Andrew the way I see it the best you can do as an instructor is to teach basic electrical / electronic math, theory, how to read a schematic, an owners manual, find an online manual, How to lube a vehicle and hands on time on all of the above. My own training at a high school vocational program was woefully short on almost all of these attributes. The only things that kept me going was an insatiable appetite to learn. I found a job, after bugging the manager of the local Mack dealer for a month straight for a job.

As for a ladder I think the heavy truck and equipment shops are ahead of the pack in opportunities. Fewer of these are flat rate, which as Mike Werner pointed out are not as conducive to apprenticeships.

Here are some options MacAllister Machinery has a work learn colege program MacAllister think big program, John Deere also has a work learn college program, and from what I have read Rush Truck Centers is also involved in helping new mechanics.

John Ryan
Shop Foreman
Warsaw Community Schools
Warsaw, Indiana, USA

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