Imagine an threat so large that after 24 hours, supermarkets run out of fresh foods. After 72 hours, people start hoarding food; gas stations run out of fuel. By the end of a week, our retail marketplace shuts down.
What is the # 1 threat to the trucking industry and our economy today? Is it fuel prices? Is it governmental regulation? Is it driver shortage? These are all big topics, but the # 1 threat is actually a ever looming shortage of technicians. How is this you may ask? Well, Nicholas Pinchuk, the chairman and CEO of Snap-on, says that as the country has evolved, so have the opinions of our people. He says Americans no longer view technical careers as top-tier professions, and he says that’s something that needs to change. “America has lost the respect for dignity in work, and that’s a problem,” he says. “Those are our roots.”
I believe that this is a trend that we can turnaround and restore the dignity of this great profession back to our great country, but it will take more than just recruiting more techs. It will begin by promoting technical careers at every stage of life, shouting from the rooftops that the average diesel mechanicEARNS $2,000 more per year than a 1st year college graduate*, and encouraging the pride that comes from keeping the economy of this great country rolling.
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* According to Salary.com the average yearly salary of a diesel mechanic is $47,435 and according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers the average salary of a 1st year college grad is $45,327.
