Ron Crisp, director of technician recruiting and development, and Daniel Lowery, regional technician recruiter, Rush Enterprises.Halfway through the competition Monday, Charles Tatavitto, a 19-year-old technician at Rush Truck Centers – Orlando, and Jared Little, a 27-year-old tech at Rush Truck Centers – Dallas, said they had mostly gotten beyond their nervousness.
Tatavitto and Little were two of 12 techs competing in the Rising Star competition, which is part of Rush Enterprises’ Tech Skills Rodeo, being held in San Antonio. The competition consists of 13 stations to test various abilities such as preventative maintenance inspections and failure analysis, among many others.
Rising Star competitors must have two years or less of experience, according to Ron Crisp, director of technician recruiting and development, Rush Enterprises. “They are true entry-level techs. And they can’t compete in this again. It’s one and done. Once they compete in Rising Star, they have to go to the big competition after that,” he added.
Crisp said the idea of Rising Star, now in its fifth year, is to enable lower level techs the opportunity to share some of the same experiences at the Tech Skills Rodeo as Rush Enterprises’ more seasoned techs.
“The overall outcome of Rising Star is getting word of mouth out to the dealerships as far as what the Rodeo is all about and how we feel about our technicians as a foundation of the company,” Crisp says.
Daniel Lowery, regional technician recruiter, Rush Enterprises, said Rising Star “increases morale, it increases retention … and it gives them hope there’s a future in the industry with our company.”
Charles TatavittoTatavitto, who has been with Rush Truck Centers for a little over a year, said he got involved because he heard how much fun the Tech Skills Rodeo event is.
“They told me, ‘You really need to try this. It’s a great opportunity and you’ll really enjoy yourself with the people you meet,’” he said.
Tatavitto said he’s always liked trucks and, as far as being a tech, he enjoys not seeing the “same truck over and over again. There’s always going to be that guy who has something custom on his truck.”
Prior to the start of Rising Star, Tatavitto admitted to being anxious. “I was nervous because I didn’t know what my competitors knew and I didn’t completely know what the competition was about. You’re nervous because you want to do well. You just do the best you can,” he said, adding that Rush employees and fellow competitors have been supportive.
Tatavitto said, ultimately, winning the Rising Star competition isn’t as important as participating. “Winning is nice but at the end of the day I still made it here, so I won because I got to come here and experience it,” he said.
Jared LittleAfter opting for a career change, Little has been with Rush Truck Centers for six months.
“The first three months I did one-on-one mentoring time, so I essentially shadowed a master tech. The last three months I have been working on my own tickets, mostly engine work,” he said.
Although he grew up in a family that worked on cars as a hobby, the industry’s size and stability is what drew him to trucking.
He got involved with Rising Star out of curiosity. “You take a qualification test online and I apparently did well,” he said.
“I am very grateful for the overall experience, but it would definitely be great if I got to take home the prize money,” he said. “It’s a great experience, not just for the new knowledge, but the networking. It’s nice to meet people on our level, like other Rising Star [participants], but it’s also nice to meet other professionals in our [industry].”
