Study Group Information Reports

State maintenance councils can offer a reasonable, local alternative for fleet personnel wishing to network with peers and gain exposure to industry information. However, many areas of North America do not have a state, regional or local maintenance council. The purpose of this information report is to review the benefits joining or developing a state, regional or local maintenance council.

Issued: March 2007

The occupational outlook for employment of truck service and repair technicians remains strong and is expected to increase at an average pace for the next 10 years. There is a strong need for technicians because of industry growth as well as openings associated with turnover and retirement. This, coupled with the pace of changing truck technology, provides a challenge to managers in finding interested and qualified technicians to fill these positions. The trucking industry needs to establish a method to develop technicians with appropriate skills.

Recruiting and retaining qualified commercial vehicle technicians has become a very challenging task. Aside from purely economic factors, the reasons for this are fourfold:

One of the most promising new technologies emerging to meet fuel efficiency and environmental challenges for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles is the hybrid drive system. Hybrid drive systems offer the potential both to increase vehicle fuel efficiency and at the same time to reduce actual vehicle emissions below the level of the engine certification.

Aggressive corrosion, caused by new formulations of road ice clearing chemicals, has recently become a serious maintenance problem for many equipment users. Use of magnesium chloride- and calcium chloride-based products by certain states is especially associated with increased incidence of corrosion on vehicles, causing damage in as little as a single winter season.