crazy being in your shoes at the moment, we'll paid or not, I struggle to cop that sh!t.

 

[56wrench]

Is there no daily work schedule? Or do they just float around waiting for new stuff to come up and to hell with the already broken. This company sounds large enough to have a system for tracking maintenance and repair costs per unit including repair hours, etc. A system like that would weed out those two guys fairly quick.

 

[BigWrench55]

Is there no daily work schedule? Or do they just float around waiting for new stuff to come up and to hell with the already broken. This company sounds large enough to have a system for tracking maintenance and repair costs per unit including repair hours, etc. A system like that would weed out those two guys fairly quick.

They do have a system. It’s the scorched earth system. They run these machines into the ground and use them for things not intended. And when they break to the point where they can’t use them anymore. Then they move to the pacify the baby plan. Meaning that whichever superintendent or Forman throws the biggest fit gets his machine looked at first. This is why I left the construction side of turning wrenches. It’s all about production bonuses. Repairs and damage are not factored in with production. So basically they will destroy a million dollars worth of equipment to finish a half million dollar segment of the job. And if the equipment is broken and threatening their production. They will throw a tantrum until it is fixed. Or they will destroy another machine using it in a manner not intended. Or rent something. I don’t completely fault HNC and TNH. They probably get their minds changed 10,000 times a day. It doesn’t matter if you have a engine hanging from your crane and you can finish the job by late afternoon. It’s set that engine down and drive across the state 2-3 hours to do something that could’ve waited a day or two.

 

[56wrench]

I understand completely but i would think they would go back to 'said' engine and work with it whenever time allows

 

[BigWrench55]

That day never comes. In construction there are millions of non emergencies every day. It takes a equipment manager with balls to put an end to it. Or in my case when I was in construction. I lived by the philosophy of its easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. A lot of times it’s the equipment manager making terrible decisions. And I have had success with personally reaching out to the superintendent or forman and working out a plan that works for the both of us. When I was in construction. I was the mechanic, parts runner, and diplomat all at the same time. It’s a thankless job and I will work at McDonald’s before I would go back.

 

[BigWrench55]

And for what some of these McDonald’s type companies are paying. It’s not much less than some of these construction outfits pay to repair equipment. I am seriously reevaluating my career. I think that when my truck is paid off. That I will quit turning wrenches for any company and work for the new minimum wage. I have to by expensive tooling. I diagnose million dollar machines with complicated electronics and software. I diagnose hydraulic issues and powertrain issues. I can weld and fabricate. I have a lot of skills in my arsenal. And to make just a few hundred dollars more then a guy flipping burgers. What’s the point?

 

[John C.]

Any kind of industry is always the same story and its name is business. The game of business is taught by those in it and doing it. It's not learned in some class room out of a book or listening to someone who has never done it. The measurement of success is money. Not how a job is done, nor how many people are employed, nor the amount of equipment owned or how it is used or how long it lasts. It took me twenty years of working at dealerships, mining and construction companies in many different facets of each type of work to learn that. If you are wrenching on iron, you shouldn't care anything about how your customer or client decides to spend it other than what they spend on you. I got to where I wanted them to spend as much on me as possible but also realized there were limits to what they would spend based on my performance. To keep them putting money in my pockets I became pretty pliable in what I would do and retained my limits as to how far I would go.

If it helps any, what I was usually able to do was find the person with the ultimate power to decide and form a relationship. When those other distractions happened, I had developed an open communication to the powers that be and made them make the decision on where to go next. I didn't tell them how to run their business. I just made them make a hands on decision on what to do next based on the inputs and requirements that were at hand. It seems everyone in a company believes the mechanic is their mechanic and their job is most important. When that happened I just started to climb the ladder of power. Sometimes all it took was to state who is your boss, what is his phone number and I'm going to contact him now.