GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 3, 2005) — Volvo Manitoba Truck Centre in Winnipeg was one of a handful of Volvo Trucks dealers to be honoured as one of the truckmaker’s top service and parts personnel.

The company’s dealer network gathered in Greensboro,N.C., last week to choose the North American winners of the Volvo International Service Technical Association (VISTA) competition, of which Volvo Manitoba was a finalist.

VISTA is a hands-on competition to select the top dealer service and parts personnel. It is meant to be an entertaining, yet effective way to maintain a high level of technical skill and proficiency in the Volvo dealer network. Hundreds of people compete in the six-month program, which requires a significant dedication of time and effort by the participants. The VISTA competition is held every two years among three-person teams fielded by Volvo dealers, usually consisting of a mix of service and parts experts.

The 2005 VISTA competition was won by the team from GATR of Sauk Rapids, Sauk Rapids, Minn. They also won a trip to Sweden to the international VISTA winners conference in June, when they will meet the winners from the other 55 countries where Volvo holds VISTA competitions.

There were three rounds of competition involving online technical questions to produce five regional champions, who then travelled to Volvo headquarters in Greensboro for the final round. The final round also tested participants on their knowledge of service bulletins and ability to look up parts and service information within the Volvo system, but also added hands-on trouble shooting of pre-determined faults placed on a Volvo truck.

The other teams joining Volvo Manitoba Truck Centre in the final round were: Truck Enterprises, Roanoke, Va.; Mountain West Truck Center, Salt Lake City, Utah; and Burr Truck & Trailer Sales, Vestal, N.Y.