Natural Gas Vehicle Institute (NGVi), North America's leading provider of training and consulting services related to natural gas as a transportation fuel, sponsored and managed the CNG workstation at the Technology & Maintenance Council's (TMC) annual SuperTech skills competition, held September 9-12 in Pittsburgh. This workstation, testing competency on CNG systems, is the first ever in TMC SuperTech competition history.
SuperTech is a national high-level skills competition between the industry's top maintenance technicians who go through a variety of mechanical, electrical and electronic troubleshooting and problem-solving tests, using vehicles provided by sponsoring fleets and manufacturers. This year's competition included 25 workstations, and 130 technicians from around the U.S. competed for top honors among their peers.
"Maintenance technicians play a valuable role in ensuring safe, well-maintained fleets," said George Arrants, chairman of the competition for the past fifteen years and also Customer Solutions Manager at NGVi. "We are proud to honor their skills by identifying the best of the best."
NGVi's CNG skill station involved three elements: a written examination covering topics an NGV technician would be expected to know, identification of commonly found parts on natural gas vehicles, and an inspection of a damaged CNG cylinder. Nearly 50 fleets participated in the CNG station's activities including Ryder System, Inc., Travel Centers of America, Walmart, FedEx Express, Swift Transportation Company, Petro Lube and FedEx Freight.
"We are honored to be a part of such a prestigious event and pleased to be the organization to introduce CNG skills to the competition," said Annalloyd Thomason, General Manager of NGVi. "Although we saw an extremely high level of skill at the competition, natural gas vehicles significantly differ from diesel powered vehicles and it is crucial that technicians are properly trained to safely and competently maintain these technologies," she added.
For more information, contact NGVi at 800-510-6484 or [email protected].
