Mohawk Truck Technician Tops at SuperTech 2009
This story appears in the Sept. 21 print edition of Transport Topics.
RALEIGH, N.C. — After four years of learning, technician Christopher Tate, 37, overcame the challenges of 81 competitors, 14 skills station hurdles and a four-hour written test to lay claim to the title of grand national champion of SuperTech 2009.
A Thermo King technician for Mohawk Truck Inc. in the Buffalo suburb of West Seneca, N.Y., Tate has competed in every SuperTech competition since the Technology & Maintenance Council started the event in 2005. He always has placed in the top 10, but at this year’s challenge here, he earned 1,269 points — 84.6% of a maximum 1,500. He took first place in two skills tests and scored highest on the written test en route to finishing first overall.
“It’s gotten easier every year,” Tate said in an interview after the competition.
Though SuperTech tests overall truck maintenance knowledge and skill, Tate said truck repair is not his primary task. Mohawk, he said, sells Thermo King refrigerated units for trailers and also does truck and trailer repairs as an independent shop. So, Tate said he spends about 75% of his time working on reefer units.
“But I’m always looking for something to learn about trucks. Training is key for a technician, especially from his organization, so I’m al-ways reading a technical magazine,” he said.
TMC awarded Tate a trip to the 2010 Daytona 500, $450 in cash, Noregon Systems diagnostic software, a Midtronics Inc. battery analyzer and a Snap-On toolbox so large that 2007 and 2008 SuperTech Champion Bryan Lewis joked, “you could use it as a coffin.”
Tate also offered a piece of bad news for next year’s SuperTech entrants: He intends to return to the competition.
Three of Ryder System’s eight-member team won best honors at a skills station, including Rick Grivel, who took second place overall, and Christopher Barnett, the third-place finisher.
Lewis, the two-time defending champion, is a technician for Wal-Mart Transportation, the private fleet of the giant retail chain. He was asked by TMC to step aside this year to guarantee there would be a new grand champion. Instead, he gave a speech.
He said a successful technician need not be blessed with a vast memory.
“I was told by a mentor, ‘RTB,’ read the book. You don’t need to remember it all, but you do need to learn where to go,” said Lewis, who earned a college degree by attending school part time and fixing trucks full time for Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart, along with Ryder and truck-stop chain TravelCenters of America, takes SuperTech so seriously they sent film crews to follow the progress of their respective technicians in the contest.
“This promotes technician development, continues their education and develops teamwork. Beyond that, it’s also a lot of fun,” said Eric Benge, a regional maintenance manager for Wal-Mart. He said the retailer employs 1,600 technicians at 52 U.S. maintenance facilities. Eleven of them competed here.
“This is the Super Bowl for technicians,” said Jim Reed, director of shop staffing for TravelCenters. His company employs 2,500 to 3,000 technicians at 225 truck stops and sent 12 to SuperTech.
TMC Chairman Steph Sabo said the competition is “an avenue for the best technicians in the country to have their ability recognized and be appreciated for what they mean to transportation. Without the technicians, the trucks couldn’t run.” TMC is a division of American Trucking Associations.
The written test has three components: 100 multiple-choice questions, an open-book section to demonstrate mastery in using TMC’s massive red manual of Recommended Maintenance Practices, and air brakes, where technicians chart the flow of air through a truck’s braking system.
The 14 skills stations, their winners and employers were:
Engine electronics, Ray Worde-kemper, Omaha Truck Center; engine mechanical, Mitch Thielking, Batesville Logistics; starting and charging, Norbert Estrada, TravelCenters; wheel ends, Tate; service information, Tyson Sontag, McKee Foods Transportation; fastener repairs, William O’Brien, Con-way Freight; drivetrain, Thomas Pianalto, Diamond International Trucks; tires and wheels, Tate; repair orders, Richard Zacholl, Swift Transportation Co.; electrical systems, Matthew McRae, Swift; fifth wheels, Grivel of Ryder; trailer alignment, Dean Sehm of Ryder; steering and suspension, Barnett of Ryder; and preventive maintenance inspections, John Ragland, FedEx Express.
