Thinking about going to diesel tech school . . .

A couple things here. First, a laptop only gives you a start point, not an end point, so saying a laptop tells them to do anything is a bit misguided. Now if a tech makes assumptions, that’s a different matter.

The second, maybe 10% of repairs I do involve a computer. Even electrical diagnosis on J1939 systems, because those often involve a separate program the shop doesn’t have, so it comes down to a multimeter, flashlight, and wiring diagram, and if a computer gets involved, it’s something like getting on QuickServe to find which pin from the ECM provides power to that circuit, which is a specific inquiry I’m making. I don’t really consider that “outside the box” in any way.

Air brake issues? Driveline vibration? A bunch of other matters, there’s nothing a computer can do for you there, aside from looking up part numbers maybe.

OP, most of these schools are for getting your foot in the door at a shop so you can learn on the job. You go into it perhaps not knowing ####, and come out of it knowing basic #### and little more, and often it’s outdated ####. If you don’t intend to take up wrenches, I wouldn’t recommend wasting your time. Instead, look at factory training and resources the OEMs offer, e.g., the Bendix Brake School website will do more for you in learning and understanding air brake systems than most diesel tech schools.
I wish someone would give me a Dollar for every tech I’ve seen come from Lincoln Tech or UTI who thought they were all that and a bag of cocaine because they got ASEs while in school, only to realize they didn’t know #### once they hit the shop floor.

 

I've read a lot of your posts. I definitely believe you know what you're doing. I'm just stating off my own experiences. The new/young guys tend to just see codes and throw parts at it. I've had more than one instance where I came on shift and was given a sensor to install that the last guy called. I'd do 15-20 minutes of diagnostics and find a rubbed or broken wire. I agree, the laptop/software gives you some guidance as to where to look but its still up to the tech to diagnose.

 

Well, yeah… there are a lot of ‘McTruckShops’ out there. It’s really the second part of my post which is relevant… the OP shouldn’t count on tech school for anything more than getting a foot in the door, and use careful discretion where he goes from there if he decides to take up wrenching.

 

Hi techs,

I'm a driver more or less in the same boat as Badmon here. I have 3 years in with a good clean CDL-A, nothing to hold me back, with the following goals in mind:

1) become a successful O/O, or even manage my own small fleet. From the O/Os i talk to and those that know them, you do a lot better if you can manage repairs on your own, and diagnose on your own to save $ and downtime. given that trucking is feast or famine, cyclical business, i want to be able to oscillate between driving and wrenching as I see fit. I love driving, trucks and the open road but I'm so sick and tired of the trucking "Industry", and the do-nothing MBA majors that are ruining it. Them plus the ELD issue is a Gdamn nightmare.... I want to stay in trucking but do it on my terms, screw the Modern Trucking Co. and their bloated overhead costs.

2) Become a wrecker operator. Given that our labor economy is short drivers AND technicians, I figure wrecker operator is a lucrative business and about to get better. This goal also fits in with #1 once I get my LLC going and obtain assets like a few trucks, equipment and some yardage.

3) gain technician experience and work while traveling abroad. I want to see europe but not blow a hole in my pocket, I want to work while over there. From what I understand, they have the same problem we do here. Relocating to Austrailia or New Zealand is also possible. I'm very concerned about the direction America is headed and I want to be able to leave. Diesel Tech experience can make that possible.

I've been looking into diesel cert programs, nationwide. I've shying away from UTI and Lincoln tech because they seem way too expensive for what you get, but im open to them if someone wants to convince me I'm wrong.... the lady I talked to for lincoln tech was more pushy than some bill collector's ive talked to, a straight hustler almost. Right now, my top choice is Northwestern Ohio, their program is around 25 grand and is about 2 years, and they offer specialization on Volvo tractors which is the brand of truck I want to work on and own. This is the school recommended by the volvo/mack dealerships i've spoken to, they will hire directly from there. Its also close to home in Michigan, so that's attractive.

However, im looking online at some of these schools in Texas that are much cheaper, like less than 10 grand, but they are lacking NATEF certification. Is that really important? WyoTech is also highly rated and cheaper, albeit very far from home (but then again as a driver who's been OTR, that doesn't really matter TOO much.). I'm looking at everything wondering how I should balance Program Cost, School duration, and stay driving while studying (class schedule flexibility).. I don't want to do the online thing, I want all class/shop skills education.

I also want a program that will teach me about all the new kind of electronics going onto the tractors, including but not limited to the ECM-ELD interfaces, the lane departure systems, driver Cameras, and of course the Meritor wabcos. In college I had general physics which included things like oscilloscope operation and Kirchoff's laws, and I'm confident I can handle the more complicated systems. I keep reading about possible legislation letting teenagers into tractors and if that happens, insurance companies are gonna DEMAND these systems in every truck, and god knows what else. I want a TOP NOTCH tech college that will be ahead of this trend, not BEHIND it. I don't ever want to hear from any of my instructors "What's a Meritor Wabco onGuard device?" (I literally heard this from a Ryder Technician and my jaw almost hit the floor. Maybe they don't work on those things but they certainly should know what they are.).

Any suggestions/Ideas about this are appreciated, thanks for reading this essay, I didnt meant to post this much

 

That was…. Interesting… to read.

I’ve got quite a few of the things on your bucket list crossed off.

Driver turned tech: check. You’ve got more OTR time than I do, as most of my driving time was in other industries (oil and natural gas, forestry, overseas contracting, towing and recovery, infrastructure construction), but I’ve got you in overall time as a driver (though I also worked as a heavy equipment operator, as well). So I can relate there.

Tech schools: not so much. I just went to a community college. But I feel like I can make at least some judgment on these schools based on what I’ve seen of the fresh faced kids coming out of them. Not terribly impressed, at all. And, here’s the thing of it… this is a line of work where a lot of your knowledge is built on repetition, which is why I said before that you’re better off to use other resources rather than going to a tech school if you don’t actually intend to go headlong into it. I’ve covered this already.

Working overseas: check (South Africa). First, you need to know that it’s not as easy as you seem to think it is, and the other thing people in the US really don’t pay heed to, or they assume the opposite is true – they do not want you. The people there don’t. Go overseas, you’re going to end up paling around with other expats. The Euro-fetishists in particular in this country think they’re some sort of ‘Renaissance people’ who are beloved worldwide…. that isn’t how it pans out. Not to mention you don’t simply pack up and decide, “Hey, I’m gonna go live in another country” – there’s a process, and it’s not a particularly expedient one in any way. Pretty sure a lot of people who thought the same about going to Canada after the election found themselves in for a pretty rude awakening once they were facing the facts of that matter. So, if just picking up and dipping out to another country is your fallback plan, you may want to rethink that.

Owner/op: check. Owned two tractors and end dumps at one point. So, not OTR – and there’s a lot about being an OTR O/O that I couldn’t tell you.

Towing and recovery: check, ran A, B, and C wreckers, was Wreckmaster Towing level 6 and recovery level 7 certified at one point, though those certs expired, and my workplace only has me current up to 4/5, as we do our own recovery of airfield vehicles. I like it this way, though, as I’m only on call for that during my actual work hours, rather than being tethered to a phone 24/7. It’s an interesting job, certainly, but you really need to shed the know-it-all attitude going into it, ESPECIALLY if you end up with an outfit which does repossession, because those situations can get real hairy, real fast, and your wits need to be quicker than your mouth in those instances.

As for me, I’ve been to both Bendix and Wabco-Meritor factory training, and I’m drawing a complete blank as to what this “Wabco-Meritor device” you’re talking about is. I’m fairly familiar with Wabco-Meritor products, though moreso with Bendix, and I can’t recall them having applied the generic name of “device” to any of their products. So, perhaps it’s not the instructors? Maybe they’d know what you were talking about if you referred to it by the correct name?

This line of work, as with trucking, is not one which is particularly tolerant of job hoppers – at least, not when it comes to any job which is worth a ####. Sure, you can bounce from “McTruck Shop” to “McTruck Shop”, if you’re content with spending your career as a $15/hour parts changer. So, you need to decide what you want to do. With three years of T/T experience, you might be able to find a side gig… I was able to… but your plan of bouncing around as it pleases you is not going to work out for you. I can assure you of that.

And, here’s the thing of it… you may come out of these schools with stars in your eyes, thinking you’re the greatest thing this industry has seen since sliced bread… this is very much a ‘pay your dues’ line of work. Your first day on the shop floor, you think they’re gonna have you pulling engines, diagnosing dual CAN BUS systems, and the like? No, you’ll be a service tech. You wanna move on to the bigger jobs, you gotta earn the trust of your leads and supervisors. So, does someone who went to Percival Manbun’s School of Diesel Mastery really have that much of an advantage over someone who went to Jim Bob’s Generic Tech School coming out the gate? Not so much as you’d like to think. First, you’re going to forget a LOT. Just like you weren’t a bonerfied, certified gear jammer simply by getting your CDL, nor will you be Supreme Overlord of Master Technicians coming out of school. Your work ethic, aptitude for learning, and overall attitude will factor in more than which tech school you went to... the managers, supervisors, leads... they've seen a lot of people come and go, including those from every school you listed. They're not going to be blown away by the name of the school on your certificate.

So, if you want a tl;dr version, which I put at the end because I’m inconsiderate like that…

1: check your attitude. It will be your Achille’s heel.

2: Commit to one course of action or the other; flip-flopping is a piss poor career plan.

3: Get a little more grounded in reality, which, if you’ve read all of that post, I shouldn’t have to explain by this point

4: Just say no to crack, because that’s always sound advice

 

erm, not sure where this attitude is coming from, especially considering you're advising me to check mine? It's literally called the MeritorWabco Onguard system per the companies own description, right here:

https://www.wabco-auto.com/media/me...ion-mitigation-system-marks-10th-anniversary/

And i said it was a Ryder technician that it drew a blank face of, not an instructor. Please read.

I'm looking for advice on SCHOOLS, not a lecture on not what to do with my life. I've encountered enough naysayers in my day, didn't come here to encounter anymore. if you don't have any advice which school I should be attending, kindly go eff off and earn your troll points elsewhere, buddy.

 

Start there.
Also onguard is alot different then a "device"


Schools dont seem to matter much. There are too many different systems out there. They will teach you the basics and the rest will be learned on the job. Even if you got trained on everything there is, most would get forgotten by the time you needed it. Theory and real world arent the same thing either.
The first 3 months on the job I learnt alot more then 9 months in school.
There is alot of smart mechanics on this site, telling one to eff off doesnt encourage the rest to help.

 

I’m just telling you how it is, vs. how you seem to think it is, as someone who has done a number of the things you mentioned. If you don’t want commentary on that, then don’t post your whole life story and stick to what’s relevant to your question. As for what I said, take it or leave it as you see fit to - you’re not my problem.

I suppose you’ll figure that part in time.

Yeah, I know about it and about Bendix Wingman. But, you see... it has a name.

And you also said you didn’t want instructors asking what it was, even though it’s a system you’d be more likely to learn about on the job or via training provided by the workplace rather than a tech school which is oriented toward basic generalists.

Far be it for me to tell you how to live your life. I don’t care what you do or how things go, whether you find a plan that works for you or you end up homeless on the street giving handjobs for crack. Again, I simply gave a perspective as someone whose been there and done that regarding a lot of the things you mention - I don't say it to be a naysayer, nor do I feel like it makes me one, it just means I'm aware of a few things you didn't account for with your plan here.

Like I said, if you weren’t open to commentary on your ‘great master plan’, perhaps you should’ve just stuck to a basic question without the unnecessary details.

I will offer one more piece of friendly advice, which again, you’re free to take it or leave it - if you want to get into this line of work, you may want to consider growing a thicker skin. You may be able to act like a prima donna in the trucking industry, but you do that in this line of work, they're gonna be like sharks who smell blood in the water. I think of one shop in particular I worked at, where just about everyone there when I was hired was either ex-military or an ex-con (or, in some cases, both), and I feel like you really wouldn't have been happy there.

Anyhow, re: schools, I can say this much... every position here has a hands-on skills test as a prerequisite for hiring. So we get a fair number of fresh faces out of tech school applying for Tech 1 (previously known as Service Tech) positions, and none of them have a fantastic pass rate, but I'd dare say WyoTech candidates seem to fare better than Lincoln Tech candidates. Not aware of any great number of UTI grads, so I can't comment on them. Of course, a lot more factors into it... what kind of background they're coming from, i.e., maybe they grew up on a farm and had to pick up a sense of mechanical inclination or maybe they weren't predisposed to it in any way, their own personal aptitude, etc.

 

There is a difference between a parts changer and a tech. Parts changer just follows prompts and orders/changes until symptoms are solved. Techs troubleshoot and solve issues.