Ruan looks forward each July to hosting our Top Technician Competition, which highlights our technicians’ skills and mastery of the industry’s latest diagnostic tools and technologies. Due to COVID-19 and with an abundance of caution, we will replace our in-person competition with a virtual competition in September 2020.
First, our technicians completed an online written exam, consisting of 100 questions that test a range of maintenance knowledge. Congratulations to the following 10 technicians who had the highest scores in the written exam and qualified to participate in the final virtual round of competition:
- Aldo Iturralde, T716 in Clovis, NM
- Timothy Zormier, T409 in Phoenix, AZ
- Andrew Narlock, T735 in San Antonio, NM
- Thomas Soltermann, T702 in Terre Haute, IN
- Timothy Catlett, T461 in Chester, VA
- Paul Velazquez, T709 in Tyler, TX
- Travis Simmons, T733 in Kansas City, MO
- Steven Rodgers, T724 in Cedartown, GA
- James Wheetley, T060 in Cedar Falls, IA
- Vernon Potter, T742 in Wilton, NY
The virtual competition will take place the week of September 14. We will conduct five Microsoft Teams meetings, during which the 10 qualifying technicians, supervised by their service managers, will complete a task or written exam delivered by one of our vendors or team members. The five events will focus on the following maintenance areas:
- Preventative Maintenance Inspections
- Tires and Wheels
- Diagnostics
- Electrical
- Warranty
The top three finishers of the virtual Top Technician Competition will be announced on Monday, September 21. Each will receive a plaque and monetary award.
“We certainly wish we could meet in person for our competition, but the safety of our team members is our top priority,” said Vice President of Fleet Service James Cade. “We did not want the year to go by without recognizing our technicians and understanding our training needs for 2021, which we gauge from the results of the 100-question exam. I’m pleased that our team has found a way to allow our technicians to compete for the Top Tech title despite the external conditions of COVID-19.”