kingofdodge7131

Ok, now im falling into this whole resession bullhookie. Im a diesel mechanic. my company, between it really making people angry, and fleets getting tighter belts, must have decided its time to let go and i was the one. This burns my butt for 2 Reasons. One im the only guy in the shop that will buy the tools to do the work. The shop, yeah right. I even had to buy my own wheel nut socket set because the shops were just plain wore out. Im a fresh mechanic at the age of 21( aslo didnt help in my keeping the job, ) Im also not Certified in anything except a few classes on Meritor brakes that i paid for myself. now with that in the last 6 months there have been a few big shop bloopers that i can remember, Our cummins man ( wont work on anything thats not an ISX psh, thinks hes special and they let him get away with it, He wont get dirty either) decided that when he put one back together after our last screw up which i wasnt in on, not to tighten the fan bolts, I live in mason City iowa, Truck made it to Chicago and we boubht a new front end to the truck because the fan came off...... Next one our detroit man, decided not to tigthen the cam shaft bolts, ended up with almost a whole new engine, basically the crank and connecting rods are all that wasnt replaced, All on us. The last one ( the guy already quit) put new springs in a truck and decided that his lil 1/2 impact could torque the u bolts, worked for about 200 miles when the axle shifted, took out the drive shaft, bunch of hoses and some electrical. Very nice lil screw up

Now for my reason of getting fired, Im not one to say i only made THIS mistake, I had an oil filter leak once, Cracked a lug nutt, Killed the batteries in a truck that the customer was to pick up during the weekend. Nothng that i couldnt fix in 5 minutes, and often did over lunch breaks and what not to minimize the companys internal cost since i did screw up

Well a truck that got new wheel bearings in it for NO reason, he just thought at 500k he wanted them. A wheel seal started to leak in nebraska, And since this other shop had to fix it at the tune of 400 bucks i get the can.


OK now that i had my rant haha. Ive decided its time to work for myself. Ive got the building site, ( farm just of I 35 north of mason should work id think,) have a small customer base already, and a decent savings built up to get all the inurances and everything in order to get this going. Screw depeing on other people.

So until i get to that point of opening the doors, Can someone as myself that got fired due to screwing up still get unemployment? I think there is something in there that would say im not elegiable or something. Who knows Thanks for th rant guys.

bkrukow

If ya do get a shop of your own up and going include performance goodys. I will be over if ya do. I grew up in Thompson up buy Forest City. As far as I know there are no Diesel performance shops in the area. None over here either. I think we need a good performance shop in the area. There is a shop in North Wood but I have no idea if they do any performance mods at all.

edwinsmith

Just out of curiosity and I'm not putting you down, but did you **** and moan all over the shop like you did here? If you did it could be why you got canned. Learn to keep your mouth shut and just do your job as well as you can and you'll go a lot further. You get a lot more friends with sweet wine than vinegar.

Just my .02 worth.

Edwin

runamuk

Come west young man I know several that will hire you on the spot!!!

It is rare to find someone/anyone who is willing to go the extra mile to get the job done. (You should be commended on that point alone in my book)

Rick

midwestdually

definitely get a shop going...let me know if you need some contacts in the area as i know a few people that are diesel heads witha ford conversion and some other nice setups...didnt know you lived in MC...thought you were from around there

bulabula

KofD, what you're experiencing is life. Life is full of favoritism, nepotism and all kinds of other things that can bite us. It makes logical sense that advancement is based purely on performance etc, but life isn't always logical; and things do happen for a reason. Everyone makes mistakes - thats how we learn. Some folks are hard learners too.

Sometimes we need to get hit with a baseball bat to wake up and get moving. That old job gave you experience, helped pay for some tools and more, and now you've got the opportunity to forge new ground. I say go for it. Don't hold any grudges against the former company, and drop the ego about them - be polite to them when they contact you about why many of their old customers are leaving for yours.

Good luck.

edit. PS: go file for unemployment in the interim.

kingofdodge7131

Sorry if it came over that way. I learned very early on in life that, life itselft isnt fair and things arnt always logical. Id share some of my knowlage but id hate to be a winer. Because im sure that everyone at SOMETIME has lost a job, gone home to the wife and complained abit. Especially when you give so muchy of yourself. I also dont hold any grudges, IM gonna be going back. I still have a contract account their haha. For 8 more months i still get my employee discount. Life will be good no worries

JKM

I am working in almost exactly the same sort of shop as you, and i have seen some pretty big screw ups , messed up a couple things myself , but i made them right.

That said , i don't love where i am working , it is way too political, for instance, i can't take 10 mins and write down the p/n's for a machine i am working on , and give it to the parts man to order , because that's not my job. What i have to do , is verbally tell the parts man what i need , then when the parts arrive (eventually) i have to go back in and re order the correct parts ( i could have done the first time) , all this time i spend over and above the 10 mins , is extra on the customers bill. Once i finally get the right parts, and get it assembled , my boss comes to me and asks why there are so many hours on the work order... DUH! Having to make 18 extra trips across the shop to wait 20 mins to talk to a parts man adds up them hours fast.

I am only planning to work there long enough to complete my apprenticeship. After that , my own shop all the way. I already have a friend (and fellow forum member) who wants to get into it too.

kingofdodge7131

This is actually the biggest reason why we loose so many customers, only we dont have the polical of not gettin gnumbers, actually, I give them EVERY number i can off the truck. A lot of times we order parts before a big project that isnt urgent ( spring bushings, order parts come in next week type deal) Then truck comes in we tear it down and they order the wrong parts. Then we dont stock most parts, We actually had to go to Napa once to get a filter for a dt444 (powerstroke type engine) and we are an international dealer. Its that type of stuff the customers really dont want to put up with. Its my experience that if you make an honest mistake or have something that you really cant know, The customer doesnt mind giving the time, and maybe one lil mistake, but when its huge, or the service manager tells them its done, and your just bolting up the tranny, thats when they get mad ( service manager would do that a lot, So are you almost done? Well im just putting the Bearing races in so well say another hour to be safe, hed go call them theyd show up in 20 minutes and the wheel isnt on the truck yet. Because here i just went to lunch. OH well. Thats wrhy freightliner down the road loves us haha

kingofdodge7131

There we go, I can see it now * Ma and Pa diesel sit down for a nice night with the tv and up comes the DTR video number 1. As they look at the tv with ever growing curiosity, they can get their truck serviced repaired and bombed at diesel Truck Resource, Your local diesel specialist haha

BlackSunShyne

I gotta agree with some of what Rick is saying here. You are 21, that is pretty young. And with not being certified in very many things, as you stated above. It would make more sense to work for someone else for now, build your list of certifications, and watch what they do. Even if you see someone doing something you don't agree with there is something to be learned from that. Also you have to look at the financial side of things. I used to work in the commercial banking industry, and I saw most people seriously underestimated the amount of capital needed to start a new business. You need to consider the bookkeeping that will go along with this venture as well(accounts payable, receivable, payroll, etc.). At 21 it might be hard to get credit lines to finance the new business as well, unless you have access to some assests to post as collateral, and possiblly a cosigor willing to sign for you. Not trying to rain on your parade or anything, but it is much tougher to start you own business then most people realize. My vote would be to get more experience, continue saving, and when you are secure and ready go for it. But whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck!

Haulin_in_Dixie

Ok, this is the real world. You are 21. Don't matter what race religon, past experience, or any other factor. You are 21. At 21 you cannot get away with the same things that a 35 year old can. He can say it, people will listen. You say it at 21, it might be taken as accurate, but probably not. Scoffed at, kid does not know what he is talking about. If you boss thinks you are great, the other workers will not accept that and will drive the boss crazy. It is not you, it is the age and exuberence that a young person radiats.

I was once a well experienced machinest doing short run jobs. Doing first class work. Boss though I was great. Could not get the pay grade or the class even though I ws doing the work. I think I was 21, I told the foreman that I would have to leave if I could not get the pay grade. I was fired, not by the foreman, but by the supervisor. In my case I landed a good job at the better pay grade. But I was lucky. The foreman told me why, the other workers complained constantly that I was just a dumb kid and was keeping workers from advancing.

The better you are at 21, if you are above average, the more rub you cause to older less qualified workers. Now on this I am speaking for myself, maybe it applies to you also, I was good, but I thought I was better. Large ego. When I got older I realized this. Better get some more experience before you strike out on your own. Not many 21 year olds can handle the maturity necessary to run a business. I could not, tried, maybe you can, better think it over real good first.

Smkndzl

Sometimes the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence , the complaints you have listed is heard everywhere from Tech. , if it isnt one thing , it is another...... running a shop is not easy, I too started my own business at the age of 23 after working for a IH dealer and earning my journeyman statis, did it for 10 years of hell, the work was great but now instead of dealing with a boss , that boss is now the customer and he is worse then any boss you can find. Today I watch over 26 tech. everyday and even I wonder if the grass is greener on the other side, all I have to do is talk to the foreman at the KW , Freightliner , Detroit, or even CAT.... before I even say anything they are asking if we need anyone cuz they are tired of what they are dealing with. my ***** now is mandatory 12 hour days till the first of the year. but it could be worse, my suggestion to you is to get some more years experience before going on your own. we wont even consider anyone with less then 5 years in the same field as journeyman.

kingofdodge7131

thanks for the advice on the experienc, ive thought about all that as well. Its hard to tel lwaht direction im going now. But either way as long as i can ge the respect for my skills ill be happy

pappyman

Sorry y'all got canned from your job

I've been a Diesel Truck Mechanic for 40 years and can say up front its ezer to punch a clock for someone else then to open your own shop

I've had two of my own truck repair shops....the up front cost for tools and supplys is large....then plan to live off your savings for the first years while your business gets going....also remember there will be some deadbeat truck ownners that don't pay their bills....a one man truck repair shop will only generate enuff money to pay the bills and not grow to become successful you'll need more mechanics which include more costs and a big hunk of insurance both workers comp and business insurance

A big field for your skills would be mobile repairs....my shops had mobile repair vans that had compressors and supplys stocked in them for doing road repairs and tires.....its a cash business without alot of overhead and most repairs are minor, tires, wheel seals, brakes, fuel filters ect