Fixing dents, painting parts at Tech Rodeo body shop competition

Techs prep truck fenders for painting during the Rush Truck Centers Tech Skills Rodeo in San Antonio, TX. This part of the competition took place at Rush's dealership located on I-10 just outside the city limits. Five technicians competed in the paint division: Curtis Boaz, Shawn Hengstebeck, Christopher Hooks, Timothy Skiles and Jose Torres.

Technicians hammered out, sanded and filled dents during the first part of the collision/body repair competition. They went on to be tested in welding and fiberglass fender repair, too.

Five technicians competed in the collision/body repair bracket sponsored by 3M: Arthur Avilez, Ryan Dugat, Ed Polasek, Marcos Silva and Richard Uzialko.

Dick Schmidt, director of collision center operations for Rush Enterprises, said that safety, speed, quality and low cost are critical factors in both body and paint repairs in trucking today. Minimizing waste — as in using just the right amount of body filler and/ or paint — is key to holding repair costs down.

Technicians competing in the collision/paint repair bracket were partially judged on weather they wore all the appropriate safety gear for each stage of their work, including face protectors, suits, respirators, etc. Marcy Fernandez with Axalta referred to all of that as PPE, short for "personal protection equipment."

Paint techs must also use what Fernandez dubbed a "one and done" process for trucks. They only apply one coat, that is — as opposed to the automotive world, where layering several coats of paint onto the vehicle is the norm.

The paint room: soon to be filled with fenders and body panels.

3M's John Spoto noted that it takes more than muscle to repair dents. "The mind must overcome the hands" to a degree, he said, as too much force can weaken the metal being fixed. Contestants could win a total of 42 points, or 3 points per each segment in the collision/ body repair bracket.

Minimizing how much paint gets used is critical, says Axalta's Fernandez, since truck paint is very costly. He noted one particular high-end "glossy pearl" paint costs $3,500 per pint.

The trick to painting truck body parts is to use a perfect paint mixture with little to no extra left over, with steady and smooth application "almost like a robot," says Fernandez.

Conserving materials is also critical in dent repair, 3M's Spoto adds. He also notes excessive "sand scratching" can lead to the overuse of paint later in the repair process, again leading to waste that can drive up the cost of a repair.

Rush's Schmidt says finding truck technicians is hard, but finding body repair and paint technicians is even harder. "It's almost old school; it's manual labor. The young guys coming into this career do not want to do this," he said. "They want to work on computers."

Schmidt notes that about 25% to 50% of truck painters tend to also paint in their yoff hours, as it is in many ways an artistic discipline. By contrast, most body repair technicians don't perform such work on their off hours. "For most, it's a job; they want to be fishing or watching football when they're home," he says.

Body repair and paint technicians tend to be older than truck service techs. 3M's Spoto says that on the body repair side, the average age is now around 53.

The increasing use of plastics and new fiberglass resin for new truck body panels, hoods and so on is changing the skill sets needed to repair them, says Rush's Schmidt. "The new plastics are more durable and of better quality, but we need to change our procedures to fix them," he notes.

Safety is the most important criteria when it comes to truck painting, notes Axalta's Fernandez. Next comes the selection of product and the proper spray gun nozzle. "There's a fine line between productivity or 'speed' and quality," he adds. "That's where their artistic ability comes into play."

Attention to detail and a "little bit of magic" are key criteria for today's best truck painters, Fernandez says.

3M's Spoto says the "little things" make a big difference in body repair, such as using a level to ensure dent repairs are flush and straight in order minimize paint consumption.