Two years ago, four Prince George truck mechanics proved they were among the best in North America at fixing Volvo rigs.
This year, the same four have done it again for Mack rigs.
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. They dominated the continent in Volvo's intramural mechanics competition and now they have replicated their feats on the Mack machines.
In 2013, the team won the regionals, won the continentals and represented North America in Sweden at the worlds. Volvo has dealerships in 70 countries, 32 of them sent teams and the Babine team placed 11th overall that year.
Wanting a new challenge, and inspired by their Volvo success, the Babine team turned their attention to the Mack division of the company.
"The Mack and the Volvo, prior to when the two companies merged in 2000, were totally different products," said Oosterhoff. "I've been working at Babine for 25 years, so it was all Mack back then. Since they got together there has been some streamlining in the manufacturing. Some things are interchangeable between the two brands and some things remain different. As the mechanic at a joint dealership, you have to keep your focus on both lines, but I think that's an advantage in competitions like this, because you've had to do your homework."
As with their successful run in the Volvo tournament, this journey started with an online component. The four had to solve mechanical puzzles and prove their theoretical knowledge via web-link to the competition masters at the Mack headquarters in the United States.
Babine's foursome came out of that process in the top five group of finalists this past week. They were tops in Canada and were joined by teams from Missouri, Maine, Florida, and Washington. These five crews now get a trip to a live head-to-head throwdown.
"These five teams have proven their mettle and earned their place as competitors for the Mack Masters Champion title in Allentown, Pennsylvania from June 14-16," said senior company executive Richard Ferguson. "Each team member has invested a significant amount of time and effort in this competition, and each is considered to be among the best of service, parts, warranty management, and customer service professionals.
"This intense and performance-oriented portion of the competition requires teams to work together in timed training activities to solve problems and answer questions in a variety of parts-, service-, and warranty-related competition stations," Ferguson added.
Oosterhoff said the competition is itself a level of training the participants receive, plus the personal development associated with any travel and networking experience. The Babine team hopes to get some up-close and behind-the-scenes views of the Mack manufacturing facility while they are there, so they bring maximum value back to their clients in the Prince George region.
