How do we fix the mechanic shortage in America?

[StevenG]

Everyone has posted good comments and thoughts on different aspects of the problem. I don't think this problem is limited to just heavy equipment mechanics, all trades are having very similar problems, where the older generation is phasing out and the newer generations don't want to do the work(almost any skilled labor job). Ride by any construction project and see who is doing the majority of the labor work.

Pay, benefits, sense of entitlement, cost of living, the difficulty of the work, and the cost of tools all play a role a big role in not being able to attract newcomers. Add in the fact that all anybody wants to do is use a cell phone or computer and not get their hands dirty and It's a perfect recipe for what all of you see in the field every day. There will always be exceptions to the rule and I know of a few younger guys that will have bright futures in the trades, but they are the exception.

The machinery companies I think make the problem worse. Most new techs can't fix anything without a laptop, prime example is VeTechs write-up on that 700 dozers radiator. The proverbial world going to hell in a handbasket is not a new phenomenon. We've always managed to overcome somehow in the past, hopefully we can in the future.

 

[John C.]

The people who will fill those jobs will be poor people with no better choice who will mostly be immigrants.

 

[mekanik]

When I was 20 in 1980 I started working as a mechanic in a truck dealership. I had enough
experience that I bypassed the apprenticeship program. The rate in 1980 was $12.36 an hour.
That was a good wage then.
That same year I bought a 4 year old 12' x 56' 2 bedroom trailer in new condition trailer for
$10,000, a few months later I bought a 2 year old Ford F250 in new condition for $2520 taxes
included a good deal ta the time. I paid them both off in 3 years. Before I bought the trailer
I was paying $200 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment.
My daughter just sold a 14' x 60' 2 bedroom trailer for $160,000. July 2020 I bought a 2018 GMC
Sierra for $25,000 tax included a very good deal.
Wages have not kept up with inflation. A 1 bedroom rental here is over $1800 a month if your lucky.
I could not imagine starting out today even earning the top wage buying a home today would be
cost prohibitive.

 

[56wrench]

I personally think the apprenticeship program here in Alberta has worked well over the years. It used to be that anyone who is employed as a mechanic has to be either qualified(licensed), or a registered apprentice to work on certain repair jobs. A person can be employed as a shop helper or gopher with no training and work with a qualified tradesman. I know guys that fix their own stuff, but i wouldn't want them working on mine. The system has weeded out a lot of substandard people but still allows a high-school kid to do oil changes at the Screw-up Lubey Lube. I shy away from those places. In short, the Red Seal apprenticeship program for trades has set a minimum standard for qualified tradespeople, which in my opinion, is a good thing, and is recognized in most, if not all provinces here in Canada

 

[kshansen]

All this talk about wages make me want to think of what something like a basic pick-up cost today compared to say 1968 when I started work.

Took a good bit of digging but it looks like one in 1968 could have bought a new F100 for about $2,500. The best price I could find for a "basic" F150 for today is $29,000! That works out to about 12 times the price. Going by my stating pay rate in 1968 of $2.89 that means someone starting at the quarry today would need to be making $34.68 an hour to pay for that F150 with the same number of hours work. I not sure what a new hire general laborer at the quarry would be making today but would be surprised if it was over $20.00.

Yes! I know that a 2022 F150 has more things standard than even the top level 1968 had but I don't know of anyway you can find a new truck without all the crap they put on them these days!

 

[Truck Shop]

Here a 3 bd 2bth 1400 sq ft 330,000.

 

[mekanik]

The picture below is the Ford dealership in Terrace BC in 1965. My dad bought the blue F100 on the left for $1800. He was
working for a logging company as a mechanic making $3.50 an hour at the time which was top rate. The owner of the Ford
dealership bought the property in the picture half a city block in the mid 1950s for $700.

 

[BSAA65LB]

I have been reading this thread....and debating with myself to say anything....

I work for a small equipment manufacturer that makes niche equipment. I have for a long time. Like my whole career. Which is coming to an end at the end of the month.

I answer technical calls. I scratch my head at the "quality" of some of the younger "mechanics" being sent out to work on customer owned machines. If it isn't warranty, I would highly p*ssed if I was a customer and got a bill for labor for these guys wasting time on the cell phone hoping for a miracle.

They can't read a schematic, they don't want to try to read a schematic, they won't look at the literature that is available to them, They won't use a computer to check for codes or what exactly the system is telling them. Basically it is call in and pray that someone on the other end of the phone has a magic wand that works to fix their issue.

Many small companies are light on service literature. Since part of my duties is training, I have put a lot of effort into making sure everything possible is available, including colored schematics of specific circuits with a written description detailing what happens and where to find the wires and components. They won't use it. Or any of the rest of the technical literature that is available to them, including how to guides. They are tool owners and a cell phone users.

The software gives you fault codes, inputs/outputs, etc., and again, they won't use it. I am lazy, 10 minutes sitting in the seat staring at the screen to see what the machine tells me via a laptop sounds better than hours crawling around with a volt ohm meter.

I have had "mechanics" ask me what a VOM is. You can't make this up.

Unfortunately, being close to my sell by date has finally broken down the barriers. I ask them what brand of shoes I am wearing, because the lack of their ability to do anything has me in a position guess at best.

Unfortunately also, is some of my fellow tech support people are not much better.

To be fair, there are some good ones, but they are thin on the ground. One of the best I have dealt with makes me cringe when he calls, because if he can't figure it out, I am going to have to think really hard. But he is good enough, he rarely calls. There are a few others, but not many.

 

[mg2361]

I have had "mechanics" ask me what a VOM is. You can't make this up.

 

[Vetech63]

VOM..
Very obese man
Voice over machine
Vitamins or minerals
Can I do this in a Wheel of Fortune format?

 

[Truck Shop]

You can't make this up.

It's even worse than that.

 

[StevenG]

VOM..
Very obese man
Voice over machine
Vitamins or minerals
Can I do this in a Wheel of Fortune format?

I thought it was the sound a french car made.

 

[kshansen]

VOM..
Very obese man
Voice over machine
Vitamins or minerals
Can I do this in a Wheel of Fortune format?

I thought that referred to BSAA65LB "Very Old Man"

 

[JD955SC]

Dealers are so desperate they will put anyone in a field truck

The problematic kids that were lazy in school and pushed into the trades? They are the ones behind the wrench now.

And we wonder why there are issues with mechanics not being willing to do basic troubleshooting.

 

[Zewnten]

Dealers are so desperate they will put anyone in a field truck

The problematic kids that were lazy in school and pushed into the trades? They are the ones behind the wrench now.

And we wonder why there are issues with mechanics not being willing to do basic troubleshooting.

Most tech's were simply not taught how to troubleshoot anything. While there is definitely a personal responsibility to learn and advance yourself in your career if you're taught bad habits then it's even hard to get on the right path.

Two of the best mechanics I've known both have brother's that are big time engineers. The only reason they're mechanics is they didn't want to do the corporate route. If they were the oldest or single child, they probably would have been engineers too. And being a top engineer pays much better than turning wrenches.

 

[John C.]

Those lazy people pushed into the trades are the same as when I started. Most are not necessarily lazy, just bored with what they are doing in the school.

 

[mekanik]

I was at a friends place talking with his neighbor over the fence. The neighbor is a mechanic for
the Chevy/GMC dealer. He was telling me he had a new 1500 GM pickup in the shop that the electric
assist power steering stopped working. Apparently they are not allowed to do any troubleshooting.
Scan it and call their tech support number. The steering rack has an electronic module on it. Tech
support said replace the module. They ordered one and replaced it, still no assist. Tech support said
replace the rack and pinion assembly. They ordered one and installed it, still no assist. Tech support
said I guess you are on your own.
The mechanic told me that there are 2 data buses that run the length of the truck, LIN1 and LIN2.
They both have terminating resistors on each end. Two of these resistors are near the rear bumper.
One of the resistors at the rear had the seal on the plug roll over when it was installed and not seal
moisture got in and the resistance increased as a result. He replaced the plug and resistor and the
steering worked again.

 

[BSAA65LB]

Sounds like software that isn't written with very good CAN diagnostics. A high resistance in the CAN should have thrown red flags with the software.

 

[ianjoub]

And another thing..............My 18-year-old grandson can't get a loan to buy a $3000.00 car, but he can go into debt over $100K to get an education?! WTF is that about!!!??

If he defaults on the $3k car loan, then lender is fu(k&d. If he TRIES to default on a student loan, the government pays it then hounds him for life seizing cash and assets until it is paid.

 

[ianjoub]

Truck shop if i could like that twice i would. You have no idea gow refreshing it is to hear some one over the age of 50 say that. I am 31 have a house a kid and a crappy old 22 year old pick up. I work minimum 50 hours a week and cant afford any extras and i make over the average Canadian house hold income. For people working minimum wage or even anything close to it what is the point of going to work every day when every day no mater how hard you work you go deeper into debt.

I am going to go against the grain here. Deeper into debt every week? Maybe you should examine your spending habits! Do you have cable tv? Do you have a smart phone? How many times per week do you eat out? How much do you spend per day, on average, in convenience stores?

I have been poor and I have been well off. When poor, I lived modestly (at best). When well off, I spent more but was still frugal. We, in N. America, are RICH compared to most of the world, even on welfare or minimum wage.