From the early days of the pandemic, technicians have been on the frontlines ensuring the nation's trucks remain road-ready to help keep the supply chain and the economy moving forward.

The trucking industry will pause this week to celebrate the significant contribution of technicians with the first-ever National Technician Appreciation Week created by the Technology & Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Associations.

Penske will join the effort by recognizing its technicians and customer service representatives, who team up to ensure the company's more than 300,000 units are in top condition.

"At Penske, our technicians play a vital role in helping our customers and business succeed," said Art Vallely, President, Penske Truck Leasing. "We are truly grateful for the outstanding efforts, determination, and the resiliency our technicians have shown during these unprecedented times.

"We are proud to join with the American Trucking Associations in celebrating and recognizing the extraordinary contributions of our technicians and their importance to our industry and the economy," Vallely said.

Driven by Technology

Far from its wrench-turning "mechanic" days, the role of today's technician is driven by technology due in large part to the significant evolution of commercial vehicles.

"When I started in this business 42 years ago, there was nothing electronic on a diesel engine. Fast forward to today, and there is nothing but electronics on a vehicle," said Mike Hasinec, vice president of Maintenance.

Today's technician needs to be well-versed in mechanics and electronics.

"The amount of technology on vehicles today is overwhelming, and it can be overwhelming if you don't have the right technician working on the vehicle," Hasinec said. "When you look at vehicles today, they have the ability to tell us when they are getting ready to break down. And, we rely on our technicians and their skillset to diagnose and repair those vehicles in an efficient and timely manner."

In many respects, technicians are true craftsmen and craftswomen.

"It requires the technician to understand the true diagnostic process. That is really challenging because they have to find and access information that constantly moves, constantly gets updated," said Holly Gerke, director of technical training. "It is almost every day they go to work and what they knew yesterday may be different today. I think the most challenging part of their job is the constant change from day to day, even where to find the information to do their job."

Technician training remains a high priority for Penske despite challenges to instructor-led training opportunities brought on by the pandemic.

"We are working on some technologies that may help us deliver some trainings virtually. It is a process we are taking seriously because we do not want to dilute the experience for our technicians," Gerke said.

"What we know is instructor-led training – having that one-on-one experience for technicians – is very important because we use their tactile senses to enhance learning," she said. "What we are trying to figure out is how we accomplish a similar requirement but in a virtual environment."

Recognizing the multi-faceted nature of the technician role makes having a week dedicated to technicians' impact even more important.

"It's a nice way for our technicians to realize they have so much support from not only the organization but also the entire industry," Gerke said. "For technicians, it brings a sense of community and strength that they may have not experienced before."

Essential Role

At no time has that sense of community come into play than during the pandemic – not just for technicians but also customer service representatives – which is why Penske is taking this week to recognize both roles.

"Our technicians and our customer service representatives are not only essential to our business, we wouldn't be in business if we didn't have them on our team," said Gregg Mangione, senior vice president of Maintenance. "They are doing a great job working with each other and working with our customers."

Technicians are accomplishing this great work, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, which shifted technicians into essential workers from the early days of the pandemic.

"Our people were there, and I think very proudly. They came to work and knew their part in keeping this country running by keeping trucks on the road," Mangione said. "I think we tried as quickly as possible and from day one to make their safety essential and the number one thing we prioritized. After that, we made sure we provided clean and sanitized trucks to our customers. We were not only there to help drivers feel safe, but to ensure our customers felt no interruption in our level of service."

The pandemic's impact was felt by technicians in many ways.

"We asked people to take extra sanitization steps for safety protocols. We had to ask people to start wearing masks and practice social distancing. We had supply shortages with different parts. They had all these challenges," Mangione said. "We asked them to do more things. It made it harder to do the job, and yet they never faltered in taking care of our customers."

Follow Penske on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter this week as we introduce you to our dedicated technicians and customer service representatives who keep our company moving forward.

By Bernie Mixon