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Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul buses and trucks, or maintain and repair any type of diesel engines. Includes mechanics working primarily with automobile or marine diesel engines.

Related: Automotive Service Technicians & Mechanics Engine & Other Machine Assemblers Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics Motorboat Mechanics & Service Technicians Rail Car Repairers

Industries: Transportation & Storage Wholesale/Commercial Sales Service Government

Summary
Details

Inspect, repair, and maintain automotive and mechanical equipment and machinery, such as pumps and compressors.
Align front ends and suspension systems.
Rebuild gas or diesel engines.
Specialize in repairing and maintaining parts of the engine, such as fuel injection systems.
Follow green operational practices involving conservation of water or energy or reduction of solid waste.
Raise trucks, buses, and heavy parts or equipment using hydraulic jacks or hoists.
Adjust and reline brakes, align wheels, tighten bolts and screws, and reassemble equipment.
Inspect, test, and listen to defective equipment to diagnose malfunctions, using test instruments such as handheld computers, motor analyzers, chassis charts, or pressure gauges.
Rewire ignition systems, lights, and instrument panels.
Install or repair accessories.
Repair or adjust seats, doors, or windows.
Dismount, mount, and repair or replace tires.
Dismount, mount, and repair or replace tires.
Inspect, test, and listen to defective equipment to diagnose malfunctions, using test instruments such as handheld computers, motor analyzers, chassis charts, or pressure gauges.
Inspect, repair, and maintain automotive and mechanical equipment and machinery, such as pumps and compressors.
Inspect and verify dimensions and clearances of parts to ensure conformance to factory specifications.
Inspect and verify dimensions and clearances of parts to ensure conformance to factory specifications.
Repair or adjust seats, doors, or windows.
Use handtools, such as screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, pressure gauges, or precision instruments, as well as power tools, such as pneumatic wrenches, lathes, welding equipment, or jacks and hoists.
Inspect, test, and listen to defective equipment to diagnose malfunctions, using test instruments such as handheld computers, motor analyzers, chassis charts, or pressure gauges.
Inspect brake systems, steering mechanisms, wheel bearings, and other important parts to ensure that they are in proper operating condition.
Diagnose and repair vehicle heating and cooling systems.
Disassemble and overhaul internal combustion engines, pumps, generators, transmissions, clutches, and differential units.
Operate valve-grinding machines to grind and reset valves.
Test drive trucks and buses to diagnose malfunctions or to ensure that they are working properly.
Perform routine maintenance such as changing oil, checking batteries, and lubricating equipment and machinery.
Disassemble and overhaul internal combustion engines, pumps, generators, transmissions, clutches, and differential units.
Adjust or repair computer controlled exhaust emissions devices.
Adjust or repair computer controlled exhaust emissions devices.
Maintain or repair vehicles with alternative fuel systems, including biodiesel, hybrid, or compressed natural gas vehicles.
Diagnose and repair vehicle heating and cooling systems.
Recondition and replace parts, pistons, bearings, gears, and valves.
Recondition and replace parts, pistons, bearings, gears, and valves.
Install or repair accessories.
Examine and adjust protective guards, loose bolts, and specified safety devices.
Perform routine maintenance such as changing oil, checking batteries, and lubricating equipment and machinery.
Attach test instruments to equipment, and read dials and gauges to diagnose malfunctions.
Measure vehicle emissions to determine whether they are within acceptable limits.

Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

More than 1 year on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

76940/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

36.99/hr

Currently Employed

8,600

Yearly Projected Openings

840

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Dependability
Analytical Thinking
Initiative
Integrity
Self Control

Adjustable widemouth pliers
Adjustable wrenches
Automotive honing machine
Ball peen hammer
Battery chargers
Blow torch
Boring machines
Box end wrenches
Brake repair kits
Calipers
Circuit tester
Claw hammer
Cold chisels
Combination wrenches
Compressed air gun
Cross and straight pein hammer
Depth gauges
Desktop computers
Diagonal cut pliers
Dial indicator or dial gauge
Drill press or radial drill
Dynamometers
Ear plugs
Engine or component test stands
Feeler gauges
Forklifts
Gas welding or brazing or cutting apparatus
Hacksaw
Hammers
Hand reamer
Hex keys
Hoists
Hole gauge
Hydraulic pumps
Impact wrenches
Induction heaters
Jacks
Locking pliers
Metal inert gas welding machine
Micrometers
Mill saw file
Milling machines
Multimeters
Needlenose pliers
Open end wrenches
Paint sprayers
Personal computers
Pneumatic impact wrenches
Pneumatic sanding machines
Portable data input terminals
Power drills
Power grinders
Power sanders
Power saws
Pressure indicators
Pressure or steam cleaners
Pressure sensors
Protective gloves
Pry bars
Punches or nail sets or drifts
Putty knives
Ratchets
Retaining ring pliers
Rivet tools
Round file
Safety glasses
Screwdrivers
Shears
Shielded metal arc welding or stick welding machine
Sledge hammer
Slings
Slip or groove joint pliers
Socket sets
Spark plug wrench
Specialty wrenches
Speed sensors
Spot welding machine
Stamping dies or punches
Stripping tools
Tachometers
Tape measures
Thickness measuring devices
Tire pressure gauge
Torque wrenches
Tracer or duplicating or contouring lathe
Tungsten inert gas welding machine
Two way radios
Utility knives
Vacuum pumps
Valve refacer
Voltage or current meters
Welder torch
Welding masks
Wheel balancing equipment
Wire cutters
Wire lug crimping tool
Workshop cranes

Analytical or scientific software
Calendar and scheduling software
Computer aided design CAD software
Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
Data base user interface and query software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Facilities management software
Inventory management software
Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
Office suite software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists

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