PORTLAND, Ore. – A Canadian technician is one of two winners of this year’s skills competition hosted by Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA).

Ryan Picken, who works for Metro Freightliner Hamilton in Stoney Creek, Ont., won the engine category. The other winner was Kyle Siebert of Northwest Trucks in Palatine, Ill. He won the vehicle category, DTNA announced Friday.

They will receive a diagnostic laptop, electrical tools, branded items and select merchandise of their choice for their entire shop.

The annual competition tests the abilities of technicians of Freightliner and Western Star dealerships and Detroit distributors in the U.S. and Canada to diagnose and repair a variety of DTNA’s vehicle and engine products.

Twenty-eight finalists were chosen from 1,073 participants who entered the virtual competition.

The contest began with a written exam in June, and culminated with the virtual “hands-on” round, with finalists completing the challenges at their respective locations.

The judges walked the finalists through different stations where they were evaluated on how accurately they were able to troubleshoot problems.

“It required a lot of creativity to translate what normally would have been a hands-on and in-person event into a virtual competition,” said Mike Mallett, training programs manager for DTNA.

“Because the technicians had to verbalize their rationale for all proposed actions, the virtual format afforded the judges fantastic insight into the diagnostics and troubleshooting approaches of those competing.”

DTNA and its affiliated service locations invest more than US$20 million in technician training and development annually, the company said.