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Episode 7- Nathan Wall from General Dynamic in London, Ontario
90 Plays5 months ago
Brand new podcast hosted by a Shop owner and a Shop owner/Technician . We dive into shop ownership and how it all began for the both of us. Today we have Caleb Wall from General Dynamic in London, Ontario Canada!I Interesting conversation and loved the fact that he gets to work on some next level vehicles! Had a very quick technical difficulty during the show but got Caleb back pretty quick!
Having the ability to be sent all over to fix vehicles must be pretty awesome. Sit back and enjoy this one!
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Transcript
00:00:00
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, it does that.
Introducing Caleb Wall
00:00:09
Aniz Lavji
Alright guys, welcome to another episode of the Shop and Tread Talk podcast. And as usual, we've got Frank with me. Frank, why don't you introduce our guest here today?
00:00:18
Frank Wiebe
and then So today we have a someone quite special to me. This is Caleb, Caleb Wall. Caleb was my apprentice, i don't know how many years ago.
00:00:31
Frank Wiebe
um And
00:00:34
Caleb
probably about like 10 years ago now.
00:00:36
Frank Wiebe
it's something like that.
00:00:37
Aniz Lavji
years.
00:00:37
Frank Wiebe
But when when Caleb first came looking for a job, i looked at this kid and I'm like, it's not going to make it. I think that he'd be better off in the front office.
00:00:48
Frank Wiebe
ah Boy, was I wrong.
00:00:48
Aniz Lavji
Oh, shit.
00:00:51
Frank Wiebe
Boy, was I wrong. And and he's he's really showed up, really proved himself. So Caleb, welcome to the show.
00:00:57
Caleb
think 10 years ago.
00:00:58
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:00:58
Caleb
Thanks, Frank. I think 10 years ago, you probably would have been right. 10 years ago, I probably would have been a little bit better off in the front office working behind the desk.
00:01:02
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. It was a good ride.
00:01:07
Caleb
But, you know, I had some good people, good people
00:01:07
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, for sure.
Ontario Young Apprenticeship Program
00:01:11
Caleb
throughout my career to help me.
00:01:11
Frank Wiebe
We...
00:01:12
Caleb
so
00:01:13
Frank Wiebe
yeah yeah it's it's it was a good ride yeah for sure we ah I mean, we worked together for quite a few years and and Caleb was part of, in Ontario here, we have a program called the OEA program, Ontario Youth Early Education or something, i forget what it's called.
00:01:29
Aniz Lavji
Ontario Young Apprenticeship Program.
00:01:31
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, so whatever that, yeah.
00:01:31
Caleb
Yep.
00:01:33
Frank Wiebe
So basically that puts a 12, grade 12 automotive student and puts them into a co-op program and which puts them into their first year apprenticeship. So basically by the time that they're done grade 12,
00:01:48
Frank Wiebe
ah they're done their first year apprenticeship. So they do half the semester at Fanshawe College and the other half at their placement.
00:01:58
Frank Wiebe
And so it works out really well. It really helps fast track, especially people as as good as Kayla agreed. So other other kids that, that you know, they they have trouble, they had trouble filling spots because they just didn't have enough really good people to do that.
00:02:04
Aniz Lavji
That's great.
00:02:15
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:02:15
Caleb
Yeah, i remember I think the year that I was going to do it, they literally if there would have been one less student in the class, they wouldn't have run it for the automotive program anyway.
00:02:16
Frank Wiebe
yeah
00:02:25
Frank Wiebe
e
00:02:25
Aniz Lavji
Oh, wow.
00:02:30
Frank Wiebe
yeah I remember something like that because it was it was it was i think it was kind of hairy whether you were going to go or not. but I'm really glad it worked out because it really fast tracked you into this and I think you've done you've done quite well. Caleb, if you want to just ah kind of shoot off and and Say what you're up to these days and what you're doing. if Say what you can and and introduce yourself and then we'll just chat from there.
00:02:53
Caleb
Oh, I lost connection to the server here, guys. I'm sorry.
00:02:58
Aniz Lavji
Oh, everyone's still there.
00:03:01
Frank Wiebe
I'm here.
00:03:02
Caleb
rejoin.
00:03:03
Aniz Lavji
Caleb, one sec.
00:03:03
Frank Wiebe
He's looking a little dumbfounded.
00:03:05
Caleb
What's going on here?
00:03:06
Frank Wiebe
yeah
00:03:07
Aniz Lavji
We had a little technical difficulties there, but that's okay. Caleb's back.
00:03:10
Frank Wiebe
great by
00:03:11
Aniz Lavji
Caleb, tell us a bit ah about yourself, kind of where you started from, where you are, and what you're up to these days.
00:03:12
Caleb
no internet.
00:03:18
Caleb
All right.
Mechanic Work at General Dynamics
00:03:20
Caleb
Uh, currently i work for a company and here in London, Ontario called General Dynamic. And, uh, I'm just basically like a mechanic there. they are a company that basically produces like big military vehicles.
00:03:39
Caleb
Uh, so yeah, I basically travel all over Canada right now.
00:03:44
Aniz Lavji
Nice.
00:03:45
Caleb
Um, and I, just kind of service and fix these military vehicles. Um, I've only been doing it for about a year now. Um, it's been pretty good before there.
00:03:57
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:03:59
Caleb
I worked for Oxford. Like I worked at the dealership for Oxford Dodge.
00:04:02
Aniz Lavji
Beauty. That's nice.
00:04:03
Caleb
I was there for three years. Um, and I got my master tech there. um And then i think I was working in St.
00:04:14
Caleb
Thomas a little bit before that.
00:04:14
Aniz Lavji
Oh, yeah.
00:04:14
Frank Wiebe
Should be something like that
00:04:16
Caleb
Um, I got my license in 2022, if I remember correctly.
00:04:21
Caleb
I was, yeah, I was pretty young when I got it. Um, yeah, I definitely bounced around quite a bit, um, after I left Weebs.
00:04:32
Caleb
So obviously Weebs Wheels working with Frank was like the first shop that I ever worked at.
00:04:34
Frank Wiebe
that. I hear that a lot, but
00:04:37
Caleb
Um, And I feel like Frank, after you left, it definitely wasn't the same.
00:04:39
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, you I was thinking about that the other day. I couldn't remember if you left before I did or after I did, but you I think you left shortly after I did. a
00:04:49
Caleb
No, I, yeah, I remember after you left, Pete didn't, I felt like he didn't know what to do with me.
00:04:50
Frank Wiebe
Hmm.
00:04:56
Caleb
And it was like, as as soon as you left, no word of a lie. It was like, I got pulled out of the shop and it was like, Hey, I need the grass cut over here or I need the cars washed over here.
00:05:09
Caleb
So I basically, it was frustrating for me cause I feel like you left and I basically stopped getting any opportunity to like continue working on vehicles.
00:05:10
Frank Wiebe
yeah
00:05:12
Aniz Lavji
Oh yeah.
00:05:19
Frank Wiebe
what it yeah i think so what what ah what i should have done is i should have took you with me but the thing is i had a nine month stint in between when i left there before i opened my shop and if that if that nine months hadn't been there you would have come with me and you would have been working with me today but
00:05:19
Caleb
um And then from there I went, i think, I think the next job that I worked out in St. Thomas, Elgin Tirecraft, if I remember correctly.
00:05:39
Frank Wiebe
That nine months kind of kicked me down.
00:05:43
Frank Wiebe
yeah
00:05:44
Caleb
yeah Yeah.
00:05:44
Aniz Lavji
I think Frank's got a bit of FOMO fear, if you know.
00:05:46
Caleb
Oh, tirecraft didn't do me very good, that's for sure.
00:05:47
Aniz Lavji
I think he's missing you at his shop right now, man.
00:05:49
Frank Wiebe
and
00:05:50
Caleb
So I think I only worked
00:05:53
Caleb
You know, um yeah, I'll i'll say, ah especially being away from home right now, it's definitely definitely not easy. There are some days where, you know, I get the opportunity to kind of work on one of my own vehicles and I miss it sometimes, you know.
00:06:12
Frank Wiebe
Thank you.
00:06:12
Caleb
um
00:06:15
Caleb
Yeah, there's definitely pros and cons, I think, to doing what I do.
Balancing Work and Business
00:06:18
Caleb
um You know, when I was working at Oxford Dodge, I also tried my hand at kind of running my own business as well.
00:06:23
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:06:26
Caleb
I got a little bit of a taste as to what that was like. um did it pretty successfully. i think I was very, very busy, between working at the dealership and then also having, uh, my business that I was running after hours, it was definitely tough.
00:06:44
Caleb
Um, and then i think I did it pretty successfully for about two years, I want to say. and then, yeah, i just, I got too busy. I was starting to travel a little bit more for general dynamic and, uh,
00:06:59
Aniz Lavji
It's only so much you can do, right?
00:07:00
Caleb
Yeah, as a one-man shop, it's kind of hard to continue to keep a business open
00:07:01
Aniz Lavji
Only so many hours.
00:07:01
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. you yeah yeah You got to be present there, right? Just that's like me. If I'm not, if
Creating an Independent Business
00:07:06
Caleb
when you're out of problems.
00:07:06
Frank Wiebe
I'm not there, the shop just kind of comes to a halt and that's kind of, it's, it's frustrating when that happens.
00:07:08
Caleb
Yeah.
00:07:12
Frank Wiebe
So you want to, if you're running a business, you want to try and and and build a business so that it can function if you're not there. But apparently I'm not quite there yet.
00:07:20
Aniz Lavji
The whole point of whole point of business is having it and building it up just in such a way where you don't have to be there anymore.
00:07:29
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:07:30
Aniz Lavji
Right.
00:07:30
Frank Wiebe
Wow. I mean, Eventually, i don't mind I don't mind being in a corner and being like one of those flower pots that just smiles and waves or something like that.
00:07:31
Aniz Lavji
Eventually.
00:07:37
Frank Wiebe
I'll be i'll do that, but
00:07:39
Aniz Lavji
i would love to be a flower pot. Just sit there it and not have to to you know remember anything, talk to anyone, just observe.
00:07:41
Frank Wiebe
fly on the wall, right?
00:07:48
Aniz Lavji
That's the dream.
00:07:48
Caleb
yes
00:07:51
Caleb
Yeah, self-sustainability is obviously the goal, I think. you know Get it to a point where it can just do its own thing and you can just sit back and collect from the hard work is the goal.
00:08:00
Aniz Lavji
what's ah What's a culture like at your, if if you can say, what's a culture like where you're working?
00:08:01
Caleb
But yeah, takes a little while to get there, that's for sure.
00:08:04
Aniz Lavji
Is it pretty friendly, get along with everyone there? Is it pretty easygoing?
00:08:09
Frank Wiebe
Thank you.
00:08:13
Caleb
Yeah. Oh yeah. For the most part. Yup. Oh yeah. It's, um, as stress-free as it can be, it is for the most part. I mean, obviously, uh, working on big heavy equipment, um, and just like the people that we deal with and the customers that we have, uh, very high priority.
00:08:27
Aniz Lavji
yeah
00:08:33
Aniz Lavji
yeah yeah
00:08:33
Caleb
Um, so you just got to really make sure that, uh, you know, you do things once you do things right. Um, You know, it is a little stressful knowing that, you know, if I'm having a bad day or if I'm having an off day and I do a bad job, then, you know, I could potentially be putting someone's life in danger in the long run. Um, so you definitely always need to be on your a game. Um, but that doesn't even just apply to the military side of it as well. Like even in just like the regular automotive side, right? Like Frank, you know, all the customers that come in your door day in day out, you know what I mean? Like, uh,
00:09:13
Caleb
It's a lot of responsibility, you know, um like fixing vehicles for people and doing your best to make sure that everyone, you know, everyone gets the same quality of service and that it's a good quality of service.
00:09:21
Frank Wiebe
yeah and then in it Yeah. And then when you have to fight in when you're about to fight with a customer to to actually replace their brakes and you have to like convince them that they need these brakes, that sucks, man.
00:09:27
Caleb
it can stressful.
00:09:31
Frank Wiebe
But you're doing it. yeah i mean, really, there's no skin off my back, but I'm doing it here because I'm trying to help you out to keep you safe and trying to get people to understand that.
00:09:40
Aniz Lavji
Unfortunately, that battle, that battle of you know convincing customers to take care of their vehicle.
00:09:46
Caleb
Yeah. But
00:09:46
Aniz Lavji
I mean, whether they change the brakes or not, I mean, that's not going to affect you, Frank. Unfortunately, it's just going to be their issue down the line when their calculator sees and then they're like, oh, well, this $600 brake job is going to be $1,250 now.
00:10:01
Aniz Lavji
What was
00:10:02
Frank Wiebe
we quoted one today was $2,300. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:10:08
Aniz Lavji
who was that? What was that on?
Car Maintenance Risks
00:10:11
Caleb
but i i I do see a little bit of a different side to that where the customer that's coming in the shop that needs these breaks done, they're driving on the same roads that we are.
00:10:13
Frank Wiebe
yeah
00:10:24
Caleb
So to an extent, You know, if if someone comes in with unsafe brakes.
00:10:28
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:10:29
Caleb
Yeah, you know, obviously we do our best to let them know, hey, like, you know, you're not driving around with safe, safe brakes at all. um But to you know, I like to think that two and a to an extent, it does affect us because we're driving on the same roads as these people.
00:10:39
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Yeah. You're right. Yeah. No, we do think about that too. Like whenever a customer comes in and they've got next to no brakes on there. I mean, we've, I I've let customers know the same thing. I'm like, Hey, you know, it's not only you on the road, right? You're sharing the road with thousands of other people and driving is, uh,
00:10:58
Aniz Lavji
not a privilege. Like you, you have a license, sure. But you know, it's, it's your, it's your duty to take care of your vehicle. i mean, if you're going be driving around the road next to me and my kids, I mean, that damn thing better be safe.
00:11:13
Frank Wiebe
Mm-hmm.
00:11:13
Aniz Lavji
And, and if if you're going to do what you're doing, I mean, i have like, whenever anything, anything comes in, they decline it. I got everything documented.
00:11:20
Caleb
Yep, absolutely.
00:11:21
Aniz Lavji
And I tell them, like, look, I got everything documented. I've got pictures, videos, DNA. I got, I got everything.
00:11:29
Frank Wiebe
different
00:11:29
Aniz Lavji
So if if you're not doing your brakes, don't come back to me in a few weeks and say, I got to get my car towed and say, well, you know, is it going to be the same price?
00:11:35
Caleb
Yep.
00:11:39
Aniz Lavji
No, it probably won't be the same price. You probably screw something else up.
00:11:44
Aniz Lavji
And, you know, the best is when they try doing it in the driveway and they put the pads in backwards and they tow it to you.
00:11:49
Caleb
Yep.
00:11:49
Aniz Lavji
And I'm hearing some funny noise on my brakes. Well, I mean, is it the same funny noise? No.
00:11:54
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, right.
00:11:55
Aniz Lavji
I, you know, I had a free Sunday, so I decided to do it myself. Well, here you go.
00:12:01
Frank Wiebe
So is Caleb, you're ah when you're out there, you're you're not at home right now. Are you working on the military base or or do you have a shop that's a civilian and then they bring this stuff to you?
00:12:17
Frank Wiebe
Oh,
00:12:19
Frank Wiebe
really?
00:12:20
Caleb
No, I am located on on military base. So I'm currently working at the Shiloh Canadian Forces base.
00:12:31
Caleb
ah And they have, I think they have like a couple different, they have well they have a lot of different buildings and stuff out there, but I'm in working in one of the the maintenance shops out there, so.
00:12:37
Aniz Lavji
All
00:12:38
Frank Wiebe
Okay. How's the weather out there right now? you're are you You're in Alberta or Manitoba?
00:12:45
Frank Wiebe
Okay, so you're not you're not in the new USA yet.
00:12:45
Aniz Lavji
right.
00:12:49
Caleb
I'm in Brandon, Manitoba right now.
00:12:53
Aniz Lavji
Well.
00:12:54
Caleb
No, not yet. um Surprisingly, it's been a pretty mild January here, actually. i was expecting it to be quite a bit worse than it was.
00:13:03
Aniz Lavji
Oh, geez.
00:13:04
Caleb
i think next week we're supposed to start getting down a little bit closer to like negative 30. i And then February, we're going to start creeping closer to negative 50 out here.
00:13:12
Frank Wiebe
Damn, and I was complaining, what was it to today? it was like minus five or six or something like that, but we got like a foot and a half of snow.
00:13:15
Caleb
So it's going to get, yeah, it's going to get cold.
00:13:19
Frank Wiebe
So that made it feel pretty cold.
00:13:20
Aniz Lavji
Jeez.
00:13:22
Frank Wiebe
Minus 30, oh my goodness.
00:13:22
Aniz Lavji
Minus 30. Minus 30, yeah, no. I'm not leaving house. Okay.
00:13:27
Frank Wiebe
No.
00:13:28
Caleb
Oh, we had, yeah, we we had, what was it? Two days ago it rained and then we had a snap freeze overnight.
00:13:41
Aniz Lavji
get the torch out to thaw out your vehicle?
00:13:41
Caleb
So then everything was all covered nice this morning. It was a good time, good time getting to work.
00:13:44
Aniz Lavji
Oh my God.
00:13:46
Caleb
So,
00:13:47
Aniz Lavji
Do you ever get to the point where like, if it's that cold and you got to bring a vehicle in, do you have to like heat, heat up certain areas of the vehicle to kind of get them started first?
00:13:47
Frank Wiebe
man
00:13:50
Caleb
yeah.
00:13:57
Aniz Lavji
Or how do you do that at that temperature? Yeah.
00:14:02
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Yeah. Like when you're at work, I mean, if it's minus 30 and sorry. Oh,
00:14:05
Caleb
Uh, like, are you talking like when I'm at work or like, just like vehicles get stored inside, everything gets stored inside.
00:14:06
Aniz Lavji
sorry oh
00:14:09
Frank Wiebe
ah right
00:14:15
Caleb
So i I'm inside in a heated building.
00:14:19
Aniz Lavji
That's nice.
00:14:19
Frank Wiebe
Oh, so you might have to move it from one building to another, but not it's like like it's sitting outside in a minus 40 degree weather.
00:14:20
Caleb
These things when they're not getting run, they're inside in a heated building. So
00:14:29
Frank Wiebe
And this is minus 40 Celsius for you Americans, just so you know, that's really cold.
00:14:32
Caleb
no, no, no, no.
00:14:38
Frank Wiebe
I know how to do it when it's above zero.
00:14:39
Aniz Lavji
Your phone might say error.
00:14:40
Caleb
You want me to do a quick conversion to Fahrenheit here?
00:14:43
Aniz Lavji
Jeez.
00:14:44
Frank Wiebe
Jeff from from Jaded Mechanic, he'd he'd know this because he's still half American for some reason, I think.
00:14:50
Aniz Lavji
He's pretty good it. Yeah.
00:14:54
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:14:55
Caleb
Apparently negative 40 Celsius is negative 40 Fahrenheit as well, which I'm having a hard time believing right now, but, uh,
00:14:55
Frank Wiebe
know That's why I said that. It's cold. they They know what negative 40 means.
00:15:05
Caleb
Yeah, so I'm a little concerned.
00:15:10
Frank Wiebe
Ooh.
00:15:10
Caleb
my I have a little Ford Bronco for a rental car out here and it does not have a block heater.
00:15:12
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, but it's probably got zero 16 oil. So then it's it's it's just like water. So it's not like that's gonna be a problem.
00:15:17
Caleb
Yeah, so
00:15:18
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, it's 016. God, whatever. I have these little Camrys coming in with 016.
00:15:25
Caleb
hopefully not.
00:15:26
Aniz Lavji
I'm like, what is this stuff?
00:15:27
Frank Wiebe
haven't I haven't seen any, maybe one, but not nothing regular yet with such thin oil.
00:15:28
Caleb
Yeah.
00:15:34
Aniz Lavji
Oh, we got to stock it now.
00:15:34
Frank Wiebe
ah did I didn't know oil ah did an oil change on a diesel today, 1540, and our oil is in a container beside the shop.
00:15:35
Aniz Lavji
I got...
00:15:42
Frank Wiebe
That's like freaking molasses. I don't know how these engines run in that.
00:15:47
Frank Wiebe
ah di Yeah, Duramax, yeah.
00:15:50
Caleb
What was that on? Was that a Duramax? Yeah.
00:15:54
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:15:55
Caleb
i was going to say, I think the common the new Cummins, I think, still take 10.30, if I'm not mistaken.
00:15:56
Aniz Lavji
and We don't get too much diesel work, so I do not stop.
00:15:59
Frank Wiebe
Oh, I wish I got none of it and so it sent it all to Nathan. That's what I'm going to do from now on.
00:16:03
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, no kidding, right?
00:16:05
Frank Wiebe
Any repairs, go see Nathan. He loves that kind of stuff.
00:16:07
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. drive Drive out to Palmerston, go see Nathan.
00:16:10
Frank Wiebe
Yep. I don't want any part of it. I don't know. I don't know.
00:16:17
Caleb
dean
00:16:18
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, but your yeah the diesel you work on, i I'm assuming biggy heavy equipment like that, is nothing like these diesels that got crammed in these freaking trucks.
00:16:18
Caleb
it's not so bad once yeah you work with it a little bit. It's definitely dirtier.
00:16:27
Frank Wiebe
Like, you've got 300 oil coolers on one engine. You've got about 10,000 miles of wire. And it's like, why? Diesel diesel doesn't need anything to find. It just needs compression.
00:16:40
Frank Wiebe
That's it.
00:16:43
Caleb
yeah but even...
00:16:47
Caleb
Even when I was working at the dealer, like I still, for me, I still preferred working on a 3,500 dually over a 1,500 five, seven.
00:16:55
Frank Wiebe
why yeah
00:17:00
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:17:00
Frank Wiebe
well okay i mean uh
00:17:01
Caleb
I preferred working on the diesels because of the dealer.
00:17:04
Aniz Lavji
Well, dealer, you're flat rate as well, right?
00:17:04
Caleb
It was more money.
00:17:06
Aniz Lavji
So that's you're going to be jumping on the jobs that are going to paying you X amount that you can get it done in less ah a amount of time, especially too.
00:17:07
Caleb
If you were good at it, it was more money. It paid.
00:17:13
Caleb
Yes. Yeah.
00:17:18
Aniz Lavji
How was that working? you Kind of backtracking a bit, but how was that working flat
Flat Rate Pros and Cons
00:17:22
Aniz Lavji
rate? What was your experience?
00:17:23
Caleb
Yeah.
00:17:24
Aniz Lavji
that's ah That's a very rage bait topic right now in all the forums.
00:17:29
Frank Wiebe
It seems to be a
00:17:30
Caleb
ah
00:17:34
Caleb
Yeah. You know what? it's ah It's a, it's a double sided coin. I will say um I'm glad I got to experience working in it.
00:17:41
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:17:45
Caleb
I'm glad I don't work in it anymore. Um, it definitely was really good for me, especially as like a young technician, kinda, um, you know, I'd only been licensed for like maybe one or two years when I was kinda starting there.
00:18:02
Caleb
Um, so I definitely, I needed to definitely step up like my quality of work, um, compared to coming from like, you know, these little ma and pa shops that I had been working at.
00:18:07
Aniz Lavji
If you're speeding, can pump out work. I mean, man, you can make some serious money with fly rates.
00:18:14
Caleb
Um,
00:18:15
Caleb
Yeah. And I did like, I got pretty good. I like to think, you know, I had very, very, very little comebacks. um And yeah, I was doing really good for the first year and a half. And then I remember there was quite a bit of politics and stuff that started happening. You know, there was, oh, well, this dealership, you know, in this city is paying this one tech $40 an hour and I'm only getting paid $35 an hour.
00:18:42
Aniz Lavji
Okay. yep
00:18:44
Caleb
So if if the dealer doesn't give me a raise, then I'm gonna you know go work for this shop. And then all the techs kind of fronted that. um So then the dealership basically got pressured into giving everyone a pretty substantial raise, um which the door rate went up.
00:19:03
Caleb
If I'm not mistaken, it was like $189 an hour. Uh, which it was, it's too expensive. It was just so expensive for people to afford, uh, the, quite a bit of customer pay work stopped coming in.
00:19:18
Caleb
Uh, and it really, really slowed down quite a bit to, uh, you know, warranty recall work, uh, which doesn't pay the bills.
00:19:20
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:19:27
Caleb
Um, And that was kind of at the same time that I really kind of felt pressured that I really had to start ramping up my own business as well, just to quite literally, you know you're spending 40, 45 hours a week if you're working a half day Saturday in this building and you're there and you're available.
00:19:48
Caleb
And you know some weeks you're walking home with 15 hour paycheck for the week.
00:19:49
Frank Wiebe
geez yeah that would hurt
00:19:50
Aniz Lavji
Man. So basically, so basically what happened is everybody got a raise, but then the dealer was like, fine, you guys got a raise.
00:19:55
Caleb
And that feels pretty, defeat that's pretty defeating for sure.
00:19:59
Aniz Lavji
We're raising our rates and now all that work started shutting down. So then everyone got a raise, but then no one was making money.
00:20:08
Frank Wiebe
and
00:20:13
Caleb
ah Yeah, in the long run, yeah, no, I made less money after I got, it was like a 10% raise or something that we got.
00:20:19
Frank Wiebe
yeah that was one
00:20:23
Caleb
And no, it was more than that.
00:20:23
Frank Wiebe
and and that's and that's how That happens in a city.
00:20:24
Caleb
Actually, it was like a 25% raise or something like that.
00:20:26
Frank Wiebe
or Imagine we talked about this a little bit, Anisa, about um if I was to raise my labor rate significantly in a small town like I am, that's exactly what would happen.
00:20:29
Caleb
Um,
00:20:35
Aniz Lavji
yeahp
00:20:36
Frank Wiebe
The the work would just it would just drop off. and now I know that you know if you keep your really good customers, but there's got to be a point.
00:20:42
Aniz Lavji
If you read it substantially, yeah, I can definitely see that frame.
00:20:45
Frank Wiebe
yeah yeah so i mean i mean door rates have to go up as inflation happens and stuff like that
00:20:50
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:20:53
Frank Wiebe
but But yeah, if if I was to jump $25 an hour right now, ah people would bop real hard at that, real hard.
00:20:59
Caleb
Absolutely. you know
00:21:02
Frank Wiebe
And then, of course, stuff would drop off a lot. And yeah, that I mean, in a big city, a lot of places, they can get away with it because you've got so many people around that might still come around or or just trying out the area and and be you know couple of customers for a little while.
00:21:17
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:21:26
Caleb
Well, and it wasn't just our dealership in the city that did it either, right? Like it was, if I'm not mistaken, it was um all the other Chrysler dealers in London. They all did the same thing, same rates and everything, just to stay competitive, obviously.
00:21:45
Caleb
um But yeah, it just, I remember directly after the door rate went up, I just remember it felt like we got hit with like a brick wall and yeah, it was, it was definitely a struggle.
00:21:53
Frank Wiebe
yeah yeah that's it
00:21:53
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. So really, whoever started that up with the rays and everything kind of screwed everyone over there for
00:21:58
Caleb
Not a good time.
Adjusting Labor Rates in Small Towns
00:22:01
Aniz Lavji
for the foreseeable future.
00:22:01
Frank Wiebe
but it but for the for the dealership to do that like to to all work together to raise the labor rate across the board i mean at least that way it's not just one place being like hey i'm i'm going to raise my rate and gouge it right like like We did that in our town here maybe a year after we opened shop and we were like, look, the labor rate is just way too low in this town compared to even the towns around us.
00:22:06
Caleb
Yeah.
00:22:12
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, that's true.
00:22:24
Frank Wiebe
right so so
00:22:26
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:22:27
Frank Wiebe
They say it's coercion, but it wasn't really. We just called the other shops around and said, look, what's your labor rate at?
00:22:31
Caleb
no
00:22:32
Frank Wiebe
This is what we are going to put our labor rate at. We would suggest that maybe you do the same because you're way under labor rate.
00:22:41
Aniz Lavji
yeah
00:22:41
Frank Wiebe
So it wasn't like we were out there, we were wanted to push our labor rate above everyone else. We were just like, look, this is what we're gonna raise ours to. um Why don't we just all stay on the same playing field? Like I always say, I'd rather have somebody come to my shop because they want to come there, not because I'm the cheapest guy.
00:23:00
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:23:01
Frank Wiebe
And I don't want them to come to my shop because I'm the most expensive guy, right?
00:23:01
Aniz Lavji
Yep, exactly.
00:23:05
Frank Wiebe
I'm just, they want them come to me because the service is right.
00:23:08
Caleb
Yeah.
00:23:08
Frank Wiebe
what Whatever the price is, the service is
00:23:09
Aniz Lavji
They'll spend extra 30, 40 bucks with you, Frank, because, you know, they know that your your vehicle is going to be taken care of and your wife's there to make sure that you're not screwing anything up.
00:23:13
Frank Wiebe
Because of the service, you
00:23:18
Aniz Lavji
I mean, you know, all the usual stuff.
00:23:21
Frank Wiebe
It's, it's a, let me tell you, it is, it is a two person full-time job to keep me in line. The, the, the woman that she puts up with me, I mean, she's got like extra halos in heaven.
00:23:32
Frank Wiebe
That's for sure. Because,
00:23:33
Aniz Lavji
She may be using chat GPT just to figure you out, Frank.
00:23:34
Frank Wiebe
often
00:23:37
Frank Wiebe
oh man, some days I'm telling you my, my brain, I said yesterday we were, I forget where we're going somewhere. And I was, I was trying to think, I was trying to say something. I was trying to think of something to say and I'm like,
00:23:48
Frank Wiebe
I don't know. i think my hamster fell off the wheel and she just laughed and laughed. I'm like, some days I feel like that. I just, I just, you know, it's spinning in there, but nothing's happened and it's just not going, it's just too much going on. It seems right now.
00:24:03
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. So she does a good job of trying to keep me in line and I do a good job of being miserable half the time because I'm just overwhelmed.
00:24:12
Aniz Lavji
ah yeah
00:24:12
Frank Wiebe
anyways, i need, I need Caleb to come work for me so that I'm not overwhelmed any anymore
00:24:16
Aniz Lavji
Caleb, I mean, he's he's got an offer on the table for you, man, is what it sounds like.
00:24:18
Caleb
Yeah.
00:24:23
Aniz Lavji
He's doing a big remodel there. So, I mean, I think there was an executive office you were putting his name on, something like that.
00:24:26
Caleb
Yeah, it sounds like it. Yeah.
00:24:28
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, yeah, we're we're we're making gold gold plated plaques for everybody.
00:24:28
Caleb
ah Yeah.
00:24:35
Aniz Lavji
14 karat gold each letter.
00:24:36
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, that's it, yeah.
00:24:37
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:24:41
Caleb
Oh, wow.
00:24:43
Frank Wiebe
we ah We had a customer come in this today, like we were putting a new floor in our shop or in our office.
00:24:45
Caleb
i'll ah I'll talk to you after, I'll say i'll i'll i'll tell you that.
00:24:49
Frank Wiebe
And he's like, wow, you must be really making money if you can put a new floor in that office. And i'm like, or maybe it had to be done and we're doing what we have to do so that we can still have a good office and serve our customers. Right?
00:25:05
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:25:07
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. That guy's getting the, uh, the dropdown menu when it comes to labor rate and it's just going to go.
00:25:07
Frank Wiebe
No, it's.
00:25:09
Caleb
was gonna say, laminate isn't that expensive last time I checked.
00:25:13
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:25:14
Aniz Lavji
That's exactly what I would do.
00:25:16
Frank Wiebe
We're going to add a line on every invoice. New new no new office labor, new office surcharge.
00:25:19
Caleb
yeah
00:25:23
Frank Wiebe
You don't like the hydro company does, right? They they have a debt retirement surcharge.
00:25:28
Frank Wiebe
That's what we're going to have.
00:25:28
Aniz Lavji
I do this.
00:25:29
Aniz Lavji
I do that every year.
00:25:29
Frank Wiebe
New office surcharge.
00:25:31
Aniz Lavji
I had ah a, we have a flat roof. So the flat roof was like, i don't know, over 20 something grand. mean When people ask, did you raise your prices? I'm like yeah, this is roof tax.
00:25:40
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Roofed.
00:25:43
Aniz Lavji
And then we got a, and then we got a, we ended up buying a brand new Corgi.
00:25:43
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, I'll have Dave put that in there. I never thought about that. yeah
00:25:49
Aniz Lavji
think it was tire machine and the tire machine tax. What's it this year? was like, well, we had to buy another trailer, trailer tax.
00:25:56
Frank Wiebe
you know you know when when you well You know, as funny as that is, but in in reality, like in some of the podcasts I've listened to is is the customer is the one that eventually pays for everything.
00:26:00
Caleb
Yep.
00:26:08
Frank Wiebe
Right. Because and it's well, yeah, and it's it's not it's I mean, that's really what it is.
00:26:09
Aniz Lavji
They pay every dollar for it.
00:26:14
Frank Wiebe
And we're in the business to service our customers.
00:26:15
Caleb
Yeah, absolutely.
00:26:16
Frank Wiebe
We're in the business of of servicing their vehicles. And in turn, they end up paying for the business.
00:26:19
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:26:23
Frank Wiebe
They end up paying for our employees wages and all that kind of stuff. And that's the way the world works. It's just like when you go to a grocery store, you spend your money at the grocery store. if You're paying for their business.
00:26:32
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:26:33
Frank Wiebe
You're paying to to employ their people.
00:26:35
Aniz Lavji
Employ everyone, yeah.
00:26:36
Frank Wiebe
so
00:26:37
Aniz Lavji
That's exactly <unk> exactly why I was telling you a couple times, Frank, is, you know, whenever someone, you know, emotionally discounts a bill that, you know, this great job comes at 550 bucks.
00:26:37
Frank Wiebe
That's the way the world hurts.
00:26:51
Aniz Lavji
And, yeah you know what, that's too much. I mean, maybe I was dropping down to 450. So I've heard from different coaches, just bring some cash for me from the house.
00:27:02
Aniz Lavji
Instead of, you know, taking the hundred bucks off the bill, just, here you go, Mr. Customer, here's hundred bucks. I want to make sure that, you know, you you get a discount.
00:27:11
Frank Wiebe
Margarita had a she had a like ah probably a 15-minute conversation with a customer today that was in a roundabout way fishing to get ah a better price, a better price.
00:27:11
Aniz Lavji
when you
00:27:20
Frank Wiebe
and She just adamant be like, look, this is what it is. These are the parts that we have to put on your vehicle. This is what we have to do.
00:27:25
Aniz Lavji
I don't want to put junk on your car. If you want junk, you can go down the street.
00:27:27
Frank Wiebe
yeah Yeah. Well, and that was exactly it.
00:27:29
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:27:30
Frank Wiebe
It says, we, we just don't, we don't, we don't offer these, these cheap parts. We don't, this is the quality that we put on and that's what it, and
00:27:36
Aniz Lavji
um Just wait till they hear the Caleb surcharge. I mean, you know, hey.
00:27:41
Frank Wiebe
yeah.
00:27:45
Caleb
Yeah, it's, ah you know what, it's definitely frustrating. I can definite i can really say that, you know, when yeah you're trying to do your customer a solid and say, hey, look, like, you know, let's be honest here, you're paying maybe an extra 40, 50 bucks for a better quality part that's going to last you probably twice as long as the slightly cheaper one.
00:28:01
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:28:10
Caleb
And I feel comfortable, like as a technician, you know, I feel more comfortable installing this in your vehicle than I do this other part.
00:28:11
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
00:28:11
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:28:15
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:28:17
Caleb
Like, this is my recommendation. And this is what I'm recommending for a reason, because this is my, you know, Frank, you're 10, 20, 25 years, third like how how many years experience you have in the trade, right?
00:28:26
Frank Wiebe
Almost 30 by now.
00:28:31
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:28:31
Caleb
Like,
00:28:33
Caleb
30 years, that's 30 years of experience talking, right?
00:28:33
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:28:36
Caleb
And that's ah that's a 30 year recommendation basically is this is me just trying to, as a person to another person, just give you my honest opinion.
00:28:40
Aniz Lavji
Yep. The labor is the same. Just i choose the correct part. Labor doesn't change.
00:28:47
Caleb
You know, I do,
00:28:50
Caleb
Yep, 100%. You know, like spend the extra $40. And you know what?
00:28:56
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:28:56
Caleb
it it Honestly, for myself, when I was doing it, it gave me so much more peace of mind when I knew that my customer paid the extra $50 to get a better quality part that came with, you know, an extra six-month warranty or whatever, because I knew in the long run that was going to be better for them.
00:29:02
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:29:09
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:29:09
Frank Wiebe
we we made that decision early in our in our shop life is that I wasn't going to put on like what they call white box suspension parts. I just, I wouldn't do it.
00:29:19
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:29:21
Frank Wiebe
And so if it's if it's a suspension steering suspension part, it's a premium part or it's not like, I just won't even do it.
00:29:25
Caleb
Yes, yeah.
00:29:28
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. we we start with mid-grade and if they want to, up or mid-grade to premium, and like if they want to get even, there's ultra premium, we give them the option, but I don't even, like, you know, i can get $11, $18 brake pads, but what's the point?
00:29:30
Frank Wiebe
And if you, if you
00:29:44
Aniz Lavji
I don't even give them the option because you install that on that person's car, they're going to come back after five, six months saying my brakes making noise, you did a shitty job.
00:29:49
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:29:53
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:29:54
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. See, c and that's,
00:29:57
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:29:58
Frank Wiebe
that what
00:29:58
Aniz Lavji
Oh, I know.
00:29:58
Caleb
That happens with the dealer too, just with just saying.
00:29:59
Frank Wiebe
Well, we had we had we one dealer, they said, oh yeah, just wait, we'll have to order it in.
00:30:01
Caleb
With dealership quality parts, that happens quite a bit.
00:30:04
Frank Wiebe
What do you mean to order it in? And then apparently they had to order some parts from ABC. It was a Dodge dealer in Tiltenberg. They had to order some parts from ABC. I'm like, okay, that's kind of weird, but
00:30:18
Caleb
Yeah. ah I mean, I don't really know. i don't think it's a big secret.
00:30:23
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:30:23
Caleb
But, yeah, like at Oxford Dodge, they had,
00:30:23
Frank Wiebe
yeah.
00:30:27
Caleb
an account with APC. And, you know, like if the customer, they, you know, obviously they were supposed to sell, you know, all were Mopar, you know, you're supposed to sell the the the white and blue box parts, you know, but when they're as expensive as they are, you know, sometimes you do have to go aftermarket and even like, even Oxford Dodge knew that they had to have that account open just as a backup option
00:30:32
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:30:35
Aniz Lavji
Oh,
00:30:49
Aniz Lavji
oh yeah.
00:30:57
Caleb
just so that they would be able to still you know make sales to a little bit of bigger variety client, basically.
00:30:57
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. What I guess is half these dealerships don't even have half the damn parts in stock.
00:30:58
Frank Wiebe
yeah
00:31:02
Aniz Lavji
like Rotors and pads. I mean,
00:31:04
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, it's a real problem.
00:31:05
Aniz Lavji
Really? Like, it's your your bread and butter, low-hanging fruit, easiest job there is, and you get an order of the rotors overnight?
00:31:11
Caleb
Well, it's horrible.
00:31:14
Aniz Lavji
Are you kidding me?
00:31:16
Caleb
Yeah, and then, you know, like a lot of dealerships, they'll offer something like, ah hey, if you come in, you know, you pay $30 for a break inspection, but if you do the break inspection and you need breaks and you do them at the same time, we'll waive that $30
00:31:24
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:31:26
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:31:33
Caleb
So as a technician, I would get paid 0.3 to do a quick little brake inspection, you know but if I have to put the wheels on this vehicle and move it outside overnight and bring it back inside the next day and put it on my hoist for a second time and raise it and now do brakes and you're knocking that 0.3, like that's only 15 minutes.
00:31:41
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:31:48
Aniz Lavji
yeah
00:31:55
Caleb
I've now spent more than 15 minutes getting this car in the first place, pulling it in, ripping wheels off and looking, putting it back together, moving it, and then waiting another day and then moving it a second time, lifting it and re-removing the wheels, right?
00:32:05
Aniz Lavji
You know, Caleb, i'm not i don't know exactly how the workings of the the big dealerships work, but can you imagine if they the like the owner of the dealership had like a reserve fund and they told the service advisor or the service manager, like, look, this there's x amount of dollars in this fund.
00:32:27
Aniz Lavji
If you need to take care of your techs and you need to pay them an extra.3 or.5, take it from this fund, make them tech happy, make sure they don't go somewhere else, buy them fricking pizzas, buy them lunch, tell them after work, why don't you guys go out go-karting? I don't care.
00:32:46
Aniz Lavji
Keep them happy and keep them there. I mean, that extra money that you're going to put in that fund to help the techs, help the staff, make everyone happy. The ROI on that, you're going to make that back 50 times.
00:33:00
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
00:33:01
Aniz Lavji
but But I don't think they think like this.
00:33:07
Caleb
Oh, i I agree. You know, I absolutely agree. You know, ah when I was working at the dealership, you know, it's it's not always the big things, you know, like as a flat rate technician, when you take that job at the dealership, you kind of know you're taking a bit of a gamble with the flat rate world.
Impact of Management Decisions
00:33:28
Caleb
um But it's not always just the hours and the money. It's, you know, there's some things like, you know, boot allowances and benefits and other things to consider. Right.
00:33:38
Caleb
But, you know, like I remember at Oxford, the summers would get so hot in the shop and they had air conditioning units installed in the shop, but the owner would not let us turn them on.
00:33:42
Aniz Lavji
Oh yeah.
00:33:53
Caleb
And as techs, we're always furious because we're sitting here going, we could be working and producing more. Right now, we could be producing more if these air conditioners were on because we wouldn't be uncomfortable and sweating our bags off and taking a heat break every five minutes.
00:34:06
Aniz Lavji
AC with no AC.
00:34:06
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:34:09
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:34:12
Frank Wiebe
That's crazy.
00:34:13
Aniz Lavji
And then they sell brand new cars. The damn thing comes with AC, but they won't let you have AC?
00:34:15
Caleb
Yeah.
00:34:18
Caleb
Yeah.
00:34:24
Caleb
ah that's the yeah like That's the type of stuff. Yeah, it's pretty bad, man. like And it's not it's just whatever they can do to save a dollar, right?
00:34:31
Aniz Lavji
Oh, yeah.
00:34:32
Caleb
And I mean, it's not...
00:34:32
Aniz Lavji
They have a dealership in Kitchener, I believe, as well.
00:34:34
Caleb
you know Oxford Dodge is owned by the Bennett Automotive Group, which owns Bennett Fleet Rentals and Alpha Maserati there in London. like You know what I mean?
00:34:44
Aniz Lavji
That's why I think if I own a big dealership, I'd probably go broke because I'd give all the money away.
00:34:45
Caleb
So there's all these businesses that it's all about pinching pennies where you can, right?
00:34:49
Frank Wiebe
specific Yeah, just take it out of your own pocket the way you're supposed to. Yeah, that's ah that's what happens when you get into something that's too big and it just becomes a whole political fiasco instead of a...
00:35:00
Caleb
Yep.
00:35:02
Aniz Lavji
And don't get me wrong, there's a lot of big dealerships that do do it right.
00:35:06
Frank Wiebe
really well, yeah.
00:35:07
Aniz Lavji
You know, and I don't want to throw any shade on dealerships or the techs that work there. I mean, you you know, they're working their butts off and hopefully, know, wherever they work and they just get taken care of.
00:35:14
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, that's why...
00:35:14
Caleb
Absolutely, yep.
00:35:19
Aniz Lavji
Right. That's that's the main thing that from what I hear from the industry, it depends on the place you're at.
00:35:20
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:35:24
Aniz Lavji
And sometimes well i wouldn't say sometimes a lot of the times techs are taking even a pay cut to go to a certain dealership where they know what they're going to get the hours.
00:35:34
Aniz Lavji
They know going to get taken care of. And the service manager, even the owner cares that they're there. They're not just, you know, Caleb 00637489.
00:35:45
Aniz Lavji
And when when Caleb goes, oh, well, we just delete that line. Bob's here now. So Bob takes over this spot and, you know, let's just get him to turn a wrench and get 30, 40 hours out of him as cheap as possible.
00:36:01
Caleb
Yeah, like even for me, like when I took the, when I went from working for Oxford Dodge to General Dynamic, I took, it was like a seven, almost $8 an hour pay cut.
00:36:10
Frank Wiebe
That's pretty significant.
00:36:11
Aniz Lavji
Mm-hmm.
00:36:16
Caleb
But I knew going, like I knew taking this job that I was going to have a consistent, you know, work schedule, when i'm like when I'm home in London anyway, i have a consistent work schedule. yeah you know like i have There's good benefits, there's opportunity for a little bit of overtime if I want it. right So if i if I was really stressing about that lost income, you know i'd I'd work a Saturday morning.
00:36:47
Caleb
and make up for that, right? But having that peace of mind, you know and that's something that we mentioned to the people at the dealership, you know like, hey, like can you guys give us some type of hour guarantee?
00:37:00
Caleb
like We're not asking you to guarantee us 40 hours a week, but like can you give us 30 week
00:37:05
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:37:06
Caleb
guarantee, you know, at least that way, I feel like I'll still kind of be able to pay my bills if there's no work coming in the door, or if I'm having a little bit of a rough week, you know what I mean, and I have to call in sick for a day or two, i you know, I feel like I have some sort of cushion that I can fall back on.
00:37:07
Aniz Lavji
Seriously.
00:37:18
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:37:25
Caleb
And now, when I do come back, I'm not going to be stressed and worked up and feel like I have all this lost time to make up for now.
00:37:28
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:37:35
Caleb
that's how you, and that's such a slippery slope too, is you feel like you'd need to make up for lost time.
00:37:39
Aniz Lavji
That's where mistakes happen, right?
00:37:40
Caleb
Now you're rushing and just trying to crank as much out as you can and make up,
00:37:41
Aniz Lavji
Because you're just trying to crank stuff out, crank stuff out. And... you know, you you think about you're sitting there working, you're like, I've only got 15 hours this week. i mean I mean, what does that do to your mental health? I mean, what's the six or eight bucks that you're losing?
00:37:55
Aniz Lavji
losing i say losing very loosely to go to the next place. And you're probably in a better headspace than you would have been making 10 bucks or 12 bucks more an hour there.
00:37:59
Caleb
ah horrible for him yeah
00:38:05
Caleb
Yep.
00:38:05
Aniz Lavji
But at least, you know, you can relax, you know, that that checks coming in on Friday is going to be around this much. And if you need to make more than work a little bit of a Saturday and, It is what it is, but you know it's it's all about culture. you're you're if you're at a flat rate place and the culture is fantastic, everyone works together, they give everyone a hand and hours are plentiful, I mean, that's great. But if hours are stretched, the pay is not there, the stress is there, it ain't worth it.
00:38:38
Aniz Lavji
You have to take care of number one, man.
00:38:38
Frank Wiebe
I never got a chance to. I never got a chance to work flat rate. I always worked what you said before, Caleb, in a mom and pop shop.
00:38:44
Caleb
Yeah, you know, when.
00:38:45
Frank Wiebe
i ah what ah Basically, two used car dealerships is what I worked at. and And I didn't know anything different. like i've I've never experienced a culture where it's it's always been pretty laid back.
00:38:58
Caleb
Yep.
00:39:01
Frank Wiebe
um I mean, it got a little bit stressful at the end there. It was getting pretty hectic for me. But I can't imagine working in a place like that where I would go into the to the boss and and say, look, we really need to do this.
00:39:18
Frank Wiebe
And they'd just be like, no, it just never happened.
00:39:19
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:39:22
Frank Wiebe
And I'm like, so.
00:39:23
Aniz Lavji
Because there's no skin off their back, right, Frank?
00:39:25
Frank Wiebe
but and And it wins, right?
00:39:25
Aniz Lavji
They can just say no if they want to and it's like whatever.
00:39:29
Frank Wiebe
So that's why I always decided to run my shop in a way like I i often ask my my apprentice, I'm like, is there anything that you can see that we should do differently?
00:39:35
Caleb
Yeah, but Frank,
00:39:38
Frank Wiebe
Is there something that we can change to make something better, to to to make something more efficient? Anything like that?
00:39:45
Aniz Lavji
That shows that you're trying to be a leader, Frank. like that's that's
00:39:47
Frank Wiebe
Well, I'm trying to be.
00:39:48
Aniz Lavji
That's the right thing to do, man.
00:39:50
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:39:52
Caleb
Yeah.
00:39:53
Caleb
No, I, Frank, I don't, I honestly don't think it's a bad thing that you haven't worked at a dealership. um The Ma and Pop Shop thing is nice.
00:40:07
Caleb
I'm happy that I got to do my apprenticeship that way, where, you know, it was like, you kind of have to have a pretty good general understanding of everything.
00:40:11
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:40:14
Frank Wiebe
Well, all the vehicles in the world, right, to come to you instead of just one brand, right?
00:40:18
Caleb
in order to kind of be successful.
00:40:18
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:40:18
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:40:21
Caleb
Yeah, exactly. But yeah, like definitely, you know, working at the dealership is very much, um you pick one thing and you you hone in on it and you get really good at it.
00:40:27
Frank Wiebe
Hmm.
00:40:34
Caleb
So, you know, like when I was working at the dealership, I really enjoyed getting into the electrical and the diesel vehicles.
00:40:36
Aniz Lavji
but You get used to pattern of failure, right? When it's, when you're at the dealer as well. So something comes in with, uh, on the ticket, that's something you've seen 3000 times.
00:40:42
Caleb
um
00:40:45
Aniz Lavji
You know that you're going to exactly to this one spot in the door jam. And I bet you there's a broken wire right there because that's exactly what it was with the other 3000 Dodge Grand Caravans.
00:40:58
Caleb
Yeah.
00:41:02
Caleb
Yep.
00:41:02
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, I'm not a repetitive guy.
00:41:02
Caleb
Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. it gets ahll I'll say it gets a little bit more repetitive for sure.
00:41:04
Frank Wiebe
i I get bored with repetitiveness for sure.
00:41:08
Aniz Lavji
Frank's like the challenges.
00:41:08
Frank Wiebe
even Even just the the repetitive seasons that we're having and I'm like, ah i'm tired of this.
Modern Vehicle Repair Complexities
00:41:14
Aniz Lavji
he wants stuff that other other people can't fix.
00:41:14
Frank Wiebe
that's why you go on a go vacation.
00:41:14
Caleb
Yeah.
00:41:16
Aniz Lavji
Get him towed over to Frank. Frank sends it out in like nine minutes. That's done.
00:41:21
Frank Wiebe
yeah i wish yeah i don't i if if i had nine minutes to spare i might i don't right now
00:41:28
Caleb
Yeah.
00:41:33
Caleb
Well, if it's a new vehicle, man, I mean, anything past what, like 2020?
00:41:38
Aniz Lavji
Oh yeah.
00:41:39
Caleb
twenty twenty It's got at least probably 20 different computers on board. Like the the diagnostics right now on new vehicles is getting, it's pretty significant.
00:41:50
Caleb
The, like the amount of knowledge that you need to have, like to actually be like good, uh, like diagnostics on these new vehicles.
00:41:51
Aniz Lavji
There's so many monitors, like it's, it's insane. And I mean, you've got lane departure, you got this camera, this camera, this camera, this camera. And if you replace something or you like you replace a windshield, now you have to get it recalibrated.
00:41:59
Caleb
Yup.
00:42:06
Aniz Lavji
And if you don't have ADAS, which very few in my area have ADAS, then, I mean, you're going to go to the dealer, you're going to go to a place that hasn't, and it's not cheap to get to get done.
00:42:12
Caleb
Yeah.
00:42:18
Aniz Lavji
And again, it shouldn't be cheap either because the investment for that actual product, it's massive.
00:42:23
Frank Wiebe
That's a pretty hefty investment to have that equipment for sure.
00:42:26
Aniz Lavji
So the person that has it's going to charge you what they what they got to charge you.
00:42:32
Caleb
Swept. Yeah.
00:42:35
Caleb
Yeah, I think I think it's what like 100 $100,000 or something like that for like a good
00:42:37
Aniz Lavji
it's It's way up there. i do I don't know the exact amount just because I never inquired on because it's never an option, but it is it's upwards of $50,000 to $80,000, I know for sure.
00:42:39
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:42:49
Aniz Lavji
i mean you know You're going to be charging $500,000, $600,000 at least to know get a vehicle set up and and do what you got to do to program the sensors.
00:42:54
Caleb
yeah
00:42:58
Frank Wiebe
Well, I've thought about the same thing as even doing just alignments. I know we talked about that in the past about having an alignment rack and I'm like, I mean, i don't do that many alignments.
00:43:03
Caleb
Yeah. Yep.
00:43:10
Frank Wiebe
Like we we probably ship out five alignments a month right now. It's not that many, right?
00:43:18
Aniz Lavji
If you had a machine, you'd do it, Frank. Trust me.
00:43:20
Frank Wiebe
Well, and that might be, i might I might just do a lot more like, okay, we slapped a tie rod on and now we charge for an alignment something like that Probably would if I had time for it, right?
00:43:24
Caleb
It's not worth it. I'm going to
00:43:33
Frank Wiebe
You know, but then I had a bay and a tech and stuff like that, then I'd have to, right?
00:43:33
Aniz Lavji
but but But you got to make time. oh yeah.
00:43:38
Frank Wiebe
But it's that investment isn't worth it at this point.
00:43:40
Caleb
So
00:43:43
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:43:45
Caleb
alignment, yeah, alignment machines, I feel like are always a gamble too, right? Cause alignments are, are one of those things where if you don't know how to do a proper alignment, then you're going to have a very, very tough time doing a good alignment and getting that thing to drive straight down the road with the steering wheel straight.
00:43:58
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Set the tone go, right?
00:44:00
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, that's and that's key. The last thing you want is a crooked.
00:44:06
Caleb
But then especially yeah especially because we're in you know on or you guys are in ontario right now uh salt that's another thing like you're gonna start using your torches significantly more like it's like you know if the vehicle's yeah like if the vehicle is basically three four years old or older and you need to make a ah toe jam nut adjustment you're basically breaking the torches out and just kind of for the best at that point which
00:44:09
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
00:44:12
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:44:18
Aniz Lavji
We're using a log right now.
00:44:38
Caleb
You know, and then do you charge and that's, that's the thing. Do you charge extra if I have to get the torches out during an alignment?
00:44:45
Aniz Lavji
I don't, but I'm going to be, I'm actually raising my prices on my alignment.
00:44:46
Caleb
Do you include that in a standard a lot? Like, you know what I mean?
00:44:49
Aniz Lavji
We charge for like a front wheel, most vehicles, as long as not like a Tesla or something, we charge 129.
00:44:49
Caleb
There's all these variables that.
00:44:54
Aniz Lavji
Right? then 129,
00:44:57
Aniz Lavji
right in the one forty nine
00:44:57
Frank Wiebe
Just a total, it's basically a toe adjustment, right?
00:45:00
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, and if it needs any major adjustments, then i would just you know let the customer know it's going to be X amount of dollars to to do it.
00:45:01
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:45:02
Caleb
That's reasonable.
00:45:06
Caleb
Yeah. Yup.
00:45:07
Aniz Lavji
like If it's really seized, and again, if it's really seized, then I'm selling the guy at tie rod. I'm going to tell him, I'm not going to sit there and heat this up to the temperature of freaking Arizona.
00:45:19
Aniz Lavji
It ain't going to happen.
00:45:19
Caleb
Yeah, fair enough, yeah.
00:45:21
Aniz Lavji
You're going to your $80 tie rod and away she goes.
00:45:21
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Cause now you change it into metal energy.
00:45:26
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
00:45:27
Caleb
Yeah.
00:45:30
Caleb
See, that's good though, I feel like, because honestly anymore, like a lot of vehicles, like I want to say probably like 70, 75% of vehicles on the market right now, there is, ah other than front tow, there is not really another front wheel adjustment.
00:45:39
Aniz Lavji
Right.
00:45:47
Caleb
So, you know, these places that are charging, you know, i like Dodge Grand Caravan is perfect example of getting charged, you know, comes into the dealership and they ding them for a four wheel alignment.
00:45:52
Aniz Lavji
Yep. What are you going the back? Yeah.
00:45:58
Caleb
It's like, well, that's a solid rear axle with absolutely no adjustment in back. And, you know, it's basically a toe a toe and go adjustment on those things, right?
00:46:04
Aniz Lavji
we We got super lucky. like I completely get, Frank, what you're saying about the investment for the Alignment Machine.
00:46:10
Caleb
So,
00:46:10
Aniz Lavji
I got lucky and I ended up picking up a rack from a shop that closed down. i don't think we... it's It's been a while now, but I don't think we spent more than like six grand.
00:46:22
Frank Wiebe
like ah If I found something like that, I'd do it. Absolutely.
00:46:24
Aniz Lavji
It was like six to eight grand for the rack and then the Alignment Machine.
00:46:26
Frank Wiebe
But.
00:46:29
Aniz Lavji
We have an Atlas Machine, which is all run Bluetooth.
00:46:31
Caleb
yeah
00:46:32
Aniz Lavji
Knock on wood.
00:46:33
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:46:34
Aniz Lavji
um I bought it when we first moved in for five, six years. i think I paid like 2,800, three grand for it.
00:46:39
Caleb
okay well it's not bad yeah
00:46:42
Aniz Lavji
So my total investment was like 11 or 12.
00:46:45
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. See, an and at that, then ah then it's an easy in.
00:46:48
Aniz Lavji
That for me made sense because I'm like, okay, if i use this for a year and I'm doing a couple alignments a week or whatever it is, I think owes me nothing.
00:46:48
Frank Wiebe
It's an easy go, right?
00:47:00
Aniz Lavji
But if I had to spend,
00:47:00
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, I keep 50 grand or something like that.
00:47:03
Aniz Lavji
a total of 50 to 50 grand on a rack and an alignment machine, Frank, I'm with you.
00:47:08
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
00:47:09
Aniz Lavji
I would be like farming or I have to to make the investment.
00:47:10
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
00:47:13
Frank Wiebe
And that's where we're at currently, right?
00:47:14
Aniz Lavji
And then every single car that comes in, you really should get an alignment. You know, when you're putting four tires on, I'd be pushing it a lot more than I even do now.
00:47:22
Frank Wiebe
Well, of course, yeah, no.
00:47:24
Aniz Lavji
But now, you know, I do my best. Like if you're buying 40 tires, I always recommend an alignment because I cannot tell if your wheels are straight without putting it on the rack.
00:47:35
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:47:39
Caleb
Oh, yeah, like just eyeballing it, you know, you're gonna look at it and you're gonna say, Yeah, sure.
00:47:39
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, it looks good.
00:47:40
Aniz Lavji
And yeah. And also what I don't do is if somebody calls in, Hey, you don't want to get an alignment done.
00:47:44
Caleb
Like, I can't tell if it's half a millimeter out of spec. You know what I mean?
00:47:48
Aniz Lavji
I won't do it without checking the front end. on the on the lift.
00:47:52
Frank Wiebe
Oh, you have to, yeah.
00:47:53
Aniz Lavji
So I charge a half hour. i charge a half hour, put the vehicle up, check the front end before I bring it over to the rack.
00:47:58
Caleb
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:01
Aniz Lavji
Because if I put that up and his front end is screwed, I'm going to tell him you still owe 129 or whatever it is for the alignment because I put it up and set it up. They're going to say, well, you didn't do the alignment. I'm not paying that. And then that becomes friction.
00:48:16
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:48:16
Caleb
Yeah.
00:48:17
Aniz Lavji
So I get rid of that whole argument i'm like i'm checking your car first if your friend is screwed you're gonna know for 65 or 70 bucks ask him a pair to 129 or 149 or whatever it is but now and if they say oh i've had it checked i'm like well we haven't checked it
00:48:22
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:48:28
Caleb
Yeah.
00:48:36
Frank Wiebe
hey
00:48:37
Caleb
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
00:48:39
Aniz Lavji
He has a brother's uncle's son's a stepson that's signed over in the will to this other person and whatever has checked the vehicle in the driveway at Tim Hortons.
00:48:42
Caleb
Yeah, I hate when they say that, man. Like, I hate when they pull that card.
00:48:50
Aniz Lavji
It doesn't work that way.
00:48:52
Frank Wiebe
I had a customer in this week, they're like, oh, well, I already scanned it and it had code and it just needs an oxygen sensor.
00:48:58
Aniz Lavji
So go and the car yourself.
00:48:59
Caleb
Yeah.
00:49:03
Frank Wiebe
Can you just fix it?
00:49:05
Aniz Lavji
tell em to Tell them to breathe into the sensor.
00:49:05
Frank Wiebe
And we bring it.
00:49:07
Caleb
Yeah.
00:49:08
Aniz Lavji
There's your oxygen.
00:49:08
Frank Wiebe
Well, i wasn't it wasn't even an oxygen sensor. It was it was ah bleed up, unable to bleed up.
00:49:15
Caleb
Yeah.
00:49:15
Frank Wiebe
It was a Ford, unable to bleed up. and And I'm like, okay, well,
00:49:19
Aniz Lavji
been Bleeding your head dry, Frank.
00:49:22
Frank Wiebe
it could be It could be a multiple of things, but it's definitely not an oxygen sensor.
00:49:25
Aniz Lavji
Bleeding up.
00:49:26
Frank Wiebe
So let's actually diagnose this and fix it properly. And it ended up being a purge valve. And he's like, you know, I did kind of think it might be a purge valve.
00:49:32
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:49:36
Frank Wiebe
I'm like, yeah, i mean, you could put it on there.
00:49:36
Aniz Lavji
You should just change both senses or something. accept me
00:49:40
Frank Wiebe
yeah You get lucky to fix it.
00:49:43
Caleb
Yeah, hey, you know what? i always I always change my purge valve when I'm doing a standard oxygen sensor replacement.
00:49:45
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. No, when people come in, they say, oh, I've already read it with my code reader.
00:49:48
Aniz Lavji
I don't
00:49:50
Frank Wiebe
That's fine.
00:49:51
Caleb
That's pretty typical, guys.
00:49:51
Frank Wiebe
But, you know, your your typical code reader doesn't read all of the codes. Like, I think they read your generic codes to you, whatever. And it's, yeah, it's it's fine. You do that. But, you know.
00:50:03
Caleb
No, no, no.
00:50:05
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, no, but that's when it comes in the shop, it needs a proper diagnostic.
00:50:07
Caleb
Yeah, it gets to your key codes, which is good. Gives you a general idea of what's going on, but it doesn't.
00:50:10
Frank Wiebe
Okay. We're going to hook our scan tool to, we're going to spend some time. We're going to research what these codes actually mean.
00:50:15
Aniz Lavji
Frank, that should be free, right?
00:50:15
Frank Wiebe
And then it should, it should be free.
00:50:17
Caleb
Absolutely.
00:50:17
Aniz Lavji
should be checking the car for free.
00:50:20
Frank Wiebe
It should, I don't need to eat today.
00:50:23
Aniz Lavji
No, you have, you told me you have some peanut butter at home.
00:50:23
Frank Wiebe
No.
00:50:27
Aniz Lavji
That's all you need. A peanut butter, a spoon, maybe a cracker or
00:50:28
Caleb
No, absolutely not.
Pitfalls of Boat Ownership
00:50:31
Aniz Lavji
two a week.
00:50:31
Caleb
Speaking of that, I'm going to go grab a drink real quick.
00:50:31
Aniz Lavji
You're fine.
00:50:33
Frank Wiebe
Well, cheese and crackers or or I guess you know the heritage that I came from, it was it was ah beans and crackers. That was the the thing that we always grew up on.
00:50:44
Aniz Lavji
Yeah, because you know when when we charge $179 or $169 for a diagnostic, i mean that's that's why we can all afford boats, right?
00:50:45
Frank Wiebe
my my
00:50:53
Aniz Lavji
you know We're all driving around boats to work every day.
00:50:56
Frank Wiebe
That's one thing I will never buy is a boat. oh I'll maybe be convinced myself to buy a Harley, but probably not even that.
00:51:04
Aniz Lavji
You've got to find a friend that has a boat and then you go on their boat.
00:51:07
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. that's the best That's the best boat to have is a friend with a boat.
00:51:12
Aniz Lavji
ah
00:51:13
Frank Wiebe
that's Not the friend, the boat.
00:51:15
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:51:18
Caleb
my My grandfather owns a boat and he told me that the best two days of owning a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it.
00:51:20
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Everything in between is a headache.
00:51:21
Aniz Lavji
I've heard that from a few people.
00:51:24
Frank Wiebe
Yep. I owned a boat once and it was about the same way. Cause it sat in my backyard and I'm like, I gotta work on that thing.
00:51:29
Caleb
Yes. Yeah. That's what I've heard. So.
00:51:31
Frank Wiebe
I gotta work on that thing. I gotta go work on that thing. And finally I sold it and I'm like, I don't gotta work on that thing youd anymore. All right, let's go. And it never went in the water.
00:51:39
Aniz Lavji
It's a good feeling, eh?
00:51:41
Frank Wiebe
It never went in the water. I don't know if it ever did after that, but I never put in the water.
00:51:44
Caleb
Yep. Yep.
00:51:47
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:51:47
Caleb
Yep.
00:51:47
Frank Wiebe
My cousin had a boat. We did a lot of fishing. Now he's moved away. Pete, if you're listening, it's not cool.
00:51:52
Caleb
That's okay.
00:51:55
Frank Wiebe
Anyways, so I don't get to go.
00:51:57
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, yeah. those those Those pictures pop up in my memory every once in a while of holding these tiny tiny little fish and down by the pier.
00:52:01
Caleb
We used to do a lot of fishing, Frank. You remember that? Oh, yeah, we used to do quite a bit.
00:52:07
Frank Wiebe
Oh, it was a lot of fun.
00:52:10
Caleb
Yeah,
00:52:10
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:52:11
Aniz Lavji
Frank, did I ever tell you I used to live in Texas?
00:52:14
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, you said that, yeah.
00:52:15
Caleb
yeah those were good days.
00:52:16
Aniz Lavji
So i remember my dad and I, with my mom and sister with us as well.
00:52:16
Caleb
Back in the good old days, eh?
00:52:21
Aniz Lavji
We drove to South Padre Island. Okay. And dad had the crazy idea at like 10 o'clock at night. He's like, yeah, we should go fishing. I'm like, we've never fished in our lives. like, yeah don't worry about it. We'll figure it out.
00:52:37
Aniz Lavji
So we went there to the pier. I'm pretty sure dad bought a fishing pole or something from Walmart, like on the way. show up there and, you know, we went to the pier and there's a bunch people fishing and dad found one guy. He's like, Hey, we want to fish. He's like, okay, well, here you go. This what you do. He's like, okay.
00:52:56
Aniz Lavji
I'm going to pay you. You teach us so we don't look completely ridiculous. Right?
00:53:02
Frank Wiebe
yeah You're not looking stupid handing the guy money.
00:53:02
Aniz Lavji
and And yeah.
00:53:04
Frank Wiebe
Teach me how to fish.
00:53:06
Aniz Lavji
exactly Yeah, exactly.
00:53:06
Frank Wiebe
Teach a man to fish for a day.
00:53:08
Aniz Lavji
Because we know what the hell we're doing. I mean, it's pretty, it's not that complicated.
00:53:10
Caleb
Yes.
00:53:13
Aniz Lavji
But anyways, I was really young and dad was like, let's just figure this out. So apparently in that area we were in they were big for catching eels.
00:53:23
Frank Wiebe
Oh.
00:53:23
Aniz Lavji
So the guy said, here, well, here you go. I'm going to set up your rod. Every eel you catch, I'll take it and I'll give you 20 bucks. I'm like, was it 10 or 20?
00:53:36
Aniz Lavji
It was a long time ago. Maybe it five or 10 bucks. Anyway, we count we caught like 15 eels or something.
00:53:41
Caleb
Sweet.
00:53:42
Frank Wiebe
Wow.
00:53:43
Aniz Lavji
I don't know what the hell he was doing with them. Whatever. But i know we walked out with like 150 bucks by the time we were done.
00:53:48
Frank Wiebe
You'll sue.
00:53:49
Caleb
Wow.
00:53:52
Aniz Lavji
and that's,
00:53:53
Frank Wiebe
You got your you return and investment.
00:53:56
Aniz Lavji
That was my experience of fishing like 20 some odd, 25 years ago.
00:53:57
Frank Wiebe
exactly
00:54:02
Caleb
That's a good day's fishing right there.
00:54:03
Frank Wiebe
Fishing for eel. I've never heard of that before.
00:54:06
Aniz Lavji
I don't know. This is like that, that long ago. I don't know if he had some restaurant he's selling them to. I don't know.
00:54:17
Aniz Lavji
It could be something like that.
00:54:18
Frank Wiebe
know.
00:54:19
Caleb
That might have been it. Yeah, maybe.
00:54:22
Aniz Lavji
How,
00:54:23
Frank Wiebe
We've thought about it.
00:54:23
Aniz Lavji
how often How often are you back in town, Caleb?
00:54:23
Caleb
That is something I could never do. Own a restaurant. I could never do that.
00:54:26
Aniz Lavji
Back in this area?
00:54:29
Aniz Lavji
Because you said that you were back once in a while. So is it like once in a while is like once in a year?
00:54:32
Caleb
Oh, okay. That's a bit of a tricky question.
00:54:34
Aniz Lavji
Nine
00:54:35
Caleb
and um
00:54:40
Caleb
So I think for the year 2026, think I'm supposed to be home for seven months this year.
00:54:52
Aniz Lavji
Oh, wow.
00:54:53
Caleb
So I'm probably going to be, I supposed to be gone for five months this year. So right now I'm supposed to be out here basically until end of March, beginning of April.
00:55:04
Aniz Lavji
Do you have family out in Ontario or?
00:55:05
Caleb
And then, yeah, we'll kind of see how the summer goes. So
00:55:11
Caleb
I have, yeah, um actually I have an aunt and uncle that live here in Manitoba and the rest of my family is back home, like in Ontario.
00:55:11
Aniz Lavji
Okay.
00:55:16
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. So Ontario is where the heart is basically.
00:55:21
Frank Wiebe
okay
00:55:22
Caleb
Yeah.
00:55:24
Aniz Lavji
Oh man.
00:55:25
Caleb
Yes, oh yeah, oh, it's where my fiance is and we have two dogs and a cat. So yeah, the traveling is definitely not, it's not easy, especially on relationships, right?
00:55:33
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:55:33
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, that's definitely tough.
00:55:35
Aniz Lavji
I know.
00:55:35
Frank Wiebe
but it's It's also tough the other way around with my wife and I were together like almost 24 seven.
00:55:40
Caleb
You know, when,
00:55:42
Frank Wiebe
And and that has its that has its challenges just as well as being apart.
00:55:47
Aniz Lavji
Long distance ain't easy, man.
00:55:49
Caleb
yeah, I could just, yeah.
00:55:49
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
Maintaining Relationships While Working Away
00:55:53
Caleb
No, it's, you know, especially, you know, for my fiance Courtney, it's, she just recently got a job working at the St.
00:55:57
Aniz Lavji
Oh, beauty. Okay.
00:56:00
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
00:56:02
Caleb
Joseph's Hospital. So it was like her first day was the first day that I was basically like leaving, like to go to Manitoba again. So it's It's been quite a bit for her.
00:56:17
Caleb
Like I definitely am feeling, I feel pretty bad for her right now, having to deal with all the responsibilities of our home life.
00:56:18
Aniz Lavji
sir.
00:56:22
Aniz Lavji
What was it?
00:56:24
Caleb
And then on top of that, trying to learn a new job.
00:56:24
Aniz Lavji
yeah you go ahead sir was it
00:56:28
Caleb
And you know, I basically, i won't you I won't be home to basically support her at all, um you know, for, you know, a good three months.
00:56:38
Caleb
So like her whole probation period, ah you know, she's got to worry about the stress of everything at home and trying to do a good enough job that she still makes it through the probation period.
00:56:44
Aniz Lavji
It also shows how strong your relationship is too, man.
00:56:44
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, but she's, yeah.
00:56:47
Aniz Lavji
So, I mean, kudos to you. That's not easy, man.
00:56:50
Frank Wiebe
And she' she's a tough girl.
00:56:50
Caleb
So.
00:56:51
Frank Wiebe
She'll she'll pull through. Definitely will.
00:56:58
Caleb
She is. Yeah. She's a tough girl for sure. you know, I think, uh, we're still living you know, like we live in an apartment in West London right now. Uh, I think when I get home from this trip, I think with her working in the hospital now, it's time for us to probably either look at renting, uh, a house or potentially buying, uh,
00:57:22
Caleb
Yeah, that's gonna be, i think we're definitely gonna have to do that just I think to make our lives a little bit easier going forward from here.
00:57:23
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, always onward and upward. That's the whole point in life, right? if you As long as you're not falling back, you're going forward.
00:57:29
Caleb
yep.
00:57:30
Frank Wiebe
that's You're doing the right thing and you're on the right track.
00:57:33
Aniz Lavji
i can i can I can really relate to kind of what you're going through.
00:57:33
Caleb
yup Oh yeah.
00:57:36
Aniz Lavji
I did four years of long distance. My wife went to school in England.
00:57:39
Caleb
Yep.
00:57:42
Aniz Lavji
i did She did pharmacy school out there for four years. And yeah, so that was that was before we you know we just met and she went to pharmacy school for four years, came back and then yeah engaged and married and yada, yada.
00:57:47
Caleb
Oh wow. Okay. Yeah. Very long distance.
00:57:57
Aniz Lavji
But I mean, four years is it's not easy, but it it really tests the relationship and it it really it actually made us stronger, I would say.
00:58:04
Caleb
Yeah,
00:58:07
Aniz Lavji
So, I mean, if you're able to do it, it's not easy, man. That's great.
00:58:12
Caleb
yeah I will say it now. Yeah, definitely not everyone can do it. I think the people, like the couples that can do it and make it out the other side, I definitely think, you know, they come out the other side kind of feeling a little bit invincible as a couple.
00:58:27
Frank Wiebe
Mm-hmm.
00:58:28
Aniz Lavji
That's great. Yep.
00:58:33
Caleb
You know what I mean? Like definitely you feel a lot stronger, you know, I've only, you know so like basically since October last year, I've only been home for three weeks ah around the holidays.
00:58:49
Caleb
And then it was like the January 2nd or 3rd or 4th or something. I don't even remember what day, but it was like first weekend of January, I was getting flown back out for you know another three months.
00:58:58
Aniz Lavji
Well, you're working with a purpose, man. There's a reason you're doing what you're doing. And that's very commendable.
00:59:03
Caleb
So yeah, it definitely isn't easy.
00:59:04
Aniz Lavji
It's not easy what you do as well, like being away from home. And you know kudos to you for being able to do that because not everyone can do what you're doing, man. Traveling around and being away from the people you love, right?
00:59:20
Caleb
ah It's definitely not easy and it's definitely not for everyone. I'll say that. Yeah. You know, hotel, hotel room life is cool. It's cool for like, I want to say maybe the first week.
00:59:34
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, a fridge, a stove.
00:59:35
Caleb
And then at that point you're just like, okay, I just, you know, I just want like my bed, you know, like I, I cook, I cook in my bathroom.
00:59:37
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
00:59:45
Caleb
You know what I mean? Like, It's just such a weird, like, and yeah, you just, it it gets to a point where you just kind of lose track of days and you lose track of time.
00:59:56
Caleb
And, you know, if you let it get to you bad enough, you can kind of lose a little bit of yourself out here on the road too.
00:59:57
Aniz Lavji
no
00:59:58
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
00:59:59
Aniz Lavji
Stay true to yourself, man.
01:00:01
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
01:00:02
Aniz Lavji
one One thing I've been asking of Frank on notice is ah kind of what's your what's your plan for down the road?
01:00:03
Frank Wiebe
Definitely.
01:00:03
Caleb
So you definitely need to kind of stay true to yourself. Absolutely, yeah.
01:00:10
Aniz Lavji
know we're pushing about an hour right now, but what's what's your five-year plan? What's kind of going through your head? Where do you want to be in about five years?
01:00:21
Caleb
five years?
01:00:21
Aniz Lavji
Makes you think. and Like, really...
01:00:23
Caleb
You know what, that's a really good question. um and five it it does. um You know what, I will say,
01:00:34
Caleb
um
01:00:35
Aniz Lavji
OK. Yep.
01:00:36
Caleb
i don't know if I want to still be traveling in five years, I can i can say that. um i
01:00:44
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
01:00:44
Caleb
feel like I definitely am still going to be doing a very mechanical job five years from now. Um, yeah, I imagine I'll be probably stay in like, you know, like the London st Thomas Elmer area.
01:00:57
Caleb
Um, but yeah, I don't foresee myself starting up like a business or anything if I'm being completely honest.
01:00:58
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
01:01:06
Caleb
Uh, kind of been there, done that, I feel like. And, you know, between the stress of working for myself and working for someone else, I think that was a little bit of a turn off for me in that sense.
01:01:11
Aniz Lavji
Yep.
01:01:13
Frank Wiebe
it's It's a tough go for sure. yeah
01:01:15
Aniz Lavji
there's There's a half decent shop in Elmer I know of if you're looking for a place.
01:01:20
Frank Wiebe
it Might be for sale.
01:01:22
Caleb
Yeah.
01:01:23
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
01:01:27
Caleb
yeah You know, ah yeah it's it's definitely it's it's something that I think about, i will say, you know, especially ah see now that, you know, my my fiance and I's situation has changed a little bit where before she got the job in the hospital and she was working for herself, it was a little bit easier for her when I was gone.
01:01:43
Aniz Lavji
yep
01:01:50
Caleb
Um, I think so anyway. um but yeah, so we'll see, right? I don't, I, to be
Settling in Ontario and Career Concerns
01:01:57
Caleb
completely honest, I don't really know what the future holds.
01:01:57
Aniz Lavji
well at the end of the day in my opinion you gotta do what's right for you and your family and you know everything else all the other noise all the other noise is just noise man
01:02:00
Caleb
Uh, I don't even really know what the next two months are going to hold.
01:02:02
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. It's, and it's so hard to think about five years, five years down the road.
01:02:03
Caleb
Uh, I don't know.
01:02:07
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Yeah. If I would have, if somebody would asked me that like seven years ago, be like, what's your five-year plan?
01:02:09
Caleb
Absolutely. Yeah.
01:02:13
Frank Wiebe
I've been like, doing what I'm doing.
01:02:15
Caleb
Yeah.
01:02:15
Frank Wiebe
And all of a sudden here I am six years into having my own shop. And I honestly didn't think I'd ever be here, but I personally, you know yeah, yeah, exactly.
01:02:24
Aniz Lavji
And you're sitting on a podcast at 10 o'clock at night.
01:02:28
Frank Wiebe
You know, but But very happy I did. Right. But yeah, like you said, Caleb, it's not for everyone. Right.
01:02:33
Caleb
Yeah.
01:02:33
Frank Wiebe
um I never like worked for 20 years and it never thought that I was going to have my own shop. Everyone always said I shouldn't. I'm like, no, I don't want to. I don't want to. Not now I wouldn't go back.
01:02:45
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
01:02:47
Caleb
I remember, I remember, I remember asking you about it when I was first starting to apprentice with you.
01:02:47
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. It was a flat no.
01:02:53
Caleb
Hey, do you think you're ever going to own your own shop?
01:02:54
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, it was a flat no. I had zero interest in it whatsoever.
01:02:55
Caleb
And you were like, Nope, I, I don't want to do it.
01:02:57
Frank Wiebe
And yeah, all a sudden I woke up one morning, I'm like, I'm going to have to retire one day.
01:02:58
Caleb
I don't want to do it. You know, like,
01:03:04
Caleb
Yeah.
01:03:04
Frank Wiebe
And I just realized that wasn't going happen what I was doing. And then that's what got the wheels in motion. That and my wife pushing me like, you got to get on your own. You got to get out of here.
01:03:11
Aniz Lavji
Everything happens for a reason, right?
01:03:13
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. and And so here we are and and very, very happy with it.
01:03:18
Caleb
Yeah.
01:03:20
Caleb
Well, and that is like the unfortunate part of working sometimes, you know, for a small business is, uh,
01:03:21
Frank Wiebe
Mm-hmm.
01:03:24
Frank Wiebe
You get comfortable, complacent.
01:03:26
Aniz Lavji
Yeah. Yeah.
01:03:29
Caleb
It can be hard, you know, ah you get comfortable you get comfortable and complacent, but like, you know, you think about, you know, like a lot of big companies, they do, you know, like RRSP contributions.
01:03:37
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
01:03:43
Caleb
um They just even little stuff like
Finding Joy and Purpose in Work
01:03:47
Caleb
that, right? Like it's hard when, you know, you've worked the same job for 20 years, but they've done absolutely nothing to kind of consider contribute to your retirement.
01:03:59
Caleb
You know what I mean? When you've been nothing but a huge asset and contribution to a company and it's just, okay, yeah, here, we'll let you go and just kind of just whatever happens to you when you're retired happens, I guess, right?
01:04:02
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
01:04:03
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
01:04:09
Aniz Lavji
Yeah.
01:04:09
Frank Wiebe
Yeah. Happy retirement.
01:04:09
Aniz Lavji
If you lose less spark and excitement, when you, you know, walk into work, you guys are looking for something else, man.
01:04:13
Caleb
Not my business anymore, but yeah.
01:04:16
Aniz Lavji
Something has to drive you to, you know, go in your Ford Bronco to work every day. i mean, you, you got to make sure that when you're going into work, you feel like being there. If you don't feel like being there, then you got to some self discovery and, and see what makes you happy.
01:04:31
Aniz Lavji
Because I mean, man, life is short.
01:04:31
Frank Wiebe
Exactly. Yeah.
01:04:33
Aniz Lavji
if you like what you do fine if it's something you're doing just a past time fine but in my opinion strive for something bigger strive something better reach for the moon we're only here we're here today gone tomorrow we don't know man but you got to make the most of it and uh and network network with as many people as you
01:04:37
Caleb
Yeah.
01:04:44
Frank Wiebe
Always,
01:04:50
Caleb
ye
01:04:54
Caleb
Yeah.
Importance of Networking
01:04:55
Caleb
Life's short, right?
01:04:55
Aniz Lavji
can and and then you know
01:04:56
Frank Wiebe
Network against key. That's what i'm that's my goals this this year is a lots of networking because you can't do it on your own.
01:05:02
Aniz Lavji
Meet people. you
01:05:04
Frank Wiebe
Yep, can't do it on your own.
01:05:08
Frank Wiebe
Yep.
Weather and Time Difference Jokes
01:05:09
Aniz Lavji
Caleb and this has been a lot of fun. i don't want to take too much more of your time at minus 30 degrees in Timbuktu.
01:05:12
Caleb
Absolutely.
01:05:19
Aniz Lavji
Frank's going to work out for a few hours now.
01:05:19
Caleb
all good. i know it's 10 o'clock for you guys.
01:05:21
Aniz Lavji
you know Pump the iron.
01:05:21
Caleb
It's only nine o'clock for me out here.
01:05:23
Frank Wiebe
Yeah, maybe go shovel some snow.
01:05:24
Caleb
I'm an hour behind.
01:05:24
Frank Wiebe
I got to do that yet.
01:05:25
Caleb
you
01:05:26
Aniz Lavji
That's what I meant.
01:05:29
Caleb
ah yeah
01:05:31
Caleb
Oh, there you go.
01:05:32
Aniz Lavji
Oh, man.
01:05:32
Caleb
We've, we've only got ice out here.
01:05:32
Frank Wiebe
Oh, perfect. Yeah. What's wrong with that?
01:05:34
Caleb
We've got like a good six inches of ice covering everything right now.
01:05:35
Aniz Lavji
Jeez. Especially when you don't have to deal with it, eh, Caleb?
01:05:36
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
01:05:40
Caleb
Yeah, nothing wrong with it at all.
01:05:41
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
Handling Winter Conditions
01:05:43
Frank Wiebe
Heated vehicles in a heated garage.
01:05:44
Caleb
Oh, yeah. i Yeah, you're absolutely right.
01:05:45
Frank Wiebe
Wow.
01:05:45
Aniz Lavji
If I didn't have a snowblower, i know what I'd do with myself.
01:05:46
Caleb
I don't have a parking lot to shovel or anything. So Yeah, I don't even pay for the gas. yeah Oh yeah, I'll run like a good two, three warmup cycles on that thing before I even get in it.
01:05:54
Frank Wiebe
just Well, this was a lot of fun, Carol. Thank you so much for
Conclusion and Future Plans
01:05:59
Caleb
It's awesome. It's more.
01:05:59
Frank Wiebe
joining us.
01:06:00
Frank Wiebe
And it was good to see you.
01:06:00
Caleb
um
01:06:03
Aniz Lavji
well We'll have to get you back on for for an ah like a yearly update or something, see what's going on with you and see where you're at and everything.
01:06:06
Caleb
Yeah, thanks for having me.
01:06:08
Frank Wiebe
Yeah.
01:06:13
Aniz Lavji
And hopefully we'll we'll be able to do the next one in Ontario when you're not freezing your butt off over there.
01:06:15
Caleb
Absolutely. Yeah, I'd love to be back on. Yeah, this was a lot of fun, guys.
01:06:21
Aniz Lavji
All right, Caleb. Thank you so much, man. Appreciate it.
01:06:25
Caleb
Yeah, hopefully. Awesome. Yeah, thank you.