The Technician Shortage in Public Fleet: Why Hiring Alone Won't Solve It
The fleet technician shortage is not new. But the numbers have reached a level that makes doing nothing unsustainable.
According to the American Transportation Research Institute's 2025 report, 65.5% of fleet maintenance shops reported being understaffed, with an average vacancy rate of 19.3%. More than 61% of new technicians entered the field without formal training, requiring 357 hours of instruction and over $8,000 in trainee wages before they could operate independently.
The TechForce Foundation projects the transportation industry will need nearly one million new technicians between 2024 and 2028. Current training capacity meets roughly 42% of annual demand.
For public fleet, this creates a specific challenge. Government employers typically cannot match the wages private shops offer. Hiring timelines are slower because of HR processes and civil service requirements. And the talent pool is chasing the same candidates as every other fleet in the region.
The fleets that are navigating this successfully are not trying to out-hire their way out of the problem. They are building the talent they need from within.
Why the pipeline approach works for public fleet
Waiting for experienced technicians to apply is a reactive strategy. Building a pipeline from entry-level talent and local schools is a long-term one. The difference in outcome is significant.
A technician who comes up through your organization knows your fleet, knows your shop culture, knows your equipment. They build relationships with end users and with the leadership team. They are less likely to leave for a private shop because they have a career track inside the organization, and because they feel invested.
Recruiting from high schools and technical schools creates the front end of that pipeline. These relationships take time to build but produce candidates who arrive with some baseline training and, in many cases, a genuine interest in staying in the community where they grew up.
Many of the fleet managers doing this well are treating local career and technical education programs as a formal partnership, not just a job fair visit. They offer facility tours, participate in advisory committees, take on interns, and make sure students know what a career in public fleet actually looks like, including the stability, the benefits, and the advancement path that private shops often can't match.
Pair your Level 1s with your Level 3s before it's too late
The most immediate risk for most public fleet operations is not the entry-level vacancy. It's the experienced technician who is 3-5 years from retirement and taking 20 years of diagnostic knowledge with them.
That knowledge transfer is not automatic. If a Level 3 technician leaves without passing on what they know, every junior tech in the shop has to rebuild that knowledge from scratch, through trial and error, expensive comebacks, and slower repair times.
Structured mentoring pairing is the most direct way to address this. When a Level 1 technician works alongside a Level 3 consistently over 12-24 months, they absorb not just technical skills but the diagnostic intuition that comes from years of working on specific equipment.
Al Curtis, Fleet Director for Cobb County, described this explicitly on the Fleet Success Show episode EVs, Telematics, and a 340-Pound Naysayer Named Eric: his team is growing Level 1 technicians by pairing them with Level 3s before those senior techs leave. That's not an accident of proximity, it's an intentional development decision.
ASE certification: from hiring filter to development tool
Many fleet operations use ASE certification as a minimum requirement for hiring. Fewer use it as a structured development pathway for technicians who are already on staff.
The distinction matters because the second approach is where the retention value lives.
Cobb County has deployed online ASE prep testing through NAPA IDS at no additional cost to the department. The AI-driven format adapts to how each technician is performing, giving them targeted practice in the areas where they need the most work. Technicians can access it on their own schedule. Leadership can see how each technician is progressing.
When a technician passes, the county reimburses the exam fee.
This combination—free preparation access plus financial reward for passing—removes the two most common barriers: preparation anxiety and cost. And the organizational signal it sends is significant. When your employer pays to help you grow and rewards you for doing it, you notice.
The data reflects why this investment is worth making. According to industry reporting, ASE-certified technicians show 40% better shop productivity, 60% fewer comebacks, and 30% lower turnover. Certified technicians earn approximately 20% more than their non-certified counterparts across career stages.
For a fleet already running understaffed, that productivity and retention difference is substantial.
Leadership creates the conditions
Workforce development programs fail when they are launched as policies and then left alone. They succeed when leadership treats them as part of the ongoing culture of the shop.
Al Curtis described walking through his shop during lunch, collecting ideas from his team, and genuinely listening when they push back on something he's proposing. If a technician can articulate why an idea won't work, he doesn't pursue it. That respect for the shop floor view creates a culture where people feel heard, and where the development investment the organization makes feels like it goes both ways.
A 2024 I-CAR survey cited by Government Fleet found that 96% of technicians very satisfied with career advancement were also highly satisfied with their jobs overall. Among those dissatisfied with growth prospects, that number dropped to 13%. Career development is not a retention perk. It is the foundation of retention.
Build a culture people want to grow in
No development program survives a shop culture that drives people out. If your technicians don't feel respected, don't see a path forward, and don't believe leadership is invested in their success, the best ASE prep tool in the world won't keep them.
Innovation and workforce development are connected. Fleets that are willing to try new things, that give their technicians exposure to new vehicle types and emerging technology, create an environment that attracts people who want to grow, and keeps them once they're there.
Cobb County's reputation as an innovative fleet is also a recruiting asset. Being part of a department known for doing interesting work means something to technicians who have options.
A practical starting point
If you're not sure where to begin, start with an honest assessment of where your shop stands:
How many of your experienced technicians are within five years of retirement, and who is prepared to take on their knowledge when they leave?
What percentage of your current technicians have a documented development path that both they and their supervisor can articulate?
Do you have any formal relationship with local high schools or technical colleges?
Are you reimbursing ASE exam fees, and do your technicians know that?
You don't need all of these answers to be positive before you start. You need to know where the gaps are, and then close them one at a time.
How RTA Fleet supports workforce and shop operations
Building and retaining a strong technician team is only part of the challenge. Making sure that team can work efficiently with the data, tools, and workflows they need is equally important.
RTA Fleet360 helps fleet leaders track technician productivity, manage work orders digitally, and reduce time spent chasing information or duplicating effort. When your technicians spend less time on administrative friction and more time doing the work they were hired to do, the shop runs better, and so does the case for investing in their development.
If you want to talk through how better fleet data supports workforce management and shop performance, our fleet experts are here.
This article was inspired by a recent episode of our podcast. Check out the full episode for even more tips and tricks: