Mobile Oil Change service

I knew a fellow in Edmonton, AB that did that for years. He is retired now.
He was a heavy duty mechanic, had a service truck and did oil changes, grease and maintenance, small repairs on site

 

In the states few companies pay drivers to get service done on the truck, if it's not done at a company terminal.

 

I called around to get some lug nuts re-torqued while I was on my 10 recently in California. One guy wanted $250 to travel 13 miles to do that. Said he'd take $225 cash. I hope he dies in a fire. The guy that did it, his service was going to charge me $115, but when he came out, another dude needed a tire, so he did it for nothing ( none were even loose it turns out ), and I gave him $20 bill for his trouble.

If you provide a good service at a fair price, just fair not cheap, the world will beat a path to your door. If you go around ### raping people because they are between a rock & a hard place, many will pray for something evil to happen to you in turn.

 

Mobile PM service is great for equipment that must be loaded and hauled to bring it to the shop. Especially at a site with several pieces of machinery. For a 1-truck operation, it would be cost prohibitive.

And 3 hours for a standard oil change? Shouldn't take more than an hour or so to change the oil & filters, shoot a little grease in the zerks, and check the oil levels in the hubs, trans, and diffs. Might take me 3 hours if the race looks more like a crash-em-up derby and I waste 2 hours watching the replays...but if I'm just working with no distractions, doesn't take anywhere NEAR 3 hours to do a thorough job.

 

I disagree with the 1 truck operation theory. The reason I called a mobile guy is because I was on my 10. In the world of e log, you have to make maximum use of every minute.

 

I'm having some work done to my truck Tuesday when I get back, I'm leaving in a few hours, and my wrench is coming to me where I park, so I can get a 34 in. He foregoes any mobile charge.

 

All my service is done by a mobile guy. I tell him when the truck is in the yard and for how long, and he works it in. No mobile fee. The only negative is if he finds some stuff that needs replaced (say a clutch brake or other part he doesn't have on his truck), I pay time to run to the parts house. He does a thorough inspection every time on truck and trailer, and it takes him a couple of hours.

Still cheaper than paying a driver to drive the truck to the shop and wait, or having to pick him up and drop him back off. Ruins his time off, and screws up my day.

 

I can see both sides of the coin. Yes I think $250 US is a bit steep for a retorque on a couple wheel nuts. On the flip side, the average brand new F550/5500 Ram service truck loaded with tools will easily run $150,000+ and we have all the same expenses as the typical truck owner.