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The differences between heavy duty mechanics and shop technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a heavy duty mechanic and a shop technician. Additionally, a heavy duty mechanic has an average salary of $49,563, which is higher than the $36,798 average annual salary of a shop technician.
The top three skills for a heavy duty mechanic include CDL, hand tools and preventive maintenance. The most important skills for a shop technician are preventative maintenance, routine maintenance, and diagnosis.
| Heavy Duty Mechanic | Shop Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $49,563 | $36,798 |
| Hourly rate | $23.83 | $17.69 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 51,609 | 150,349 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 39% | High School Diploma, 30% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Heavy-duty mechanics are skilled employees who are responsible for providing repairs and maintenance of mobile heavy-duty construction equipment. These mechanics must perform inspections on equipment such as bulldozers, cranes, and other heavy construction equipment to detect faults and malfunctions to ensure proper performance. They must test the repaired equipment to ensure that the repair works meet the specifications of the manufacturers. Heavy-duty mechanics must also provide a safe working environment and take special precautions to protect themselves against work-related injuries.
Shop Technicians are skilled workers assigned to a retail store. Their main activities depend on the nature of the business their company is in. Usually, Shop Technicians work with machines in the shop. They conduct repair and maintenance work for machines that have long been in the shop. They are also in charge of installing and building new machines as well. Shop Technicians are assigned to manage records of such machines or s other mechanical items in the store. This is part of the administrative activities they may do for the shop.
Heavy duty mechanics and shop technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Heavy Duty Mechanic | Shop Technician | |
| Average salary | $49,563 | $36,798 |
| Salary range | Between $36,000 And $66,000 | Between $25,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Leandro, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Granite Construction | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Construction | Energy |
There are a few differences between a heavy duty mechanic and a shop technician in terms of educational background:
| Heavy Duty Mechanic | Shop Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 39% | High School Diploma, 30% |
| Most common major | Automotive Technology | Automotive Technology |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between heavy duty mechanics' and shop technicians' demographics:
| Heavy Duty Mechanic | Shop Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 95.8% Female, 4.2% | Male, 91.9% Female, 8.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 2.4% White, 64.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 2.4% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 2% | 2% |