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`Super techies' call
Page 55
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Nigel Lucas, MO of West Yorkshire lveco dealership Northern Commercials, warns that a new breed of highly qualified 'super technician specialising in diagnostics will be needed over the next few years If franchised dealers are to keep pace with the growing sophistication of HCVs.
Our firm will probably need to employ two, or perhaps three," he says. "The truck will go into the diagnostics bay, the diagnostician will identify the fault, the fault will be rectified by a fitter, and the diagnostician will carry out a final check before the truck is returned to the customer."
It will also help when it comes to recruiting youngsters, he believes, because dealers will be able to offer them a more appealing career path: "This business needs well-educated young people, but their parents don't want them to go Into a trade that Involves spending their entire lives getting their hands dirty.
"Becoming a 'super technician' will give teenagers something to aim for," he says.
• Iveco's new Stralis has been received well by Northern's customers, Lucas reports: "We've had a bit of work to do to convince some people that it's the truck to go for, but the fuel returns are exceptional and it's proving to be reliable. It's meant that we've been able to talk to fleet operators who wouldn't have talked to us before.
But he concludes: "We'll have to wait for the 'baby' Stralis to come along however before we start making real inroads into fleet business."