Heavy Duty Trucking, May 2018

MAY 2018 HDT 79 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM tering the workforce and one student remains undecided The program addresses the needs of tactile learners and introduces them to technical jobs work they may not have considered as a career Too often parents and educators are telling them Go to college Go to college Go to college Chipalowsky says We are trying to show parents teachers and students that there are other alternatives Maher believes that more tech training opportunities like this are needed at the middle school and high school levels Schools are teaching only to the eyes and ears but thats not how all people learn and its not how all people want to work We need to stand up for the tactile intelligence of a huge population of our kids and provide them with learning opportunities Chipalowsky laments however that the success of programs like MCTIs is tied to industry partnerships which can sometimes be lacking Penske he says has helped the MCTI program by donating equipment and hiring its graduates If Penske can do that why cant others he wonders Companies have to step forward They must start investing in career and technical education There are some great companies already doing this but its not enough It is simply not enough Grow your own Some companies have taken it upon themselves to fill their own technician gaps such as Schilli NationalLease based in Remington Indiana which provides maintenance long term leases and daily rentals to the companys trucking operation Schilli Transportation Services as well as to other fleets The company employs 78 technicians with a combined 780 years of tenure knowledge and experience but many of its technicians are considering their retirement options over the next few years After recognizing a need to attract qualified technicians to replace retiring techs and a growing need to retain the technicians it already has Schilli launched an initiative to evaluate its compensation benefits and training programs After surveying shop Start early In January Fresno Unified School District broke ground on a 9 million stateof the art trades facility for high schoolers to gain workplace experience before graduation The facility located on the campus of Duncan Polytechnical will include a heavy truck maintenance and construction shop FUSD Superintendent Bob Nelson says this facility will help students get certified to work on diesel trucks upon graduation Here students can immediately leave our facility ready for work he says The Fresno project is similar to what MCTI has been doing for some time Its Diesel Technology Program is designed to prepare students to apply technical knowledge and skills to the specialized maintenance and repair of trucks buses and other commercial and industrial vehicles Students leave the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation NATEF certified program armed with the skills needed to work on diesel engines suspension and steering brake systems electrical and electronic systems drivetrains HVAC systems and auxiliary equipment installation and repair Students in the MCTI program spend half of their day attending legacy education courses such as algebra or biology and the other half of their day in the tech program The school will graduate 10 students in May Upon graduation four students are heading to post secondary schools two are heading to the military three are enhired full time upon graduation at 23 an hour to start says Chipalowsky Plus they gave him a sign on bonus Chipalowskys tale is an example of what can happen when the trucking industry bands together to promote and further technician training and advancement Unfortunately the industry is only willing to invest in something that can get them a tech tomorrow says Jennifer Maher CEO and executive director of TechForce Foundation a nonprofit focused on Driving Tomorrows Workforce of Technicians On the surface when you need a technician in your shop now investing in a middle school or high school student appears senseless when the payoff is three to five years away But as the trucking industry faces a sobering reality that it will need an estimated 28300 new entrant diesel techs by 2024 Maher maintains schools from the elementary to post secondary levels must march in time with the industry to meet the growing need Work has already begun but Maher suggests more is needed She recommends a three pronged effort that partners associations educational institutions and fleet operations in a joint effort to meet growing demands No one entity can fix the qualified technician shortage problem she says We all must row in the same direction The big problem right now is that everybody is sitting on the sidelines and waiting for someone to fix the problem but that isnt going to happen PHOTO RONNIE GARRETT Fox Valley Technical College has found that technician students respond to a mix of classroom tactile hands on and even augmented reality training TECHNICIANS