Is it time the fleet industry started to refer to our workshop staff as technicians rather than mechanics?

Personally, I think it's well overdue. Consider the technology involved in modern plant, vehicles and equipment and the training and tooling required for service and repair. Take a simple pm service for example: in years gone by all that was required to complete the service was dropping the oil and filter, doing some basic inspections and the vehicle was right to go. Fast forward to today and it's highly likely a scan tool is required to remove the service light from the dash.

In my travels around the country, I see more and more workshop staff with laptop computers and scan tools in their hands. Gone are the days that all you required to fix a fleet asset was a box full of hand tools. Not only are the fleet assets becoming more and more complicated, the pressure to keep the fleet assets working is increasing also.

As organisations pay more attention to the costs involved in running a fleet operation, more and more pressure is being placed on workshops to keep fleet assets working. This requires workshop staff to be better trained and equipped than ever before. It’s about time the industry recognises the worth of workshop staff and the training involved to keep up to date with technology and the effort involved to keep fleet assets available.

I know it's just a name, but it’s a small step in the right direction.

One more thing: let’s hope all this talk leads to a pay rise more in line with some other trades (maybe electricians?). 

To stop our Anonymous Fleet Manager (AFM) blowing a gasket, we created Internal Combustion, a monthly column for fleet-related rants that lets him blow off some steam. Got a fleet gripe you'd like to get his opinion on? Email emily.ditchburn@ipwea.org and she'll pass it on to AFM – when he's in a good enough mood, that is.