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For the past several years and for some of you much longer, we have had an almost desperate need to acquire and retain more mechanics. We all are searching for the mother lode of experienced, qualified, journeymen mechanics. But guess what? They are all working now.

We also have to deal with the truth that each of your service managers already has too much work for their staffs. In short, we have all the business they can handle.

Technical schools and junior colleges are all looking for more attractive offerings to lure young men and, yes, women into the mechanical workforce. And they are having a hard time. We have an uncertain economy, and yet we still don’t seem to be attracting the smart, hard-working high school students. Where have we gone wrong?

The AED Foundation has challenged companies in our industry to commit to a minimum of 40 hours of training annually per employee. This is not a very lofty goal, but it’s one that many in the industry can’t meet.

Finally, all types of industries that employ mechanical people, from aerospace to appliances to computers, are all going through the same crisis. The National Automobile Dealers Association recently said another 35,000 mechanics are needed to service the more than 200 million cars and trucks on America’s roads.

Everyone is competing for these talented and skilled young people. So what are you doing that is different or special? How are you making a difference for your business in this competitive marketplace? The way we answer these questions will determine the future of the construction equipment industry.

The time to act is long past due. We need to put on a full-court press, which can be achieved on many fronts. For openers, we just don’t give technical workers the respect they are due. They are talented and hard working people with extremely specialized skills, yet they are typically treated as second-class citizens, particularly compared to new equipment reps.

It is a serious problem.

At AED’s convention in Anaheim, we had a panel discussion with five very talented managers from leading construction equipment dealerships and manufacturing concerns. These executives challenged us in many ways, including one very compelling remark that came from George Albright, vice president of product support for Volvo Construction Equipment. George challenged each and every AED member to initiate an incentive program for mechanics and other workers in their service departments. This is long overdue.

To quote from a popular book of recent years, “The cheese has moved.” Have you? If not, please consider taking all or some of the following actions.

• Go to high school career days and extol the virtues and opportunities in our industry and at your dealership. Make your company a respected place to work and a leader in your community. Many of you are already doing this-it is just a too well kept secret.
• Get involved with your local technical schools. Offer to provide instructors-for free. Change the current perspective of our equipment. Let students know how high-tech today’s machines are. We have extremely complex computerized mechanical systems and highly effective and productive machinery.
• Offer scholarships to talented hard-working young people, the kind available at colleges and universities.
• Work to raise the credibility of blue-collar work. Not everyone should go to a university. Working with your hands in a physical environment is a worthwhile calling. Yet society looks down on technical work. Just look at the tool and die profession, which is both critically important and highly skilled. Yet it’s a profession that has almost disappeared from the American workforce.
• Have apprentice mechanics work alongside your experienced journeymen. Let the journeymen know it is their job to mentor these young people. The youngsters can do many different tasks to leverage the skills of the journeymen while at the same time gaining valuable on-the-job training.

Don’t stop there. Work with your service managers, because they’ll need additional management help if the number of mechanics increases. There has to be an up side for them as well, not just more work and headaches.

Time is running out. The commitment, credibility and future of the construction equipment industry is on the line. Are you ready for the challenge?

I am confident that you are.