Proshadetree, are you sure they were techs?
Where are those service managers, most I have worked for were not ever techs of any sort...
in the last 30 years I have worked for one service manager, who only lasted about 1 year as service manager, who had ever been a forklift service tech. I have also been a service manager, but felt that the biggest problem I had then was I did not have -me- working FOR me.
Batman, it has been my experience that most dealer principals don't want a road tech as service manager, since they are likely to 'see the world' as the road tech does, and less as the dealer principal does. in fact, most Dealer principals I have dealt with say there is a bunch of real problems trying to change someone that has been on the road, into an office person, no matter the position in the office.
As the price for GPS tracking goes down, I expect there to be less resentment. I think techs have difficulty with the idea of spending the money their sweat earned on a tool to bug them into more billing, were as, a tool that they can really (and clearly) see a return on investment they have no problem with investing in. if it costs a grand per truck and 50 dollars a month per truck, that doesn't sit well, but if it cost only the phone you already have and 10 dollars a month, there could be considerable more reason for it, that would be understandable by the techs (whose sweat it is bringing in that money, and who hope to share in the profits).