Lol, that's pretty much how I learned everything. It was cheaper to do it myself, fuck it up, do it again.... I've done all my own work for the past 200,000 miles on my Jeep. And I bought it at 100,000. Plus I rely on that truck, if I break down it costs me repairs AND all the money I've lost by not working. That could be $300-$400 a day
Good luck. And actually has nothing to do with luck. So before you make good on your decision, consider the cost of the truck, then all the tools you're going to need, then anticipate even more special tools that you're going to need, then try to anticipate who's going to call you and with what car and what parts you're going to need, keep your truck stocked with those, and then anticipate when most people are going to call you during rush hour or after hours when all the parts stores are closed, or on holidays, especially Fridays and weekends, and then sit around and wait for them to call, and then when you don't get any calls so you plan to do something for yourself on the weekend, and just when you get started you get a call and have to cancel everything. People don't get it. They are selfish and entitled. They think when something goes wrong for them, the rest of the world has just planned their entire lives about being ready to be on call and come to your rescue for whatever price that you think is fair to you.
Lol. You must be a child. You see 1 video and assume this Company isn't honest. You have no facts or the basic information needed to even understand the requirements to be a mobile Mechanic yet have no problem passing judgment.
Absolutely correct and that's why a lot of mobile repair companies charge insane prices. The trucking companies will pay it every time. I got in to trucking 20 years ago. Didn't know squat about turning wrences. Now I can completely rebuild the entire truck if I need to. Hearing those prices drove me to buy tools and manuals on what I needed to fix. Just take your time it isn't a race.
I do the same also. But I give a $100hr rate from the time I hit the highway, and time back. Plus parts. But I know ppl down the highways in my area, so I make a few calls before hand to see if anyone can do it or wants the work. My most expensive Ford 5.4 water pump job was last summer. 12hrs driving, plus part. But I told him to pull it apart as much as possible, and let him use my tools to finish the job so he didn't have a bigger bill. It was that, or a $1400 tow bill. I did cut him a break also and said cover all my fuel and give me $200 for my time. Cause it happens, and they pass off my name. And I always line up other work on the way back so it's not to bad.
Extremely happy I dont work on trailers anymore. The amount of times it was a waste of the companies money and my time is insane. Shocked how many drivers don't understand how an air release tandem works.
$125 per hour for a mobile mechanic is dirt cheap. I call bullsh!t on the whole story. If you knew all it needed is a purge valve why would you spend two hours looking for a mechanic? Also you happen to break down in Florida and the next clip it looks like you're in your personal BMW. Doesn't seem like you broke down on the road somewhere.
Sounds like you just don't understand what a business is. I'm a shop manager and that price is realistic. My techs don't work for free, and if they have to drive to you, then that's part of the cost. Would you be willing to drive a load and not get paid for the return mileage? We can't give flat prices on road services because it's all hourly. Best we can do is a quote. And for dryers, we rarely just replace the valve, we replaced the entire thing because chances are you have crap in it that caused it to go bad to begin with, and we're taking responsibility for the warranty we put on it
But then why not give them both options let the customer decide if he just wants to replace the valve and take the risk or replace everything new and take the warranty
I am blown away by the dumb crap people call me out for road service for. Dude had a clutch replaced by a different company 6 days prior and called in a road call for a "CLUTCH ADJUSTMENT." He was vauge af and finally said " oh it won't go in gear🤣. I was like yeah NOPE. Call the dumbasses that replaced your clutch cause you don't need a clutch adjustment you're gonna need a new clutch. Sure enough they didn't install it properly and it was fried. Another one called in because his auto air hose wasn't screwed in and he didn't know how to put it back on. Another for a damn mudflap! I swear 90 % of these steering wheel holders SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING! If you can't repair basic crap on your own truck how exactly are you able to drive an 80000 lb tractor trailer!? Almost NONE of them speak English. They like to hump your leg while your fixing their stupidity. They don't understand that things cost money. Parts cost money, my time costs money. I have to feed my family. Lol
This one got me to laugh, cuz I'm a technician who works on gas pumps and I have drivers approach me all the time thinking I'm the truck mechanic when they see my service truck. I really don't know that much about big rigs, yet I can say I'm amazing at finding air leaks and the amount of time it's from their drain valve being loose is ridiculous. So I'm not even a truck mechanic or have a diesel truck, yet I'm still helping them with dumb things since I'm there and can charge the gas station my time and it's the stupid easy things all the time.
@@swizzle3006 hahah I was the shop welder and I knew how to fix more things on the trucks then prob 90% of the drivers . I started doing side mechanic work for the neighbors, they thought I was a mechanic and I wasn't going to tell them otherwise. Lol
If you can fix it yourself cheaper. Then Fucking do it!! I'm sick of people complaining about professional costs. You wouldn't hire an electrician to change a light bulb would you!?!
Are you fucxin stxpid the dude wanted to change the whole fucking thing he switch one little thing but someone who doesn't know about cars would have payed and literally gotten scammed
WTF?! You expect them to have the part, charge you as much as the store for that part, DRIVE TO YOU, etc. and you want to pay as if you installed it? Eff off with you entitled BS.
Okay how about you spend $250,000 on a mobile shop setup including price of the truck and tools this is the price you pay when you pay someone else to do something you can do but most people don't know how to do this stuff
Road service guy here! Road service is billed from the time you leave shop from the time you get back.Yes you get billed for sitting in traffic(,You did call them out into traffic) if it's after 3 o clock you get billed after hours which is a higher rate.125 dollars isn't bad actually for Road service.Glad ya got ot fixed on ur own,Good job!
... does anyone even believe this? This guy got parts for his truck and repaired it in 2 hours, fine. But how did he get his hands on a BMW from the end of the video. He broke down in the middle of the road.
Idk man I had plumber show up and replace one valve and turn another that didn't seem to work at all before they showed up and they said it was one price, charged a much higher price and now I don't really like plumbers. I looked up how to do something they said I could do on my own and I watched 3 videos and one said it was absolutely nessessary let maintaining and the other said it was totally unnecessary.i ended up doing more plumbing than the plumbers and it didn't cost me anything. They replace one valve cost well over $200. They are useful but you really have to need them because in the end replacing a faucet on your own isn't too hard but plumbing sucks so you spring a leak and you need a plumber anyway. It's complicated. You get electrician who appears credible and their quote is high and they need half upfront, you pay more and they go slower and slack and keep pushing back when they'll show up according to when they said. So you ask for your money back and now they slow roll it because they're slacking and started bum rushing a job they already lost. You get the money back and the next guy shows up when he says and it costs less for the same job because he's 1 guy that probably deserves it better than the 3-4 guys that can't get their crap together. He makes all the money the 3 other guys would've had to split. Maybe it take him a week with all the days, quoting, shopping, doing actual job n site, all the way to final receipt, but he spend $900 in supplies and make $1000 before taxes for 2-3 days honest work or whatever. The other guys all getting paid 30 an hour and he makes 50. Thats better than 3 guys which have no supplies one week after the quote. A week changes a lot. Pricing changes and now your cost is high compared to competition ECT. Time is money. But also quality.
I am a mobile mechanic that works on big boats. I had a customer tell me that his dock neighbors told him I was only on his boat for “about 1/2 an hour”. I explained about travel time and traffic but he was adamant that he was overcharged. I took some time off his bill and he paid. I told him that in the future, he could save on repairs by brining his boat to my shop (it’s a 34’ sailboat). He didn’t think it was as funny as I did. And also, the next time he needs repairs “so I can use my boat this weekend”? I’m sorry, but I’m about 6 weeks out.
You're a better man than me. I ran a tree service with my bestfriend, I can't tell you how many customers signed the invoice, agreed to the cost and amount of work being done, then would turn around and say we misses this, forgot that or overcharged this. People don't realize that what we do and what you do are considered luxuries, luxury items are always expensive, so is upkeep.
Idt the issue was the per hour. But the fact they wanted to charge him starting when they finished the last job till the mechanic gets to the next job after his truck
@@bootleggedkillawhy not? Don't you want to get paid for when you start working? If that person is asleep and you woke them up to come work for you.. if they drive an hour they should start the time when they reach you? Or how about when they get to the parts place to get your parts and wait an hour.. oh yea they need to do that for free because everything in this world is free so when they get to you and fix it in 20 minutes they can only charge you the 20 minutes of labor.. seems fair 30 dollars for 3 hours of our time and 50 dollars of our fuel when we could have been in bed safe and sound 😃
I do mobile mechanic work. I charge $100 per hour, 1 hr minimum, 40% markup on parts and $50 just to show up. - edit I also pay $600 month for insurance $200/month accounting software $2,000/month gas $450/ month advertising $300/month warehouse space $200/month in merchant fees Tools and supplies, maybe $250 a month About $2000 in tools in my truck Don't even ask about taxes. Yeah, I charge a lot because it's expensive as fuck to run a business.
@@AngelGarcia-uo4eg And I bet when your car breaks down you pay the $200 tow?😅 If you have the skills, tools, and connections then by all means go open a business yourself for cheaper, but you’re only screwing yourself in the long run selling yourself short. This man clearly knows what he’s worth
@@AngelGarcia-uo4eg I don't get it. They charge like what 70 to 90 at dealerships? So someone who is gonna go strive to you, on the side of a road should not charge more? Lol.
@@AngelGarcia-uo4eg honestly those rates are pretty reasonable considering they are coming to your location, not all people have the time to tow to a shop or diy it at home.
Regular car dealerships charge 185 or more an hour that’s why I’ve decided to fix my own vehicles. Spend a couple hundred dollars by a really good tool set. Watch some mechanics on RU-vid first before you decide to fix it most fix-jobs are just unbolting something and putting something new back on. Don’t be intimidated by the look of confusion when you open the hood it’s really not that complicated. Inexpensive diagnostic tools might be able to spot the problem.
Somebody tell me how to stop my cheap friends from calling me to drive out to fix their cars without cussing them out. They'd pay twice as much to get their rides towed to a shop and wait twice as long to get them fixed.
I'm a mobile tech and you are correct. But I will say that mechanics get screwed as well. You need at least about 70k in tools just to cut down on repair times. Certain jobs do require certain tools. Also the investment in training and certs. Then you got FJB economy with fuel, parts, supply chain, and parts on national back order. I understand that was a simple fix and I respect you for being folk that will actually fix your own shish. But realize that your average everyday mech is not ou to screw you. We just trying to make a living like you.
Yup, my air governor broke at 3am once in Dallas, everybody quoted me at around $1,200. and I had to wait till 8am because they would to have go buy it, woke up my wife and told her, your money maker broke down and she needs you to come and get your donkey cus he needs fix her, she got there 7:30am went and got some breakfast, went to harbor freight needed a allen socket set, went to utility and got 2 governors for $50 bucks, went and fixed her and saved 1k bucks and my 2 girls and the wife got a road trip and free breakfast.
Yeah techs are skilled and paid for their skill. We have tons of work, doesn't matter to us if you want to work on your own stuff. Gives us more time for other people. Their billing sounds a little sus but thats their prices, you don't have to accept them.
@@maxwellstephens939 let me explain, this doesn’t always fix the issue, what happens is dirt gets into the passage ways and clogs up the purge valve making it stick open, replacing a purge valve is a temporary fix.. not the solution.
Make sure you don't break down in my city! Lol. My rate is $150/hour port-2-port and $1.50/mile port-2-port. Plus parts. If this is too much for you, purchase a $175, 000 service truck, stock it with tools......then dedicate your life to educating yourself on every truck and trailer ever made😎 I'm sure you can save money @ Harbor freight.
I don't provide my expensive tools, my years of skills, and all my time driving to you for free. I'm in business to make money. So If I gotta drive to you this will be included in price as any other services I would provide until end of Job. Just as you did; do it yourself if you don't want to pay another man to come to you and hold your hand in a broken down truck
That’s fine but I wouldn’t agree to an unknown travel charge. Paying for travel is fine but you gotta tell me what it cost first or at least a ballpark number.
@@daviano Yo I'm married to a Hispanic. Let me tell you sir; 100% you seem to be misguided on this. If you like low quality work that doesn't last sure pay a "mexican". But lol God forbid you trust a central American, or Puerto Rican, columbian. As this man says in his racist blanket statement "mexican".
Now explain the Business side of the same situation. And dont forget to include the cost it includes to run that business! We suggest replacing the dryer depending on the ware on it! Businesses need to make money also! An air dryer is simple. And as far as the mileage goes we charge from port to port. We spend 300 a week per truck just for fuel. We get 5 mpg for said trucks. I’m glad you fixed it yourself! But I’m surprised they even estimated the job. The company pays the mechanic from the time he leaves the shop until he gets back. It didn’t cost you 177.00 it costed you fuel to get to the parts store and back and you don’t have to pay a mechanic to do the job or the government to work said mechanic. Try scanning and diagnosing and fixing the issue. The company doesn’t charge too much your were just able to fix it cheaper! Most drivers can’t! Everyone is working to make money. It probably costs the company 1100 to do that same job after all the pay for the mechanic and taxes and c/c fees!
You know a mechanic don't ask him to work on your car for free. For starters, he doesn't want to work on it on his day off. If he does you should be paying double. How would you feel if your boss came up to you and said hey, good buddy old pal, you want to come in on work on your day off and I'm not going to pay you for it? That's a good way to lose a friend that's also a mechanic.
@@genuinedickies99 you must not have car friends. Because those people love doodling around and fixing shit in cars. Bmws dont fuck up every week so a actual mechanic friend that you know could hook u up for cheap. I dont see why your comment was necessary at all.
@@lilwalgreenscoldandflu6968 his comment was necessary because you're an idiot. I run a shop and no, we don't drool over car crap 24/7. We're in this to make money, and hate working on people's cars and trucks on our off time, and we especially hate doing it for free as a favor. Hell, half of the people in my shop don't even do their own oil changes because the last thing we want to do after working on trucks all day is work on our own, because we know we're not getting paid to do it anyways.
Also, dealers charge anywhere from $150 to $180 an hour. Your tow bill to the shop would be about $500 to $600. There is going to be an up charge on parts, even if it’s late at night or 1 am when you call us repeatedly. Yes there are mobile places typically 3rd party companies drivers get tricked into using and they screw them over but maybe don’t talk out of your ass
Contractors, plumbers, mechanics have knowledge and tools and overhead. They don’t work for minimum wage. People who know this have no problem paying. Stupid cheap people don’t get it.
Lol like just to get tooled up with a good truck and have a nice Mobil rig will cost you 150 to 200k if your buying new. People don’t understand how much overhead and bills go into a Mobil repair company
@@thebestruski6 people would be shocked how much even the simple tools are that you need to work on semi's. Tire bars $70, 1 inch impact $700, air compressor $1500 minimum, filter wrenches $200 for a good set, 20 ton jack $300-$800, then all the wrenches, drivers, impacts, sockets sets, diagnostic tools, multimeters, jump pack, random socket bits that all these truck builders use for no reason at all. That doesn't even START to take into account the money you'll have tied up in parts that you have to buy so you have them on hand.
Generator field service technician. Same structure with drive time from previous job as billable labor etc, except we are $215/hr and $3.25 a mile with a $75 flat fuel fee. You were getting a deal. OTR trucks are far simpler than standby generators so it’s not apples to apples but still that company was coming in at or below the industry standard. QQ
You sound like the drivers who wonder why an alignment is $250, but don't realize that we paid $20,000 for the machine that allows us to do them, and $150 per tech to have the company come out to train the techs on how to use it.
That's fair. You could also tell the truck to their shop but that would have cost you a lot more money. Remember Road mechanics are coming to you you're not going to them and you have to pay a premium for that
I'm a field service mechanic for heavy equipment. I have no problem going out to the mine when I'm on call. When I have a problem is when I'm off the clock and a 'serious issue' pops up. So I take my happy ass out of bed get dressed, and head to the mine. Taking 15seconds to climb into the cab and Flip one switch (swing lock) and then they bitch and moan that I'm charging them $400 emergency fee, when I told them to check the damn button over the phone. I'll fix stuff, but when you don't take my advice for trouble shooting a problem, I'll take your money and be laughing all the way to the bank.
@@noko1877 only if they're a unethical technician, reputation is a huge thing in the automotive repair industry, it only takes a single time being caught screwing the customer to ruin their career.
Had a dealership tell me it would take two weeks for them to do a warranty replacement on a windshield wiper arm. So I spent $140 for the part and with a leatherman repaired it in 5 hours of cussing and 30 minutes of labor.
@@datnis916 this happened in 2014 -15 and in 2016, six months before my lease ended the Def system took a crap. Outside warranty. Cost me $6000 in repairs and a week of work. Yet that lease payment was still due. After that I completed the lease, turned in the keys, got my least completion bonus, started working for a fuel hauling company in a day cab and as an employee, took a $15k per year hit on take home pay and been here ever since then. As I’m typing this I’m waiting for a tow at end of shift probably have to wait 2 hours for them to get here and two more hours to get to terminal. Actually that would make my day exceed 14 hours. Ha! Day guy is going to have to get his lazy ass up and ride to the terminal. Still going to be a long fucking day.
Everything is actually completely normal in the service industry besides charging you for drive time to the next customer. If you call a service tech you gotta pay for their time to drive to you. It’s time out of their work day to come service your truck.
Yep, big rig service is expensive. We charge $169/hr at the shop! It would be way more if mobile. That all sounds correct. Changing a drier is easy, learn how to turn a wrench and you're good 👍
That happens to me twice in the Winter. Once in Amarillo and once north of St. Louis. 19 years ago. In Amarillo, another driver drop his trailer and drive me down to the dealer where I got a new Governor, it was cold winter. That Driver from Kansas City is always in my prayers. I installed the Governor by myself and this Driver let me stay in his cabin to get warm. The second time on I-55NB north close to Bloomington-Normal, the Dryer got frozen. I was in the Sleeper when I heard the noise of the low-pressure buzzer. We stopped and I disconnected the lines in and out of the dryer and connected them directly, overjumping the dryer. That way We came to Chicago. Got a new cartridge and installed it by myself. Yea it is true to have basic knowledge, it saves me a lot of Money. My Friends are asking me how I am are doing that's, I answer, read the Book for the exam for truck drivers, if You read that Book try to understand how the airbrakes are working and where you have to expect the problems. I came from a different field in the Trucking business in my COO I am a Veterinarian with a Ph.D. Always I try to understand how things are functioning in the Biological and Mechanical Worlds.
First of all that’s an expensive dryer even if you bought it yourself. Second you have to take it down and remove all the fittings. You sticking that screw driver in the valve does nothing. It takes 120 psi to open it. The problem probably was abad airline from the compressor. Or the compressor itself. Either way if you had any mechanical knowledge you could have diagnosed yourself. Called Uber and went to kenworth and got your parts instead of complaining about mechanic prices. That’s why they get the big money. Because they obviously know more than you.
Wait wait wait. So you're telling me, companies have to actually charge money to make a profit? That's just an insane concept to grasp isnt it? & why did that purge valve go out? Oh, because your air dryer needs to be replaced. You're wasting money. Let the professionals do their jobs kiddo. You just stick to the drivy drivy.
Dude, that's literally what truckers do. They get paid by the mile... You think they will drive 10 hours to deliver a load and not get paid for driving back?
that’s reasonable, you make good money & their traveling to you & fixing you up right there, outside, on the road in the heat sweating their balls, very convenient, they’re not gonna drive to you for free
No one is saying for free. But charging you time until they arrive to the next job AFTER they have finished with you is extortion and is extremely greedy.
My problem is that they charge 1 customer for the drive to them and then the next customer. Then they charge the next customer for the same so they are double charging each custome for travel time. Total bs and sketchy
As a mechanic, I only charge a minimum on after hours calls and I charge from current job\home to your job and if I have no other calls you get charged for me going home if I get another call you aren't being charged my drive time to next job. My truck doesn't move for free. As far as billing an entire drier, that mostly depends on the description and agreements I get from the caller. I usually won't buy parts before looking at a machine unless the customer says that's what is wrong and agrees they are buying the part whether it fixes it or not. The amount of times I've had an operator telling me what's wrong and them being wrong is way more than the times they have been right.
@@huntsbychainsaw5986 I've only drastically over charged one guy, because I was still side gigging and he wanted me to do a repair on an oncall weekend I was slammed on. He didn't want to wait 3 months to get it repaired by a shop or the next week by me, charged him 1500 in labor because I did it at 3 am when I got back into town
@@cornfed123567. That's basically how I treat corporate clients. As a fleet shop we only do services calls for our own equipment and very rarely is it ever done by our own staff because no one wants to do it. So if a corporate client twists my arm to bail them out, it doesn't come cheap.
Yeah, and what happens when you dont know how to fix it yourself and yourstuck on the side of the road.. your going to pay to have your truck towed to a shop AND for a mechanic to fix it.and chances are your truck will sit at that shop for days until they get to it. You'll wind up spending more money then a mobile mechanic. Thats why they charge what they do, and i dont blame them. If its something stupid and you can fix it yourself, do it and dont complain that a mechanic wanted to charge for their time.
I dont mind paying the travel fee to get to me nor do I mind the hourly rate. However charging ME AND the next client to get to them is extortion and extremely greedy. You're charging me and the next client for the same thing. You're double dipping and that's not cool.
I am a mobile mechanic in California, I used to be cheap and went out of business, went to work for someone else who can make this money and pay me my small but constant money portion. So now my boss is a crook because he charges and cuts me my hourly wage. Can’t believe people are complaining about prices
You pay for what the mechanic knows, not what they do. And considering he has to come to you, risk his life laying down on the side of the highway+the insurance the company has to have to put its employees in that situation….. get over it. Trucking is expensive.
Your time is valuable and so is mine that’s why I charge what I do. Most of the guys that are saying this company was scamming don’t understand what it cost to run this type of business right now.
@@dieseltech7_358 I understand sometimes you might be paying for specific knowledge or ability (tooling) but there is a point where it become literal highway robbery.
Likely do it because some customers won't care, they just want their stuff fixed so they can get paid by two customers for part of the time instead of just one. They're upfront about it but it's still shitty to do regardless.
Welcome to trucking. If you drive in the midwest or east coast that air dryer filter should be changed every 6-8 months due to changing weather conditions Air dryer is always overlooked during scheduled PM
You should of figure out your self, instead of calling him to diac for you. People complain for everything. I mean the you add up the tools he or the company have to used, his labor, parts, plus its a mobile, so you have to add gas and insurance cost. He could be fixing a truck 100 miles away, he has to drive 100 miles to get to you, so don’t blame them for charging that much. I bet if it has something more difficult you wouldn’tbe complaining.
It's even more disgusting all the entitlement the average Joe thinks he's entitled to out there. Can you believe it? He thinks that Zaba has just designed his whole life about investing all his money and time and equipment and trucks so when something goes wrong you're going to rush out there day or night weekend or holiday and go rescue him and then charge him whatever he thinks he should pay you. Simply Amazing isn't it?
@@7x779 This, does he think I'm just around the corner waiting on his call. You called me and you will have to pay my travel time because who knows where in the heck you are. I'm not spending 4 hours driving, one hour working and then 4 hours back for 125. 9 hours for 125 dollars, not going to happen. Then you have this wingnut talking about a new dryer, that was only a estimate IF that was what is needed. If it only needed a purge valve then that is what you would have been charged for. They gave you a worst case scenario. How do you know "as they wished to" they haven't seen it yet. I hope the next time he gets a flat his tail has a jack, wrench and a spare.
Same thing on my Volvo. Changed the purge valve myself but it kept leaking. Had a mobile mechanic come fix it in 1 hour for $330 plus the dryer assembly was $530. Going back to work tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.
You never made a pair out of something? An elastic band, 2 finishing nails and a rock works. 2 wood augers, a piece of rubber and a wrench. 2 screws wrapped around a screwdriver, etc. You can make snap ring pliars out of a lot of shit haha at a certain point ingenuity is king.
Portal to portal charge, you have the option to fix it yourself, great job. But wait So should they sit in traffic getting to you burning gas for free while they get to you lol!
Yes. It comes from their revenue, it's called a business expense. The service charge covers the gas. I've never heard of someone charging shop rate for the time they spend in traffic. Ridiculous.
