DIM0105C – Diesel Brakes Technician is a 300-hour Postsecondary Adult Vocational (PSAV) course carrying zero credit hours. It is an Occupational Completion Point within Florida's Diesel Systems Technician program.
Heavy vehicle braking is a different discipline from light vehicle braking, and the difference is consequential. A loaded tractor-trailer weighs up to 80,000 pounds, its brakes are air-actuated rather than hydraulic, and the failure modes are unforgiving. Brake defects are among the most frequently cited violations in DOT roadside inspections and a recurring factor in commercial vehicle crashes.
Content centers on the air brake system: the compressor, governor, reservoirs, and air dryer that supply it; the treadle valve, relay valves, quick-release valves, and brake chambers that apply it; and the spring brake system that provides parking and emergency braking — a design in which stored spring energy applies the brakes when air pressure is lost, and which will kill a technician who disassembles a chamber without caging the spring.
Students also cover foundation brakes — S-cam drum brakes and air disc brakes, shoes, drums, rotors, slack adjusters and automatic slack adjuster function, and brake adjustment, which is measured, specified, and inspected.
Beyond air systems the course covers hydraulic brake systems found on medium-duty vehicles, power assist units, antilock braking (ABS) for both air and hydraulic systems, and automatic traction control (ATC).
DOT inspection criteria run throughout, because brake condition is what puts a commercial vehicle out of service.
The course is offered at approximately 16 Florida institutions, predominantly district technical colleges: Daytona State, First Coast Technical College, Fort Myers Technical College, Hillsborough, Immokalee Technical College, Indian River State, Lively Technical College, Lorenzo Walker Technical College, Manatee Technical College, Miami Lakes Educational Center, North Florida Technical College, Orange Technical College, Pensacola State, Pinellas Technical College, Ridge Technical College, and Withlacoochee Technical College.
Florida's Diesel Systems Technician program (FLDOE program number I470605) is a PSAV certificate built as stacked Occupational Completion Points, each separately employable. Manatee Technical College's Diesel Systems Technician 1 is representative, totalling 1,050 clock hours across four courses:
Districts package the framework differently — some split it into "Diesel Systems Technician 1" and "2," and some add OCPs covering suspension and steering, drive train, and preventive maintenance. Every component carries zero credit hours and is measured in clock hours. FLDOE requires an average grade of 80% to earn an occupational completion point — a higher bar than most academic coursework. Full-time day programs run roughly ten months; evening programs take about two years.
Entry is by progression through the program's earlier OCPs, typically including DIM0101 and the electrical coursework, since ABS diagnosis depends on electronic system knowledge. Program admission typically requires a TABE basic skills assessment, safety orientation, and student-supplied PPE.
Program completion is not certification. The industry credential is ASE Medium/Heavy Truck certification, a series of examinations taken independently. ASE requires documented work experience in addition to passing, so students typically test after entering employment. Many employers pay for testing and offer pay differentials for certified technicians. Manufacturer-specific training — Cummins, Caterpillar, Detroit — is also valued and usually employer-provided.
This is clock-hour CTE and does not carry college credit or transfer as general education. Some Florida colleges award articulated credit toward an A.S. in Automotive or Engineering Technology for completion plus industry certification, under local agreements rather than statewide SCNS equivalency. Confirm with the receiving institution.
Diesel technicians supply their own hand tools, and a working set represents a significant investment that grows over a career. Programs typically specify a required starter set; students should budget for it. Employers generally supply specialty and diagnostic equipment.
This deserves stating as plainly as the course states it. A spring brake chamber contains a powerful compressed spring, and disassembling one without caging the spring first releases that energy explosively. Technicians have been killed doing it. The procedure is simple, it is in every service manual, and skipping it is the single most dangerous shortcut in brake work. Instructors treat this as a non-negotiable and students should expect to be removed from the shop for violating it.
Brake condition is what most frequently puts a commercial vehicle out of service at a roadside inspection, and out-of-service orders cost fleets money immediately. A technician who understands CVSA out-of-service criteria — pushrod stroke limits, lining thickness, air loss rates — and can inspect against them is directly valuable to an employer, because they prevent violations rather than repair them afterward.
Commercial driver license applicants must pass an air brakes knowledge test and a pre-trip inspection demonstrating air brake checks. Students completing this OCP have covered that material in far more depth than the CDL requires, which makes obtaining the endorsement straightforward and improves employability — many shops value a technician who can road-test the vehicle they just repaired.
Generated August 31, 2026 · Updated August 31, 2026