A 26 Year Old Tech Trapped in an Old School Shop with Zach Fogle

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In this episode, Jeff Compton sits down with Zach Fogle, a 26 year old technician from Idyllwild, California, to discuss shop life, training, technology, and the challenges facing modern technicians. Zach shares his experience working at a small multi generation shop with a towing fleet, including the frustrations of being pulled away from repair work, outdated equipment, limited tooling, inconsistent processes, and low labor rates. They also discuss customer supplied parts, diagnostics, programming, ADAS, Tekmetric, documentation, liability, and why investing in the right tools and training can help reduce comebacks and improve productivity.

The conversation closes with Zach’s hopes for the shop’s future, the importance of networking, and plans to keep learning through industry events and training.

Timestamps:

00:00 Control and Legacy
00:51 Podcast Welcome and Weather
01:36 California Life and Snow
02:52 Zach’s Background in Shops
07:45 Towing Duties and Frustrations
13:14 Paperwork and Processes
22:03 Rates, Pricing and Matrices
27:13 Tooling Gaps and ADAS
32:54 Right Tools and Liability
40:23 Programming and Modern Brakes
45:01 Trust and Service Information
45:30 Hourly Pay Dynamics
46:16 TechMetric Chaos
47:56 Paper to Software
50:23 Canned Jobs Missing
52:19 Older Tech and Tech Gap
53:41 Parts and Customer Parts
55:13 Know Your Numbers
57:20 Tire Plug Interruptions
01:01:51 Free Fluid Check Rants
01:03:56 Coolant Top Off Liability
01:06:51 Charge True Value
01:09:26 Wrong Parts and Returns
01:11:49 One Caliper Debate
01:19:52 Succession and Future
01:23:37 Training Investment Mindset
01:25:16 Training Cuts Comebacks
01:27:01 Self Taught Learning Paths
01:28:31 Proving Your Value
01:32:06 Shop Culture Inspiration
01:34:19 Power of Networking
01:38:29 Finding Your Diag Niche
01:43:28 Avoiding Project Car Traps
01:48:15 Events and Succession Plan
01:56:16 Modern Tech Over Old
01:58:24 Final Thanks and Sponsor

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