by Women In Trucking Staff, on Aug 18, 2025 8:00:00 AM
The trucking industry is facing a widening shortage of diesel truck technicians—a gap that is becoming increasingly difficult to bridge. In fact, while qualified technicians are indispensable to a safe and efficient trucking industry, 65.5% of shops are understaffed with nearly 19.3% of technician positions left unfilled, according to a recently released report by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI). The research synthesized findings from techs, shops, and training programs.
In addition, there’s a significant shortage of women in these roles. In fact, only 4% of total diesel technicians are women, according to the 2024-25 WIT Index.
How Does The Tech Shortage Impact Trucking?
There are three critical areas in which the shortage of diesel technician talent greatly impacts the trucking industry.
First, it can create significant operational disruptions for companies with for-hire or private fleets. Without adequate technicians, truck downtime stretches longer, delaying maintenance and leading to backlogs.
Second, this talent shortage can have a severe financial impact. In fact, some industry observers estimate that the technician shortfall contributes to approximately U.S. $2.4 billion in lost revenue annually due to underutilized vehicles and deferred repairs. In some cases, fleets lose over $1,200 daily per unfilled position.
Lastly, the shortage of diesel techs can substantially compromise service quality. In fact, shops staffed with underqualified techs see 16% more rework and warranty claims.
Under the Hood of The Crisis: Uncovering Root Causes of the Talent Shortage
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 28,000 new technician job openings annually through 2030. At the same time, technical training programs can only supply around 10,000 new technicians per year. What are some of the significant causes driving the shortage of diesel techs?
Aging Workforce & Retirement Wave. A significant portion of current technicians are approaching retirement, creating a "silver tsunami" with steep experience and knowledge gaps.
Underwhelming Educational Pipeline. Many entering the profession (61.8%) lack formal training and require extensive onboarding—on average, 357 hours of training and $8,211 in trainee wages per technician. Even then, over 30% of graduates fail to be fully qualified in key skill areas.
Societal Misconceptions & Low Enrollment. Vocational trades struggle for attention in a culture that emphasizes four-year degrees. Enrollment in diesel technician programs has declined—by roughly 12% since 2019—increasing the chasm between supply and demand.
Gender Bias Can Significant Hinder Efforts to Attract More Women. Stereotypes that portray the trade as “men’s work” can discourage women from pursuing training programs or applying for jobs, while a lack of visible female role models in the field reinforces the perception that they don’t belong.
Alyssa Briggs, a Trailer Mechanic at XPO, took first place in the fall of 2024 in XPO’s annual MasterTech Competition, which tests skills and knowledge of the company’s top technicians in such areas as electrical, preventative maintenance, brakes and tires.
Grinding Gears: Major Challenges Faced By Today’s Diesel Technicians
There are critical challenges facing diesel technicians, ranging from a significant skills gap due to a lack of formal training and education as well as the high costs of acquiring their own tools and adequate compensation. These challenges are covered extensively by the 2025 ATRI research.
Most techs (61.8%) enter the diesel technician and maintenance career without any meaningful formal training, requiring an average of 357 training hours and $8,211 in trainee wages to prepare them. Even with more formal training, more than 30% of training program graduates were unqualified in 20 core skill areas, according to diesel shops. In seven of these core skill areas, each additional hour of training improved tech qualification by more than 16%, and as such additional training hours in these areas can improve outcomes. In six core skill areas, however, each additional hour of training improved tech qualification by less than 8%, highlighting the need for critical curricula upgrades.
The most common barrier reported by techs at the start of their career was the high cost of acquiring their own tools (29.0%), followed by a lack of prior tech knowledge (28%), insufficient pay (16.1%), and poor shop mentorship (10.8%). Though pay and schedules were the two aspects of employment that most attracted techs to the trucking industry, techs also ranked the pursuit of more interesting work (ranked 3rd) and greater variety of work (ranked 5th) as vitally important.
Stiff Competition For Techs From Other Industries
According to the ATRI research, approximately 44% of trucking techs were considering other tech jobs, with automotive and agriculture the most common alternative industries. Dissatisfaction with pay, interactions with management, and variety of work were the aspects of employment that had the most statistically significant association with techs choosing to look for a new job versus staying at their current job. The research also evaluated techs’ perspectives on other industries to identify how trucking’s comparative strengths and weaknesses match up to techs’ varying priorities.
“With a lack of qualified techs and stiff competition from other industries, tech employment in the trucking industry is not keeping up with demand, especially when it comes to retaining entry-level technicians just entering the workforce,” says Robert Braswell, Executive Director of ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council. “ATRI’s report helps trucking shops identify not only where they and their training program partners can improve but also how to better leverage our industry's existing strengths.”
The full report is available on ATRI’s website here.
Repairing the Workforce: Pathways to Rebuild Diesel Tech Ranks
Solving the diesel technician talent shortage is critical to keeping the nation’s trucking network running smoothly. Diesel techs are the backbone of fleet maintenance, ensuring that the trucks hauling goods across the country stay safe, reliable, and efficient. Without enough skilled technicians, repair backlogs grow, downtime increases, and supply chains face costly delays. As freight demand continues to rise and experienced workers retire, finding effective solutions to attract, train, and retain new talent isn’t just an industry concern—it’s essential to the health of the economy.
Keelie Boyer, Truck Maintenance and Truck Prep Technician for Wilson Logistics, says: “You never know everything you’re going to learn – especially when it comes to changes in electronics in trucks. It’s fun because you’re learning all the time.”
Here are some potential solutions:
Expand Training Models: Shortening program duration such as an accelerated six-month training curriculum can help students enter the field faster and better prepared.
Industry–Education Collaborations: Partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), technical schools and community colleges, and fleets can ensure training stays aligned with real-world needs. Some educational institutions already incorporate AR/VR and electric vehicle modules to modernize instruction.
Innovative Recruitment: Gamification strategies, like educational mobile apps created by the ATA's Technology & Maintenance Council, can attract younger and more diverse applicants by making the trade more engaging.
Better Compensation & Support: Offering higher pay, strong signing bonuses, adequate tool allowances, flexible scheduling, and upskilling opportunities—as tracked by several effective shops—helps both attract and retain talent.
Hire More Women – an Untapped Market of Talent. Hiring and retaining more women can be a powerful part of the solution to this talent shortage, expanding the industry’s talent pool and bringing fresh perspectives to the shop floor. By actively recruiting, training, and promoting women, companies can tap into a largely underrepresented segment of the workforce while fostering more diverse, innovative teams. Creating inclusive workplaces—through mentorship programs, equitable pay, and visible female role models—not only attracts more women to the field but also helps retain them, strengthening the industry’s long-term workforce and helping close the skills gap.
Focused Training Where It Matters: The ATRI research found that in certain vital technical areas, each additional hour of guided training improved technician qualifications by over 16%, underscoring the value of targeted learning.
Alicia Wilson, an Equipment Cleaning Technician for Highway Transport, performs all aspects of tank trailer and International Standard Organization (ISO) cleaning, including inspecting trailers for residual product, and conducting post-cleaning inspections.
Conclusion
The shortage of diesel truck technicians isn't just a staffing headache—it's a threat to the resilience of the trucking infrastructure and supply chains. Aging demographics, a thin educational pipeline, and lengthening repair cycles are converging to create a costly void. However, through collaborative training models, modernized curriculum, competitive recruitment, and strategic investment in technician development, the industry can begin to reverse course and secure its future workforce.
Related Articles:
- Help Wanted: More Female Diesel Technicians
- WIT Announces Member of the Month: Alyssa Briggs, Trailer Mechanic at XPO
- Diesel Technicians: A Career Under the Hood
- Percentage of Female Technicians Shows Substantial Increase
- Percentage of Female Technicians in Transportation Remains Low
- The Next Generation of Truck Technician Training Is Here
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