NATDATRAILER SHOW
Ask the Expert
Bill Snider Product Training Manager Dexter ®
YouTube experts:“ There’ s More Than One Way to Pack Your Bearings ….” Well … if your hands are responsible for putting vehicles on the road; doing the job right, the same exact way, every single time, is critical.
With Bill Snider on training, consistency, and what dealers can learn at the 2026 NATDA Trailer Show.
As dealers gather in Nashville for the NAT- DA Trailer Show, technical training remains one of the event’ s biggest draws. This year, Bill Snider, Product Training Manager at Dexter ® and recipient of NATDA’ s Educational Award of Excellence, returns as a lead trainer.
We asked Bill why training matters, what dealerships are getting right, and how technicians can continue learning long after the show ends.
Q: The trailer industry is growing, but also faces technician shortages. What separates dealerships that successfully attract and retain technicians?
Bill: The best dealerships don’ t just hire talent. They create systems to develop it.
As America has become more urban, and vehicles have become more complex, fewer individuals are entering the labor market with a basic and practical understanding of mechanics and electrical principles. Too many businesses still rely on what some call the“ school of hard knocks.” A new technician gets handed off to whoever has time to train them and everyone just hopes for the best.
The dealerships that succeed onboard people with a training roadmap, a genuine mentorship program, and a short- and long-term path for advancement. They also recognize that techs have different talents. Some folks are really good at detail work. Some are better at mechanical and throughput work. Others are great with customers, quality control, or safety. The best dealerships make opportunities for all of them.
Q: Why are you so passionate about formal training and certification?
Bill: I learned that lesson on the job.
I already had a mechanical engineering degree and had been a“ car guy” for 20 plus years when I was hired into the axle industry. One day I packed a trailer wheel bearing in front of a customer, and afterward the axle company owner pulled me aside and said,“ Bill, what you did isn’ t the way we do it. You need to let us teach you the right way.”
What he was teaching me was that just because some procedure or trick worked once or twice in your driveway or on the farm, doesn’ t mean it’ ll work 100 jobs in a row.
A shop can easily do 100 jobs a week, if just 1 % of them are put together wrong because someone didn’ t follow a standard process, that’ s more than a quality problem and more than a customer comeback problem. When you are putting vehicles on the road, it can also be a safety problem.
That’ s why certification matters. We are partnering with NATDA to teach more than individual procedures, we are helping dealerships establish their training, mentoring, and service systems. When trailers come in the door; troubleshooting must be done properly, everything gets fixed properly, fixed efficiently, and the dealership management system ensures trailers only can leave when properly fixed …. every time. That’ s what produces quality out the door and stops the callbacks.
Q: How does investing in technician training impact dealership performance?
Bill: In boom economies, dealerships have grown just because product was available. In normal economies and down economies, service and repair are king for continuous business success and expansion. The most successful dealerships I see have service departments that people trust. Customers will drive 100 miles to get work done there because they know the repair will be done correctly.
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