diagnosticsupplement1022 - 16

TECHNICIAN Q&A
FM: Is it more important to have
enough tools to outfit the technicians in
the shop or have enough technicians to
address the labor shortage?
Thomas: You obviously need technicians
to handle the work, but at the
same time, as far as management is
concerned, you really need to be aware
of which technicians are going to become
resource-constrained first. So, out
of all of your technicians that are currently
in your shop, who are the ones responsible
for triage and are really good
with diagnostics?
You really don't want to constrain
the resources that they need to get their
jobs done because they can usually diagnose
something efficiently and correctly
if they have the time and they
have the resources in front of them.
And at that point, once the diagnosis is
made, and a part needs to be replaced,
it can get passed down the line to somebody
that's more in their wheelhouse
replacing components.
So, yes, there is a technician shortage,
but you should be aware of the capabilities
of the techs who you have in your
shop, the ones that are going to bring
the trucks in and initially address their
concerns. They need as many resources
as they can possibly get their hands
on so they can get the truck from diagnosed
to moving into the repair phase.
FM: Would you say that the growth of
integrated electrical systems is making
it more or less difficult to diagnose problems?
Even with diagnostic telematics,
is it now easier to confuse symptoms
with the cause?
Thomas: It is, but at the same time, it
isn't. To the trained diagnostic tech, he or
she should not feel an increase in pressure
or difficulty in diagnosing. Part of
the diagnostic tech's responsibility is to
not just know that certain components
exist, but part of what makes them effective
is understanding the root of how certain
things work. If you understand what
the engineering team has developed for
this vehicle, even if you're not involved
at the OEM level, and if you understand
fundamentally how certain components
are designed to get along and do their
jobs together, then as long as you have
that understanding, diagnostics are relatively
straightforward.
Regardless of how many more additional
ECUs are on the truck or how
16 Fleet Diagnostics * October 2022
" Part of the diagnostic
tech's responsibility is to
not just know that certain
components exist, but part of
what makes them effective
is understanding
the root of how
certain
things work.
"
-Talon Thomas,
technical engineer,
Noregon Systems
many different types of networks there
may be, it all comes down to the same
thing. The components themselves
have a job to do. And whether the component
is directly responsible for a task
or it has to talk to some other controller
to say, " Hey, I need you to do this, " as
long as the tech understands those differences,
then his or her job stays relatively
the same.
FM: What are some ways that technicians
can keep pace with the speed of
technological development?
Thomas: Training, training, and
training. And beyond that, good diagnostic
techs, even outside of work, will
continue to research, dive into things,
and try to understand how certain
things work. And training is usually
the first place that you get exposed to
new systems or new concepts that have
been created or that are coming out on
certain vehicle lines. A good diagnostic
tech will anticipate those things, so
when they see them coming into their
shop and their bays, they'll be able to
say, " Oh, yeah, I remember this. " And
they'll go and look at the materials they
have available and all the resources that
they might have.
FM: Is it important for even the most
experienced technicians to have a path
for career development?
Thomas: In my experience, as a
technician, there will be a point where
you, as a tech, know all the diagnostic
tricks of the trade for all the particular
vehicles that you come across on a dayto-day
basis; you're very familiar with
all the pattern failures, and there's not
much that can come into the shop that
will surprise you. There are certain folks,
once they get to that point, who are completely
comfortable, and they will continue
to work that way until they retire.
But then you also have certain techs
who are always looking at different avenues.
The last thing management in a
shop wants to hear about is providing
ways and paths to have their top technicians
find someplace else to work. But
it is a valid point, because if those techs
at the top of their chain reach a point
where there really isn't much new challenge,
that may be something to watch
out for as a manager.
FM: To keep those long-term technicians
engaged, would diagnosing new
technologies such as electric vehicles or
hydrogen fuel cell trucks be something
that management could offer to provide
education and enrichment?
Thomas: From a management perspective,
absolutely offer that opportunity
to those top techs, because it's one
more skill set under their belt if they
come to master it. Most diagnostic techs
are looking for things like that. If they're
not familiar with electric vehicles, alternative
fuel vehicles, or hydrogen vehicles,
but then all of a sudden you're
saying, " Hey, we're going to start seeing
more of these in the shop, and we want
you to be the guy to triage these or diagnose
or repair these, " that's new and
exciting. And being the guy to oversee
that, that keeps interest in employment
as well.
FM: Would you say that there's a way
to track that interest and productivity as
you're keeping an eye on both your new
and advanced techs?
Thomas: Having management come
down to [the technicians'] level, even
if it was just for weekly one-on-ones.
Just give them 30 minutes of personal
time; it makes it less evident that this is
a system of productivity. That can hurt
morale in the shop, especially if technicians
start feeling like they're just
a number on some spreadsheet. Just
bring yourself down to the tech level every
once in a while and talk shop with
them. It makes the day go by so much
easier and brings so much more respect
to you as a manager.
diagnosticsupplement1022

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