Technicians from Babine Truck & Equipment in Prince George, Canada, achieved first place in the semifinals of the 2012-2013 Volvo Trucks North American VISTA World Championship.
This competition, held biennially, honors the exceptional skills of service personnel working at Volvo dealerships. With their top finish, Babine Truck & Equipment has earned a place among the elite 32 teams globally and will compete in the World Finals on June 25, 2013, in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The winning team—Tyler Kronebusch, Dan Orser, Matthew Giesbrecht, and Clarence Oosterhoff—excelled among 208 teams representing Volvo dealers across North America. All four team members hold the designation of Volvo Master Technicians, the highest certification for service professionals, which typically requires over two years of experience, more than 115 hours of training, and successful completion of numerous assessments.
The VISTA 2012-2013 (Volvo International Service Training Award) commenced in August 2012 and consisted of three stages of online competitions featuring technical queries. The competition was narrowed down to five finalist teams from the U.S. and Canada who then traveled to Volvo Trucks’ North American headquarters in Greensboro, N.C. for the final round. The other finalist teams included M & K Quality Truck Sales from Byron Center, Mich.; Burr Truck & Trailer Sales from Vestal, N.Y.; Truck Enterprises Inc. from Harrisonburg, Va.; and Mobile Fleet Service from Yakima, Wash.
During the finals held in Greensboro, the finalists showcased their expertise in service and parts literature, demonstrating their skills in locating parts and service information within the Volvo system. They also tackled troubleshooting pre-determined faults on two Volvo trucks and a Volvo D13 engine.
Competing in this event demands significant commitment. Each of the five finalist teams dedicated up to 34 hours to additional training during the competition preparation phase. As Matthew Giesbrecht from Babine emphasized, the best preparation comes from their daily work. “We must remain observant of every truck coming into our shop, diagnose issues accurately, fix them to the best of our abilities, and ensure customer satisfaction,” he stated.
The VISTA competition, which began as a national event in Scandinavia in 1957, transitioned into a global competition in 1977. It is open to all aftermarket employees in the service network. This year, a total of 16,710 participants from 4,391 teams across 93 countries took part in the competition.
