SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — A Quebec technician has been won the Top Service Technician Award at the 2011 Navistar Service-Technician Rodeo. Luc Ouellet of Camions International Elite in Quebec City won the top prize along with American service technician Tom Marty Mid-Sate Truck in Plover, Wis. after going head-to-head with 10 other commercial bus and service technicians in a series of simulations designed to test technical skills and speed.

The 12 top service technicians were selected from International and IC Bus dealers across North America to compete in the fifth annual Navistar Service-Technician Rodeo held at the Schaumburg Convention Center last month.

“Tom and Luc demonstrated the highest skills and abilities in key areas of commercial servicing among the top 12 Diamond certified technicians competing in the event,” said Vaughn Allen, vice president, product customer support, Navistar.

The technicians competed head-to-head in a series of 13 stations designed to simulate service areas for air conditioning, brakes, drive train, electrical and MaxxForce engines. Each technician was scored on how quickly and effectively he navigated his way through the stations, diagnosing and fixing the simulated problems.

All of the participants are Diamond-certified through Navistar’s official certification program for its service technicians. In additions, the technicians are all either Automotive Service Excellence or Canadian Provincial certified.

Participants for the rodeo were selected from an overall group of the top 400 technicians at International and IC Bus dealers. From there, the group was narrowed to 12 participants through online testing, with the highest-scoring technicians in each region of the US and Canada invited to compete in the rodeo.

Other Canadian technicians participating in the rodeo represented Summit Motors (Taber, Alta.), Lewis Motor Sales (Barrie, Ont.), and Centre Camion Beaudoin (Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.)

“Those participating in this competition have completed all the required and optional trainings and are at the top of their game,” said John Pfennig, manager global education, Navistar. “They represent our 8,000-plus service technicians from International and IC Bus dealerships, the highest number of any medium/heavy commercial-truck and bus manufacturer.”