Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) was preceded Monday by SOLD, Service Opportunities Learning Days, and taking a look at the shortage of a trained workforce in the heavy-duty market.
Don Black, Universal Technical Institute Director of Education and Operations, UTI-Sacramento, shared the advancements of technical training for the transportation industry and how UTI is addressing the technician shortage issue by providing highly qualified technician candidates during an early morning session at HDAW Monday morning in Las Vegas.
“Our curriculum is driven by the industry,” Black said. “We are the no. 1 provider of entry level techs. We have more than 35 pathways to get technicians into your shops. Fifteen percent of our students are military personnel looking to get back into the workforce.”
UTI has 13 locations nationwide.
“We partner with local communities to provide the workforce that is needed,” Black said. “We see our students as our product.”
Black said that although UTI has developed partnerships with almost all OEMs, only about a third of graduates work for OEMs.
“We’ve built partnerships with almost all the OEMs, but only about 30 percent of graduates end up with OEMs. The rest fill the rest of the market.”
The need for entry level technicians is going to continue to grow over the next decade, with an additional 350,000 new techs needed by 2022, Black said.
“We need help because our students don’t know about your shops. Only you can share your passion about your businesses,” he said.
“Our job is to prepare them with a broad base of knowledge and help them refine their passion. When they get hired is when they start to find their paths.
“We train the way that industry trains. We are counting on you to help them find their path, their niche. We are struggling to find students because they don’t realize how great a career they can build as a tech.”
Black said there are several ways that employers can help techs as they enter the workforce.
“Host a future tech event at your business, offer internships or job shadows, support SkillsUSA, become a mentor,” he said.
“An entry level tech still needs your help. They still need to learn how to be successful in your organization. Show them a path for a successful future. They likely have unrealistic expectations of what they think they are ready for. Show them, help them.”
Mike Betts, CEO, Betts Truck Parts and Service, updated the progress the Central Valley of California is making on development of new heavy duty truck technical training programs for their high schools and community colleges.
Schools throughout the central valley have been developing career tech training programs to help prepare students for the workforce.
The Fresno Unified School District began investing in career tech training about four years ago. Officials said there has been about a 12 percent growth in the program over that time.
Kristen McKenna with the Madeira Unified School District, a district of 23,000 students, said her district has continued to build their Career Tech Education programs while many others began cutting as part of budget issues.
“When everyone else was moving away from CTE, our board continued to invest. We have 23 pathways in CTE that our kids can take courses in,” McKenna said.
The district is in the process of preparing a facility for heavy duty truck training that they plan to open in 2019.
Karen Boone, of Clovis Unified School District, said her system has invested millions of dollars in career tech training and plans to build a heavy-duty trucking facility to help train a workforce needed in the market.
Betts said the students coming out of the schools with strong CTE programs are better prepared for the workforce and are finding jobs in the industry.
George Arrants, Director of Training & Recruitment for the Wheel Time Network, works with the National Automotive Technician’s Education Foundation (NATEF), which offers accreditation for automotive technician training programs.
NATEF looks at the structure, resources, and quality of training programs at secondary and post-secondary schools.
Arrants said the shortage in trained techs is a national problem, but one with local solutions.
“Industry and education need to be involved,” he said. “We expect these young people to be productive on the first day on the job and we are running them out of the industry. We must train them. We have to understand that there is a change in the workforce.”
Arrants said employers must be more involved in helping local schools understand what is needed in the industry.
“If you want to grow your local workforce, you must be involved,” Arrants said.
A recent meeting at Shades Valley Career Tech in Birmingham, Ala., involved businesses throughout the community considering ways to help the program.
“All we asked was what was needed for entry level techs,” Arrants said. “When that meeting was over there was commitments for investments into the program and an excitement to help it grow.”
Arrants said there is one key in developing and preparing entry level techs into the industry.
“Get involved. Future employers must be involved.”
