It comes as no surprise to the aftermarket industry that it’s in dire need of qualified medium- and heavy-duty maintenance technicians. Helping to spearhead efforts to get students interested in the field – and to develop the curriculum and facilities needed to learn the trade – is Mike Betts, chairman and CEO, Betts Company.
To help illustrate the tremendous need for technicians, Betts points out that in the Central Valley area of California, there isn’t a medium- to heavy-truck program within a 150-mile radius, yet there’s a “massive amount of trucking fleets and truck repair facilities, and we have a massive shortage of new and upcoming maintenance mechanics.”
Betts has been leading the charge for several years to promote the vocation among students and he, along with like-minded others, gave a progress report for the Central California area at a session during Service Opportunity Learning Days (SOLD), which preceded Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) last month in Las Vegas.
For example, Jeremy Ward, principal of Duncan Polytechnical High School, announced the building of a multi-million-dollar heavy-truck maintenance facility. The Fresno Unified School District broke ground on the high school’s campus late last month. “There exists a gap between current education and the realities of industry,” says Ward. “We’re creating a pipeline that’s going to produce students that are going to meet industry need.”
Ward and Cara Jurado, college and career readiness coordinator for the school district, “have been in the trenches with us now for better than two years,” says Betts. “They’ve been involved in the design and the vision.”
Jurado says she visits middle schools to promote the school district and the “pathways” and options students have.
