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

[AzIron]

Keep the money close on them they ate already broke and dont know it there making more money than ever before but cant hardly show a profit and what's worse is management has no clue

As a buissness man I would tell you keep them below 30 percent of your annual revenue and I might keep them at net 15

My bet is there are a lot of companies going to grow broke this year from similar circumstances

 

[emmett518]

Let's gripe some more! LOL

I see HNC making somewhere in the neighborhood of $75K a year....and doesn't do much of anything except drink coffee and shoot the **** with the supers.
TNH making the same $75K and barely doing anything but is great at sitting on his ass.
All this equipment needing repairs just sitting..........and a crapload of rental equipment being used.
..and the wasted parts being bought that I can't even imagine what that cost is a month.

So where to go from here?
If I just start fixing this stuff without HNC's approval he gets upset. Not that I really give a F^%& about that at this point, but since he seems to have management in his corner (makes no sense at all) I don't feel like I can push the envelope.

I could go to management with all the evidence I have but what would it really accomplish? 2 guys losing their job probably with NO ONE to replace them. I just don't see myself stepping up to save them by going on their payroll......to me that would be a death sentence. I don't want to be in a position of being told what I can and can't fix by management that doesn't have a clue. Would they let me run the equipment operations?......maybe, but would it be worth it to me.? Doubtful. I'm expecting the economy to get even worse this year, so I don't want to be in a position that if it does.......I'm expendable. Besides, even if they were to make an attractive offer to me, I couldn't let go of my own business that I run now. It's the only guarantied security I have ..........so I would have to do it as a sub-contractor anyway.

So, this is kind of a no-win situation at this point in time.

There is actually an up side to all of this.

It means that a competently run competitor can beat these guys, and build a solid business. There is opportunity here.

 

[sfrs4]

Vtech63 is the main issue because you know the owner of the business well, and you feel obliged to try to stop him getting the rug pulled from beneath him? In which case I would go have a drink one night and explain it all starting with and making sure he understands you can't come to his rescue full time, and that firing the HNC and TNH won't get the company any better result unfortunately.
It looks to me that a little pressure in the right area with HNC and TNH is needed, a little carrot dangling maybe, if equipment is fixed By HNC and TNH in a timely fashion without overspending then a bonus is applied and payed out after a "warranty" period for the fix. But also the opposite applies, running over budget/time or machines failing on the fix, then previous bonus's can be removed. It should help ensure things are done and done correctly and if its outside of their knowledge to get someone who can fix it first time properly.

 

[BigWrench55]

Bonuses?
Just do the job you were hired to do. Shouldn't have to bribe a man to do his job well. I have done my job well for many years and no one gave me a bonus.

 

[Vetech63]

Thanks for the suggestion's fellas. All good advice!

My woman says I need to think of good positive things to decompress. Her suggestion.........
Puppies and Kitties..........

.........Uhhhh NO.

My daughter's suggestion ...............
.....Unicorns and rainbows.

JFC...............NOOOOO!!!

My own thought.........

Ahhhhh.................Much better.

 

[Kobelco ireland]

She would cause you more for a headache than the two clowns you are dealing with but some headaches are worth it

 

[dieseldog5.9]

I had a good friend and respected independant truck technician who went to work for a large outfit very similar situation, owner complained of repairs not happening efficiently, combacks, expensive parts changing, and he went to work for them to "Fix" the problem. Turns out it was more of a management problem than anything, no one wanted to deal with problems.

My buddy said " I went down there to raise their standards, instead they just lowered Mine"

 

[cuttin edge]

The reason my father traded his wrenches in for pulling a wrecker cable, is that he couldn't stand all the young parts changers. No one wants to diagnose anything. Try this, try that. And then there is the fact that you spend more time with co workers than you do with your family. So if tensions get high, it gets hard to work together. Probably worse in a shop environment. We had a shop foreman, anything you asked him to do, he got it looked after as soon as someone was free. He put a wipe board in every bay. Machine, truck, or vehicle number. What had to be done, parts on order, or parts in the stock room. He and the parts guy worked well together, and things got done. He even called me at home once because he forgot to get something fixed on my grader and he felt bad. He left for bigger money and everything wet down the crapper.

 

[DMiller]

Really did not enjoy the first Automotive code readers, every swinging Richard Knew was a Mekanik would replace sensors by the boatload for vacuum leaks, incorrect PCV valves, using three tubes of NOT sensor safe Blue Glue to stop up bent up valve cover leaks or Bad Gas. Has moved into the Diesel world BIG Time while wrench benders with any talent are pretty well disappearing.

 

[BigWrench55]

There is a bridge in front of my brother in laws house that is being replaced. He tells me that it's a 1.8 million dollar job. He made the comment of why such a little bridge costs so much. My reply was that the bridge probably only costs 800,000. With equipment damage and parts changing is where the other million comes in.

 

[ianjoub]

There is a bridge in front of my brother in laws house that is being replaced. He tells me that it's a 1.8 million dollar job. He made the comment of why such a little bridge costs so much. My reply was that the bridge probably only costs 800,000. With equipment damage and parts changing is where the other million comes in.

Sure wish I could figure out how to place bids on these highway jobs. They just finished a 7 mile extension on a toll road here in nice flat sandy FL. It cost $135 MILLION dollars. I think I could 'get er dun' @ $20 million per mile.

 

[AllDodge]

Ahhh 7 x 20 = 140
Or did it miss something

Sure wish I could figure out how to place bids on these highway jobs. They just finished a 7 mile extension on a toll road here in nice flat sandy FL. It cost $135 MILLION dollars. I think I could 'get er dun' @ $20 million per mile.

 

[ianjoub]

Ahhh 7 x 20 = 140
Or did it miss something

I was rounding it off... $19.286M per mile

I just meant that I would like the contract at that price.

 

[cuttin edge]

There is a bridge in front of my brother in laws house that is being replaced. He tells me that it's a 1.8 million dollar job. He made the comment of why such a little bridge costs so much. My reply was that the bridge probably only costs 800,000. With equipment damage and parts changing is where the other million comes in.

Must be a small bridge. There is one being replaced not far from my place. They have the piers done on one side of the river, and they are doing the beams. Then they will pull the work platforms, move to the other side of the river, install the work platforms and start the process again. The deck and tearing down the old bridge which is down to one lane is next contract. The engineers estimate is 88 million, and they are never right.

 

[JD955SC]

Sure wish I could figure out how to place bids on these highway jobs. They just finished a 7 mile extension on a toll road here in nice flat sandy FL. It cost $135 MILLION dollars. I think I could 'get er dun' @ $20 million per mile.

The actual road construction cost pales in comparison to the many millions per mile for graft. ALL the politicians involved (many of whom you’ve never even heard of) and crooked administrators have to get their cut. It’s legalized organized crime and that’s why when you don’t want to increase taxes for the roads (that they PINKY PROMISE they will really fix this time but won’t!) they pitch such a fit.

 

[dieseldog5.9]

Really did not enjoy the first Automotive code readers, every swinging Richard Knew was a Mekanik would replace sensors by the boatload for vacuum leaks, incorrect PCV valves, using three tubes of NOT sensor safe Blue Glue to stop up bent up valve cover leaks or Bad Gas. Has moved into the Diesel world BIG Time while wrench benders with any talent are pretty well disappearing.

At 16 I remember having to go to the library of all places to get a Chiltons manual to work on the POS I bought, and reading codes on a swinging needle anolog meter.

 

[Muffler Bearing]

I'm a page late for the tale of too turbos, but..
I watched a dealer tech change one turbo...then come back to parts counter for another...Later he's at the parts counter again, yelling, " You've given me two defective turbo's today! I need another turbo that works, and a boost sensor!" That third turbo fixed it!

 

[suladas]

Speaking of turbos, dealership "master tech" who does side work just replaced turbos on my mom's ram, first problem was he didn't bleed the system of air when putting back in coolant causing issues, now yesterday I get a call it's pissing coolant out like crazy under passenger side. Heater core hose popped off because hose clamp not on properly. Baffles me how someone can work full-time at a dealership working on this stuff all day and still screw up such simple things.

 

[JLarson]

Pretty much everything after like 07 you should be vac filling. Even some older stuff it's easier to just.use the vac then deal with air.

 

[suladas]

Pretty much everything after like 07 you should be vac filling. Even some older stuff it's easier to just.use the vac then deal with air.

Biggest issue I had with it was he gave her the truck back didn't mention anything about it, it wasn't until heater wasn't working for crap that I took a look at it and realized system had a bunch of air. If you forgot to do it at least say so, instead he brushed it off as nothing, i'm sure when he finds out about the hose clamp it will be the same "oh it's 30 seconds to put it back on no biggie" when it's actually a huge problem and never should happen.