ROCHESTER, N.Y. \u2014\u00a0The trucking industry has struggled with a driver shortage, but another workforce gap is happening in the repair shop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Almost 70% of mechanic shops were understaffed in 2025, per a report.
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Biggest factors causing the shortage of diesel technicians are an aging and retiring population.
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Top retention techniques include increased pay, updated equipment and providing training for additional certification.<\/p>\n
Inside a Rochester-area auto shop, about a dozen high school students are taking a look under the hood of a tractor trailer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re allowed to take it apart and break it. I have good connections to get parts donated,” said instructor Steve Jacobi. “They learn by taking it apart.”<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of the Mt. Morris BOCES diesel mechanic program. It was created in 2017 and there\u2019s been a waitlist for the class every year since.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDiesel is the lifeline for much of the things that take place. Without programs like this supplying the workforce, we wouldn’t have things like transportation or trucking and in this region farming,” said executive principal Matt Flowers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The program helps fill in a growing need both regionally and nationally. According to a report from the American Transportation Research Institute<\/a>, almost 70% of mechanic shops were understaffed in 2025 and around 19% of positions went unfilled.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jacobi says the biggest factors causing the shortage of diesel technicians are an aging and retiring population, which makes these students in high demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have students as far away as Texas. I have connections in Long Island, they\u2019re willing to take people on all the time,\u201d said Jacobi.\u00a0<\/p>\n