Changes in the Automotive industry

Is this high school auto program outpacing Fresno’s industry? This technician thinks so.

Change is bound to happen. This is certainly true for the automotive industry, which has recently been experiencing shifts in automation and technology in alternative fuels.

Equipment, vehicle design, and even techniques required in repair have all shifted. Still, technicians and auto employers in the industry today may be slow to adopt, at least in some regions. Those best suited to confront automotive’s new world order have barely dipped their toes into the industry and are the most prepared to take on the challenges ahead: high school students.

“These kids are much better prepared than general high school education because they sort of show more enthusiasm for getting out in the workforce,” says Jesus Zamora, an employee at Affinity Truck Center in Fresno. Zamora is a technician paired with high schoolers through a Duncan Polytechnical High School program, where students are taught skills to work on diesel and heavy trucks. 

“We go out for two, three hours a day… paired up with a technician or somebody from your field, and you work alongside them, and they teach you their knowledge of how to do stuff, too,” explains Duncan student Angad Sandhu.

Zamora argues that Duncan students graduating from the program are better prepared for certification, show a better, fully realized understanding of the business of auto technology, and are eager to work in it.

Lack of funding seems to be at the center of the gap between classroom and commercial spaces. Funds needed in both industry and auto tech programs are not being distributed. 

The local industry itself, though, may not have shifted enough to meet these new students where they are upon certification. Students are better prepared to face the modern challenges of artificial intelligence and electric vehicles but enter a local workforce still grappling with older methods, technologies, and vehicles.

“Electric trucks are not prevalent enough to where…technicians are going to [be] needed,” Zamora says, discussing Fresno’s diesel and heavy truck needs.