Jorge Rocha, a Burleson, Texas technician who has worked for Terex Utilities, a work truck manufacturer, for 19 years is the company’s first-place winner for its national technician skills competition. The finals took place in August at the Terex Utilities headquarters in Watertown, South Dakota.
During the final competition, each service technician performed an annual inspection and function testing of a digger derrick and chassis, in which rodeo officials planted nine defects. In all, there were 119 inspection items. Technicians were scored on finding defects that relate to the manufacturer specifications and the accuracy of their report, with clear notations referenced.
Read more: Zeus displays Terex all-electric bucket truck on CARB-ready chassis“We launched the Terex Tech Rodeo this year as a way to showcase our highly skilled workforce, and to create an opportunity to build camaraderie among our team members,” said Cody Curran, training specialist, Terex Utilities.
Doug Shaw, representing the Waukesha, Wisconsin branch, placed second in the competition, and Monte Stemwedel from the Phoenix, Arizona Terex Utilities Service Center finished third. Morgan Harris, a field service technician from Castle Rock, Washington, was the fourth finalist but was unable to compete in the champion round.
In addition to his skills as a technician, Rocha enjoys fabricating non-structural items that are needed for a current job but that may not be available in a timely fashion.
“As a mechanic, you don’t have all the answers to solve daily tasks, but as a technician, we have to be willing to acquire knowledge from different sources and people” to work through the problems, said Rocha.
