So, I'm going to do my best to make this long story short but, I have to give a lot of context.
I work at a Diesel Mechanic shop in the Midwest. I've been here for about 5 years. I started here at the age of 20 and learned from the ground up.
When I was hired in, it was the middle of summer, just me and one other mechanic. In total it was 4 employees. My GM, AGM, Lead tech, and myself. They taught me everything I know about corporations, mechanics, sales, etc.
We do pretty much everything when it comes to mechanics but, mainly work on Semi Trucks. The catch is, we also do road side assistance. Since we are understaffed, we are not 24/7 which means we also do an oncall schedule. (For those of you who don't know that means, certain nights of the week I get a company phone. When a call comes in, I have to go back into work.)
When it comes to road side and on calls, it can be hard. We have I65 running right through where I work. Which means we are always busy.
For those of you who have never done work like this, imagine working on the side of one of the busiest roads in the country. People don't get over for you, people don't care, stuff flies up off the road at you. Not to mention all the other horrible stuff that may or could happen. In my short 5 years here I've had some crazy things happen and seen some crazy things. Oh, don't forget about the drivers! (Even though some of them are really cool, props to them.)
I knew all of this getting into the job. I excelled. I learned quickly, and in the past 5 years have gotten $1 raise a year. So I'm now at 20. (They cut annual raises out now though. I haven't had a raise since last year.) I put in the work, I'm never late, I never call off. I worked through the hardships of covid, being hurt, sick, mask, hot, cold, blood, sweat, tears. This job has taken a lot from me. Family time, my mental, physical, energy. Now the job isn't the problem. I want to make that very clear. It's my GM.
So what I'm getting to is this, about 3 years in my AGM was promoted to GM of a different store in a different state. At the time we had a total of 4 mechanics and I was chosen to be the new AGM. I thought this would come with benefits, it does not. I thought maybe this would get me further in life or something, so I took it.
Now I'm in the position to where I still do my old job, I'm still a mechanic who is on call, but I also do my bosses job. Not only that but I also do all the other things nobody else wants to do. I'm getting tired of it. I'm getting tired of getting walked on. I run the weekends alone. I'm on call on the weekend nights too. So I sometimes work 12-16 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. I frequently work 7+ days in a row. Sometimes even 12 days+. My boss doesn't care to hear what I have to say, he doesn't listen to me, nor respect me, nor appreciate me. I'm getting way under paid for my knowledge, for my work ethic, and for my intelligence.
All my boss care about is money, sales. He sees all of his employees as numbers. He talks badly about all of us behind our backs. He does not give recognition. He's done much worse that I don't care to share (just incase.) I will say he's not the worse guy in the world. He's not the best either.
I just don't know what to do. I want to just walk out. I'm tired of carrying this place on my back. I alone have made 5 grand in a single day on the weekend to come in on Monday and find out first shift hasn't made a single dollar. That happens more often then not.
The only reason I've stayed this long is in hopes to become a GM like the old AGM here. That is quickly fading as I wake up to reality of this country more and more. I can barely afford half of what I used to be able to afford making more money now. I used to spend 20 bucks to fill my gas tank. Now it's 60, and my GM won't give raises. I need help. Someone please give me some guidance.