Flat Rate Tech Podcast

Most people think independent shop owners are getting rich.  The truth? A lot of shops are one bad month away from closing.  High overhead, debt, equipment payments, and constant pressure mean many independent shops survive because one or two technicians are carrying the entire operation. If one of those techs quits, the whole place can collapse overnight.  This is the reality behind struggling sh...

Go to my website. They judge you on four numbers. Productivity Efficiency Proficiency Effective Labor Rate In this episode we break down what each one actually means, what you control, what you don’t, and why a slow week doesn’t always mean you’re a slow tech. Flat rate turns shop problems into your pay problem. Understanding your wrench time vs billed time shows the real story. Are you slow or ar...

Go to my website and order the NEW book 'The Grey Mechanic" I BET you can relate to it.  Training is a scam. The more you know, the less you make.  Support the show THE BOOK https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FK654G57 Follow the Facebook page Follow the instagram page-- Flatratetech_podcast Check out the website  Flatratetechpodcast.weebly.com FlatRateTechPodcast@gmail.com Don't Forget To...

The new book is out "The Grey Mechanic" Link below The Grey Mechanic Book  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GKVGDSPM They tell you that master certification is the finish line. That once you hit that level, the stress eases up and the money finally makes sense. That’s not how it works. In this episode, I break down what really happens after you become master certified. The heavier workload. T...

Starting over doesn’t scare techs. Being wrong again does. This episode is about the moment when leaving one shop and going to another starts to feel heavier than staying, and why that happens after you’ve been in this industry long enough. It’s about burnout that shows up quietly, experience turning into hesitation, and what “starting over” really means when you’ve already done it before. If you’...

Is your manager clueless about why techs are leaving your shop?  go to flatratetechpodcast.weebly.com and click the manager link. Print out the form and put it on his desk. This is what will change your shop.  New book is coming the "Grey Mechanic" will be out soon! If you related to the last one wait until this one comes out.  This industry is a joke and it’s rigged against technicians....

This trade is being held together by technicians who are burned out, under pressure, and tired of being ignored. We’ve talked for years about why techs are quitting. Why morale is dead. Why good people are walking. Why nothing ever seems to change. Complaining isn’t the hard part. Fixing it is. Over the last year, I’ve been building something quietly, not for techs to buy, not for sponsors, not fo...

“Be more professional.” That’s the line. And it’s bullshit. Every time technicians speak up about unpaid labor, flat rate abuse, or unsafe pressure, the same word gets thrown at them. Unprofessional. In this episode, I talk about what that word actually means in THIS industry. Why it has nothing to do with skill, quality, or doing the job right. And how “professionalism” gets used as a leash to ke...

It’s a new year. Same shop. Same pressure. Same lies. Labor rates went up. Budgets went up. Expectations went up. Your pay didn’t. They changed the wording. They call managers “leaders” now. They hang balloons, push culture slogans, and talk about productivity. But nothing actually changed for the people in the bays. This episode breaks down how pressure flows downhill, why techs are still being s...

We were lied to. We were told to work harder. Buy more tools. Stay loyal. And somehow it would all work out. This episode breaks down why being a good technician was never enough, why flat rate keeps techs unstable, and why there was never a real future built into this job. Support the show THE BOOK https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FK654G57 Follow the Facebook page Follow the instagram page-- Flatratet...

Dealerships love to talk about “growth” and “training” for lube techs. What they don’t talk about is how many of them never leave the lube rack. In this episode, I explain why so many lube techs are promised a future that never shows up. How “just give it time” turns into years. Why moving you into the shop isn’t always in management’s best interest. And how this cycle keeps pay low and turnover h...

Techs starving in a billion dollar building. No work. No hours. No pay. Meanwhile the dealership flexes its giant showroom, overpriced labor rate, and “look at us” bullshit while the guys in the bays are wondering how to pay bills on five hours a week. This episode is the truth about flat rate starvation, slow season panic, and how fast a dealership will forget you exist the second the cars stop r...

Every shop’s got that one “super tech” everybody’s supposed to worship. The guy who somehow turns 90 hours every week, never gets comebacks, and magically has every gravy job routed straight to his bay. Yeah. That guy. The one who games the system, steals hours, cuts corners, and leaves the rest of the shop buried in warranty comebacks he somehow never sees again. And the worst part? Management pr...

People love saying dealer techs are “parts changers.” Cool story. Meanwhile we’re the ones dealing with new systems, nonstop software updates, warranty-time nonsense, manufacturer politics, and problems the independents don’t even see yet. This episode breaks down the whole myth and calls out exactly who’s spreading it  washed-up ex-techs, YouTube University heroes, and shops that guess their way...

Want to watch the episode? Subscribe to the YouTube channel.  New techs keep quitting because they’re being lied to and set up to fail. No mentors, no support, no plan, just empty promises. This episode breaks down why shops can’t keep the new generation of  mechanics longer than a year. LOOK IN THE MIRROR FATBODY! Support the show THE BOOK https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FK654G57 Follow the Facebook...

They don’t pay you enough to control you. They don’t own you. They just think they do. In this episode, we’re talking about side jobs, shop control, and the unspoken truth every tech knows: the dealer doesn’t get a say in what you do after you clock out. They want your time, your loyalty, your weekends, your silence… without paying you anything close to what that’s worth. So here it is. The realit...

Every shop’s got one the foreman stuck between techs and management, trying to keep the place running while catching heat from both sides. This episode digs into what that job really looks like the pressure, the politics, the burnout, and the bullshit that comes with being “the middle guy.” If you’ve ever been a foreman, wanted to be one, or dealt with one who forgot what it’s like to turn wrenche...

You can feel it, can’t you?  Every year, there’s fewer and fewer of us left. The real techs.  The ones who actually know how to fix shit not just swap parts, not just follow flowcharts. We’re watching the trade fade in real time. The old heads are walking out.  The next generation’s walking in blind.  And the people running this industry still don’t get it. They call it a “technician shortage,” bu...

!! NEXT WEEKS EPISODE IS ONLY ON YOUTUBE, VIDEO EPISODE ONLY!!! This Episode was already out on Youtube days ago. Subscribe for the video episodes! AI’s coming for every white-collar job out there the office people, the analysts, the “safe” careers. And when that wave hits, guess who’s waiting with open arms? The same industry that’s been burning techs out for decades. This episode breaks down how...

SUBSCRIBE to the YOUTUbe channel. This episode was already out last week on there. VIDEO EPISODE.  You’ve probably seen that Lizard Ford guy online the one always talking about the factory side of things. Strikes, contracts, solidarity… all that. The truth is, he only talks about that side because that side actually fights back. The union guys on the line have structure, leverage, and a voice. Mea...

This episode was out last week on YouTube check it out there is you want.  The Ford CEO’s out here crying about the “technician shortage” again. Talking about how hard it is to find and keep techs. Yeah, no $hit. We’ve been saying that for years. But here’s the truth: this shortage didn’t just happen. The industry created it. They cut pay. They slashed warranty times. They treated techs like dispo...

Every tech knows that peace in this trade doesn’t last it’s rented. One good manager, one solid crew, one fair dispatch, and you start to believe you’ve finally found your forever shop. But all it takes is one meeting, one new face, one corporate signature and it’s gone. In this episode, I break down how fast stability disappears in this industry, why it’s designed that way, and the toll it takes...

https://flatratetechpodcast.weebly.com/ https://tech-shop.fourthwall.com/     MERCH! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FK654G57   THE BOOK! Fixed Ops Managers that want to actually fix your shops email flatrateconsulting@gmail.com  This one’s all about the weapon words shops throw at us to squeeze more free labor. Mandatory. Budget. Efficiency. Opportunity. Team player. Professionalism. They make it sou...

GET THE BOOK HERE https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FK654G57 Videon on Patreon NEW MERCH  https://tech-shop.fourthwall.com/ Managers love to ask why they can’t keep new hires but the answer’s right in front of them. In this episode, I break down what really happens when a motivated tech walks into a dealership and gets thrown into the bay with no support, no communication, and nothing but lies from the...

GET THE BOOK HERE https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FK654G57 NEW MERCH  https://tech-shop.fourthwall.com/ Another wave of techs is walking out and it’s not slowing down. Shops keep scrambling to hire, but nobody’s asking why people are leaving in the first place. In this episode, we break down what’s driving techs out right now: unstable pay plans, broken promises, toxic management, and the burnout that...