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Austin Matney has been turning wrenches for as long as he can remember. When he was a little kid, he was always trying to “fix” his bike or skateboard and later helped his dad work on ATVs and UTVs. At age 15, he started working part-time for his now father-in-law at his mobile semi-truck repair business.
“I would do just odds and ends stuff for him after school, trying to learn, and I couldn't get enough of it,” he says.
Then at 17, he got a full-time job working for his now father-in-law’s brother who had an auto repair shop near his hometown in Camarillo, Calif. He worked there during the day and still worked after hours on heavier duty repairs with his father-in-law. After doing this for five years, Matney applied at the City of Ventura in California, where he works now as an equipment mechanic II. (He was promoted two years ahead of schedule). It was his supervisor, Frank Palmer, fleet services supervisor, who nominated Matney for the Motor Age and PTEN Best Young Tech Award because he has been incredibly impressed by this young man since the day he interviewed for the job.
“He blew me away,” Palmer says. “As a 22-year-old, his maturity, knowledge, and awesome attitude are very impressive.”
Matney, now 23, started out doing simple preventative maintenance on basic fleet equipment but quickly displayed his skills. The fleet of 454 pieces and six technicians went from 12 percent preventative maintenance compliance to 98 percent in Matney’s first six months on the job, and they completed 1,007 backlogged repairs. His throughput increased 54 percent since he started at the city about a year and a half ago.
“We all knew what we had to do," Matney explains. "There was a big list of what was behind, so we all got on the same page and upped our workload to a different level than what we were at before,” Matney explains. “Sometimes we would skip breaks to make sure the jobs get done and just putting our heads down and getting through it; working at a lot faster pace than normal, but not without reducing the quality of work.”
Stepping up to the challenge
Over the last six months, Matney has been running the heavy side of Palmer’s shop, and then he was moved over to Fire Apparatus Preventative Maintenance and Repair. This spot is normally reserved for Palmer’s top technician, but Matney stepped up to the challenge “never grumbling or complaining, just showing results.”
For example, Matney has “singlehandedly led the charge” on keeping the city’s one and only ladder truck up and running, Palmer says. This includes several “NASCAR-style” preventative maintenance and repairs in order to get this important piece of equipment back on the road as quickly as possible.
When the truck needed a full transmission replacement, Matney gave Palmer the confidence as a fleet supervisor to let his team do it rather than sending it out to an outside vendor. The team completed the job in eight days versus the nine weeks they were quoted from a vendor.
“I decided to trust my mechanical knowledge, and the guys around me,” Matney says. “I knew as long as we work together and push through it, I knew we could get it done.”
Also, Matney did a full engine swap on an older truck by himself with minimal guidance while also reprogramming the unit utilizing the new Ford diagnostic software. He thoroughly enjoys tackling challenges in this line of work and loves problem-solving.
Matney always wanted to work on fire trucks and really enjoys learning and understanding how they work, in addition to providing a valuable service to his community.
“Helping to make sure our public service workers and emergency vehicles are good on the road and able for their operators to do their jobs — that’s what I am the most proud of about working here,” Matney says.
Work quality
According to Palmer, Matney’s quality of work is that of a seasoned technician. He is a smart, methodical technician that takes his time to ensure his maintenance and repairs are completed properly. Matney has had zero units come back for rework in the past 180 days.
“He continually strives to be the best at his craft,” Palmer says. “I have been in the fleet business for almost three full decades, and he has exceeded all of my expectations in his ability to complete repairs right the first time.”
Matney says he is “almost OCD” about double and triple checking his work to prevent comebacks.
“It’s replaying the process through in my head,” he explains. “Making sure I have every line hooked up, every bolt tightened, no matter if it takes the extra 20 or 30 minutes or so, just making sure that when it leaves our shop it’s in the best shape it can be.”
Attitude
Matney’s “can-do attitude” really sets him apart on the team. Palmer says he is often chosen over more senior technicians to complete complex repairs because of his impressive diagnostic skills, technical prowess, and positive attitude.
“Since I was born, my dad has always instilled a good work ethic in me," Matney says. "Whether it was sports, or school, or any other aspect in life, just giving it 100 percent all the time, and even if things get tough, or you face some adversity, just keep pushing through.”
His father in law had a big influence here as well by always encouraging him to take a step back and look at the job with a clear head.
“It’s important to think things through instead of getting worked up and possibly messing up the job you’re working on,” Matney says. “Being a mechanic, you can face jobs that just get into your head mentally.”
Well-rounded
Matney can be assigned anything in the fleet and has already completed repairs on various types of equipment from lawnmowers, light, medium, and heavy vehicles to first responder emergency vehicles.
He works hard on his administrative duties and has mastered the work order system that was brand new to him before starting at the city. Now, he writes the best work orders in the entire fleet, Palmer says.
Matney is the type of team member that when he sees an improvement that needs to happen, he takes the initiative. Most recently, he identified short comings in a field maintenance vehicle, so he took it upon himself to conduct a full tool inventory, re-organization, and upfit with the right parts and tools that were already located in the shop.
“This will save countless hours of travel for the team during after hour emergency call-outs,” Palmer explains.
Once Matney learns a new procedure, technique, or repair, he is quick to share with his team members. This includes the new tire alignment machine and commercial tire balancing machine. Recently, he identified over a dozen commercial tires that were out of DOT standards and dismantled the wheel/rim assemblies in the matter of an afternoon, ensuring they were ready for disposal and to not be used again.
Ultimately, Palmer says Matney is the cornerstone of the new legacy of the fleet at the city — since 66 percent of technicians recently retired — and he is a breath of fresh air.
“He is the poster child from going from the past days of being a mechanic to being a modern-day technician.”
