DieselMechanicsSchools.orgThe Best Cities for Diesel Mechanic Jobs
In the field of diesel mechanics, location is everything. No namby-pamby e-commute jobs here; you've got to actually be at the job site with your hands dirty, helping to repair engines, whether that is at a truck dispatch facility, a parts warehouse or a shipyard. But just like any other worker, diesel mechanics are more needed in other parts of the country than others.
Cities with a high need for diesel mechanics are often spread out rather than dense, so that buses running on diesel have a longer distance to travel, and break down more quickly. They may also be isolated in the middle of a state and near a major highway, with many garages and truck stops servicing the diesel engines of trucks that pass through.
The best way to pick the city to get your degree in, or relocate to after you've earned your degree, is to look at a national ranking of cities and the density of diesel mechanic jobs available in each one. The site Job-Hunt.org has a useful ranking system, with positive percentages assigned to cities that have more than the national average of diesel mechanic jobs, and negative percentages assigned to cities that have less than the national average.
Cities that employ large numbers of diesel mechanics include Duluth, Minnesota, which has six times the national average and a lively waterfront, located on Lake Superior, to boot. Duluth's proximity to the mining industry in the nearby Iron Range may also account for its demand for mechanics to repair diesel equipment.
Also consider Anniston, Alabama, which has twenty times the national average of diesel mechanics. It boasts an Army depot and an Amtrak station, which help keep local mechanics employed. It is also at the southernmost edge of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian mountain range.
But if you really want to go where the action is, move to Texarkana, which has forty times the national average of diesel mechanics per capita. As the name indicates, Texarkana straddles the border between Texas and Arkansas. It has two mayors, and its motto is, "A City So Great, It Took Two States." It is a hotbed for diesel mechanics because Interstate 30, as well as five Texas and Arkansas state highways, runs through it. If it runs on diesel and it breaks down in Texarkana, you'll be the right person to fix it.