Abe Wall of IRL Truck Centre in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada, recently was named the winner of the first-ever “International Truck and Engine Technician Rodeo,” hosted by International Truck and Engine Corp.
The rodeo, held April 12 at International’s Melrose Park Engine Plant in Melrose Park, Ill., featured the top eight service technicians from International dealerships across North America in a competition designed to test their skills in eight key areas of servicing a commercial truck. Competition stations included mock service areas for air conditioning, brakes, drive train, electrical and preventative maintenance. Station areas also were dedicated to I-6, V-8 and V-6 engines.
“Mr. Wall demonstrated the highest knowledge and skill and was honored as the winner,” says Vaughn Allen, vice president of product and customer support for Warrenville, Ill.-based International. “Each of the technicians went head-to-head in a hands-on test of their technical skill and speed. Throughout the day, their training was put to the test as they navigated their way through vehicle issues at eight stations where they diagnosed and fixed problems.”
Technicians involved in the competition are either ASE certified or Canadian-provincial certified in addition to Diamond certified, International’s official certification program for its service technicians. Participants were selected from an overall group of the top 400 technicians at International dealerships. Those 400 were narrowed down through online testing, and the highest-scoring technicians in each region of the United States and Canada were selected for the rodeo.
“Those chosen for this competition have done all of the training and are at the top of their game,” says John Koenig, International’s manager of dealer education and development. “They represent our 7,000-plus service technicians from International dealerships, the highest number of any medium and heavy commercial truck manufacturer.”
Technicians who competed in the technician rodeo were from the following dealerships:
