At the Top of Their Game

Supply Chain
3 min read

Walmart drivers and technicians show their stuff at national competitions.

Walmart is known for hiring the best of the bestā€”especially on the road. And one of the places our drivers and technicians get to show off their talents is in truck tech competitions held across the country.

 

These transportation ā€œrodeosā€ showcase driving skills as well as technical knowledge of repair. Jacob Gernetzke (pictured above), a shop area manager at Truck Maintenance Garage 7755 in Gas City, Indiana, is a repeat Wisconsin Truck Tech Competition champion.

 

The first year he competed, another Walmart technician won. ā€œWe had, I believe, four of the top five spots,ā€ he says. ā€œThen the next two years running, I took first place, and we had at least two Walmart techs in the top four.ā€

 

At contests for commercial vehicle technicians, competitors are faced with both written and hands-on skills challenges. One skills station might focus on electrical circuits, another on alignment.

Jacob Gernetzke displays his competitive awards.

Many Walmart techs have made history at these competitions: At the Arkansas Trucking Association's Trucking Championship in 2019, Walmart truck tech Brianna Luckman became the first woman in history to win a station (fasteners) at the event. She also placed second in preventative maintenance inspection.

 

Jake says that although he canā€™t compete anymore (with most of his time spent managing, he no longer qualifies), heā€™d like to help judge or coach future competitions. ā€œWe do a boot camp training beforehand to get everybody ready,ā€ he explains. ā€œI'm really looking forward to doing that and helping out whoever's competing.ā€

 

The competitions are a great source of pride for Walmart drivers and techs. Jake said the first year he participated felt ā€œunreal.ā€

 

ā€œI personally haven't been to tech school,ā€ he says. ā€œI've learned pretty much everything on the job. So, I didn't expect to be able to compete with a lot of these guys who had just come out of tech school.ā€

A technician inspects tires

Similar to the technical competitions, the driver competitionsā€”or rodeosā€”include a written portion and a skills portion. Antoine Sadler, a member of Walmartā€™s Road Team, is ā€œonlyā€ a local champion. ā€œThere's really heavy hitters on the team. I'm in the minor leagues compared to them,ā€ he shares.

 

Now, as a Road Team member, Antoine helps drivers prepare to compete by setting up obstacle courses and organizing study groups. ā€œWe go over the different questions that may be on their test for the rodeo competition,ā€ he says. ā€œIt is an awesome, awesome experience.ā€

 

Questions vary from simpleā€”such as ā€œHow many hours can a driver drive daily?ā€ (Answer: 11)ā€”to more obscureā€”"How many trucks were in use nationwide at the start of World War 1?ā€ (Answer: 300,000).

 

Antoine believes the competitions help separate out the truly dedicated drivers. ā€œAre you in it because you love it?ā€ he says. Drivers that are really dedicated, he says, feel ā€œā€˜This is not only my job, it's not just a career, but it's my livelihood. I live and breathe trucking.ā€™ā€

 

Between September 11ā€”17, 2022, weā€™re celebrating our Drivers and Techs. Watch for more stories about the amazing associates who do more than deliver every day!

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