TravelCenters of America LLC operator of the TA® and Petro Stopping Centers® travel center brands, has once again earned honors at the Georgia and Ohio State SuperTech Skills Competitions. Three technicians from TA Truck Service facilities throughout Georgia placed in the top three, beating out 37 other competitors. In Ohio, a Petro:Lube technician placed first overall, ahead of 17 others. These wins represent the commitment TA and Petro have to seek to hire the best technicians and provide them with comprehensive training in order to have the best truck service maintenance and repair centers on the highway.
The state competitions are modeled after the American Trucking Associations Technology & Maintenance Council annual TMCSuperTech Skills Competition, an elite competition that brings the best truck service and repair technicians from U.S. original equipment manufacturers, trucking companies and repair facilities together to compete nationally. The competitions consist of written tests and nine hands-on skills challenges, including wheel-end, engine diagnostics, brakes, preventive maintenance, and more. The challenges are designed to help technicians improve their knowledge and skills. Winners are selected for each station, as well as overall scores.
Winners were announced for the Georgia competition on August 1 in Perry, Georgia. All three TA technicians that won are ASE-Certified Master Technicians. Joe Anderson from TA Commerce, Georgia, won two of the skills stations and placed first in the overall competition. Mike Gavrielides of TA Madison, Georgia, also won two stations and finished second overall with a total score just 4 points lower than Anderson’s. Jeremy Rauscher of TA Cartersville, Georgia, the first place winner in the 2013 Georgia competition, placed third overall.
The Ohio Skills Competition took place on August 9 in Lima, Ohio. Jim Kirtley, an ASE-Certified Master Technician at Petro New Paris, Ohio, placed first, making it his second consecutive year winning the Ohio competition. This year, he also won three of the Skills Stations. A second ASE-Certified Master Technician, Mike Solvey, from Petro Girard, Ohio, won two of the Skills Stations at this competition.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our techs who took part in, and won, these competitions,” shared Tom O’Brien, President and CEO of TravelCenters. “Their hard work and dedication is being recognized, deservedly. What also shows is the commitment TA and Petro have to providing quality truck service though quality technicians. This means our techs receive in-depth training in order to complete work orders correctly, the first time, to keep our customers rolling,” he added.
In addition to the state competitions, TA and Petro have set up an in-house skills competition to train and prepare technicians going to the annual TMCSuperTech competition, being held this year in Orlando, Florida, in September. The internal competition, held earlier this month, turned out 12 ASE-Certified Master Techs, who will compete in Florida at the 10th Annual TMCSuperTech competition.
TA Truck Service and Petro:Lube technicians are distinguished by more than 1,500 ASE Certifications they have qualified for as a combined truck service/repair network. The network has a total of 235 truck service facilities, more than 1,000 repair bays, and more than 2,500 technicians. Additionally, there are more than 1,500 RoadSquad Connect™ emergency roadside assistance vehicles, including over 400 RoadSquad vehicles owned by TravelCenters and operated by its technicians nationwide. TA Truck Service, Petro:Lube and RoadSquad services are available 24/7/365.
