Young Talents in Maintenance – Mechanic’s Role in Ensuring the Safe Traveling

Eetu is studying mechanical engineering at Oulu University of Applied Sciences, and he also runs a farm on the side. He came first to FleetCare to work as a mechanic for the summer of 2023 and again in 2024.

Most of the work Eetu did was maintenance and fault repair on the Dv12 locomotive. In his previous jobs and on his farm, Eetu is used to working with big machines, but the new venture, locomotives, is still big equipment. The opportunity to learn new things about locomotives and their technology felt inspiring: "It’s really interesting to get to know the locomotives and see how they work outside of theory.”

In addition to the interesting work, Eetu was happy that the team in Oulu was nice. When he started last summer, he received a comprehensive orientation and got a good understanding of how to navigate different situations. Eetu says that calmness and consistency are important qualities when working. Locomotives have complex systems that can fail, and it's important to be able to find the cause of the problem calmly and carefully. A calm approach also reduces the risk of making mistakes and decreases the number of accidents at work.

The work Eetu did had a concrete impact: He ensured that everyone traveling by train had a safe journey and that it was safe to live near the railway tracks. That can be achieved by carrying out maintenance and repairs as carefully as possible, paying particular attention to critical components such as brakes and bogies. This is how the trains are kept on the tracks and accidents are prevented.

"I can contribute to the safety of our tracks with my skills and precision.”

Eetu’s work shifts lasted 12 hours, but long-lasting workdays also meant longer times off. This fitted well with Eetu. As he has a farm to take care of on top of his job, it was nice to be able to schedule farm work during his days off. Longer free time also helped Eetu to balance work and life, which paid off in the long run.

Eetu has encouraged his fellow students and others interested in the subject to apply for a job in maintenance.

"I've been telling the atmosphere at FleetCare is really nice, and people get to do a lot and learn new things. The work is inspiring, at least for me."

Eetu has one year of studies left. After that, he is interested in returning to work for FleetCare. In what role - he doesn't know yet, but time will tell.