This discussion started with the pro and cons of the GPS. There's good points made for each. There is also a discussion about travel time on this site. Could the GPS recorded records be used as a legel document for protecting the tech and the dealership if the department of labor is looking for unfare practices of travel time and how much time would be or not be owed to the tech?

Gps was took off van today.I really hope someone is watching,checking up on techs.It was said cost wasnt worth savings we will see

I would like to see more information on GPS

mcracing,
"...before you raise your rates...see if your house is in order."

I have never heard that before but I certainly like the philosophy. I think too many companies rubber stamp a rate increase every year due to inflation, payroll raise, etc. and never bother to look at what needs "cleaning at home." That would be a great selling point also for GPS to your service techs. You may definately be one of the few great managers who can actually look at all sides of an issue, which is probably why you are in the position that you are in and I have enjoyed and learned from your posts.

Olly
Yes we passed the savings on to the customer.
I don't want to make it sound as simple as we cut them a check because t that's not how it was done. We were looking at the gross profit side of our service departments and saw it dropping due to increased wages and discounts to the customer on labor rates. The simple thing to do would have been to raise the rates.
The cost savings we gained from GPS allowed us to bring the GP up to an acceptable level without raising the rates to the customer.
I have always felt that before you raise your rates you should look and see if your house is in order. If it is and there are no more ways to get your profits to the expected level then you have earned the right to raise your rates.
It is sad to hear the recent stories posted about using GPS.
If management continues to use it this way then they will lose people. In my opinion it is deceitful to not communicate with your employee's

Thats the big problem I have with it.Unless the tech didnt know he was being followed he is going to skirt the system.Case in point a new tech van shows to be in a county he is in a diffrent county at customer suposedly.He had a part I needed on his van if he was where he was supposed to be it would have been 25 miles.Trick found pull fuse it kills gps and you show to be at place fuse is pulled.How do I know that?His van swaped locations 30 min after I called and started heading for me.Tech there 1 month.You know he didnt drive 125 miles to get his unit then get to where he said he was in 30 min.When asked about it he didnt know what was going on.Serval ufo movings have been reported. Beam me up Scotty.

G,day all
I did not think a responce from down under would start a bigger discussion.But I do think that GPS IS a manager weapon.
Because in the service industry ( forklifts) you have poeple with no understanding with what we (servicetech) go throught to make money for the company.Also what DOES COST to have GPS???
If management are good then he will manage his men well and there would be no use for GPS other than data transfer.
To mcracing you seem to be a manager that under stands
but with all your saving you indicated did these saving get pass on to the boy at the shape end in some ways????

Response to Canada: This is an example of a "HORROR" STORY that I have also heard.

Response to batman: That is being quite deceptive toward employees, Tells a story about this Company.

It is all well and good to say we (The Company) are putting in GPS to enable us to better serve the customer. By providing quicker responce times and by sending the, not only the closest, but properly trained tech.
All that's nice to say and was at our company but none of it is true. Dispatch never uses it! The only ones that look at it is management. We have had threatening memo after memo about everything from alowable distance after hours that we are allowed to travel to the speeds we are allowed to travel at.
As most techs say, "we would not be bothered about any restrictions put on the use of the vans, after all it is the companys' van. It is the fact that we were told that GPS will never be used as a weapon. AND THAT'S ALL IT HAS BEEN USED FOR"
It could be a great tool but it should not be used to hit you on the head

I dont thonk i could after such deception.But at least they found out who was doing what.I mean if you let a guy know there is a cop up the road he is not going to keep doing 90.

I just found something out today:

A local forklift company secretly had GPS capability activated on the road tech's cell phones. The tech's did not know about this and the company tracked certain techs to see what they were doing. Of course after several disciplinary actions the tech's pretty much figured they were being "watched". Is this even ethical and would you work for a company that did something like that?

mcracing, I could have not said it better. I too have seen many changes. While I oversee the southern district of our service dept, I still turn wrenches. We have GPS on all our vehicles. There is no one "eyeing the dots" on a regular basis, but spot checks are done. It has been used for discipline and it has been used to protect a tech as well. The honest do not mind, while the others refine themselves or leave. It is a tool for dispatching which saves fuel and time.

I dont mind the monitoring part.As a manager you have to know whats going on.A phone call of where are you what ya doin gets old.Gps is great for that.I just hate how some think all is well we got the gps.

mcracing, I believe you summed it up, Very well spoken, Thanks!

Thank you for the kind words.
I agree with Easy M that this is not the exception to the rule. Many companies do it right and probably even better. We can never stop learning and this is the main reason I read the posts completely. I have learned from all of you.
For the ones who don't seem to understand the fact that mechanics need to be treated with respect I challenge you to listen to them. You will gain insight into your customers and have better understanding of the challenges they face in today's world.

When I was a mechanic the two most important things to me were trust and training. I knew that i had to earn the right to get both.
Trust is something that you need to be successful on the road, if you feel like your boss is constantly looking over your shoulder then you should ask yourself if you have earned his trust. If you feel that you should have earned it and don't get it then you may have a bad manager and need to move on. Life is too short to work under the watchful eye of an incompetent manager. Trust me when I say that the best way to weed these guys out is when mechanics leave and it comes down to who they won't work for.

Training is very expensive for a dealership. It cuts into productivity and comes with high costs. BUT IT MUST BE DONE!!!
The worst feeling for any mechanic is to go out on a call that they have no idea what to do to fix the customers problem.
Lets take the cost and look at it from the dealerships perspective.
Mechanics wage Lets use 20.00 an hour for the exercise.
Benefits are 22% of the wage.
Not billing during training, so lets use the recovery rate of 75.00 per hour.
So every hour of training cost the dealership 99.40 per hour
We have 100 mechanics and budget for 40 hours a year for each.
Our budget for 08 is over 400,000.00.
Is it worth it- Yes and yes
I think that dealers that dont commit or offer training are afraid of losing people right after they spend all the money training them. To this I say you need to take a hard look at why they are leaving. A mechanic comes to work for a company looking to find a home; if he leaves then you need to ask why. They dont come to work for you just to get training and leave so look deeper into your service departments and you will find there is some other underlying reason that they are not happy.
Sorry I rambled but to me right now in our trade the training seems to be a hot topic, When you receive it from your dealership let them know that you appreciate it and will do everything in your power to return the investment to the dealer. Remember that any training you receive is yours to keep for the rest of your career. I think online training is great but the hands on practical training I got back in the 70's and 80's is still with me today and I use it all the time to help others.
Dealers need to provide the tools, training and fair wages for the mechanic but without respect and trust they wont stay long.
Mechanics need to provide 8 hours of work for 8 hours of pay and give respect back to the dealership managers who spend all the time making sure that you have a place to work.
Proshadetree:
To answer your question about using GPS as a monitoring tool. No I would never allow it to be used for this. I agree with you that a manager should know if there is a problem and act on it according to many factors and not what GPS says. It is a part of the process but should never be used as big brother or it will not gain you the things from my previous post.
We measure our mechanics on productivity, creativity, customer satisfaction and professionalism. If I have these traits in a mechanic then all the rest falls in line.
Gross profit and dollar contribution should not be a part of any measurement with mechanics. No one is a number and I have never met anyone who liked being one.
Roadrat:
You are right that being a road mechanic takes a special person. Not only do they have to be high caliper mechanics but they have to be good<

Mcracing is not the exception to the rule. This same type of scenario is being duplicated all over the country. One of our dealers in Alabama was the first in the industry to install GPS units on his vans and he would tell you the exact same thing that mcracing did. I have been in this business for over 20 years and know literally hundreds of technicians. The technicians that do their job have no problem with the device on their vans and over time forget that they are even there.

To proshadetree : Most "newbe" roadies struggle with "time management" and the ability to work by themselves.

You can't just take any shop guy, put him in a van, with a handfull of work order forms and turn him loose, most will not last.

I feel that some usefull information from an experienced Tech shared with a "GREEN" Tech could help him adjust to his new World,
Working in a shop is totally different, you have someone taking care of scheduling, lining up the work, dealing with customers, and so on.

A few pointers would help a bunch.

Roadrat cool ideal.I know some say you fire 12 then retrain then fire.You are overlooking the fact that only 1 or 2 terminated will affect the whole workforce.Almost every tech out there will admit they need more training.Online is ok class room what have you.In the fast pace times we live in we have 4 or more fuel systems out there 4 or more
electric controls.Then your working on other brands with the same.The one class I never seen offered to a road tech is a bussiness management class.Would it help?What about time management.Some of the people in the workforce think John Q Company is making millions so I dont have to do all that Ill let everyone else carry me.
I or Roadrat or anyone could start our own take all the risk
front all the capitol and watch p's and q's.But is that not why a lot of us are where we are? I dont want the risk
chances are my company will be here tomorrow.I just hate seeing it bleed dry.Im sure working conditions would improve if slackers were at least up to speed.More profit for company more for you.Tight times at work tight times for you.

TO: batman,

I went back over the post by mcracing, because I was not only impressed, but intrigued by it, and a thought came to me and wanted to run it by you and the Forum Guys.

A good manager, (with the emphasis on "GOOD", a "MM "would not consider this ,mostly, because it was not "His" idea) that uses GPS after a period of monitoring for let's say 6 to 8 months could essentially "Guage" his road guys and from the information see who is the most productive and profitable in conjuction with feed back from his assigned customers ----take that information ---Find out what these TECHS are doing that makes them sucessful and use to help the TECH who might be either struggling and might need a little help to bring him up to speed, I am not refering to the "SLACKER", but the TECH that has the potential to be better but needs some pointers to help him.