As New Zealand struggles in the wake of the recession, a major branch of the transport industry is bucking the trend.

So many giant earth-moving machines and trucks are being sold, there is now a shortage of diesel mechanics and technicians to service them.

Heavy machinery company Gough Group is struggling to find enough skilled staff to meet demand and has run job seminars across the country to fill the vacancies on its books.

Following the two biggest sales in its 81-year-history - supplying $120 million worth of machinery to Solid Energy's Stockton open-cast coal mine near Westport - the company was short of heavy diesel mechanics and technicians, Gough Group CEO Karl Smith said.

"The next three to four years we can see potentially doubling our mechanic population. We're talking 400 plus just to satisfy the New Zealand demand."

The company has 40 vacancies, including 20 for heavy duty mechanics and technicians.

"The Goughs Group is well aware of this skill shortage and is doing everything to both attract and train staff to look after our present needs, and also in anticipation of future growth," Smith said.

The company is the largest employer of heavy diesel apprentices in New Zealand, taking on 13 last year and currently training a further 32 people in its four-year course.

Service engineer Darren Fleck said more mechanics are needed urgently because the shortage is hurting those currently employed.

"If we don't get more mechanics on, the pressure that it puts on a lot of other people in the industry increases. The guys who are in the industry get worked a lot harder," Fleck said.

New Zealand is not alone when it comes to a shortage of diesel mechanics.

"There's significant demand growing from mining and forestry here in New Zealand and globally for that matter. I mean the demand for that qualified technician around the planet is significant today, particularly in Asia-Pacific," Smith said.

Qualified mechanics from New Zealand were lost to Australia and other countries, but a surprising number have come back here.

Fleck said the job of a diesel mechanic can be demanding but it has its benefits.

"You get to do a bit of travel round the country, various different industries, marine, forestry, road trucks. You get the opportunity for a bit of travel round the world as well."

(Source TVNZ)