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Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
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.
Also Known As:
Bus Mechanic
Diesel Mechanic
Diesel Technician (Diesel Tech)
Fleet Mechanic
General Repair Mechanic
Heavy Truck Mechanic
Service Technician
Trailer Mechanic
Transit Mechanic
Truck Mechanic
Wages
Annual wages for Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
327,700
2% Change From 2024
Explore Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Install or repair accessories.
- Follow green operational practices involving conservation of water or energy or reduction of solid waste.
- Align front ends and suspension systems.
- Repair or adjust seats, doors, or windows.
- 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.
- Rebuild gas or diesel engines.
- Dismount, mount, and repair or replace tires.
- Specialize in repairing and maintaining parts of the engine, such as fuel injection systems.
- Dismount, mount, and repair or replace tires.
- Adjust and reline brakes, align wheels, tighten bolts and screws, and reassemble equipment.
- Rewire ignition systems, lights, and instrument panels.
- Raise trucks, buses, and heavy parts or equipment using hydraulic jacks or 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.
- Repair or adjust seats, doors, or windows.
- Diagnose and repair vehicle heating and cooling systems.
- Operate valve-grinding machines to grind and reset valves.
- Inspect brake systems, steering mechanisms, wheel bearings, and other important parts to ensure that they are in proper operating condition.
- 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 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.
- Disassemble and overhaul internal combustion engines, pumps, generators, transmissions, clutches, and differential units.
- Test drive trucks and buses to diagnose malfunctions or to ensure that they are working properly.
- Inspect, repair, and maintain automotive and mechanical equipment and machinery, such as pumps and compressors.
- 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.
- Perform routine maintenance such as changing oil, checking batteries, and lubricating equipment and machinery.
- Install or repair accessories.
- Recondition and replace parts, pistons, bearings, gears, and valves.
- Diagnose and repair vehicle heating and cooling systems.
- Adjust or repair computer controlled exhaust emissions devices.
- Recondition and replace parts, pistons, bearings, gears, and valves.
- Maintain or repair vehicles with alternative fuel systems, including biodiesel, hybrid, or compressed natural gas vehicles.
- Measure vehicle emissions to determine whether they are within acceptable limits.
- Attach test instruments to equipment, and read dials and gauges to diagnose malfunctions.
- 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.
- Examine and adjust protective guards, loose bolts, and specified safety devices.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- 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.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- 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.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- 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.
- 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.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- 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.
- 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.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- 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.
- 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.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- 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.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- 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.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")