The Council of Advanced Automotive Trainers has taken on the challenge of becoming the auto industry’s centralized index of tech training. Recently there were 1300 classes posted to the CAAT website, caat.org. During Spring season 2000 CAAT will advertise the website in some of the most popular trade magazines. Along with these there will be links created from trade magazine publishers’ websites.

“The best way to get shops and technicians to go to the website and to look for training, is for all the CAAT trainers to inform local automotive associations that the site exists.” Said Mark Warren, a CAAT trainer and past president of STS.

CAAT’s Web site Directory www.caat.org

The vision CAAT has is to eliminate the duplication of marketing of training to shop owners and their technicians. The site is a one-stop spot in finding what training is available in one’s area.

NACAT 2000 will be the same first-class conference that NACAT members have experienced in the past. Ferris State University will host this years weeklong conference July 16-12 in beautiful, historic Big Rapids Michigan. We can expect to have some great seminars. The list is still being completed.

A regional CAAT meeting will be held in conjunction with the conference. For more information check out the website www.ferris.edu/NACAT2000

Service Providers Look at Their Market

“A two-income family and no time to repair the two, three, or four vehicles that they constantly rely on to get them to work.”

A task force reported that this was the description of a typical auto repair customer of today. One important fact of their finding was that females are most likely to be the ones responsible for getting the maintenance or repair work done.

The focus group also found out that this was the order of importance of today’s repair customers.

1. Quality - fix it right the first time.

2. Convenience - make it easy, one stop complete car care, and done when promised.

3. Price

4. Friendly service - clean reassuring atmosphere.

5. Products/Brand

(Trust was the major reason why vehicle owners choose where to have repairs done).

The recommendations of the focus group was that in order to meet the needs of today’s customers, the shop must be able to supply all services for the vehicle, make sure that the work has been performed correctly, and on time.

For the shop owner, finding qualified technicians is high on their list to meet these customers needs. The problems they will face in the future is the continual rising cost of their backshop wages and the never ending search for technicians to handle the work load.

Investment in recruiting and training new employees is a high priority of shops trying to stay ahead.

The shortage of qualified automotive service technicians in today’s marketplace has caused the average yearly earnings for technicians to take a jump during the past two years. 

With more than one out of every three shops currently looking to hire a technician, the average salary for automotive service technicians has risen to $28,487, This is up from $26,284 in 1998.

Technicians just entering the field now can expect a salary around $22,578, up from $20,966 in 1998 and $19,902 in 1996. In the same time frame, experienced technicians who have decided to make a career out of servicing vehicles have seen their average salaries jump from $31,601 in 1998 to $34,389.

53.3% of technicians are being reimbursed for the cost of training to keep them up to date with today’s technology.

More than 65% report technicians receive an hourly wage. Only 21.6% report technicians being salaried. 41.4% receive a portion of labor sold and 18.8% receive a portion of parts sold.

51.6% of those surveyed report that their shops offer some type of bonus or incentive for technicians to become ASE-certified.

Are available by printing out the form that’s on the CAAT Website www.caat.org

CAAT had a well-known group of management consultants develop the shop manager’s course designed to help service providers understand the importance of technician training.

The reason why seats go unfilled in automotive training classes is because the shop owner doesn’t realize how important technician training is to their business. They have one hundred and one reasons why they can’t send their techs to training, while admitting that training is much needed.

The “workshop” is designed to give mangers “tools” to determine profitability problems that could exist in their business. The open two-way communication design of the course is a lot of fun to teach and participate in. 

…was the STS session at the SAE 2000 World Congress in Detroit, that addressed the issue of career advancement possibilities for technicians.

Jerry Truglia, CAAT board member and facilitator of the panel discussion, asked the members of the panel to describe the opportunities each had experienced in the automotive industry. The one common thread to each panelist recommendation, for technicians, was to get with a repair facility that was successful. Good customer relations, job advancement, a clean, comfortable working environment, and made available training were traits of a successful shop. Mark Warren, panelist, said that techs are like professional sportsman. They need to make good money in the 10-20 years they play, but when their back “blows out” they need to rely on the good income they made in the past. Panelists included Ralph Birnbaum, automotive writer, Ralph Bombardiera, NY State Assn. of Service Stations, John Wirkus, Tomco, and CAAT trainers Mark Warren, Tom Mettner, and George Menchu.

There are no right or wrong answers to the questions but the instructor’s goal is to encourage open, two-way communication. The workshop will equip shop owners with both the knowledge and the skill to analyze performance areas in their business.

Sound good so far? But, is there any follow-up after the class? Yes! In each manager’s guide book there is a different password, allowing them to access a web page where they can enter their confidential performance measurements from the worksheets in the book. Recommendations along with comparisons of other “unnamed” shops, which are in the same area or size, will give the manager a true direction of what they need to do to improve their particular weaknesses.

Technician Productivity and Service Bay Efficiency are two of the performance areas that are covered in the class. This will encourage many of the shop owners to look for technician training. If you are interested in offering this course, contact CAAT Headquarters.

Dave Sweetman, University of Alaska SE
Ketchikan, Alaska

Doug Shukers,
Gilbert Arizona

Richard Sheffield, Automotive Network
Waverly Hall, Georgia

Glen Shaver, University of Maryland
APO, AE

Larry Markle
Phoenix, AZ

Randy Goldiny M&M Automotive
Phoenix, AZ

Gene Pete, PEP Boys
Plantation, Florida

Sean Miller, Merchants Tire
Dale, Virginia

Nelson Davis, Merchants Tire
Falls, Virginia

Mark Moses, Rocket Training Center
Toledo, Ohio

Dennis Chapman, NE Iowa Com College
West Union, Iowa

Robert Pattengale, Arizona Equipment
Tucson, Arizona

Scott Boege, Bridgestone/Firestone
Omaha, Nebraska

James Holt,
Desert, Arizona

Ronnie Bush SR., Tennessee Technology
Jackson, Tennessee

Mike Nield, Bridgerland Applied Tech Center
Richmond, Utah

J. Nallathamby, India Pistons Ltd.
Kilpauh, India

Robert Sanford, Sanford’s Service
Tyler, Texas

Hey, CAAT Trainers WUTCHYABINUP2?

Keith Kraehmer, Target Training; A busy year or so...TTS has saturated the Puget Sound with leading edge training by having over 120 shops and well over 300 technicians a month trained in Target’s Full Curriculum Module series. TTS used its leading edge signal transfer program during these FCMs. Each signal that the instructor displayed thru a DSO on the TV screens was sent to the technicians. Whether a waveform or duty cycle and frequency signal monitored by multimeters, technicians were able to use their own equipment, at their seats, to measure signal integrity. TTS also has circuitry cabling in development that will allow students equipped with inductive current probes, and their DSOs to use that equipment, at their seats, as the instructor leads the course of instruction.

Earl Rogers Charlotte, NC; The new century offers the automotive industry new challenges, with CAAT and other professional trade, and training groups together these new goals are easily attainable. “I’ve been busy this winter updating ASE study materials. Sue, my spouse and Technical Writing Instructor, contributed pedagogical expertise while I provided current automotive technology information. We met deadlines despite our southern winter freeze and power outages. I’m back on the training trail in South Carolina.”

Bob Sanford Sanford’s Service Tyler TX; Greetings everyone from Texas. It’s been a fast acceleration here since I became a CAAT Certified Trainer. Sanford’s Service is the name of my company. We’ve been in business since 1981 and started to get involved with Technician training in 1985. I wish I had the CAAT support then. But now that we do, we are working with O’Reilly Auto Parts here in Texas. Just completed our first two classes in the DFW area and Tyler. We look, forward to many years of association with all of you!!! Best wishes from the Rose Capital of America.

Jim Bates Technical Services Director, Wells Mfg.; Mark Hicks and I have been busy with training installers in northern California, Florida, and up-state New York. Our classes have all been driveability programs covering ignition, fuel and emissions systems. We have been giving diagnostic tips and procedures using DMMs, DSOs, and 5 gas analyzers. The programs are sponsored and hosted by our jobber and WD customers.

Craig Van Batenburg; My latest project is photographing the insides of the new Honda Insight, the gas/ electric car, and writing a technical article for a national mag. ACDC bought a new Insight two months ago and we have been having a blast showing this car to the media, schools and our students. Honda has really done their homework with this car. Our dyno tests for Mass state emissions shows 0.0 ppm of N0x, 0.2 gpm of CO and 0.05 gpm of HC. Clean huh? A real 54 mpg in city driving and 64 mpg on the highway when I drive like I always do, fast. Slower speeds get 65 and 75 mpg.

Ronnie Bush; I have been teaching full time day classes for the Tennessee Technology Center @ Jackson for entry level technicians. I have been teaching scan tool application classes two nights per week in Memphis Tennessee, for Training Solutions. I will begin a three day seminar on on-board diagnostics & AC retrofit tomorrow in Memphis Tennessee. I will begin a thirty hour applied automotive electronics class on April 3. This class will run Monday evening from six to nine p.m.

OBD II Course!

The New CAAT Course is in its final stages of beta testing. We said it was coming and it will be ready in April. A lot has changed since the initial concept of OBD II was introduced in 1993. Classes were held in March using the material and getting the bugs out of how the course flowed. Rod Dawson a CAAT trainer in Indiana went through the material with a fine tooth comb and found it to be outstanding. He and two of his trainer partners taught 30 technicians using the course in two different classes, comparing the students responses. “Comment were over all very good,” replied Rod “there was a lot of improvement from the pre test to the post test scores.”