Tow Calls, Tech Training, and Apprenticeships: A Diesel Stories Recap

Hey there, party people! We’re back with another exciting Diesel Stories recap, and this time, it’s personal. Or rather, personnel, because the topic of apprenticeship came up.

(Editor’s Note: Ehhh it’s not that funny…but I’ll allow it.)

On this episode, Peter Cooper chatted with Matt Bean of EMS Truck Repair and Towing in Montana about the realities of running a towing operation, cross-training a rural shop team, and — most excitingly — the new state-accredited apprenticeship program EMS is piloting.

As always, we hope you’ll watch the entire episode, but if you’re in between quests and want to get some highlights, keep on scrolling. 

Why Ems Got Into Towing

We can count on one hand the number of times we’ve talked intensely about towing. Clearly, that needs to change; it’s a big part of emergency heavy-duty repair. Fortunately, Matt was happy to chat about it.

For the EMS crew, towing isn’t a separate business — it’s intricately linked to the shop. “We got into it by necessity,” Matt said. For a time, they didn’t offer towing, instead relying on their nearby competitor who did. That competitor would drag a broken-down truck to the shop. This worked, until it didn’t: “They started taking all of the jobs we called them for,” he explained. 

Adding towing to the equation turned out to be a good business decision. EMS is very, very rural; a service call could take them 100 miles out. If they don’t have the right part for whatever reason, that’s a second trip. By the time they make a second 100-mile trip, Matt figures they probably should have just towed the unit in from the start. 

The towing operation helps them with customer flow. If the shop is backed up and a customer wants their truck done now, EMS can tow them to another shop. It also provides a way for them to assist customers they know they can’t help — specifically those who want to deal with a warranty. EMS doesn’t participate with any of the warranty companies, so if a customer does want to work with a warranty, EMS can tow them to a place that can. 

The Life Of A Tow Truck Driver

The techs Matt uses for towing have their CDLs, as do Matt and his son, because tow calls in general are too unpredictable to maintain a dedicated department. Matt and his son do their best to handle the towing when the calls do come in, but sometimes they’ve got to send a tech out to do it, too. As a side note, this is a great reason to cross-train your people (more on that below). 

To avoid unnecessary trips, EMS gathers as much information as possible before sending anyone out. “We get good pictures, good information before we send the service truck, so we make sure it’s a one-trip deal for the customer,” Matt said. “If not, we’ll tow them into the shop.” 

They tend to see spikes in tow requests in summer when it’s particularly hot, and also in winter when it’s 40 or 50 below. “Then the shop gets backed up because we’re on the road towing all day, all night,” Matt said. “And towing never seems to happen between 8 and 5…” 

That unpredictability affects the following day, too. Matt knows he can’t expect someone who was towing at 3 AM to show up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at their usual hour. “There’s a lot of times these guys are out towing at night and they’re late the next day,” he said. “I can’t say anything.” 

Everybody Gets Cross-Trained

In a rural shop, specialization doesn’t always work. EMS can go more than a week without a towing call, then suddenly have two or three tow trucks running at once. That means every employee needs enough range and training to step into another role when demand changes. 

Managers and techs can tow. Service writers can cover managers. When something happens, everyone adapts. “You can’t have one guy for one job here,” Matt said, pointing out that flexibility gives the business room to move as it needs to. “Everyone’s got to know what they’re doing.” 

Building An Apprenticeship Program

There’s been a lot of talk in the industry about how tough it is to find techs, and how much work goes into training them up once you get them. For Matt, the answer is building his own talent pipeline, and a few weeks before recording this episode, he got a unique opportunity: someone stopped by EMS and asked if he’d be interested in piloting a new accredited apprenticeship program. He said yes, and EMS became the pilot shop for the program. 

It’s a four-year structured progression, combining:

• Hands-on work (specifically, the program calls for 80% hands-on training and 20% theoretical). 
• Online learning.
• Pay bumps tied to module completion.
• Tracked competencies.

“It’s gonna be a pretty cool deal if we keep on with it,” Matt said, acknowledging the challenge of keeping an apprentice engaged through a four-year program. 

In return, EMS gets a tax credit ($500 per apprentice, and $750 if that apprentice is a military veteran), along with a credit for any online training subscriptions…and, frankly, the satisfaction of building their own tech pipeline. The credits help, but they aren’t the point. “You’re not in it for the money,” Matt said, addressing the shops that might be considering similar programs. “You’re in it to build our own techs.”

Utilization Is The Shop’s Responsibility

The conversation eventually pivoted into management and efficiency — two things every shop owner loses sleep over. Matt’s philosophy is that techs can’t be expected to stay productive if management doesn’t keep the work flowing. “In my mind, utilization is the shop’s problem,” he said. “It’s not the tech’s responsibility to be utilized. It’s the shop’s job to keep work in front of them.” 

EMS shoots for 90 to 95% utilization.

(We’ll pause for applause.)

If a tech’s utilization drops, he doesn’t automatically assume it’s the tech’s fault. Instead, he starts looking at the shop itself: Were enough jobs ready? Were parts available? Was work being assigned efficiently? Sometimes business may genuinely slow down, but in that case, leadership needs to acknowledge that (and start drumming up more of it). 

The EMS team reviews utilization every. single. day. A missed punch or incorrect action item can wildly affect utilization, and catching those mistakes immediately keeps reports accurate. “If there’s three minutes missing in between [timestamps] … your utilization goes down tremendously,” Matt explained.

Each day, the team checks for missing or incorrect timestamps before both the tech and manager sign off on it, ensuring everyone is on the same page while the information is still fresh. 

Go Watch The Episode!

The conversation didn’t stop there. Matt and Peter touched on some other interesting topics, including:

• Quarterly performance bonuses, and how EMS calculates them.
• Using data for raises, reviews, and career progression.
• Why shop tickets can distort utilization and profitability data.
• How EMS changed the kind of equipment it services after COVID. 

You can watch the episode in its entirety (for free!) over on our YouTube channel. And if any of you are starting or interested in starting an apprenticeship program, let us know*! We’re always curious to find out more about how the industry is building up new techs.

(Except Canada. You guys already have the Red Seal Program. I mean, you can still write to us, but try not to sound too smug.)