What are the Top Paying Diesel Mechanic Jobs?

There are some recognizable traits associated with the kind of people who work as diesel mechanics. These professionals are self-directed, detail-oriented, and analytical; they can assess a problem or situation and make logical decisions based on real-world information. Perhaps these qualities are hard to find in the workforce, because diesel mechanics are in great demand.  [...]

Finding an Auto Repair School: 6 Critical Questions to Ask

The best place to start your search for an auto repair school in Virginia is by visiting the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) to search their list of certified postsecondary schools. NATEF is an unbiased, independent organization that sets very high standards for training programs. If an auto repair school is not NATEF certified, you  [...]

5 Clever Ways Technology is Changing the Role of HVAC Technicians

The ancient Romans had public baths fed by springs and heated beneath the floors by open spaces (hypocausts) with wood-fired furnaces (prafurniae). In large baths, these wood furnaces consumed entire forests of trees, since the Romans kept their baths open seven days a week. More than 2,100 years later, many of our homes use the  [...]

Trade School vs. College: Which Should I Choose?

John Venn invented his Venn Diagram in 1880. The diagram is a classic organizing tool in which two items are compared, one existing in a left circle, another existing in a right circle, and their commonalities existing in the overlap. We can use it even in this computer-driven world to compare two ideas: attending trade  [...]

Training to Be a Diesel Mechanic: Everything You Should Know

Skilled blue collar jobs are in extremely high demand across the United States. While the American economy has shifted to services, we still are one of the world’s leading manufacturing and resource extracting nations, and there are simply not enough people doing those jobs. Long story short, becoming a diesel mechanic could be a lucrative  [...]

A Day in the Life of a Diesel Mechanic: Salary, Facts & Figures

The structure of the U.S. economy does not solely depend on Wall Street; it is also critically dependent upon the supply chain process of transporting products throughout the country using heavy-duty diesel trucks. Heavy-duty diesel mechanics keep those semis and buses on the road, every day of the year, and that keeps our country’s infrastructure  [...]

What Does the Future Look Like for Shipyard Welding?

The time: 1920. The place: Cammell Laird Company’s Birkenhead Works, alongside the River Mersey, England. The event: shipyard welders assemble the world’s first all-welded ship, the 620-ton coastal freighter, MS Fullagar. The technique was shielded arc welding, in which the steel welding rods were dipped in asbestos slurry. The ship plied the oceans for 17  [...]

What Does the Future Look Like for Commercial Truck Drivers?

Commercial truck drivers are a key cog in the national economy, facilitating the delivery and distribution of goods, supplies and equipment to population centers across the country. One of the most attractive features of a career as an over-the-road (OTR) truck driver is stability — there is always a need for their services, regardless of  [...]