diesel mechanic

diesel technician

service advisor

field service technician

refrigeration technician

Interstate Companies Inc

I go way back with Interstate, I first dealt with them in the 1990's when they were the local distributor for the Detroit Series 60 engine and I was the shop foreman at Kenworth, and then later on service manager at a Freightliner dealer.  So our relationship goes back a ways. As an employee, I was somewhat disappointed in the beginning as there were many things promised at my time of hire that simply never proved to be true. But that is really the nature of business in 2010's America-promise, promise, promise, and only deliver what you must. In the end, I was happy at Interstate, they tend to treat the technicians pretty well, but the stigma of those unfulfilled promises never really went away. Some of those managers are no longer there-maybe those unfulfilled promises were made to too many-who knows. The company creed is "Pride In Service" and they uphold that pretty well-they do take care of their customers and most times, their technicians as well.

Service department manager has never worked in this line of work so he is clueless to what is actually involved with supplying customer with satisfactory results. Management is focused on bottom line to make monthly goals but no realistic support to tech’s to accomplish goals , always tech’s fault.  Promises of school,training,raises almost never happens.  Management hires people as tech’s who have absolutely no training and tools. Let’s these so called tech’s perform work on very expensive equipment with little to no supervision of a technician who is qualified.. On the whole the management is nonexistent. Corporate management has had meetings to discuss issues with the service manager which they know is one of the main reasons for about 8 to 10 tech’s with 6 years or more with branch leaving, one technician with 20 years. Bottom line they give a lot of lip service and very little substance. When I started there management actually cared about the people and there was good support. People were at least respected and the people in charge had a good understanding of what a technician may face on a daily basis. 

upper management doesnt help employees when they ask for it. management brags about pushing people out of jobs. no guidance for improving your job beyond how the manager says he would do it so do it his way. they try to give you autonomy but when you do something wrong they blame you and you alone even though they told you to handle it how ever you want.  training is scarce and it seems like you need to beg for it, and when you get it well its subpar. poor inventory control. they want to expand what they sell but they cant even hire a delivery person to fulfill orders. constantly pushing other customers out of the way for managements fleet customers or friends. shady practices of how they bill customers. no control over the times on repairs, and scared to say anything cause of the union. In four months they lost 6 employees, over the course of the time I was there over 12 people left. they pay structure is as they see fit, no reason to how they pay non union employees

I truly feel like working at the Altoona IA location was fun for me. I would be excited about going to work every day. I was drowning in the amount of available classes they would offer to train you on the Frietliner DD systems and even the Allison Transmissions, and send you to their company school. This is the only company I have ever worked for who had a big business meeting with all the top dogs in the U.S. to come to a common pay scale based on one's skills and work ethic. I was called into the office one day a few months after the yearly pay raise and was told they shorted me and will be giving me another pay raise. What company does that? 
The down side and reason I had to leave was the health insurance for family is so expensive I wasn't able to make enough to make ends meet. 

The work life balance here is the main positive.  However the company is unwilling to advance technologically or accept that they have a customer base desiring online ordering, online inventory, and the ability to do business using tech.  There is no interest in investing in modern ways of doing business and changing with the market.  It is a good ol' boys club that is intent on doing business the way it has always been done.  

There is a relaxed atmosphere and you are pretty much able to manage yourself, it is very difficult to accomplish their goals, however, based on the competition you are facing and the fact that you are given no real sales advantage other than the customer service you can personally provide.  I personally believe they will eventually be another victim of the market.

Great place to work until they decide you are no longer useful to them.  Upper level management is a "Do as I say not as I do" type team.  For example they try to encourage common language and culture in all of their locations yet when you visit them they all do things differently which reflects bad leadership.  The company is growing, but their people aren't due to a baby boomer executive team that won't get with the times.  The day to day job was enjoyable as well as the new challenges that consistently presented themselves.  The hardest part of the job was doing things in accordance with the company mission statement and then watching other locations do the opposite with no correction.

The hours were great, the pay was okay. No weekends. However, after finishing your work, all there was left to do was clean. For hours and hours at a time! The benefits were okay if you had a large family plan, if you are single, they suck, too expensive! I was laid off due to covid, they told me I had a job to go back to, for months they told me this, I was lied to at the end when I asked for a letter for a call back date. They waited until the unemployment ran out and then told me they aren't hiring me back for over a year! Very poor communication! And very deceiving, I was happy there but ultimately let down by the owner not the branch manager. He was kind and understanding. It was the people above him that were terrible and didn't care about the people that worked there.

Interstate Companies is a well-balanced, thriving company. The employees have a symbiotic relationship that make it easy to work as a team. Everybody's role is important and crucial to the success, and I believe that people understand this. The employees focus on the customer to insure that we will have customers for life. 

Management style is dependent on the person -- there are both micro-managers and free-range- it can make or break the morale quickly. 

The hardest part of the job is having co-workers that do not follow the culture of the company motto: "Pride in Service", with every aspect of their job. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is having co-workers that come together for a resolution to focus on shortening downtime for the customer that is on a strict schedule.

Stay clear of this company. Very unsafe/unhealthy place to work. Management is extremely unprofessional. As a former employee, I have witnessed some extremely dangerous working conditions.
    The current management team is just riding the wave to retirement and or does the bare minimum to keep their job titles. None of the employees respect any of their supervisors. Not one supervisor or manager will give you the tools to be successful.
 Everything is out dated especially how this company manages their employees.  
Find a company that values loyal, hard working individuals. This place is not that place. You have been warned. If I was able to give this place zero stars I would

I have worked with Istate for fours now in Billings. A typical day at work is high paced and filled with laughter. I personally deal with customers and they are for the most part nice but we do often have some upset customers. When we do have them the team really bands together to help, including the management. The hardest part of the job is that we have more work than what we are able to get done in a day which causes some pain points for customers. Overtime is never required but is appreciated. If you like overtime there is always opportunity. I love all the people I work with on the daily and they all look over one another like family. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Diesel mechanic 50 salaries reported	$33.43 per hour
Diesel technician 24 salaries reported	$35.08 per hour
Service advisor 36 salaries reported	$26.89 per hour
Field service technician 26 salaries reported	$36.88 per hour
Refrigeration technician 12 salaries reported	$35.24 per hour

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