For many heavy-duty repair shops, hiring technicians has become less of a recruiting process and more of a bidding war.

“It’s basically like an auction block at this point. Guys are leaving for $1 an hour,” said Peter Cooper, CEO of Ascend Consulting, during a panel discussion of Fullbay’s latest State of Heavy-Duty Repair report during the Technology & Maintenance Council’s annual meeting in Nashville.

The report, based on responses from more than 900 industry professionals in the truck repair business, found that wages are rising rapidly as shops compete for a limited pool of skilled labor. Technician pay has increased at a rate far outpacing inflation, reflecting intense demand.

“Across the board, labor rates have to go up, because there's a very small pool of qualified people,” Cooper said. Technician pay, he said, has been increasing almost three times the rate of inflation over the past year.

But higher pay alone isn’t solving the problem.

The Structural Technician Shortage Problem

The Fullbay report found that 54% of shops say they are understaffed, even as compensation continues to climb.

Panelists said the technician shortage is increasingly structural, driven by an aging workforce and a limited pipeline of new technicians entering the field, rather than a cyclical issue.

“I don’t think the problem is ever solved,” said Fullbay CEO Trent Broberg. “You’re only one hire away from success. But there are a lot of positions that are floating around in shops.”

Demographics reinforce that challenge. The typical respondent in the survey was 41 years old with 17 years of experience, while only 17% were under age 30.

With fewer younger workers entering the field and many experienced technicians nearing retirement, shops are facing a shrinking pool of talent.

The challenge is especially tough for smaller shops.

“When you’re dealing with five or six technicians in the shop, you lose one, that’s a pretty big hit,” said Jack Poster, VMRS services manager for TMC.

At the same time, technicians have more visibility into their options than ever before. Workers are aware of pay rates and benefits at competing shops, making retention more difficult.

Beyond pay, panelists emphasized that what attracts and retains technicians has shifted.

“It’s not about just the cost… it’s about the entire package,” Broberg said, pointing to benefits, vacation time, retirement plans, bonuses, and performance-based compensation.

Workplace Culture

Panelists said the shops that are succeeding in hiring share several key traits: transparent pay, competitive benefits, and clear answers to a fundamental question.

“Why would a technician want to work for you?” Cooper said. “A lot of employers don’t have a good answer to that.”

Those who do, he said, don’t typically have the hiring problems that other shops have, he added.

The survey found workplace culture plays a larger role in job satisfaction than pay. Nearly half of respondents (49%) cited culture as the top factor, compared to 36% who pointed to compensation.

“Culture to a technician is respect. It’s recognition,” Cooper said. “They want to feel like they’re more than a number.”

That can show up in simple ways, such as how technicians are treated day to day, whether their work is valued, and whether they feel like they have a future at the shop.

This tracks with results last year from an American Transportation Research Institute study, which found that while pay and schedules remain major incentives, technicians also ranked more interesting work and greater variety of work as important factors for staying in the industry.

Training and a Career Path

Training and career development are important differentiators, according to the panel.

“Shops that have a career path and a real training program are much more successful at hiring,” Cooper said, noting that many shops still do not pay for training.

That gap is reflected in the data. Only 60% of shops report offering formal training programs, even though most technicians say they want clear career progression.

“There’s a mismatch,” Broberg said.

There may also be opportunities outside the traditional pipeline.

Cooper noted that technician satisfaction in the heavy-duty sector is higher than in automotive repair.

“We are way better off than they are,” he said. “There’s actually an opportunity here for fleets and shops to steal some people from the automotive field,” he said.

Ultimately, the discussion made clear that solving the technician shortage will require more than raising wages.

Shops that invest in culture, training, and long-term career development may have the best chance of standing out in an increasingly competitive labor market.