Jeffrey Schlecht at the Omaha Truck Center in Norfolk,
Neb. has been recognized as the nation’s top truck
technician, becoming grand champion for the second
straight year at the recent Technology & Maintenance
Council (TMC) National Technician Skills
Competition.
Schlecht has strong connections to the industry. He is
the son of a retired truck technician and the brother of
a truck driver who started his career as a diesel
technician. The WyoTech graduate gives credit for his
technical abilities to his employer’s training facility
and its efforts to keep all the technicians current on
both basic skills and new equipment.
Although Schlecht did not win any of the individual
skill station competitions as he did last year, he
consistently earned a high score for each station that
netted him the top prize and awards totaling more than
$20,000.
The second-place finisher was John Ragland of FedEx
Express in Kansas City, Kan. Third place went to Ryder
System’s Michael Bogard of Nashville.
TMC, a technical council of the American Trucking
Associations, created the competition through its
Professional Technician Development Committee (PTDC) to
recognize and promote truck technicians.
In addition to the competition, held in
conjunction with the council’s Fall Meeting, technicians
participated in PTDC’s Technician Training Fair that
included six sessions, each eligible for continuing
education credit through the National Automotive
Technicians Education Foundation.
For more information, visit www.tmc.truckline.com.