It wasn't a gold medal but it was a golden experience for a team of Prince George mechanics fighting for global truck repair supremacy in Sweden.
Clarence Oosterhoff, Matthew Giesbrecht, Dan Orser, and Tyler Kronebusch are certified master technicians who work at Babine Truck and Equipment, the city's Volvo and Mack truck headquarters. Volvo-Mack holds an annual mechanics contest open to all their dealerships. They have one of the largest networks in the world, with more than 70 countries in the hunt for this award.
The Prince George team passed an online round that qualified them for the North American regional playoffs. They were sent to North Carolina for this head-to-head matchup and won top honours, giving them the only North American berth in the world championship round. That was held this past week at the Volvo headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.
"We placed 11th out of 32 teams from all over the world," said Oosterhoff. "North America has only attended once before and did not place well because they did not know what the competition would be like. We had the benefit of their experience."
The competition was held inside Volvo's massive mechanical and engineering facilities.
"It wasn't so much solving mechanical issues this time as showing that we knew how to find the service information for specific tasks, and knowing how the different systems of the truck operated and how to troubleshoot and repair transmission, engine and brake components," Oosterhoff explained.
Following the competition, the teams were kept together for a few more days of professional development and touring the Swedish countryside. Oosterhoff said the lessons learned and experiences gained by the Prince George team would stand them in good stead for future attempts to win Volvo global gold, but also benefit the growing customer base back in northern B.C.
