U.S. Xpress Technicians Vie for Spot at TMC SuperTech

21 Apr by Vitaliy Dadalyan

U.S. Xpress Technicians Vie for Spot at TMC SuperTech

<img width="150" src="http://www.automotive-fleet.com/fc_images/news/m-jamesteglas.jpg" border="0" alt="

James Teglas, the top tractor winner, takes a closer look. Photo: Deborah Lockridge

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James Teglas, the top tractor winner, takes a closer look. Photo: Deborah Lockridge

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After a two-day competition at U.S. Xpress’ Tunnel Hill, Georgia, facility, five tractor technicians and two trailer technicians will be heading to the national SuperTech competition held by the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council — and the truckload carrier will have more insight into where its techs need more training.

The competition, held April 19-20, was greatly expanded from the first year, approximately doubling the number of competition stations and the number of techs, including adding trailers to this year’s event.

There were three main reasons to stage such a competition, explained Gerald “Gerry” Mead, senior vice president of maintenance. One is to gain knowledge of where the company has weak points in its training. The 30 technicians at the competition were chosen based on their scores on written tests from U.S. Xpress’s 600-plus techs at locations around the country maintaining its fleet of 7,000 tractors and 15,500 trailers. If these top technicians are struggling in a particular area, it’s a safe bet that others are, as well.

Another, Mead says, is simply that “people want to compete. Humans are competitive.” This allows the technicians to test their knowledge and skills and help spur them to ever-greater efforts.

And third, it’s simply about having fun. “Part of working at a company is having fun.” And techs who are having fun in their jobs are more likely to stay with the company. And young people who might be interested in pursuing a career, or techs who might be interested in working at U.S. Xpress, can see what’s happening and become interested as well. In fact, the competition was featured in Chattanooga’s Times Free Press.

The event was patterned after TMC’s SuperTech competition, focusing on the organization’s Recommended Practices rather than …Read the rest of this story

Source:: http://www.truckinginfo.com/channel/maintenance/news/story/2017/04/u-s-xpress-technicians-vie-for-spot-at-tmc-supertech.aspx