If you are a shop owner, it is your responsibility to make this happen. The attitude must start at the top and flow down. I ran a Honda shop for 18 years and I tried to provide training in-house on a monthly basis. So the challenge is how do shops facilitate continuing education for thier techs?

Instructor-Led
Several of the parts companies offer various forms of  instructor-led training. This can range from a basic sales type event to a structured series like offered by CARQUEST Training Institute (CTI). At GTCC, where I teach, CARQUEST, NAPA, O’Reilly Auto, and a regional WD use our facilities to deliver in service training to local automotive techs.

Training Tapes/CD
Are you having any luck with training tapes/CD? There are many sources for these including automotive trade associations. Are these a viable source of upgrade training?

Regional Training Facilities
I can think of a few regional training facilities such as Linder Technical Services in Indianapolis IN, Mechanics Education Association in Maplewood, NJ, and EAST Training in Southhampton NJ. There are likely more. Are these an answer for regional training needs?

Online Training
Has anybody come up with some quality online training? Right now most of the OEM training is being delivered online in the dealership. The trip to the factory school is mainly for performance evaluation. Very well developed computer based training can be very effective. In my humble opinion, the independent service industry needs a source of well developed and compressive CBT to help carry the lion’s share of continuing education.

Access to OEM CBT Training
Most of the manufacturers have well developed and effective CBT for their car line. Are any of the OEM starting to make this available in digital format at a non-punitive price? Over a year ago at the CARS Convention in Las Vegas a Toyota Official made this comment as part of a presentation.

I see growing use of OEM websites as complete service support portals, providing access not only to service information, but also to subscription based diagnostic software, just in time training resources, and manufacturer specific technical assistance.

This sounds promising!

So, lets start a conversation about how the independent service industry is going to keep its’ technicians trained and competent. Simply register and add your comment to this post.

Jim Garrido and John Anello's Hummer

One of the country’s prominent mobile diagnostic techs, Jim Garrido, lives locally. I have known Jim for many years going back to his Saturn tech days. In addition to operating a mobile diagnostic service in the central North Carolina area, Jim also conducts training for CarQuest Technical Institute (CTI) in the evenings.

Jim teaches the CTI classes in Greensboro, NC at Guilford Tech Community College where I teach. The last class he taught was on reprogramming ECMs/PCMs using both OEM scan tools and the J-2534 approach. At least 4-5 times during the presentation he stressed the importance of strong PC skills, which gave me even more reason to finish my book!

One of the best examples of a mobile diagnostic rig is shown to the left. While that is Jim Garrido in the picture, the truck belongs to John Anello. This picture was taken while Jim was attending one of John’s “Boot Camps”. John’s Boot Camp is a ride along type program that will expose you to some of the most advanced diagnostic tools and procedures in use today. To learn more about John Anello’s Boot Camp, click here.

John is one of the premier mobile diagnostic techs in the country. His mobile rig is based on a H2 Hummer and is equipped with all the latest and greatest diagnostic equipment. He is also actively involved in training through the author, and a speaker at automotive conferences.

Have Scanner Will Travel
Jim Garrido
Serving: Central NC
jgarrido@triad.rr.com

Auto Tech on Wheels
John Anello
Serving: Trenton, NJ area
www.autotechonwheels.com
ATOWscopeit@aol.com