service technician

field service technician

shop assistant

associate

equipment technician

Cobalt Truck Equipment

This company has the rating it does for very real reasons.
No matter how much experience you bring, it often won’t matter here.

There is a strong “in-group” culture, and the work environment feels very churn-and-burn. Safety practices for both DOT and OSHA standards are inconsistent, and the culture makes it hard to address issues. Micromanagement is a daily challenge and often leads to lost focus on core tasks.

Management turnover is high, and history tends to get rewritten when new leadership arrives. Employees who were doing solid work can suddenly be viewed differently without clear explanation. Access to tools and technology is uneven—some employees get modern software while others rely on outdated systems like multiple spreadsheets, old RMS platforms, and scattered programs (Excel, TREQSO, SharePoint, DocuWare). It slows everything down.

The structure is top-heavy, which means you may get conflicting instructions from multiple managers. Sales is inconsistent, and much of the work comes through government contracts rather than true sales efforts. Workflows are often confusing and create problems instead of preventing them.

There is a lot of busy work and very limited access to proper catalogs, product information, or streamlined purchasing tools. Technical roadblocks make it difficult to do your job efficiently, especially when shipping or coordinating with other branches. Promotions and improvement opportunities are minimal.

Most of the work is required to be done in the branch even though a large portion could realistically be handled remotely. There is little onboarding support, few provided resources, and a sink-or-swim expectation. You are expected to learn redundant systems on your own and be “involved” in everything.

Work from other branches can end up on your plate without warning, and pushing back can be met with pressure. Equipment is outdated, daily inspection practices aren’t always consistent, and forklifts and shop tools may not always match the needs of the workload.

Meetings are frequent but don’t always add value, and guidance from both branch and corporate levels can add more confusion than clarity. IT support is slow and not proactive, which creates more delays for departments that rely on up-to-date software. Corporate support for troubleshooting parts, products, or availability is extremely limited.

Overall, workflow is disorganized, the environment is stressful, and the systems in place seem to create additional work instead of helping employees succeed.

A Typical Day at Work:
The work environment is fast-paced and can be unpredictable. Daily tasks often involve adjusting schedules and resolving issues due to frequent changes in priorities and processes. Established procedures are not always consistently followed, which can make planning challenging.

What I Learned:
This role highlighted the importance of asking detailed questions about structure, expectations, and leadership during the interview process.

Management:
There is room for improvement in communication, consistency, and support. Workloads have increased over time without corresponding adjustments in compensation, which may affect morale. A stronger focus on fairness and transparency would benefit the team.

Workplace Culture:
Pay Equity: There appear to be inconsistencies in pay and advancement opportunities that could be addressed.
Environment: The culture can feel stressful and lacks collaboration at times.
Transparency: Policies and communication practices could be applied more consistently.
Turnover: Employee retention seems to be a challenge, possibly due to workload and unclear expectations.

The Hardest Part of the Job:
Orders and schedules change on a whim, and without enforced processes, you’ll never know what your priorities actually are and constantly putting out fires due to constant order/schedule changes.

The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:
None

No training, no processes, no procedures. Management is a joke and have no idea what they’re doing or how to act professional. Toxic work culture with zero recognition, and very unclear, constantly changing expectations. There’s so much turn over you can’t even keep track of who does what. If you ask for a job description or anything that they have to provide or be accountable for they will fire you. Zero accountability, constant passing blame. Everyone lies and there’s zero trust. If you speak up you get reprimanded or fired. No promotions, no raises. If you make a mistake they’ll hold it against you but they themselves don’t even know how to fix it or prevent it from happening again. It’s just your fault. They’ll give you more and more work with no pay increase at all, but if you refuse then you’re not a team player and you’ll be written up for having a behavioral issue. If you can’t read the managers minds they make you feel stupid for not knowing how to do your job. You have to get EVERYTHING in writing or you will be back stabbed and thrown under the bus because “they never said that.” Zero work life balance, they expect 100 percent from you 100 percent of the time but will not lift a finger for you in return. This company is a complete joke, do yourself a favor and avoid at all costs. Not even worth as a temporary option, plus I expect they’ll be out of business soon anyways. 

Upper management does not have the ability nor the wherewithal to perform a pulse check on each department and each individual. They expect perfection and are unwilling to waiver on those items. They prefer you do not speak to your coworkers, even if to say hello, because it is taking away from work time but we need to work as a team. 

 The culture here is cutthroat and people will literally step over your dead body to gain the upper hand. There is no accountability in management, only for those that are unfortunate enough to directly report to  someone in an upper management position. 

 They have a horrible turnover rate, 45 to 50% and upper management cannot understand why they are unable to keep good employees. They harp on the employees that are willing to work hard and put in the extra time and effort to better themselves but keep those that play on their phone all day or play Facebook games all day long. But since you’re not socializing with their coworkers, this seems to be an acceptable practice.  Their benefits are incredibly expensive and their compensation is incredibly low. They do not value their employees nor do they respect loyalty.

There is no typical day at work due to the Diversity of the company and the challenges faced everyday; which is what I strive for. With there never being a dull moment you are constantly thinking outside the box for continuous improvement in order to continue leading the Truck Up-fitting industry with superior quality. Management believes in building the experience and promoting within. Company is understanding and supportive with a "Family comes first" model and provides the flexibility in doing so. There is a great group of people at all our locations to work with and that are always willing to be supportive with each other. I truly enjoy the day to day excitement and the continuous improvement with every truck that leaves the shop and where the quality is never compromised. If your looking for the same task, day in and day out then Cobalt is not the workplace for you. If you are innovative, enjoy excitement, rise upon challenges and take Pride in what you do and who you work for then Cobalt is the workplace to making a difference and having a gratifying career with. 

Toxic culture directed by an arrogant VP of sales. Little to no training; the  process and SOP changes all the time and are unreasonably tedious. You have to upload the same information in at least three different very outdated programs tediously. The #1 answer from management and everyone is “I don’t know” even from the VP of sales that has been there 30 years plus. Other departments are unwilling to help and don’t care. Everyone is stressed and overwhelmed with an unrealistic workload. This makes everyone not teamwork oriented and more blame game culture to protect oneself. Extremely high turnover and when you put your two weeks notice in they walk you out the door immediately the same day with a unprofessional and snooty attitude from the VP of sales. Way to high priced products and mark up to be successful in sales. Run!! It’s not worth working here even for the stepping stone.

Managment says they care but they use fear tactics or threaten to take away your raise. They will gladly throw you under the bus, even when you are sick they want you to give it your all. Lots of backstabbing gossip huge class differences between shop workers and office workers. If you ever apply for shop hand make sure you ask for 15 or 16 an hour it's hard work. They refurbish trucks and the owner wants the underside of it looking brand new in the middle of the winter so you will freeze. Even if you spend 3 days scrubbing and polishing rusted corroded metal he wants it to look brand new. Trying to get stuff you need is like pulling teeth and when you do say something they twist it around and it your fault for not reminding them you asked for it. Mostly if you are okay with a work environment that resembles  the 70s yeah go ahead work there lots of old white men not alot of diversity  employees don't get appreciated for hard work they do but managment does so good luck.

I was initially excited to work for Cobalt, and I was able to learn a lot and they made it sound like there was a lot of growth opportunity.
Yes, there’s a lot of pluses and minuses to any job and Cobalt was no different. I enjoyed working with various team members, but as the months drew on, I noticed more and more favoritism, and when issues and solutions were brought up for potential toxicity or growth of team it was said “yes, we will look into it, but never did. “ 
Then the finger-pointing and blame would start the more. I spoke to people who worked there, or who had worked in the past stated they have a very high turnover rate , backstabbing Blame seeking and double standards. The company is also struggling and someways they do have growth potential, but there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes trauma and hostility.  The pay is good.

In my interview at Cobalt, I told them I wanted to work for a company where I could fit in well enough to retire.  Cobalt is the place.  The work pace is demanding, but it is rewarding work.  We produce a quality product and I'm proud to be a part of it.  

The most enjoyable part of the job is the people I work with.  I also enjoy the challenges I'm presented with each day.  Really enjoy doing my part to make others' work easier.   The most difficult part of my job can also be the people I work with.  But, I think that is true anywhere you go.  Haha!

Cobalt is working hard to improve benefits and the workplace culture.  I truly appreciate those efforts and how my benefits have improved since I started working here.  

I do love my job!

Overall, Cobalt takes very good care of me and the people I work with makes it that much better. VERY Rarely work weekends. 7am-3:30pm is a very good shift in my opinion. Technicians are helpful and will never leave you astray even not during business hours. Cobalt is very flexible when it comes to family events, appointments, vacations, etc. Every employee has their bad days and management actually cares and will sit down and discuss if they could help. Pay is more than competitors offer in this line of work. Shop is very clean with a bonus of heat in the winter and AC in the summer. Management is active in the shop assisting you when you need it. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Service technician 7 salaries reported	$29.43 per hour
Field service technician 2 salaries reported	$33.75 per hour
Shop assistant 1 salary reported	$21.00 per hour
Associate 1 salary reported	$22.00 per hour
Equipment technician 1 salary reported	$32.00 per hour

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