TMC REACHES OUT TO TECHNICIANS

      The Technology and Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Assns. has created a Professional Technician Development Committee. Its purpose is to encourage interest and foster growth in a commercial vehicle career path for technicians.
      TMC's new chairman, Mike Jeffress, was one of the people behind this effort. "What I wanted to accomplish was to create a formal place for educators, fleet people, technicians - the whole industry - to come together and sit down and talk about our challenges and issues, and come up with a directions on how we're going to go about resolving those issues."
      The council is reaching out to get technicians involved in a group that has traditionally been the province of maintenance vice presidents. Technician membership fees are $75, which includes a special version of TMC's Recommended Practice Manual, a patch denoting membership, a monthly newsletter, discounts on TMC meeting registration and products, as well as participation in negotiated tool discount programs. There is also a student-level membership for $30.
      The committee has worked closely with TMC staff to create a technician track for the TMC Fall Meeting in September in Nashville, which offers specific training sessions in addition to the technical sessions of the equipment track.
      By next fall, the committee plans to hold its first Skills Contest, designed as a culmination of state competitions held by state trucking and maintenance organizations.
      Future efforts, Jeffress says, will work on technician training standards/practices, career road maps, and how to work with the educational system.

Recruiting and Retaining continued...