Questions from and for diesel and heavy vehicle apprentices.
I am six months in and all I do is services and cleaning. When does the real work start?
Sooner than you think, and partly when you make it happen. Services are the real work: every service is a chance to find worn kingpins, weeping seals and cracked airlines before they become breakdowns, and the apprentices who spot defects get pulled onto the repair. Ask to watch every diagnosis happening in the shop, even on your own time between jobs. By second year you should be on brakes, driveline and basic electrical. If you are genuinely still only sweeping floors at the twelve month mark, talk to your boss or your apprenticeship field officer, because you are meant to be trained across the whole trade.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified diesel mechanic
The electrical units at TAFE are killing me. I am good with my hands but the multimeter stuff does not stick. Any tips?
You are not alone, electrical fails more apprentices than any engine unit. Two things fixed it for me. First, stop memorising and start measuring: grab a battery, some wire and a couple of globes at home and actually build the circuits from your workbook, because volts drop makes sense the day you see it on your own meter. Second, use the electrics on real jobs at work: volunteer for every battery, starter, alternator and light fault, and tell your tradesperson you want the meter in your hand while they talk you through it. Modern trucks are half electronics, so the pain now is the skill that makes you valuable later.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified diesel mechanic
I have an offer from a small transport workshop and one from a GTO that rotates hosts. Which should I take?
Both can work, so look at the details. The small workshop gives you one crew, and if the tradespeople there are good teachers you will learn fast and deep, but check the variety: if they only ever service the same five trucks, your experience narrows. The GTO gives you rotation, which means broader experience and a safety net if a host goes quiet, but you are the visitor in every workshop, so you have to switch on quickly each move. Ask both the same questions: what will I actually work on, who supervises me, how many apprentices have you taken through to completion? Pick the answer with the best training, not the shiniest shed.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified diesel mechanic
Second year here. A mate reckons I should quit my dealership apprenticeship and chase a FIFO mining one for the money. Worth it?
Be careful. Restarting an apprenticeship somewhere else can cost you time, and second year is where your current shop starts giving you good work. The smarter play for most people: finish where you are, collect your trade certificate, get your tickets, then apply for mining roles as a qualified fitter, because that is when the real premium kicks in and you will walk in with dealer level diagnostic training behind you. If you genuinely want mining now, apply for transfers or mining apprentice intakes without quitting first, and remember FIFO as an apprentice means learning the trade while living in a camp, which suits some people and breaks others. Money follows the qualification either way.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified diesel mechanic
How worried should I be about safety around this gear? A tradie at work told me a story about a split rim that put a bloke in hospital and now I am spooked.
A healthy level of spooked is exactly right, so keep it. The gear in our trade can kill you: vehicles falling off jacks, spring brake chambers letting go, split rims, raised tipper bodies, hydraulic injection injuries. The good news is every one of those has a known control: stands and props rated for the load, cages and proper procedures for tyre work, isolation and lock out before you work on anything, releasing stored pressure first, never putting your body under anything held only by hydraulics. The old hands who scare you with stories are doing you a favour. Follow the procedure every single time, even when the job is small and everyone is in a hurry, and speak up when someone skips a step. Nobody worth working for will ever punish you for that.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified diesel mechanic
