TORONTO, Ont. – Organizers of the 2004 Chevron Delo Diesel Technician of the Year Award had such a difficult time deciding on a winner, they decided to name two of them.

Wayne (Jake) Moore of Bast Tire and Auto and Felix Sarduy of Putney’s Brake and Alignment Service were named the 2004 winners – the first time the top honour has been shared between two candidates.

Wayne (Jake) Moore

Moore was nominated by co-worker Bonnie Kroetsch as well as Barb Wagner, fleet manager with Bast customer Basics Office Products. Basics operates a fleet of 42 delivery vehicles and Wagner said the company relies on Moore to keep the vehicles running.

“On many occasions Jake has been called upon to provide maintenance on a vehicle at the end of the day and if I don’t have a spare readily available, Jake will go home, have dinner and return to the shop to work on the vehicle and return it to our facility so it can be pre-loaded for the next day’s delivery requirements,” says Wagner.

Moore is Basics’ dedicated maintenance service provider, and Wagner says not a day goes by that the two don’t speak in person. She said Moore is constantly providing advice, scheduling routing maintenance and giving preventive maintenance tips.

His co-worker Kroetsch said Moore still finds time to promote a healthy workplace by hosting staff gatherings at his home and coordinating events such as Christmas parties. She adds his honesty is another of his attributes.

“Jake will not do any unnecessary repairs,” she says. “If a customer requests work to be done, if he feels it is not needed at the time or the repair would be a waste of the customer’s money, he will inform the customer instead of doing the work.”

Kroetsch says Moore treats each customer with the same respect and honesty.

“Jake has created a client list and not a database,” she adds. “This displays to others that by treating a customer with respect, you will have a long-term relationship for your business.”

Felix Sarduy

Sarduy and his wife are Cuban immigrants who arrived in Canada in 2001. Sarduy soon discovered his engineering degree was not recognized in Canada and immediately began pursuing a Canadian degree.

In the meantime, he accepted a job as a general labourer with an auto body shop.

“An equipment salesman recognized Felix’s ability to grasp mechanical concepts and his hands-on mechanical abilities brought him to our shop,” says Paul Crossman, fleet manager with Putney’s Brake and Alignment Service. “I believe that Felix could pass his technician certification test today but he wants to follow the rules and attend his last two school terms.”

When they moved to Canada, Sarduy and his wife were forced to leave two of their children behind with family in Cuba. Both parents have been working two jobs and scraped by with the bare necessities so they could afford the legal fees necessary to bring their other children to Canada.

Sarduy’s co-workers are amazed by his ability to retain technical information and his persistence in solving complex technical problems.

“When we have a problem we can’t find a solution to, Felix keeps the details in the back of his head,” Crossman says. “He has come back to me up to six months later with an answer that he has read about or found on the Internet or in technical journals.”

When Truck News spoke with Sarduy in November he had finished college and was awaiting the chance to write his test to acquire his licence. More importantly, his other two children had successfully been brought to Canada.

– For more information on the Chevron Delo Diesel Technician of the Year Award, visit www.cfmsonline.com/chevron.