Jack Lancaster is the MTA Institute Apprentice of the Month for August 2023.
The 22-year-old is in the third year of his auto-electrical apprenticeship and works for Kinetic Fleet Services in Mackay, which services and maintains the buses and coaches for the Kinetic transport fleet in the region.
Jack started his career as a technical assistant at Greyhound Resources – a transport business focused on the mining sector – in Brisbane before moving to that company’s workshop in Mackay to start his apprenticeship. Kinetic would subsequently acquire that company in 2021 with Jack continuing his training with the new company.
2023 has been an interesting year for Jack, with Kinetic – Australia and New Zealand’s biggest bus operator – bringing two all-electric buses to its Mackay routes earlier this year. As an auto-electrical apprentice, that has given Jack the opportunity to get a close look at the technology that will play a major role in the future of the automotive industry, and he has already been able to travel to China to visit the factory of the vehicle manufacturer, Yutong, for a week-long training program.
“When the buses turned up, the question around the workshop was who was going to work on them?” said Jack. “I kept asking whether I could get high-voltage training so I could work on them and out of the blue I got a call from the boss saying would I like to go to China to the Yutong factory in Zhengzhou.
“There were 11 people in total on that trip – including four, I think, from Kinetic in Sydney and the Gold Coast – and I was the only person from Mackay.
“We did the factory tour and completed some theory work, and they showed us everything – from the battery packs and how they worked, how they were wired, the buses and how they operate and even the air con side.”
The result of his trip is that Jack is keen and ready to go to work on the technology – once the brand-new buses actually require some maintenance and service – with any worries he might once have had about high-voltage work now a thing of the past.
“I really wanted to do it, but I was nervous,” he said. “However, now I have done it and I know, for example, what wire does what and so on, it is actually pretty simple. It is exciting to be at the forefront of it.”
Jack’s interest in the electrical side of automotive started at a young age. He was, he said, always interested in how wiring and electricity could make things work.
“I just like wires!” he said. “I used to get those kits from Jaycar that you’d have to solder together. I’d buy them and tinker about with them and then, when I was older, I would be doing stuff on the Subaru that I had at the time, and so on.”
It’s an interest that will be extremely useful as the industry – from two-wheel scooters to the heaviest of heavy goods vehicles – shifts to an all-electric, battery-powered future.
“It’s the way things are going. Everything is going electric, and this is one of the trades to be in – there’s certainly a future in that trade,” said Jack.
For the moment, Jack will continue to train to service and maintain Kinetic’s bus and coach fleet – including those two new electric buses when they require it – and do the jobs that come his way in the workshop. As well as the regular electrical upkeep of the fleet, those jobs include installs, which he particularly enjoys, of items such as camera, tracking, driver fatigue monitoring, and digital UHF systems.
Always looking to increase his knowledge and skills, Jack is aware that working for a major national company such as Kinetic can offer plenty of opportunities to train and establish a long career just about anywhere in Australia.
“High-voltage systems is what I am leaning towards working on, but being able to work on diesel and electric buses means you can go anywhere, and Kinetic have locations across the country.”
The MTA Institute Apprentice of the Month is proudly sponsored by Spirit Super.
