The General Service Technician Academy

Get back to the basics at VISION 2023
BY JERRY HOLCOM

WE ALL KNOW ABOUT THE QUALIFIED TECHNICIAN SHORTAGE, and one of the main ideas that is constantly in the discussions for solving the problem is to “grow your own.” However, bringing in a trade school automotive program graduate is not the complete answer.  Have you ever had a less experienced tech round off a drain plug, or worse yet, strip out the oil pan when he re-installed the drain plug? Did a less experienced tech ever set the lift incorrectly and when raised, the vehicle dropped a little when the lift pad slid off because it had been incorrectly placed? I think you get the point; less experienced (and many long-time) shop workers have either never been taught or have forgotten the important little steps necessary to make even the most common jobs successful. Travis Troy, one of our VISION committee members, shared his idea of a class touching on a broad selection of those tasks. The rest of the committee joined in a brainstorming session, and we came up with the basis for a completely new idea in training.

The General Service Technician Academy was born, the most recent in a long line of firsts for VISION. Some of the many topics covered will be:

• Tire Safety – how to mount and dismount, repair, balance *
• Tire Pressure Monitor Basics
• Lift Safety – Includes information access for proper lift placement *
• OSHA and Shop Safety Training
• Basic Air Conditioning *
• Fluid Identification and Proper Use
• General Information System Usage (will be a part of several of the topics)
• Basic Electricity
• And now for the really big topic: Introduction to Digital Vehicle Inspections. Since there are hundreds of choices about what should be included in a DVI, we are going to discuss developing a systematic approach to test drives, inspections, photos, and videos, and the benefits to the tech and to the shop of performing the DVI.

(*) signifies a completion certificate will be earned

Enrolling one or more general service techs in the GSTA will have several benefits for the shop and for the techs:

• Increased Efficiency - Knowing the proper way of doing a job will certainly help get it done quicker with higher quality
• Increased Safety - It goes without saying. (May generate an insurance discount – check with your agent)
• Expenses cut - Less warranty jobs (“I didn’t know that aluminum wheel would break like that”)
• Shop Culture Change – One comment we hear more and more is “We wish you had some basic classes so we could bring everyone from the shop. We hate to leave the GS guy back at the shop while we are experiencing all of the sights and sounds of VISION.” This is the class that they will get plenty of useful information from and that will bring your shop members together as a team, with all the members attending the best training available, VISION.

Of course, getting this much information stuffed into these people’s heads will take some time. So, we have designed this Academy to be a complete 2-day class. There will be specialists in every field doing the training, and your GS techs sign up for this training for the duration of the class. Also, because of all of the logistics involved, other techs will not be able to cherry-pick parts of the class and then attend other VISION classes.

We think this training will benefit any shop and recommend having your GS techs go over the high points of the class with all of your team members at a “Lunch and Learn” sometime shortly after VISION. They will learn it even better by teaching it.

See you at VISION!