The call comes in late one night: an excavator has broken down. It needs to be up and functioning by tomorrow if you don’t want to jeopardize your deadline, but your regular tech is away, and you don't have anyone else on hand to take care of it. 

What do you do?

You keep calm and you hire a contract mechanic. 

If that suggestion made you pause, we understand. Many hiring entities stray away from contract mechanics—also called field techs or independent contractors. Sometimes they may not factor these mechanics into their thoughts; others have genuine concerns regarding what kind of work they produce. 

Do any of these hang-ups sound familiar?

• They’re going to cost way more than an employee
• I really need someone from the dealership to do this
• They don’t have the right experience
• We need someone full-time, all the time
• They’re not going to do as good a job as a regular employee

If you started nodding along to these bullet points, then let us be the first to say:

They’re myths. All of them.

You’re absolutely right to be concerned. After all, you want to make sure anyone handling your valuable and often delicate equipment is qualified and ready to get the job done. That’s actually why a good field tech can really benefit your operation—but it’s not the only reason. 

So in this post, let’s bust a few myths and share some truths about independent heavy techs and the work they do, and why you should consider one for your next project. 

Myth 1: Field mechanics are way too expensive!

Yes, we get it: If you’re paying a contractor $100/hour and a full-time employee $30/hour, it does look more expensive on paper. 

But full-time employees come with additional year-round costs. 

When you hire a contract mechanic, that $100/hour expenditure stops as soon as their work is concluded. A full-time employee is going to cost you at least some of the following: 

• Payroll taxes (including unemployment, Social Security, Medicare, and so on)
• Health and retirement benefits (401K, health insurance, etc.)
• Paid time off (PTO), if any
• Training costs 
• Slow seasons

Let’s focus more on that last bullet. A full-time job is just that: full-time. You’re keeping those individuals on the payroll, with all their benefits and associated costs, throughout the year. That includes your slow season, if you have one.

Yes, business might boom during spring and summer, and the 500 people your company has on staff will have plenty of work to fill their days. 

But…

You still need to pay salary, benefits, and so on for those 500 people, even if business stops completely during winter. 

Ouch.

Myth 2: I have to bring on and treat field mechanics the same way I would a full-time employee

The field mechanic is the answer to your seasonal woes. You bring them on for a specific purpose and a set amount of time, whether that’s an hour or a season.

For example, say you have a full-time staff of 100 people. If you need to expand operations during the summer, go for it—bring on 200 contractors from May through the end of August or September. They’ll help you keep up and get ahead during your busy season. Then, when fall and winter roll around and workloads lighten, you can reduce down to your core staff. 

Bringing these field techs in on a per-project basis isn’t just good for your budget—it’s good for your full-time staff, who otherwise would be stretched thin during the busy season. 

Myth 3: Field mechanics don’t have the right training

We’re thrilled to bust this particular myth. A lot of field techs have years and years of experience under their belts; many of them likely went the independent route after spending years working for dealerships and/or repair shops. 

You’ll need to do your due diligence by making sure that the field tech you hire has the skill and know-how to work on your machinery, but you can do that with a short conversation. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much experience these techs bring to the table!

Myth 4: Field techs can’t handle dealership work

If you bought it from a dealer, you need to take it back to the dealer for service...and pay out the eyeballs, right?

Not always.

A lot of field techs have OEM training and certifications. As we noted above, many have spent years or decades at a dealer, so they can bring that expertise to bear on your equipment. But guess what they aren’t bringing? Dealership prices. Did you wince just thinking about that? So did we. Field techs are working for themselves, not a franchise or a huge brand; as a result, they can charge much lower rates. So, as long as you’re not violating your warranty—always review it to make sure of that—you can look beyond the dealer and find a reliable, less expensive independent tech. 

(As an added perk, you’ll probably see less wait time than you would at a dealership, too. Dealership-quality work without the pricing and without the wait time? Sign us up.)

Myth 5: I’ll have to let them use my gear and equipment

We probably don’t need to tell you that trucks and equipment are big-ticket items; you’re probably looking at upwards of $200,000 to put one vehicle together. Now imagine multiplying that out for however many employees you intend to hire.

A reputable field mechanic with solid experience will usually bring their own service truck and gear with them. They’ve already spent their own money getting their equipment together, and using that equipment for your project is baked into their rate. If you’re not sure your budget will accommodate outfitting a service truck, a field tech is the way to go. 

Myth 6: They’re not that invested in a good result

One of the most common hesitations we’ve seen is the sense that the field tech doesn’t care about the work they do; that they’re ready to zip through a job and move on, whether it’s done right or not. 

We’d like to bust that myth right now.

The independent tech has a vested interest in not messing up a job. There are multiple reasons for this, but let’s touch on the two most important:

• It’s their good reputation on the line. People in the industry talk; recommendations are largely shared through conversation. If a field mechanic shows up and does shoddy work, you’re a) not going to recommend them to others, and b) may even speak against them if their name comes up. 

• It’s also their money on the line. A solid field tech typically carries their own insurance, which can cover damages if something goes wrong. That’s less of an impact on your insurance in the event that something happens. On top of that, if your contractor’s insurance has to cover their errors and mistakes, then their rates are going to go up. They don’t want that to happen. Even if they aren’t full-time employees of your company, they’re still intricately tied to the work they do for you. 

You’ve probably heard this before, but it bears repeating: When it’s your dollar on the line, you tend to care a lot more. 

Myth 7: They’re too difficult to hire

Contract techs are independent, so they aren’t tied to one particular company, and don’t depend on a single customer for their income. But they suffer from the same seasonal slow-downs and speed-ups that you do, and as a result, they’ve always got an eye out for additional work.

So while it’s a myth that they’re hard to hire, we admit that finding a good one can be a challenge. Most depend heavily on word of mouth, but if you need someone tomorrow, you may not be able to ring up your buddy to ask for a recommendation. Sure, there’s Craigslist, but...we know Craigslist can be a crapshoot.

That’s why we came up with HeavyTechs. We connect you with the heavy-duty contractors who can get the job done right, and you can find people who specialize in a variety of machinery—like pipelines, energy production, and earthworks, among others. 

So go ahead and  explore the site—and choose an independent contractor for your next project.