Buckethead
Senior Member
I love when younger people break into the trade, because it's been about 10 years since I've been on a job where they called me "the kid".
I certainly think that is a big part of it. The other thing (thinking more mechanic work than operating here) is that because cars and trucks are more complicated, kids don't grow up helping Dad work on the car, or fixing up their own old car when they get old enough to drive. And I don't know about where you live, but around here, there's less places to ride dirt bikes and quads, that's how a lot of guys got their first wrenching experience, overhauling a little 125 2-stroke dirt bike engine.
While we are talking of pay scales and such, one thing that always bugged me is the fact that people like singers can record a song then for years after they continue to get royalty checks for every-time the song is played on the radio or used in a movie.
Wouldn't it be nice if that engine you rebuilt last year would send you a check once a month rated on how many miles the truck went or how many tons of stone it pulled out of the pit at the quarry? Heck even $0.01 per mile or ton of stone would sure add up over time and the number of engines you worked on.
I don't really care how much flak I catch for this statement but when it comes right down to it, we're as smart or smarter than doctors. The human body is pretty much the same, regardless of race. Put a Bobcat skid steer next to a Cat skid steer and tell me they get repaired the same lol.
You've summed it up wellIF ONLY Hansen.. IF ONLY.. lol
I look in the local Cr. List almost every day under DIESEL JOBS just to see whos hiring & what their paying..
HOLY SMOKES.. you gotta have a friggin Masters degree in ALL THINGS diesel + trailer repair.. for 14-18.00/hr.. with MANDATORY rotating weekends.!!! They can KMA.!! Its no wonder the youth don't get in the business..
They probably come from a culture where hard and even dirty work is considered honorable not soomething to be looked down on.
"Drs only have to know 2 models, we have to know thousands" was on the wall of a shop my brother worked in in the early '80s
True that pumpguy. I'm damn lucky where I'm at. It helps I can run the lowboy too, lord knows what that saves them. It's a shame things don't pay better, imagine a federal mandated $15 minimum wage for flippin burgers....
That's what the politicians here in Alberta are trying to do! They say it will improve the quality of life for low income earners. What they don't realize is how many jobs will be lost because of this because there sure aren't many people who can afford to pay someone $15.00 an hour just to pour your coffee or things like that. Not only that, but a lot of kids I see coming out of school these days aren't worth half that! I think there will be a lot more unemployed people when this comes to pass.
The other thing I find, and I have no first hand experience here since my boy isn't old enough for school yet, but I've heard from several people now that schools really seem to be pushing kids to get some form of college or university degree, otherwise you're a second rate citizen. That and the "everybody gets a prize" attitude so nobody gets their feelings hurt... No wonder every one of these kids think they can start up at the top! Anyway, rant over......
I completely agree, i live in a rural area and that is exactly how I got started. On both ends. I was but a little guy spending every weekend in the shop with my dad working on his hot rod or cash customers cars and equipment and hot rods. By the time I was 12-13 I was rebuilding mikuni carbs for all the neighbors quads and dirtbikes and overhauled my first honda 300 at about 13. I was also homeschooled until highschool and had alot of oppurtunity to shadow my dad and a few other old timers.I certainly think that is a big part of it. The other thing (thinking more mechanic work than operating here) is that because cars and trucks are more complicated, kids don't grow up helping Dad work on the car, or fixing up their own old car when they get old enough to drive. And I don't know about where you live, but around here, there's less places to ride dirt bikes and quads, that's how a lot of guys got their first wrenching experience, overhauling a little 125 2-stroke dirt bike engine.