Representatives of the Technician of the Year award sponsor companies congratulate Tyson Sontag of McKee Foods Transportation on receiving the 2006 award. Pictured from left to right: Alex Massey – Director, Regional Sales, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC; Gary Smalley – President/CEO, Dayton Parts, LLC; Tyson Sontag – award recipient; Mike McGrath – President, SKF Vehicle Service Market, North America; and Brian Bowerman, North American Sales Manager, Haldex.
LAS VEGAS, NV — Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, Dayton Parts, LLC (DP, LLC), Haldex and SKF recently announced Tyson Sontag as the 2006 Technician of the Year award recipient at the HDAW Awards Program and Reception. Sontag is a technician for McKee Foods Transportation LLC., located in Gentry, AR.
Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, Dayton Parts, LLC (DP, LLC), Haldex and SKF collaborated in March 2005 to create the Technician of the Year Award program.
The group implemented the program to recognize a fleet’s superstar technician who exemplifies the best qualities of the profession, including his or her technical and mechanical experience, service specialties and overall contributions to the industry.
Serving the heavy duty repair industry for 13 years, Sontag has achieved various honors that qualify him as an excellent selection for the Technician of the Year award. He is a certified Master Heavy Duty Technician (ASE) and is a member of the Arkansas Trucking Association’s Maintenance and Technology Council. Additionally, Sontag serves on the American Trucking Associations Professional Technicians Development Committee where he won the National Technician’s Championship. Sontag also won the TMC SuperTech 2006 National competition.
Jim Robertson, fleet maintenance superintendent of McKee Foods Transportation LLC., cited Sontag as a technician “who works hard each day at improving his technical expertise.” Robertson also noted, “Tyson challenges his peers to increase their technical and professional abilities so that they may become the best technicians possible. He also works with our junior technicians to help them improve their technical skills.”
Sontag’s nomination form acknowledged his efforts in improving the repair techniques at McKee Foods Transportation. He manufactured a bracket that enables the technician to rotate the transmission in such a way that the bracket doesn’t have to be removed during repair or rebuild. Sontag also fabricated a tool to enable technicians to remove and replace the EGR heatshield and valves in a significantly shorter time.
An independent panel of judges extensively reviewed the pool of nominations. The panel consisted of heavy duty trucking experts holding backgrounds in various areas of the industry – from nationally recognized heavy duty trucking magazine editors to former fleet managers to heavy duty aftermarket product manufacturers.
For more information on the Technician of the Year Program, its winner and its sponsors, visit www.techoftheyear.com.
