ATA kicks off Second National Technician Appreciation Week
To recognize the people who maintain the nation's commercial trucks and vans, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) is holding the second annual National Technician Appreciation Week (NTAW) Sept. 19-24. The event follows the TMC 2021 Fall Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition that took place in Cleveland Sept. 12-16. The first NTAW held last year followed TMC's virtual programming.
"We are very excited to launch the second annual National Technician Appreciation Week, highlighting the professional technicians that are so indispensable to the industry,” said TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell. “Technicians are part of the backbone of the trucking industry...This is the perfect time for our industry and the general public to show their appreciation and say, ‘thank you’ to these important individuals and the valuable work they do.”
The week will also focus on bringing in new talent to the trade, which like many skilled "blue collar" fields, has struggled to fill open jobs. ATA President and CEO Chris Spear mentioned "the chronic shortages of technicians" during his address to TMC members last week.
One key message to attract new technicians will be to show how essential they are the economic health of the country and their communities.
“The work these professionals do are critical to the success of every motor carrier in the country, and without their efforts our trucks wouldn’t be able to deliver the essential goods that keeps our economy running,” Spear stated in a previous announcement.
TMCSuperTech also took place last week, with Chris Tate of Mohawk Trucks winning the title of Grand Champion for the second time in 16 years.
Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, a manufacturer of safety and control systems, also believes NTAW is an important time to recognize technicians.
“Think about it: The ability of every delivery truck to drop off goods in our neighborhoods, every vocational vehicle to move materials in and around jobsites, and every big rig to spirit loads across the country traces back to the professional technicians who help keep these and all other trucks rolling,” said Fred Andersky, Bendix director of government and industry affairs. “We all owe these pros a debt of gratitude, and National Technician Appreciation Week is one opportunity to thank them.”
Bendix offers both in-person and virtual brake schools. The online version, brake-school.com, contains 90 free courses and has more than 110,000 registered users.
