StandardShift.com

This issue talks about compensating stealership employees. It seems that flat rate technician pay results in pay fluctuations that many techicians hate. Upselling services is being pushed onto service advisors, but often results in customers being turned off or avoiding having work performed at stealership service departments. There is no easy answer.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/f ... dex.php#/0

Flat rate is definitely both a blessing and a curse. I can make serious money when the work is good, especially with our bonus plan. But god forbid I get stuck with two or three crap warranty jobs. Fortunately we have a guarantee plan, but that only pays out 75% of the time we're on the clock at work. As in punch in when we get there, punch out when we go home; not punched in to an actual job on a vehicle.

watkins wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 8:46 am Flat rate is definitely both a blessing and a curse. I can make serious money when the work is good, especially with our bonus plan. But god forbid I get stuck with two or three crap warranty jobs. Fortunately we have a guarantee plan, but that only pays out 75% of the time we're on the clock at work. As in punch in when we get there, punch out when we go home; not punched in to an actual job on a vehicle.

Interesting that I read that Henry Ford the Onest suggested / commanded the flat rate pay system.

Tummy, it's kinda sorta like tipping in a restaurant.

Really, I'm responsible for managing the employees?

I thought I was the customer.


They are using the Flat Rate system to motivate / manage the employees to get more work done in a shorter amount of time. There will be jobs that NOBODY wants to be assigned to, because there isn't a firm diagnosis and repair isn't cut and dried. Someblolly gonna loose sum munny on dat one.

The easy answer is to dump the entire concept of flat rate. It's one of the reasons that I got out of the car repair business many years ago. Sure, you can make good money at times, but there's a lot of BS politics involved (who gets the gravy jobs?) and unless you work in a super busy shop, it's not always guaranteed that you can make more money working flat rate than you can with a standard hourly wage.

Personally, quitting car repair was the best move I've ever made. My annual earnings are almost triple what they were in my best year as an auto technician. And I don't even have to get my hands dirty anymore! I do still wrench on my own cars, basically for fun at this point.

A few things of note:

-A good dispatcher will make sure both the gravy and shit work are fairly distributed, as well as monitoring every techs hours to make sure nobody is falling too far behind.

-Flat rate wages are almost always higher than hourly since there is less of a chance of a loss for the company. Most flat rate shops have some sort of production bonus plan in place as well. For example, I earn an extra dollar per hour on every hour produced at 45 hours, $2 at 55, and $3 at 66. Why 66? No idea. Fortunately even when we're relatively slow it isn't generally difficult to make at least 40 hours. My last sub-40 check was in January following a week with both a day off and a blizzard that shut us down early.

-At least in Mopar dealer land, top level techs can collect pretty serious diag time. This can often offset the crap jobs that turn in to loser tickets. We also obviously get paid more for our training and skill levels with those of us who are Master level being rather valuable to have around.

-For a lot of us the money is great. For most of us, the money isn't the best part of the job. Not dealing with people, the freedom of not being strapped to a desk, and the ability to actually use some brain power are all reasons I and a lot of others put up with the flat rate crap.

What’s flat rate?

wannabe87 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 4:44 am What’s flat rate?

In its simplest form, under a flat rate pay system, each job has a time value associated with it. The listing may say "Remove and Replace Starter Motor on 2015 Subaru 2.0 Forester ....2 hours".
The technician in this case would be paid 2 hours x their hourly rate, whether they can get it done in a shorter amount of time or it takes them longer.

Essentially, it is intended to motivate the technician to work faster, because working faster is like giving yourself a pay raise.

Imagine that you were getting paid $"X" per flat tire, $"Y" per need a jump, and $"Z" per need a tow calls, no matter how long you were on the phone with the customer......and getting paid $ "NOTHING" when not on the phone with a customer. During cold winter weather, you could quicken your pace, make more money, and get more people taken care of, but during warm, sunny days, you might not earn much money at all.

Rope-Pusher wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 8:30 am

wannabe87 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 4:44 am What’s flat rate?

In its simplest form, under a flat rate pay system, each job has a time value associated with it. The listing may say "Remove and Replace Starter Motor on 2015 Subaru 2.0 Forester ....2 hours".
The technician in this case would be paid 2 hours x their hourly rate, whether they can get it done in a shorter amount of time or it takes them longer.

Essentially, it is intended to motivate the technician to work faster, because working faster is like giving yourself a pay raise.

Imagine that you were getting paid $"X" per flat tire, $"Y" per need a jump, and $"Z" per need a tow calls, no matter how long you were on the phone with the customer......and getting paid $ "NOTHING" when not on the phone with a customer. During cold winter weather, you could quicken your pace, make more money, and get more people taken care of, but during warm, sunny days, you might not earn much money at all.

Nah summer/warm weather is our busiest time of the year, mainly cuz days are longer and people bring recreational vehicles out.

But that makes sense

Keep it simple. If you can fix it with a screwdriver, it'll NEVER let you down. - Worms of Wisdom from Uncle Tony

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP627rHmn0k[/youtube]

https://www.autonews.com/audidenver?utm ... hero-image

I've been hearing more lately on using photos and/or video to show customers why they need to approve the repairs. I'm not sure how busy or empty the stealership repair facilities are in these troubled times we find ourselves in, but busy or not this makes sense. I especially liked the part about not using acronyms with the customers....they are not as into it as the repair personnel are and often the same systems have different acronyms among the different manufacturers.

I wonder how the techs are paid for making the videos if/when the shop is on a Flat Rate pay system.

Rope-Pusher wrote: ↑Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:09 pm Keep it simple. If you can fix it with a screwdriver, it'll NEVER let you down. - Worms of Wisdom from Uncle Tony

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP627rHmn0k[/youtube]

I like it. Maybe that is the fix for my S10 woes:
https://www.standardshift.com/forum/vie ... =5&t=20489

Stealership training techs in-house to improve retention rates.

They have a tool leasing program to help get them started as well. If they stay 4 years, the tools are theirs. If they leave early, the stealership keeps the tools.

Kinda reminds me of when I looked into attending MOTECH. Included with the tuition was a roll-around and a preliminary set of tools. The difference was MOTECH trained at their own facilities, which included specialized facilities for diesel and body technician training. They arranged for student co-ops with various stealerships, but there was no guarantee or expectation of remaining with the stealerships involved with the co-op assignments after completion of the training program.

https://www.autonews.com/2021fojvideo1? ... hero-image

Customer sued after mechanic dies while working on his car at Michigan dealership


The owner of the manual-transmission 2019 Jeep Wrangler is being sued even though he had nothing to do with the accident.

One of the mechanics, Daniel Thompson, got into the Jeep and stepped off the clutch, causing the vehicle to jump forward and hit mechanic Jeffrey Hawkins, 42, Femminineo said. Hawkins was pronounced dead within an hour, Femminineo told Automotive News. Thompson also was named a defendant in the case, which was filed March 18, 2021, in Oakland County Circuit Court in Michigan.

"It turns out that the fellow employee was 19 years old, did not have a driver's license and certainly did not know how to use a stick shift," Femminineo said.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/law/custo ... ster-hills

Rope-Pusher wrote: ↑Sat May 07, 2022 2:04 pm Customer sued after mechanic dies while working on his car at Michigan dealership


The owner of the manual-transmission 2019 Jeep Wrangler is being sued even though he had nothing to do with the accident.

One of the mechanics, Daniel Thompson, got into the Jeep and stepped off the clutch, causing the vehicle to jump forward and hit mechanic Jeffrey Hawkins, 42, Femminineo said. Hawkins was pronounced dead within an hour, Femminineo told Automotive News. Thompson also was named a defendant in the case, which was filed March 18, 2021, in Oakland County Circuit Court in Michigan.

"It turns out that the fellow employee was 19 years old, did not have a driver's license and certainly did not know how to use a stick shift," Femminineo said.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/law/custo ... ster-hills

don't piss me off man

Editorial: Car warranty reimbursement battle driven by naked politics
In a growing number of states, dealer groups have turned to friendly state legislators to boost reimbursement rates from automakers on warranty service, arguing the added funds are needed to boost technician wages.


https://www.autonews.com/editorial/car- ... 1-readmore