Currently I work at a heavy equipment dealership (I won't list the name) amd am wondering if this job would be worth it to any of you. A little background I attended a diesel tech school for 2 years and currently am on my year and a half at this dealership. The people I work with are great. The service manager can be a bit of a micromanager at times. I currently am a shop guy. I have a hour drive one way just to get to work. My first year I worked at 18.00 an hour. At the end of the first year I had a year end review and everything was noted excellent and they seamed to be very pleased to have my onboard. At the end I was given a raise of 50 cents. So I currently make 18.50 an hour and time and a half overtime when I rarely get it. Noted also I know it is my first year but I get sent out with road guys often and have done major jobs such as a rebuild on a cummins,pulling and replacing engines, troubleshooting electrical and hydraulic issues, full under carriages so on and so on. Also when the shop I work at is slow they will send me up to 7 hours away to work at another branch out of someone else's toolbox for the same 18.50 for a week or two at a time. On a average 40 hour week I only bring home 540.00 after taxes. The benefits arnt that great but they do give you a boot allowance once a year and a 250 dollar tool allowance once a year. I feel like the hour drive and the pay really isnt worth it. After gas all week and taxes I only make $480 thats not including other expenses outside of work. What do you guys think?
When they do send you to another shop 7 hours away do they pay you travel time? Do you have to pay for a motel room while there or do they take care of that and meals while out of town? What about work clothes, coveralls?
They pay me my hourly rate for travel time there and back. And yes pay for the hotel and they provide work cloths, gloves, safety vests when needed etc
You also qualify for per diem when you are working that far from home, or direct reimbursement of your meals by the company. If they won't pay that, make sure to keep records of dates you are gone and file for it on your taxes. It adds up. As for the rest, seems low to me, but I'm not in that line of work. I know there are factory jobs in my area paying $18-$20 an hour along with all the overtime a guy could ask for. You might chalk it up to cutting teeth and learning your trade, but I don't know what the senior guys at your shop are earning.
The senior road tech at mt shop has worked here for 13 years and is less them 30. I believe he said 26 at one time and also told me you usually don't get a raise more then 3% of your hourly rate no matter how good you do. The only way I was told to get more was to get into a truck and that is a two dollar raise at the end of the year and again 3% after that.
I don't think that they are under paying you, if that's what they are paying the top guy at your shop. You're still pretty new to the game, give it some time, and learn all you can from who you are working with. At your age and experience level, they are essentially paying you to learn.
Have you received any factory backed training? Is there a possibility for that type of training. Are you enrolled a bonafide apprenticeship training program, If not is one available to You. These things all add up to a substantial dollar amount. Over all it sounds like the wage in your area is very low or you are working for a mom and pop shop that can't afford Competitive wages.
Yes this company has sent me to over five factory based training programs and the company also has shops in a few different states. I just feel very under paid for the size of the company.
I would think 5 years experience would be more of a jumping off point unless you are a first rate welder and fabricator and do a lot of that type work too.
Unless you're east coast, west coast or Chicagoland, I think you're ok
If you are only a year and a half out of tech school.....$18.50 is pretty decent money for your experience level in my opinion. The more experience you get, the better your pay will be. Time will tell if your with a good company that will take care of its valued employees but, in the meantime, learn as much as you can from everyone you can...…………..it will pay BIG later. I topped out in pay at 27 years old (1990) at $11.75! and that was with 9-10 years experience.
18 years ago when i started working on trucks in michigan at a mack dealer working second shift one hour drive to work i was making 10.35 hrly that was with nite shift premium. It dont seem like that long ago , not sure what state your in when i was younger and doing research hop over the border into ohio was an instant 2 dollers more an hr entry level mechanic starting wage. Doing further research the coastal states and areas west or east was 3 to 5 more an hour . Not sure if location is still as big a factor today with the increasingly lack of new mechanics and ones that actually give a crap about doing the job correctly in the equipment and truck fields .
Seems low... Gas stations are paying $14 to fill the slushi machine and they have a health insurance
What!!
Nope I'm in the east coast
Just worried that every year I get less then a dollar raise. Is the industry really less then 30 dollar an hour at being an experienced professional?
Not by me. Dealer techs get >$40 + benefits. Contractor techs get over $50+ benefits. But that's verified journeymans wage. Apprenticeship wages are on percentage on I believe 6 month increments. Plus health, pension blah, blah, blah.
What dealership is this if you don't mind me asking?
Chicagoland heavy Equipment. It's all of them. Right now there's such a shortage, dealers are poaching from one another. Not Ag though, those guys are a different animal. Cat, Deere, Volvo, KMC, Case ,everyone is looking at resumes instead of throwing them out.
Self employed get over $120
And it’s only going to get better wage wise.
Some of these comparisons to long ago are apples to oranges. We have to consider inflation (how much the bankers have robbed us). Use an inflation calculator: https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl Back when there were a lot of baby boomers in the workforce, it was easier to hire good help. Nowadays, any young man who has the gumption to work in the trades should expect a bit more.
I always tell people if your in it for the big money your in the wrong line of work So is it worth it to you? Thats the one and only thing that matters, Are there better jobs in your area that will make you happy? 18 is good money here but I wont drive an hour to get there or work away from home. Ive never seen a shop not stay busy either so thats an underlying problem if there is not enough work your not going to get a big raise thats just not how it works
Wal-Mart gas station attendant part time is making 21 or 22 a hour now. Seen the add last week. I almost applied.
God , I certainly hope so. The people's republic of Illinois just raised our taxes.
I have a client in Alaska looking for a mechanic right now. Will pay $40 an hour plus room. You get to pay for your own food. If anyone is interested start a conversation with me and I'll send you all I know of the position.
Only problem is it's a bit far from Pennsylvania.
Maybe he'll commute it daily for the extra $2/hr
18 bucks is not terrible I know filter jockeys that make less A dealer is corporate most corporate outfits adhere to 3 % rules with wages uts stupid but bean counters way of thinking if your getting that much training then your making more than 18 an hour you sound young and still green everyone on this page has been were you are it's kinda a write of passage My dad and grandfather quote this religiously but look at the experience your gaining no you can't eat experience for dinner but it lays the foundation for what you can do in 5 years what's the ends to the means where do you see yourself in 2 years Also dont be gung ho to jump in a service truck solo with less than 2 to 3 years experience it could be pretty ugly sometimes and requires out of the box thinking that only experience will teach
Keeping your belly full in parts of Alaska can be quite expensive. In some places there simply isn't much to eat besides Cariboo. One mechanic I know went there to rebuild fishing boat Cat engines and he said Cariboo was the main staple in his diet. He had fried Cariboo, Cariboo stew and Cariboo burgers. sure got tired of it. Some people there order all their food from the lower 48 and have it shipped there. That's pretty pricey and you can forget fresh fruit and vegetables. Forget to order your groceries and fall back on Cariboo. That aside, Alaska is a great state with lots of opportunities.
I'll do it if theres a supplied fighter jet
It better come with a company fuel card, diesel might be close enough.
The job is by the town of Yakutat. I don't think the caribou make it to that area. I'm pretty sure there is plenty of hunting and fishing one can do there.
My buddy is up there right now.. he loves it.. but then again he's not right in the head..Lol IDK if that's the same place.. I'll email him & ask.. He says all his jobs are "fly-in" or snow machines & u get dropped off for days.. & maybe weeks.. Depending on the problem & how fast they can get the parts.. & THATS a BIG problem.. If u watch that show "Live PD".?? it looks like the whole state is nothing but loonatics & drug addicts.!! & the girls are "mighty hairy", if u know what I mean.??
18.00's not to bad.. as long as they do yearly reviews & u keep getting the .50.. Its when they start throw'n out the .10 raises, is when u jump ship.. it doesn't hurt to look around either.. I know of a lot of companies that MAKE YOU STAY for 1 year after they send u to school.. {signed contract} They don't want u taking the knowledge that THEY PAID FOR, some place else..
JohnC.. Prvt msg sent..
Wages are still regionally dependent, some Eastern regions are still financially depressed where around here the Average decent mechanic starts at $22/hr and goes up from there. Get more experience and time can work into Contractor positions(No Benefits) for $80-140/hr, but then you are on your own for putting any away and on your own for specialized tooling. Old friend of mine still working a Lease Truck shop is only making $27/hr but gets safety equipment and tooling allowances as well is up to six weeks of vacation time and ten paid annual holidays with a employer paid 401K. He is likely to retire next year as arthritis is settling in FAST.
But what frosts my nutz is when u work hard ALL YEAR, do exactly what is asked of u, help others out of jams & yet u get all your work done below allotted time.. & come review time, they offer u nothing or even worse.. a .10 cent raise.. U wanna talk about a slap in the face.??!!! I was told "I make to much money"..at my review.. No sh*t..true story.. I said, "I didn't say that when I smashed all your goals for the month". Oh, the company is making to much money..I think I should stop working.. Lol.. I got a dollar raise.. Lol
Fishing? I'm all over that
When you reach a status of proficiency, the only way you will get raises is when you have enough leverage to force those raises to come. No one offers more money on their own unless there is no other choice. That is called capitalism. Over the years I've had plenty of offers to trade labor for fishing trips. Best salmon and halibut fishing in the world is up there and the shell fish is heaven in real butter with home made bread and some wine. While it is great food, it never made a house payment for me.
I started working at a family run truck/heavy equipment repair shop when I was 13 (20 years ago) started at $10 per hr pushing broom, cleaning shop and assisting the mechanics any chance I got to learn the trade. 3 years later I started my apprenticeship and earned $15 per hr, I got $1 per hr raises quite often as I progressed, I was a learning sponge and ended up being the head mechanic at that shop and earned $34 per hr at 24 yrs old with as much overtime as I wanted. Had full benefits as well. I saw an unbelievable amount of "mechanics" go through that shop, the most useless were all talk and thought very highly of themselves, plus they usually had the biggest, cleanest Snap On tool chests. There were numerous cocky apprentices that lasted a day, if that as well. When I moved I wanted to start my own business, so I did. I choose to not do certain grunt work jobs ie undercarriage etc. I keep my overhead low, no $150k Cadillac service truck, no payments, I own everything outright so I can keep my rate reasonable. I make enough to accomplish what I want and I don't beat my body up for someone else's benefit. I consider myself semi retired now at 33 lol! I work when I want, for who I want, pretty near living the dream! I would say the OP wage is good considering the lack of experience. I worked over 10k hard hrs to get through my apprenticeship, learning as much as I could every chance I got. I truly earned that $34 per hour.. I ended up just challenging the tests as I didn't have time to go to the college, just had to have enough logged hrs. Ha for that matter I never went to school at all, I was homeschooled and worked for my parents home business when I was done my schooling for the day. I learned respect at a young age, it allowed me to learn from the best and succeed, there is a serious lack of respect in my age group and younger these days... This is all just my opinion, I'm an odd duck, I think and live differently than most people my age. I am not going to work my life away chasing the $$ I'm doing what I want to, while I'm young enough to do it!
What ever you are paid, where ever you are, if you don't have a decent retirement plan of some sort, it is not worth sh*t. Even the self employed have to fund a plan to be truly successful. A bit invested when you when you are young can treat you handsomely by the time you reach retirement age.
$18.50/h for a dealership tech? I wouldn't even bother.
That really isnt bad as a green tech just starting out and has a lot of book and practical experience learning to go. The first 3 years suck no matter what you make an hour due to the tool expense to get started. Now if one doesnt quit after that and work hard to do the best they can do and are constantly striving to learn more , the money will follow. I could work for a dealer and surley make more money , for some its not about the money but the love of what we do and the enviroment we do it in. I make enough to pay my bills and dont consider my work a job most days
Spot on DMiller. One cannot logically compare a salary in one state to one in another without looking at the cost to live there - too many variables with cost of living in that particular area being the biggest difference. $30 an hr in Alabama for instance is very nice wage where $30 someone else would be the floor due to the COST of LIVING. Before comparing what a "decent" wage is for an area first look at what a new "starter" home costs to purchase or a nice 2 bedroom apartment rent is per month. The cost to live in the area is just as or more important than the wage. Someone in a low cost of living area can make $5 and hour less but have more left over at the end of the month than the one making $5 more in another higher cost area.
I have to ask why the original poster has a one hour commute to this shop? I guess if he is living at home with parents for free room and board that makes sense. If not why not move closer to the shop? One of the biggest draws for me to stay at the quarry was the fact that I had a one mile commute! I may have been able to get a few more dollars an hour if I could have been able to get my foot in the door at the local Cat dealer but that wold have meant maybe 1/2 hour to 45 minute drive each way. Being I had only a mile to travel I was able to do my commute with an old motorcycle even in the middle of the winter here in snow country most years. My cost for transportation for a year was probably less that the cost for a couple weeks if I had been working at the dealer shop.
I used to have a job like that. Old truck with bad gas gauge, could never remember how much gas was in it because it would be months between fillups.
Another advantage to the low COL/wage location is less paid in taxes
My contract work with the Quarries here had me anywhere from 4 to 40 miles one way, some on not so great roads. Would buy an old electric or gas company reject with tons of miles maybe a transplant engine at the sales not far north of here. Would last two years at best, longest one ever lasted was 27 months then dropped a Transfer Case(NP205). Salvaged a junker out of my junkers and sold that truck scrapped the rest to start over just about the time the quarry owner said enough so never got further than the pickup was using in the interim.
It’s hard to judge mechanics pay. Different areas, different levels of activity, different job duties, different working conditions, benefits packages, etc can cause a massive variation. One company might pay more but have a reputation as a ball buster with all the fun of micromanagement. Another might pay way below area rates, depending on green mechanics and those afraid of change to fill the staff. In one area business might be booming and you get good rates and good raises, another you might be lucky to have what you get because the area is dead. I could probably make really good money as a field wrench for a construction company but I’d have to follow them across the region and stay on the road, and I don’t want that at all. You have to poke around and see what your area looks like, and judge from there.
No matter where I lived, it seemed the job I wanted was an hour away, sometimes 2. To me it's always been, "just the way it is." Don't even think about it anymore.
Same with me. I never had less than a 45 minute drive one way for any job I had...…….and that didn't even included the traffic and congestion at times........it was just the way it was. As a heavy equipment apprentice, your are going to have to put in your time like the rest of us...….pay your dues so to speak. It is unlikely that the pay for the experience you have is going to change much between any companies. Everyone believes they deserve more pay for what they do, but does your experience and workmanship prove that theory?
I know a fellow that I worked with a few times. He worked at a small place that bought, repaired, and sold auction equipment. Anyways, he was a decent wrench with no formal training when he started in this business, was limited somewhat in troubleshooting and wasn't real knowledgeable on most things but had some good common sense. After 5 years he went to work for the local Komatsu dealer and I hadn't seen him in over 2 years. About a month ago, I stopped by the dealer to pick up some parts and the food truck was parked in the lot. He was standing by it so I went over to say hi and see how things were going. I asked him about the techs they were able to get in the door and he told me that the only guys they have been able to hire are fresh out of tech school. He was the most experienced in the shop and was the lead man there. He said he was making $24 an hour with good benefits. I left realizing how bad the availability of experienced heavy equipment techs really is. A guy with 2 years of dealer experience with no formal training...….is the lead man in the shop? Holy Cow!!!!!! A guy I know has a wheel loader that has been sitting there in that yard for over a month needing a steering pump, and they STILL haven't even started on it.
Last full time garage I worked we did a little bit of anything, RVs, Heavy Trucks/trailers, Cars, you name it as should it make it on the lot we worked on it. Drove in to see if any I remembered were still there, ONE out of Nine is still there all the rest have buggered out for better or retired or sadly Died. My alternate on days as lead man retired five years ago, had a nice little 401 saved back, some side investments and a house on 1/2 acre inside a city limits high demand area. Sold out, moved to Florida, wife died the next month massive coronary in her sleep. He moved back sold that place in FL furnished, moved into his Daughter's home and basically became baby sitter while definitely depressed. Two years later dropped dead massive stroke in a grocery store. Second under him left then opened a Body Shop, EPA and DNR shut that down for poor ventilation and releases of chemicals freely with BIG Fines, he then went back to Home body work, barely makes it month to month at 60, crippling up with arthritis and COPD where may have to give all up and just accept life on SSA with a little savings. The rest are scattered to the wind, one worked for Pete Ofallon MO then went to KW Fenton and is now head Svc Writer at another dealer, no longer wrenches at all and over 300lbs at 5'6". The one that stayed, maybe the smart one, wrenches a little leads the third shift and has two underlings, said about all they see anymore is antique stuff other dealers will not work and RVs, he is satisfied as gets 45 guaranteed a week and a 401 add from each paycheck, figures to be gone in three years at 65 and leave the area as is single(divorced) one boy in Marines and rest of family all gone, looking to AZ or West TX as does not mind dry hot and snakes.
Pretty comparable to us when you factor in the current exchange rate. We're around the mid $50's/hr Cdn mark + pension and bennies for a shop Red Seal mechanic. With the way our apprenticeship program is set up, by law the 1st year mechanic wage is 60% of J-man, 2nd is 70% etc until you complete the full 4 years.
Depending on your local government faction’s tax base, you might look into working for them. I got hired on by the city landfill fresh out of an over-the-road centered tech school as a heavy equipment tech, with no more experience than being a Bradley Fighting Vehicle crewmember. I started at just under $20, make almost $22 a year later. It doesn’t seem like much, but the insurance and retirement are great, and the big kicker is that they supply all of my tools, so the tool truck guy doesn’t own me.