automotive mechanic

diesel technician

truck driver

parts driver

service writer

The Papé Group, Inc.

The front counter area has a prevalent uptight corporate vibe where everybody walks-on-egg-shells in fear expecting to be blamed for whatever random issue pops up at any given time which is how the place is run in general.  The warehouse is a borderline toxic environment.  Bully supervisor given carte blanche to treat any of her subordinates however she wants.  Management will always just blindly support her regardless of the circumstances and she is well aware of that.  Especially as a low level warehouse or delivery driver you have no recourse for anything she(or much less anybody else) says or does to you that is questionable or even abusive.

Doesn't matter how good of an employee you are if you don't bow down and kiss butt to sales ppl like they expect you to and/or they simply have decided they just don't like you personally for any given reason than they will nit-pick and exaggerate any trivial non-issue they can come up with about you or outright fabricate something to try and throw you under the bus by management who hastily over-react and have THEIR back not yours.

Tattletales and back-stabbers around every turn not only at the pdx facility but others as well.  If you're in their special clique than the double-standard of favoritism in effect applies which allows you to get away with anything and have it shrugged off "oh no big deal, it happens tee hee hee".

The pay is much lower in proportion to the work-load and amount of tasks they expect you to be responsible for completing in addition to dealing with the everyday operational disfuntionalities and horrible staff communication all beyond your control.  If for whatever reason management's plans don't work the way they thought they would than its THEIR WAY OR THE HIGHWAY and they blame the employee(s) caught in the middle and don't take any accountability for their own failures.

High turnover especially for newer drivers and warehouse staff who are trying to work in a flawed system but mostly caught up in navigating the ridiculous politics while constantly having to watch their backs and look for opportunities to step on on whoever they can so they can score points with the supervisor.

No different than a retail or fast food environment so might as well go apply at Target, Walmart, or Wendy's instead.  Don't waste your time with this place is my recommendation.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Not a good place to work. The pay is very bad compared to other family businesses and the turnover is high due to bad moral. The older staff are rude and lazy and corporate expectations are unrealistic. The family claims good Christian values but in reality their goal is profit at any cost. There is almost no job security unless you're a senior Technician. Stay away. They brag about record profits but haven't given raises in years. The pay scale is about 10 years behind any competitor.  The buildings are old and parts rooms are trashed. The main business system that tracks all inventory  is a black and green screen that is reminiscent of a 1970s computer program. To say their business model is antiquated would be a compliment. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Arbitrary Timelines. Senior staff want high productivity yet refuse to give overtime as needed and will push you to be short with customers to increase volume which leaves people with a bad taste. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The environment is subpar to a modern business, as they have bought up other failing business and failed to renovate. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stress, Missed breaks and lunches cut short.

So I have been working for this company for a few years now and while I have been here in my eyes they treat their employees horrible. What I mean is aside from low balling everyone in the shops salary (someone that has been doing this for over 25 years, has worked for the company since they bought the area making 21 dollars an hour, pathetic.), they are extremely cheap and not providing the tools and environment that is needed to keep employees around. As it was stated before there was a change in bosses for certain regions and when that happened there was a few firings that made no since. The boss that cared about the employees got fired. Along with that expanding the sales region of the head store in our region to try to make their numbers better because they didn't like that customers were coming to our area because they liked the people in our shop, and the quality of work (from talking to the customers) was 10X better. So In high and site I don't see myself working for this company much longer due to the management style. The people in the shop, sales and parts department are without a doubt the best people to work with but the company in my opinion gets an F.

I was promised alot of training before I quit another GOOD job to work for them.But after I started, all the training never happened,even After a year...it all went to another guy in the shop.During the slow times (winter)we were taking turns going home during the week. I was lucky to get 3 days a week, and this went on for like a couple of months.No Radio in Shop,It offended the guy who was there the longest, And he is 10 years younger than me,but he walked around with his Ipod stuffed in his ear all day....and if he had all the bays full You had to work outside..The only training were these cheesy training achievment work books ...REALLY.....like thats going to impress another employer.my creeper was CHAINED to my box at night other wise it was used at night. I slipped on the ice at the washbay and ended up with a concussion AND I had to finish the rest of my shift.The parts dept.constantly gave us the wrong parts or ordered the wrong parts,so you could never make time on ANYTHING....IF I owned a truck,I would not take it there!!!! I wouldn't go back if they stood at my front door on their knees begging!!!! I didn't learn anything new..It was just a J.O.B just over broke!!

I was so thankful to be a part of the Aurora location for the sole reason that I got to know so many humorous and kind-hearted people that all look out for each other. However, management left me feeling a bit apprehensive, especially when I moved. My commute got too long to maintain, I wasn't making enough to cover bills and the increased need for fuel, and management was always somewhat questionable. The GM was my direct manager but shoveled off a lot of his responsibilities with me onto someone who was not my manager at all and she often let the power go to her head. Instead of being constructive about my mistakes, she would speak to me as if I were a child. From asking around, I am not the first to leave due to this one person. Another issue I have is the training. They expect you to hit the ground running by only being half-trained on all things necessary to do the job. It's a job that requires a lot of jumping around, multi-tasking, organizing, coding, emailing... literally a bit of everything. All-in-all, despite the issues, I did love working here.

Pape Kenworth (Portland) is an average company to work for if you are just looking for a job.  If you have any career aspirations you will need to fit into a mold in the eyes of the current GM. If you get on the bad list, you stand next to zero chance of any career advancement. It is very much a "boys club" company from the top to the bottom. The people with the last name of Pape are blindfolded into believing all is well across the board. Reactive thinking/planning snuffs out almost any and all forms of proactive culture.  Very little accountability, very little training, and very little guidance.  Upper management and beyond have been made aware of numerous problems, including multiple HR claims, without addressing them. Rinse, lather, repeat is business as usual.

Growing positive culture with fast paced decision making in a dynamic customer demand driven industry.  Lean vertical management structure with many decision making responsibilities nested in hierarchy above leaving some real operational opportunities off the table because of lack in solid working knowledge of daily operations requirements in some of the higher levels.  Staffing and Inventory flexibility the lowest hanging fruit opportunities.  Solid place to work with growing push towards a more positive culture.  Perceptions of performance were more influential than objective assessment of work load and resources necessary for actual success.  Company is growing and they seek a bigger, better footprint in the marketplace.

A typical day at work keeps you on your feet, continuously busy and if you are of the self motivated type always learning and pushing your own limits, which for me is exactly what I sought in a position with this company.

The people here are courteous, helpful of each other and maintain a team atmosphere.  There have been some previous employees I've seen come through that try to rock that boat with attitudes that were more self involved than team driven and they ended up burning out or being removed from several positions as the company tends to try to find something they can do or want to do before they ended up leaving.

Management has a growth mindset mentality and they want the employees to succeed, expand their skill set and ultimately be happy.

I had multiple duties here which allowed me to learn a lot. I learned a lot about big rigs and engine parts. Being in the parts dept. really helped me to learn how Semi truck motors operated. I was the service writer in the shop for about 6 mos. which taught me a lot about how these big rigs run. I learned how to operate a forklift where I would load and unload delivery's which 90% came in on pallets due to size and weight. I also got to deliver parts to customers which got me out of the office. Handling all the ap/ar duties allowed me to build relationships with customers where I became requested for deliveries and any account transactions. Doing payroll built good communicative relationships with the staff. Overall I learned a lot and was sad to see it shut it doors.

I was an outside salesman. I started at 6:30 or 7 depending on the day. The inside staff is great, very knowable, however there sales managers in our division has zero parts or trucking experience. Management thinks that isn't necessary. They don't listen to their customers and they definitely didn't listen to myself or anyone ell's they parted ways with that tried to explain why trends were a specific way or why they pulle business away. They are more concerned about making 30%. I understand what it takes to stay in business, but when you are 1 of 5 OE's and a hand full of aftermarket businesses. you give up a lot to hold 30%.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Automotive mechanic 215 salaries reported	$38.65 per hour
Diesel technician 6 salaries reported	$39.73 per hour
Truck driver 15 salaries reported	$36.17 per hour
Parts driver 29 salaries reported	$20.29 per hour
Service writer 25 salaries reported	$27.39 per hour

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