A technician with FedEx Freight was crowned the 2019 Grand Champion in the American Trucking Associations’ annual TMCSuperTech competition help this September in Raleigh, N.C.
Kelby Bentley, who works at FedEx Freight’s field service center in Greensboro, N.C., competed
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Kelby Bentley receives his award as Grand Champion of fleet maintenance technicians at the American Trucking Associations’ recent TMCSuperTech competition
against 86 other service technicians in the final rounds of the Heavy-Duty Track to capture the prize, said a news release from the association’s Technology & Maintenance Council, which conducts the competition.
“This competition features the most skilled and knowledgeable truck technicians the industry has to offer, and this award is a testament to Kelby’s professional talent and a distinguished milestone in his career,” TMC executive director Robert Braswell said in a news release announcing the winners.
FedEx Freight technicians took five of the top eight spots in the competition, including second place finisher Doug Nickles of Rock Island, Illinois.
Winners of other categories in the competition were Joseph Paul of FedEx Freight, in the Trailer Track category; Aaron Burdick of Clarke Power Services, Inc., who placed first in the Light and Medium Track; and Travis Cox of the Lincoln Technical Institute, who placed first in the TMCFutureTech 2019 student competition, sponsored by TechForce Foundation.
“I’m incredibly proud of our FedEx Freight competitors, who delivered another outstanding performance at this year’s TMCSuperTech,” said John Smith, president and CEO of FedEx Freight.
It was the seventh straight year that a FedEx Freight technician has won the grand champion title, noted a news release from the company. It also marked the seventh year running that FedEx Freight captured the team trophy — this time thanks to the combined scores of Bentley and Larry Coatney of Harrison, Ark., who was sixth in the grand champion competition.
FedEx Freight fleet maintenance technicians earned their way to SuperTech by first competing in Top Wrench, the company’s internal skills competition, which this year had more than 660 competitors. FedEx Freight also sponsored five student technicians who competed at FutureTech.