Opinion: Help Wanted: Diesel Technicians

By Phil Romba

This opinion piece appears in the March/April 2014 issue of Equipment & Maintenance Update, a supplement to the March 10 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

The short supply of diesel technicians has become critical, resulting in fleets, dealers and independent shops being unable to fully staff their operations. In fact, one expert in truck-dealer operations said seven out of 10 fleets don’t have enough diesel technicians.

Just as a diesel technician’s job has become more complex, so too are the causes of the shortage. Public awareness of the career’s viability, age-old imagery of a dirty work environment and inaccurate statistics about annual salaries have combined to make solutions elusive.

The only way to overcome this short supply is for all parties involved to work with educators and regulators to paint an accurate picture of average salaries and working conditions diesel technicians encounter around the country. Fleet executives, educators, industry advocates and truck makers say the industry needs a grassroots awareness effort to set the record straight so greater numbers of high-school students and mid-life career changers will consider working on heavy trucks and engines.

“It’s time for the industry to wake up to this crisis,” said Dwight McAlexander, educational and training consultant for Volvo Group Trucks Sales & Marketing Americas in Greensboro, N.C. “Just about 70% of the truck industry is looking for technicians today.”

McAlexander has nearly 50 years experience in fleet operations and various facets of heavy-truck sales and marketing and dealer operations for Volvo companies in North America. Since retiring in 2012, he has consulted for nearly two years with Volvo and Mack dealers who want to establish a diesel technician educational program.

Various interests within the industry have begun addressing the problem. Truck builders — Volvo, Peterbilt, Navistar — have established alliances or programs with vocational schools such as Universal Technical Institute or WyoTech to train new recruits to the industry or to further the education of dealer technicians.

The Technology and Maintenance Council of American Trucking Associations is expanding efforts of its Professional Technician Development Committee. And McAlexander, along with Bonne Karim, chairman of PTDC, are calling all carriers, dealers and independent repair shops to generate a ground swell of local action with vocational education institutions and community colleges offering diesel technician programs.

Karim is the retired fleet training manager for the U.S. Postal Service. She worked at the USPS’s National Center for Employee Development for 39 years. She is also chairman of the Oklahoma Trucking Association’s Technology Maintenance Council.

On the whole, McAlexander believes the industry is paying technicians a reasonable wage based on their skills. It is not uncommon for technicians at a dealership to make $100,000 a year. In fact, he reported one dealer technician earned a $20,000 quarterly bonus. He compared those figures with passenger car technicians who can earn $75,000 annually.

“When heavy trucks became more complex thanks to emissions controls, it didn’t dawn on anyone how it would affect the technician’s job. It has driven more specialization in truck repair,” he said.

That specialization requires more training for technicians, which in turn has driven up wages and dealers’ costs, McAlexander said. More training and higher wages affect the industry negatively and positively.

The negative effects are higher repair costs and more difficulty hiring qualified technicians. Positive effects include some help recruiting technicians because the career is seen as more challenging due to more complex repairs. And more training often results in higher fleet utilization through reduced downtime.

According to McAlexander, Volvo and Mack dealers have reduced repair comebacks by $5,000 monthly when at least 25% of their maintenance staffs are “master” technicians. Master technicians are those who have passed all the truck makers’ training classes.

Neither dealers nor fleets have yet found the magic bullet that will ease the challenges of hiring diesel technicians. TMC’s Karim said fleets are increasingly employing similar recruiting tools as dealers. Those methods include tuition reimbursement, either during or after technical school, for those making a commitment to work for the company and establishing in-house training programs. A number of carriers also approach prospects from non-traditional backgrounds —women, minorities, military veterans and people changing careers mid-life.

PTDC members work with students and high schools offering scholarships and urging administrators to consider vocational education after graduation. Faced with few scholarship applications, Karim’s group is working to make scholarships available for non-traditional students like those changing careers.

Work with high school counselors and teachers have not been as successful as Karim would like. It has been difficult securing teacher and administrator buy-in about career opportunities in the heavy-truck industry.

“We found counselors’ priorities are on the numbers of students going on to college,” she said. Teachers struggle with local school administrations to gain and maintain support for their programs. Industry support is critical to keep these programs strong and running.”

With greater frequency, industry is stepping up support. In November and April 2013, Peterbilt Motors and Navistar International rolled out separate programs with Universal Technical Institute, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., to provide training classes for dealership technicians.

McAlexander noted Volvo established a program with WyoTech, Blairsville, Penn., that teaches the same courses Volvo and Mack dealer technicians take. Enrollment is open to any student who pays tuition. Upon graduation, students may apply to work at a dealership.

WyoTech graduated 36 students in 2013, and “every one left with a job. Some had three offers,” McAlexander said.

In much the same way fleets several years ago took driver-recruitment efforts to non-traditional groups, carriers and other maintenance providers increasingly are looking at groups such as military veterans. Employers view veterans as valuable prospects due to their training and leadership skills. There is also a high rate of unemployment among veterans — about 10% — according to a Nov. 11, 2013, Washington Post story.

Similarly, TMC’s PTDC may take a page from American Trucking Associations’ America’s Road Team program. Karim pointed out the technician development committee may create a panel of diesel technicians who would visit schools across the country as goodwill ambassadors to generate interest and awareness in the career.

“We are also reviewing salary information provided by the U.S. Department of Labor to make sure it accurately reflects current industry salaries and career opportunities,” Karim said. “This information is critical when parents, students and counselors make career decisions.”