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West- MEC

about 17 hours ago

Shop Talk Post

We are hosting "Mock" Interviews for our program-completing students.
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Joshua Taylor

about 21 hours ago

Shop Talk Post

Does Flat Rate Suck, or Does it Rock?
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Mike Jones

Mike Jones

Technician

How many decades have you worked on a flat rape pay plan???

7 minutes ago Like

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How many decades have you worked on a flat rape pay plan???
Durango Motor Company

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2 days ago

Shop Talk Post

Join us this Saturday, September 23rd, from 11 am - 2 pm for an electrifying experience! Test drive the future at our EV Ride and Drive event, featuring the latest electric vehicles from top brands. Get behind the wheel and feel the power of sustainable driving!
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Durango Motor Company

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2 days ago

Shop Talk Post

We are proud to announce that Durango Motor Company was voted 1st place for Best Auto Dealership and 1st place for Best Oil/Lube Service in the 2023 Best of Durango awards!
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Truckstar Collision Center, Inc

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2 days ago

Local Giveaway

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Madison, WI

How long would you be willing to commute for a job you like?
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Wendle Ford

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2 days ago

Shop Talk Post

Top Shop Challenge: What are a couple of things you'd like to highlight that happened in August?

Our Express Program is continuing to grow! Our aim is to empower entry-level technicians with mentorship, skills, and knowledge to soar in their careers. Through extensive training and hands-on practice, graduates achieve mastery in stand-alone service, basic maintenance, and factory online training, fueling their career journey with confidence and expertise for the next step in their technician journey. We are so proud of our express team!
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WrenchWay

2 days ago

1

Answer Voice of Technician Survey to Enter Win Over $10k in Prizes

Take 3 minutes to complete the Voice of Technician Survey to be entered to win over $10k in tools, swag, training resources, and more: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SCWYKKQ
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North Kansas City Schools Automotive Technology

2 days ago

Shop Talk Post

Great to be back for 23-24! We hope everyone is off to a great start this school year!
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1:31

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Town Nissan

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3 days ago

Shop Talk Post

First day of fall is the 23rd of September!
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Kalispell Toyota

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3 days ago

Shop Talk Post

Our Service Team is the heart of our success. Join us and be part of something great.
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0:41

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MW

Mark Wilson

3 days ago

Shop Talk Post

There's still time to complete the Voice of Technician Survey. Lots of good prizes to be had and it only takes about 3 minutes. Here's the link - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SCWYKKQ
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Master Fleet, LLC - Milwaukee

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3 days ago

Shop Talk Post

Top Shop Challenge: It’s almost the start of Fall. What are some things your shop and/or team do in the fall?

Our team supports a really great Fall Event called Touch-A-Truck. We bring a mobile unit and a semi tractor for the kids to touch and see what it's like in our industry. Super fun event and our volunteers for the event are paid and get a Gift Card from us for their support!
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WrenchWay

3 days ago

Shop Talk Post

We've received fantastic responses from our 2023 Voice of Technician Survey so far, and we deeply appreciate the feedback. We're excited about the opportunity to use this input to educate our industry.
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2:32

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Joshua Taylor

4 days ago

Shop Talk Post

Want to make more money as a Technician?
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Chastang Ford

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4 days ago

Shop Talk Post

🎉 Exciting News! 🎉
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Sara Kerwin

Thanks for bringing up this important topic, Craig. It's very timely because we're also going to be hosting a roundtable where we're bringing on 4 technician to discuss flat rate. It's free to attend and anyone can register here: https://wrenchway.com/events/flat-rates-contribution-to-the-technician-shortage/

4 months ago Like

Russell Wickham

So, Lucas Underwood on the "Changing the Industry Podcast" a week ago said, "Flat rate is a lazy man's management method." I agree. Flat rate can be made to work, if the entire team is on board and no one person gets stuck doing all the crap work (unless said person is paid hourly or salary and isn't under the gun from management for low hours). Usually what happens is a favorite tech gets fed, other techs pick up the scraps, and one really good tech starves to death. The good tech leaves, the others flounder, the attitude goes in the toilet, and the shop ends up circling the drain. Yes, labor times are down, sometimes grossly inaccurate, and the quick maintenance jobs that used to allow us to make up time are few and far between. A few very gifted techs can still turn those outstanding hours, but they are rare. A few gifted service managers make flat rate work for their location. They aren't the lazy kind Lucas was referring to. For everyone else, flat rate is a punishment to those who do good quality work and an easy way to create friction and anger in the shop.

Dale Techel

I've worked flat rate for 38 years, don't really have an issue with it. First thing you need to realize, clocking 60 hour weeks plus wasn't difficult for a few reasons, first is, most shops were open 6 days a week and we worked an average of 70 hours a week. Another thing was we only worked on a handful of makes and models back then, repetitiveness of vehicles we worked on made it that you'd become very good on doing repairs because you've done it many times and you knew the tricks to get the job done quickly. The amount of makes and models now, along with the fact vehicles are driven 15-20 yrs plus just adds to the amount that you the tech need to know and be great at to clock a ton of hours. You need to be flexible in your estimating of vehicles in today world, if a vehicle comes in and a complex service you know is going to take a tech longer than book time, don't be afraid to slightly adjust the labor also. Shops and techs are out to make money and stay in business, if for example an evap core job pays 8.5 hours and the past few you've done takes 10, adjust labor on next repair. Shops have to realize that in today's world, no tech, even the best and most experienced is going to have the knowledge to be the best and fastest on the amount of makes, models and years of vehicles on the road. It's not humanly possible. Have my labor amounts dropped a bit over the years, yes, but I'm also down to working a 45 hour week compared to close to 75 I would work year round not long ago and I'm 56 years old and my body isn't like it was at 20 yrs old either. I think my point is, be flexible yet fair, make the shop, tech and customer happy and satisfied, if you don't, more techs will continually leave the industry.