How important is recruiting, training and retaining technicians to the success of commercial vehicle shop? Are technicians seen as your most valuable tools, the ones that give your fleet or service center a competitive advantage? Or are they components you grind down and simply replace when worn out?
The answer to that question likely indicates how successful your shop is and how satisfied your customers are. Because you are reading this, we’ll assume you get how critical your employees are and congratulate you on your success. We’re sure you also get how difficult finding and keeping good technicians can be.
That’s less challenging the more you pay them, but you have to keep technicians engaged in the job and on a cycle of continuous improvement, just as the trucks they work on are. It also doesn’t hurt to provide them with cool new tools like augmented reality devices, or simply the proper diagnostic tools to aid them in troubleshooting.
There’s not one “right” strategy, but the article below should provide a good framework of the current issues and schools of thought to help any shop succeed in employing the best talent available.
How to get ahead of the growing technician shortage
With 42% of technicians leaving the industry within the first two years on the job, it’s important to develop successful recruitment and retention strategies that will combat the inevitable lack of maintenance professionals.
What’s the difference between a technician and a mechanic?
As vehicle technology has evolved, so has the role – and title – of those who service commercial trucking equipment.
Technician shortage toolkit
Fleets need to put in the work to help ease the shortage of qualified heavy-duty technicians in the workforce.
Podcast from ASE and ExxonMobil offers answers to technician shortage
A recently launched podcast hosted by training experts from ASE and ExxonMobil dives deep into the maintenance talent pool issue and comes up with some pearls of wisdom.
Maintenance leader Hogg talks past, future of truck technicians
Homer Hogg, vice president of truck service at TravelCenters of America, reflects on his impact on the technician space and where it's headed.
Essential tools for truck triage
Maximizing uptime often comes down to how quickly a shop can assess a truck's issues. Here are tips and tools to ensure maximum triage efficiency.
Longest running TMCSuperTech competitor wins top prize 2nd time before retiring
Chris Tate of Mohawk Trucks, who competed in all 16 competitions, won first prize for the second time, in what was his last SuperTech.
How to build an apprenticeship program
Five steps to help fleets find and train maintenance technicians who can be ready to conduct preventive maintenance checks the first day on the job.
Technician training in 3D
Leveraging technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality can elevate the capabilities and proficiencies of heavy-duty technicians.
Penske augments trainers with HoloLens to mold more skilled technicians
Penske maintenance trainers now wear HoloLens 2 headsets to access augmented reality and provide a more personal approach to teaching entry-level technicians the best way to perform brake and wheel inspections.
How AR and VR assist in technician outreach and recruitment
Leveraging reality-bending technologies will help the commercial vehicle repair industry tap into a new stream of talent and expedite the onboarding and training processes.
