Is it better to become a diesel mechanic or trucker these days?

Near me , the cat heavy equipment dealers are begging for mechanics so bad they started their own training program .

 

I spent a few years at a Cat dealer. When covid hit they told me and 300 others "SEE YA!"

 

Same thing here. Our local Cat dealer and the John Deere dealer are both hurting for mechanics. I know both shops and they pay well and their employees stay with them. There just aren't the number of young people wanting to be mechanics.
Our local high school has started a diesel repair course with both Cat and John Deer contributing machinery and instructional aids. They have trouble filling the class.

 

forsure , i

forsure!! i wish i would of done things a big different in that regard, little more variety other than trucks n trailers

 

The mechanic has better pay, better working conditions, and better hours.

 

Not everywhere.

 

when you factor in the amount of unpaid time a driver does not get paid for…time waiting to get loaded, time waiting to get unloaded, time stuck in traffic, time waiting for repairs while on the road, time spent in the sleeper is required but is not paid time……I figure the average driver has 40 hours of paid per week and from 24-48 hrs of unpaid time. So you are lucky to make minimum wage some weeks, as a driver.

Drivers have no minimum wage and no overtime pay, mechanics do.

 

Have you ever worked as a technician? I make a good hourly rate, but took years of second shift life and every Saturday work to get where I am. That being said, many driver's gross more than I do and haven't invest near the money I have in tools and time in self training. They are a lot cleaner than I at the end of the day too. Our drivers get paid for their downtime, we charge the customer.

 

It depends on if you want to travel and live in a truck or be home every night
I enjoyed being an O/O and traveling. But I also later enjoyed being home every night and working on and repairing things .
I currently install and maintain subterranean vapor extraction systems and environmental protection systems treating contaminated water .



or You could do both at the same time .

one of the biggest expenses with owner operators is repairs and downtime .

If you can carry some tools with you and do your own repairs on the road , you can save a lot of money and make a lot more money since you have less downtime .

I’m a pretty decent shade tree mechanic and I carried a spare brake can , spare air lines and repair fittings etc .
You can swap a brake can in half an hour and be back rolling , or you can wait 6 or 8 hours while a mechanic does it and charges you $150 per hour to do it .

if you’re a decent mechanic. Get an older rig from the 80s and rebuild it and hit the road .

Oh and why do mechanics want to be called technicians now ?
Is calling them mechanics an insult now ?

 

Not in our shop it's not.