How To Become A Diesel Electrician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a diesel electrician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a diesel electrician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $30.33 an hour? That's $63,088 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 50,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDiesel ElectricianUS Average

Salary

4.9

Avg. Salary $63,088

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.6

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.84%

Asian 2.11%

Black or African American 5.89%

Hispanic or Latino 23.24%

Unknown 4.19%

White 63.73%

Gender

female 4.76%

male 95.24%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.8

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.5

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a diesel electrician

Explore diesel electrician education requirements

Most common diesel electrician degrees

Associate

42.4 %

Bachelor's

30.3 %

High School Diploma

12.1 %

Start to develop specific diesel electrician skills

Skills	Percentages
Hand Tools	20.54%
Cranes	14.98%
Electrical Systems	13.21%
Ac Dc	12.42%
Electrical Components	7.92%

Complete relevant diesel electrician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New diesel electricians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a diesel electrician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real diesel electrician resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed diesel electrician usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed diesel electrician in most of states. 25 states require diesel electricians to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	State exam required	Licensed Journeyman Electrician
Alaska	-	State exam required	Electrical Worker
Arkansas	-	Third-party exam required	Journeyman Electrician
Colorado	-	State exam required	Journeyman Electrician
Hawaii	Degree required	State exam required	Electrician

Research diesel electrician duties and responsibilities

Remove, analyze, identify issue install properly working pressure transducers, effectively accomplishing priorities to go underway.
Use schematics to troubleshoot relate electrical problems on locomotives.
Perform schedule and nonschedule electrical inspections in accordance with company and FRA standards.
Maintain, troubleshoot and repair all electrical and electronic locomotive propulsion systems on diesel electric locomotives.

Prepare your diesel electrician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your diesel electrician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a diesel electrician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable diesel electrician resume templates

Build a professional diesel electrician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your diesel electrician resume.