The Tech Challenge is an in-house event held every other year designed to test the skillsets of the company’s truck maintenance technicians through both hands-on and written assessments.
There are two types of entries: a two-person vehicle systems team and individual competitors in the preventive maintenance (PM) event.
“The competitive spirit of the Tech Challenge is quite a sight to behold,” says Bill Jacobelli, Penske Senior Vice President of Maintenance. “Some of our company’s best truck technicians took part in this event, and I commend these outstanding gentlemen for their noteworthy achievements.
The vehicle systems competition mainly measured knowledge of electrical and diagnostics systems. The PM event tested that a truck’s operations were running correctly and that various parts were still functioning properly.
Bob Shaw, 45, and John Crawford, 36, won the vehicle systems event. Shaw is a Lead Technician at the company’s Canton, Ohio, location. Crawford, a Lead Technician, works from Oakwood, Ohio. The winner of the PM competition was David Bridgeman,31, Customer Service Representative 1 from Portland, Ore.
The finals took place recently at a Penske facility in Winston-Salem, N.C. An awards banquet was held at Penske Racing headquarters in Mooresville, N.C., where the finalists were honored and received their prizes.
