School Bus Mechanic on the Benefits of Diesel Mechanic Colleges

John Wheelan is one of the most fascinating school transportation bloggers on the web. His blog, logically titled School Bus Mechanic, offers the insights from his 32 years in heavy-duty automotive industry. In his most recent post he highlights the benefits of diesel mechanic colleges:

Back in 1977 I entered Diesel Mechanic School at the local college. This was the start of my 4 year apprenticeship as a Heavy Duty Mechanic. This first step was called a pre-apprenticeship which would last 6 months. I had never touched a diesel engine before and had some automotive/small engine experience from high school.

...if you're interested in getting into this trade I would go down to the nearest diesel mechanic college or technical school and ask some questions about the curriculum and cost ... I'm content now after working in this trade for 32 years and find myself telling a lot of stories about experiences and aha moments & wouldn't trade it for the world!

Well worth reading the whole story at his blog.

California Utility Preps for Surge in Hybrid Electrics

More on our ongoing discussion of hybrid-electric infrastructure. Southern California Edison is spending $5 million to purchase hybrid-electric cars and research changes needed to make a seamless shift to powering the new vehicles, USA Today reports. Some of the challenges include storage and sudden tugs on the system. Researchers don't seem worried. They say between the prep work they're doing now and the time it will take for a shift to occur, the state should be alright.