The tech shortage, and the rising maintenance and operational costs attributable to it, may be more accurately described as a generational or knowledge gap.
For all the bluster of the numbers, repair shops face the simple possibility that the older generation of technicians, who have built up decades of experience, will retire and leave a gaping skills gap in meeting repair needs. With the growing demand for and transition to alternative vehicles and fuels, truck services companies will bear the brunt of an older generation retiring without passing on their institutional knowledge and also being torn in a new direction by alternatives, all in the manner of a few years.
Technicians entering trucking repair shops for the first time today are not as acquainted with working on heavy duty trucks manually. For example, these younger technicians, who may not have covered how to approach older diesel truck models very extensively in technical school, are without the necessary intuition when it comes time to fix up a truck without an aftertreatment system. Diesel engines are simply too costly for an inexperienced technician to test his or her hand without guidance, tying up tech efficiency and training as shops bring new techs onboard.
How to best cater to a younger generation of techs unaccustomed to working with their hands and complete routine work orders at the same time is a tough balancing act. Looking over their shoulder to double check diagnostics can throw tech efficiency by the wayside, but future tech efficiency is jeopardized by casting off training. It’s a bind with few quick fixes.