By Seth Clevenger, Staff Reporter This story appears in the Aug. 27 print edition of Transport Topics.
The top truck technicians from across the country will put their skills to the test at the 2012 SuperTech competition, scheduled for Sept. 10-13 in Pittsburgh.
The eighth annual event takes place during the Technology & Maintenance Council’s fall meeting, where discussion topics will include the technician shortage, spec’ing for fuel efficiency and hybrid powertrain technology.
TMC is a council within American Trucking Associations. Robert Braswell, TMC’s technical director, said this year’s SuperTech will be the largest ever, with 134 competitors.
After completing a written exam, contestants will face a skills challenge with 17 different stations designed to test their abilities in a variety of disciplines, including brakes, tires and wheels, and preventive maintenance.
“The person who’s ultimately going to be the Grand Champion has to perform well in all of those areas,” Braswell said.
TMC Chairman Lee Long said many of these technicians have already advanced through several rounds of competition within their companies or at the state trucking association level.
Long is the director of maintenance for Southeastern Freight Lines Inc., Lexington, S.C.
“These guys are the best of the best, and they are representing their companies as such,” he said.
At last year’s event, Jeffrey Schlecht, a foreman at the Norfolk, Neb., branch of Freightliner dealership Omaha Truck Center, topped 111 opponents to become Grand Champion for the second straight year.
TMC has a “no three-peat” rule, however, so competitors who win SuperTech two years in a row must sit out for a year before they can compete again, Braswell said.
One educational session during the meeting will center on ways that fleets and service providers can respond to a shortage of qualified technicians.
“What we’re finding is the baby boomers are retiring, and the interest in coming into this industry is really not where it needs to be,” Long said.
About 10% of the truck technician jobs at his company, he said, are not filled currently.
“It’s hard to get those positions filled with trained technicians,” Long said. “Usually what we end up having to do is hire people and do the training in-house.”
Braswell said part of the solution is “building awareness that there’s a need and that you can have a really good, successful career in this field.”
One of the reasons TMC started SuperTech was to increase the professionalism of the occupation and fight the negative “grease monkey” connotation sometimes associated with it, he said.
“Really, it’s a very sophisticated kind of a job,” Braswell said. “You’re more likely to deal with a computer these days and a data link than you are with a wrench.”
The fall meeting also will feature a panel of fleet maintenance executives who will discuss how to spec trucks for maximum fuel efficiency in light of upcoming greenhouse-gas pollution standards.
Another session focusing on hybrid powertrain technology for commercial vehicles will feature representatives from the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center’s National Automotive Center, Warren, Mich.
