This isn't just detroit diesel, it's across the board. Diesel mechanics as a group are mostly in their 50's-70's and more are retiring by the day. As an example of what's happening right now, Lamb's where I dock had an old-school guy who an inframe rebuild was a few days' inconvenience for. He was top notch. He retired after them repeatedly begging him not to. The guy they had been training for years and had sent to all the manufacturer's certification schools got an offer for more money somewhere else and bailed. Now they have no mechanic, they just give you a list of outside people you can call until they figure the situation out or something changes.
Sadler point is maybe a thousand feet down the river, same thing happened to them. Brooks spent years and the better part of $100k training his mechanic's replacement, and after getting all the training the guy bailed and moved out of state for a higher offer that he would have matched, but the guy just left and he never had the chance. It's so competitive that it's impossible to keep help no matter what you do. During COVID basically half the country bought a boat, demand has exploded.
The bigger issue is the vicious cycle. For an entire generation from the 1980's and 1990's it wasn't societally "acceptable" to go to a trade school. I was born in 1981, I went to college and grad school and so did all my friends. My parents would have shot me if I said otherwise. There is a very large hole in the skilled labor pool that isn't quickly filled.
Adding to all of that, like that's all not enough, the supply chain shortages have made it to where half the time it already takes 2 months to get them to come look at it, and once they get there there's nothing they can do but tell you what's wrong with it, because it takes many more months to get the parts.
It's looking like this is all going to get worse before it gets better.
they’re supposed to Be technicians nowadays 
