Sr master pay

[sdv4x4]

I know this isnt a topic on the Ford message boards. so I thought i'd ask here. Been at the same dealer 16 years, will be sr master this year. Just curious what other shops out there are paying there sr master techs.

[lmorris]

The same as everyone else, and sometimes, depending on the pay structure, less. Don't go for master status if you are in it for the money, do it because you pride yourself in being a good technician.

[Matt Saunoras]

Agreed, hold the certs with pride. I've been offered over $30 from other dealers in desperation but every time you move you lose seniority. I've been a SM for 5 years now and I've never used it to get more money, I have however used my dedication to get a pay raise.

[mchan68]

I've been an SM since 2007 and I definitely haven't seen any kind of appreciable pay increase, just the good old W-A-R-R-A-N-T-Y.

[Brad Clayton]

You guys are going to love this reply.

 

I am senior master certified in both gas and diesel, hybrid and alternative fuel also. None of these certifications mean anything to me and I could care less if I had them or not. Actions speak louder than printed paper and my income reflects what I can do and not what I have on the wall in the service lane. I am inherently lazy and I would have never got any of the certifications except for the fact that Ford started demanding it. This is why I have A1-A9, T2 T6 L1 and L2 also. I did however decide to push for senior master when I found out that the cruise was going away. I was going to end up with all the certs to stay in the game so might as well get something out of it.

 

I cant speak for Canadia but in the States top pay is reflected by the shops labor rate and what the area can support. In 2004 I was offered $30 by a dealer in the Florida Keys with $2500 for moving expenses. In 2003 I was at $20 when I moved to Vermont. The area couldn't support anymore at the time, meanwhile the dealer I left was moving guys up to $26.

 

I currently work in the poorest part of North Carolina, I mean shit is bad here. And I will tell you that I am working for less money than I have ever worked for in my entire life. I have squeezed them for every thing I can and it's still peanuts compared to what I made in the sticks in Vermont. I bought a house so I can't just pack up and I am toughing out at the moment.

 

Take a look at your labor rate, if it is over $100 bucks and work is stacked up like cord wood, then you can command a pretty healthy raise if you are working for less than what you think you should.

[Jim Warman]

Here in the Great White North there is a critical shortage of techs. From what I have seen, pay goes from laughable to "sounds sweet". Remember that it's been almost a year since I've worked .

 

What I remember is about $38 per hour base, 50 cents per hour per bubble (two diesel bubbles count as one) and $3 per hour bonus if you meet or beat 100 hours in a pay (two pays per month). It also helps that our DP appreciates work well done.

[Fordracer]

After I became a SM I didn't get a raise. I asked the Ford rep if the dealer gets any browny points from Ford by having a SM in the shop and he said they get no benefit from it so the dealer has no incentive to have anybody as a SM except that you can do any warranty work they need done. He told me recently that Ford is thinking about dropping the cerification requirments to do warranty work and just go off the dealers scores. If fix it right is down they will look into that dealers training and push it then. I guess that's their solution to closing schools and not having enough classes to get anybody certified in a resonable period of time.  

[YukonTyler]

As Jim said, there is no shortage of employment opportunities here at the edge of oil country. Our base for a journeyman is $43 per flat rate hour and $1 extra for each senior, master and diesel designation held. FWIW, our door rate is $155 and the work seems to know no end. Bonus is based on the shop's monthly performance and is then dependent on your own numbers, but suffice to say that it's in the $300-600/month range.

 

I have to admit that I like the straight forward attitude and openness that accompanies pay scales out west. Our shop pay policy is spelled out for us in black and white, and that's a far cry from the east coast where your cheque seemed dependent on your last name and your tenure. No games is the way to go.

 

On a bit of a tangent, I agree with Brad when he says that the local economy dictates your wage. In the Yukon I made $31 flat rate + bonus, while in PEI I made $17.50 straight time (and watched my savings fly away at breakneck speed). He is also spot on when he says that earnings are a function of your skills and work ethic instead of the plaques on the wall. I earn good money because I put the effort in - that means I work on my skills (training) and I put in lots of time on the bench. This might have been a long weekend just past, but two of the three days I was in pulling wrenches. I'm glad the work is there so I try to take full advantage of it.

[DieselD]

Brad hit the nail on the head. Location dictates everything when it comes to pay. When I was at the dealer I was getting $29 per flat rate hour however that was high for our area. Our market in AZ dictates anywhere between 25-29hr for a GOOD SM tech.  Anymore SM means nothing with the amount of "test takers" we have out there. I remember after completing ASSET in 2002 I refused to finish taking the couple of tests I needed to complete my SM certification because I beleived I was not worthy of that title yet. Just because I went to school for 2years and earned my tenure along with 95% of my required courses did not make me a senior tech. It was not until a few years later that I felt I earned that title that I finially finished the requirements