I finally had to pick between a shop job and hitting the road as a field tech

About 8 years back, I got offered two gigs at the same time. One was a steady spot at a big fleet shop here in Boise, full benefits and a set schedule. The other was a field service job with a trucking company, driving a service rig to fix breakdowns on the interstate. I picked the road. The money was better, sure, but man, those first few winters were rough. I remember one call near Mountain Home at 2 AM, trying to swap a turbo in a blizzard with just my truck's work lights. You learn real fast how to improvise with bungee cords and a tarp. I don't miss the cold, but I got to see and fix problems you'd never see in a clean bay. What's the hardest roadside fix you've ever had to pull off?

4 comments

4 Comments

joel_jones1mo ago

Dang, a turbo in a blizzard sounds brutal. What was the one tool you wished you had that night?

the_taylor1mo ago

Honestly, a giant magnet on a stick would have been a game changer. Could have just waved it over the snow and collected every lost 10mm socket. Would have saved me two hours of frozen fingers.

murray.jana6d ago

What's worse than losing tools in the snow?

elliot_gibson271mo ago

Actually, swapping a turbo in a blizzard is the easy part, it's finding all the dropped bolts in the snow that's the real nightmare.