How To Become A Heavy Vehicle Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a heavy vehicle technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Julia Johnson

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a heavy vehicle technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.27 an hour? That's $38,006 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 10,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a heavy vehicle technician?

Julia Johnson

Professor, Automotive Technology, Skyline College

You will be starting out as a Lube Tech for your first job in the automotive industry. You will be expected to perform maintenance services accurately and within the industry standard timeframe. It may seem like it’s not challenging enough or too repetitive, but you will be expected to prove yourself at this level before you can advance.

ScoreHeavy Vehicle TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,006

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.7

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.80%

Asian 4.97%

Black or African American 9.56%

Hispanic or Latino 20.19%

Unknown 4.23%

White 60.25%

Gender

female 14.59%

male 85.41%

Age - 39

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 - 39

Stress level

7.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.2

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a heavy vehicle technician

Explore heavy vehicle technician education requirements

Most common heavy vehicle technician degrees

High School Diploma

30.8 %

Associate

30.5 %

Bachelor's

15.7 %

Start to develop specific heavy vehicle technician skills

Skills	Percentages
DOT	11.98%
Hand Tools	10.94%
CDL	9.96%
Diagnosis	5.38%
Electrical Troubleshooting	3.87%

Complete relevant heavy vehicle technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New heavy vehicle technicians 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 heavy vehicle technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real heavy vehicle technician resumes.

Research heavy vehicle technician duties and responsibilities

Hire specifically to test and troubleshoot main components and sub assemblies.
Work though rotation of all branches of auto troubleshooting, diagnosis, and repair.
Assign with diagnosis and repair of chassis, electrical, hydraulic and water pump systems.
Inspect, test, troubleshoot, repair and adjust electrical, hydraulic, fire control, mechanical and firing systems.

Prepare your heavy vehicle technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your heavy vehicle technician 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 heavy vehicle technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable heavy vehicle technician resume templates

Build a professional heavy vehicle technician 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 heavy vehicle technician resume.