Commercial vehicles today are mobile marvels of safety, efficiency and leading-edge technology. And it takes an army of talented technicians to keep them rolling safely and help support their drivers as they keep America moving. 

This National Technician Appreciation Week, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC (Bendix) celebrates and thanks the maintenance professionals whose around-the-clock efforts are vital to the trucking industry and the nation’s economy. 

Sponsored by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC), the third-annual National Technician Appreciation Week takes place Oct. 2-8. The week comes on the heels of this year’s ATA TMC fall meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, and its TMC SuperTech skills competition for professional commercial vehicle technicians.

“Without trucks, America stops – and without technicians, trucks stop,” said Fred Andersky, Bendix director – government and industry affairs. “And we’re not just talking the big rigs on the freeway: School buses, cement mixers, fire and rescue vehicles, garbage haulers, and those ever-present package delivery vans – every single one of them is kept rolling by dedicated professionals whose skills enhance the safety of their drivers and the roads we all share. We’re incredibly grateful for all they do.” 

Bendix – the North American leader in the development and manufacture of active safety, air management, and braking system technologies for commercial vehicles – was a sponsor of this year’s SuperTech competition and its wheel-end station. Bendix Supervisor of Technical Service Training, Brian Screeton, and Co-Chair of Technical Service, Kevin Pfost, helped develop the wheel-end station challenge, with Screeton on-site to serve as a judge during the competition.

“We really appreciate the chance to see these technicians at work – and honestly, we look forward to presenting them every year with a real test of their skills, because what they do is so impressive,” Screeton said. “Here’s to this year’s winners and everyone who skinned their knuckles and earned their spots in Cleveland.” 

A Wealth of Training Resources

For more than five decades, Bendix has led technician support efforts across the commercial vehicle industry, including its long-running Brake Training School. In-person and online, Bendix offers training opportunities for fleet technicians, owner-operators, and anyone else aiming to sharpen their skills in keeping vehicles on the road and in safe operating condition.

The Bendix On-Line Brake School, at www.brake-school.com, offers 100 free courses covering the full range of braking and active vehicle safety system product topics, from overall education on product features and operation to troubleshooting, diagnostics, and maintenance best practices. Launched in 2013, the site is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and has attracted more than 130,000 registered users. In addition, Bendix develops customized training channels to offer specialized programs on the site, serving all segments of the commercial vehicle industry.

Bendix also maintains an archive of post-sales product support and insight at its Knowledge Dock, knowledge-dock.com, providing Bendix Tech Tips, podcasts and expertise. Additionally, the company’s YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/user/bendixvideos – includes a library of Bendix Tech Talks and other resources. Service manuals, product training documents, installation instructions, and more can be found in the document library at B2Bendix.com.

“As a field service guy myself, it’s awesome when I walk into a shop and someone says they’ve been watching our videos and they have some questions,” Pfost said. “And we listen to them: If they’re struggling with something or have thoughts on how we could explain something better, then we take that information to heart and see how we can improve our support.”

Field-tested sales and service professionals form the heart of Bendix’s training education programs, along with its veteran field technical support team and the Bendix Tech Team at 1-800-AIR-BRAKE (1-800-247-2725) – an expert technical support group providing service advice, brake system troubleshooting, and product training.