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Mechanic takes his business on the road

Jun 22, 2014 | 11:52 AM

One new business will be hopping around the province.

Martin Allard, a journeyman mechanic, just opened Frogzilla Mechanical Ltd, a mobile truck repair business.

He said he’s excited to be his own boss and to provide a service to people who, he said, don’t really have options short of going to a shop.

“Prince Albert is kind of lacking in that aspect of it, being the Gateway to the North, everybody basically has to go through here to go up to the mines and that kind of thing. So that’s pretty exciting, there’s a lot of demand,” Allard said.

His work truck will be hitting the road around Saskatchewan. He will be focusing on the Prince Albert area, but said he’ll be servicing customers between Saskatoon and La Ronge and possibly even further up north.

Allard said he will work on trucks, trailers, tandems, as well as any bigger diesel vehicles.

One day, Allard said he hopes to have to hire a couple more mechanics to help with the demand.

“It’s fully stocked, ready to go,” he said.

He plans to meet people on the side of the road when they’re at their biggest need, he said, instead of waiting around at a shop, which he added can be “redundant sometimes.” He’ll be taking calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Being a small business is really important to him, he said, and he hopes to see more in the area.

“There’s a lot of the big name places that come to town and kind of take over the monopoly. We’re kind of shooting at a mom and pop kind of organization I guess. I think it’s important you build a report with the customers and [they’re] not just a number, you actually have personal interaction with them.

Allard worked in Prince Albert for 15 years as a mechanic, including when he was taking his apprenticeship.

After, he went to Fort McMurrey, Alta. for a year and a half and saw a huge demand for qualified mechanics, with many baby boomers retiring and not many younger people coming into the trade, according to Allard.

He said he chose to come back to Prince Albert to be with his wife and kids.

“This is where we made our home so this is where I would like to take off from.”

Allard can be reached at 306-960-4539 and by email at mallard04@hotmail.com.

asoloducha@rawlco.com

On Twitter: @alex_soloducha