MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Twelve FedEx Freight fleet maintenance technicians will compete in the nation’s premier skills competition for professional commercial vehicle technicians at the Technology & Maintenance Council’s National Technician Skills Competition – TMCSuperTech – next week in Orlando, Florida.
The three-day competition features a three-part written challenge and various hands-on skill challenges. A predetermined number of competitors will advance to a final day of hands-on skill challenges which will determine the Grand Champion.
The skill challenges include work stations which focus on a range of concentrations technicians face in the shop each day. The stations will test competitors’ knowledge of such things as shop safety, preventative maintenance, engines, brakes, electrical systems and more.
Work station champions and the TMCSuperTech Grand Champion will be announced during an awards banquet on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
FedEx Freight fleet maintenance technicians earned their opportunity to represent the company at TMCSuperTech through their performance at the company’s internal skills competition known as Top Wrench. The 12 technicians advancing to TMCSuperTech had the best results among 750 participating FedEx Freight fleet maintenance technicians.
The 12 technicians who will represent FedEx Freight in Orlando are Philip Barlow (Jacksonville, Fla.), Kelby Bentley (Greensboro, N.C.), Larry Coatney (Harrison, Ark.), Mark Galliand (Baton Rouge, La.), Troy Hiatt (Des Moines, Iowa), Mark McLean Jr. (Newburgh, N.Y.), Doug Nickles (Rock Island, Ill.), Joseph Paul (Des Moines, Iowa), Phillip Pinter (Detroit, Mich.), Jamie Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio), Matt Sloan (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Steve Weaver (Rochester, N.Y.).
McLean was the TMCSuperTech Grand Champion in both 2013 and 2014. FedEx Freight has swept the top-three finishes at the past four championships.
“We are extremely proud of the group of technicians who will represent FedEx Freight at TMCSuperTech this year,” said Michael Hoffman, vice president of Equipment and Maintenance at FedEx Freight. “SuperTech, along with our internal competition, Top Wrench, allows our technicians to showcase and hone the skills they utilize to keep our fleet well maintained and running safely each day.”
Also as part of its support of STEM initiatives, FedEx Freight is sponsoring several student technicians, some of whom are military veterans, at FutureTech, TMC’s National Student Technician Competition, which will be held in conjunction with TMCSuperTech.