OGDEN, Utah (ABC4 News) – There are workers who are on the front lines who might not get recognition like doctors, nurses and people in the restaurant industry would. ABC4’s Jordan Verdadeiro spoke to auto technicians about working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employees like Daniel are just one of the many workers who are on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another mechanic in Ogden shares how they’ve had to adapt to this crisis.
It’s another day for Tino Thomas and those in the auto technician industry. But due to the pandemic, he’s taking more precautions than he ever has. This is the new normal: gloves and face masks.
“But it is in the back of your head, that you want to just be careful, more careful than you usually would be,” said Tino Thomas, shop foreman at AMS in Ogden.
Truckers are most of Thomas’ customers. Between the shop and towing, he sees anywhere between 5 to 20 customers a day.
“Doing diagnostics and doing any kind of other tests where we have to actually sit in the drivers seat, you know these trucks come from coast to coast, and can very easily get anything in there,” said Thomas.
Jiffy Lube is one business who is adapting to the times by having customers stay in their vehicles while employees work on their cars.
“My wife and I were joking that even getting out for an oil change, especially if you’re just sitting in your car, that could be date night now!” said CEO of Griffin Fast Lube, DJ Griffin.
Griffin says he’s teaming up with a local business owner in Ogden to provide face masks for employees. Griffin says at first these changes were scary, but this is becoming the new normal for them as well.
“We’ve gotten better and we’ve learned more and we know this helps and that helps, and then we’ve been able to make changes and show how we can be the masters of our own domain and kind of figure out what it is that we’re doing,” said Griffin.
Both Jiffy Lube and AMS employees say business has been slower than usual, but they are doing their best to give customer service that is both positive and healthy.
Now if you are out getting an oil change or getting your car tuned up, make sure you’re thanking those essential workers who are putting their lives on the frontline to give you good customer service.
