Dealing in diesel: Wareham resident awarded for mechanical knowledge

It’s not uncommon for a young boy’s eyes to light up when a big truck comes rolling down the street and Wareham resident John Harrigan was no different. Except now, he plans on turning a childhood passion into a full time career.

“I think trucks are cool,” Harrigan said. “I live across the street from a concrete place and they always got cool trucks going in and out.”

Harrigan is studying automotive engineering at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School and recently put his mechanical skills to the test in the SkillsUSA Massachusetts diesel equipment competition. The competition puts 10 students from across the state in several workshops focusing on diesel engines. Whoever demonstrates the strongest understanding is given first place.

The competition was hosted by Advantage Truck Group, a Shrewsbury based semi-truck dealer and Harrigan placed second in the state, despite only being a sophomore.

“I was pretty excited but I think I should’ve done better and got first,” Harrigan said. “I think if I trained a little bit more I could have gotten first.”

Harrigan described the competition as “awesome” and said he got to work on several different aspects of diesel equipment such as air brakes and engine diagnostics.

In order to earn one of the 10 available spots in the competition, Harrigan had to go through a series of online tests, which he outperformed everyone in his district in.

“I tell him he should be very proud of himself because as a sophomore, he placed second in the state against other students who come from diesel programs,” said Upper Cape automotive teacher David Aguiar.

Unlike some of the other students Harrigan competed against, he does not come from a diesel specific program at Upper Cape. Instead, he used what he learned in his automotive classes and his real world experience as an intern with Advantage Truck Group.

Harrigan said he spent two weeks as an unpaid intern with the group at their Raynham location and learned a lot about air brakes and diesel diagnostics.

“My last week I was there we were doing brakes on a dump truck and they taught me a lot about the air brakes systems and I had never worked with air brakes before then,” he said. “Now I have a good concept of how they work.”

Despite knowing his way around engines, Harrigan does not have his license yet but Aguiar said that didn’t stop him from seizing the opportunity in Raynham.

“Upper Cape provided the transportation and he volunteered his time at Advantage Truck Group just trying to get his foot in the door,” Aguiar said. “Not many students would go out to a facility without being paid.”

Harrigan still has two more years to earn the top spot in the competition, which he said is a goal of his.

“I think the biggest thing I struggle with is electrical and I need to learn a little bit more about air brakes but I think I’ll be working on trucks for a long time,” Harrigan said.