Ultimate Tech Challenge
TCC held its 7th annual Ultimate Tech competition on May 27th at its training center in Omaha. Trainers Shawn Klein and Kenny Smith coordinated the annual event. This is a fun opportunity for TCC diesel techs to show their stuff and to earn cash awards for their achievements.
In April, #131, or 80%, of TCC’s diesel tech workforce took the Ultimate Tech written exam. The top two test scorers from each TCC dealership location moved on to yesterday’s competition for the live, hands-on challenge. Nine separate workstations were involved. Judges from each station included the service managers from the TCC dealerships.
And, the winners of the 2015 Ultimate Tech challenge were:
1st Place - Ray Wordekemper, Omaha’s On-Highway store;
2nd Place – John Schure, Columbus; and
3rd Place – Mike Paitz, York.
Congratulations, all!
The winners of the individual workstation challenges were:
Brakes: Ray Wordekemper – On Highway
Powertrain: - Ray Wordekemper – On Highway
Electrical: Andrew Schiessl – Lincoln
Engine: Andrew Schiessl – Lincoln
Starting & Charging: Mike Paitz – York
DOT Inspection: Mike Paitz – York
Online Resources: Nicholas Guhde – Vocational
HVAC: Andrew Brown – Salina
5th Wheel: Time Blake – Columbus
Team champions were announced for the first time. That traveling trophy went to the store who had the two highest combined scores from the hands-on challenge. Ray Wordekemper and John Ecis brought that trophy back to their Omaha On-Highway dealership for a year of bragging rights.
That’s only the beginning. Nebraska Trucking Association’s SuperTech challenge, is held July 23rd at Central Community College in Hastings. The winner of SuperTech automatically qualifies to compete at the National SuperTech in September, at Disney World in Orlando. By winning TCC’s UltimateTech Ray is guaranteed a trip to Orlando to compete on the national level, where he would first have to quality through an extensive written exam. Or, if Ray wins at the State level he’d bypass the National qualifying steps.
Lastly, we honor TCC’s tech Jeff Schlecht of our Norfolk dealership. Jeff is a 4-time Ultimate Tech winner, a 4-time State Super Tech winner and a 2-time National Super Tech winner. It’s truly an honor to work with this guy! Jeff is the first TCC diesel tech to join the Ultimate Tech Champions Hall of Fame. He’s no longer eligible to compete in Ultimate Tech, but he can still chase the State and National prizes. Jeff will be in Orlando looking for a 3-peat!
Thank you to our trainers, service managers and volunteers for making this a fun experience for all. You too can see what the experience was like in this short 43 second video. http://youtu.be/qd6ruHgRUko