Alabama Truck Technician Wins TMC Skills Competition

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ING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. — In an event designed to spotlight both an industrywide shortage of heavy-truck technicians and the skill levels the vocation demands, dealership technician Steven Talmadge outperformed 66 other competitors to win the first national skills contest for truck technicians.

Talmadge, who has worked for 15 years with Premier Truck Centers in Alabama, a Mack Trucks, Volvo and GMC dealership, won the championship based on his overall performance on a written test and at nine diagnostic workstations.

The contest was held during the fall meeting of the Technology & Maintenance Council here last week.

Trucking executives and technicians attending the conference said a shortage of new technicians and high turnover of existing technicians troubles the industry.

Contest chairman George Arrants estimated the trucking industry would have a shortage of 20,000 to 25,000 technicians a year for the next 10 years.