TMCSuperTech winners 2022 FedEx Phillip Pinter Bonnie Greenwood

CLEVELAND—For the second time in the last four competitions, FedEx Freight’s Phillip Pinter became Grand Champion of TMCSuperTech, the annual national technician skills competition put on by the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) of American Trucking Associations.

Pinter’s FedEx colleague, Bonnie Greenwood, took second place—the highest ever for a woman in the 17-year history of the competition, which was held in the Huntington Convention Center here Sept. 25-26.

Pinter last won the intense two-day event, which tests a technician’s knowledge and hands-on skills in heavy-duty vehicle maintenance, in 2018. COVID-19 canceled the competition in 2020.

He credited his success to pouring over TMC’s Recommended Practices and manufacturers’ maintenance manuals. “It's a lot of reading and it's a lot of work,” Pinter said. “There's a lot of time that goes into it.”

Pinter also credited his shop teacher at his Dundee, Michigan, high school for pushing him into the trades. He attended Michigan Institute of Aviation and Technology in 2009, but switched to the more in-demand automotive repair field. He went to heavy-duty diesel in 2015, when he joined FedEx Freight.

“I haven't really looked back since,” he added. “The automotive and heavy-truck industries have treated me very well.”

His win also paid quite well, with Pinter taking home nearly $20,000 in shop equipment and prizes, supplied by companies such as Cox Automotive, Hendrickson, Imperial Supplies, MOTOR Information, Noregon, NEXIQ, Premier Tuck Group, Reliance, Snap-On, and Truck-Lite.

Greenwood, a shop technician in the Salt Lake City area, also was the first woman to win TMCFutureTech, the version of SuperTech for students.

FedEx Freight shop technician Bonnie Greenwood placed second at TMCSuperTech 2022, the highest ever for a female technician.

Greenwood, who has bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology, went to WyoTech in Laramie, Wyoming, to learn how to become a diesel technician. She was attracted to the math and science aspects of the trade.

“This was a very good industry to get into,” said Greenwood, who hopes to work more on alternative-fuel vehicles in the future to blend her passions together. “It has been exactly what I needed.”

Greenwood’s victory may also be just what the industry needs to attract more female technicians, who account for only about 2% to 3% of the vehicle repair sector, according to industry estimates.

“I feel incredibly proud to be representing women in this industry today, to have this opportunity—I'm really thankful,” Greenwood said shortly after the event. “And I just encourage more and more women to get involved. The trades need more people. And there's a whole other half of our population that we haven't tapped fully into.”

While SuperTech this year only had one other female competitor, women represented about a quarter of the 17 FutureTech participants, all of whom were from WyoTech.

Greenwood reiterated that female technicians “can do any job we set our minds to” and that any woman thinking about a career in the trades should “chase that down and go after it.”

And what would Greenwood say to anyone questioning that she is one of the most capable technicians in the country? “I'd say, ‘Step back and watch me work. I can do any job, and I will find a way to do it,” she asserted.

FedEx Freight swept the top five of the two-day competition, with Eric Vos finishing third, Doug Nickles talking fourth, and Kelby Bentley placing fifth.

This year, Mario Kjuka, a student at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, won TMCFutureTech. Timothy Rose of Ferris State University finished second and Braedon Pollard from DMACC Transportation Institute placed third.

FedEx Freight’s Cory Westfall won the TMCSuperTech Trailer Track competition while Cox Automotive’s Michael Kerfoot Jr. finished second. Travis Cox of FedEx Freight placed third in that competition.

In the light- and medium-duty track, Phillip Barlow of FedEx Freight came in first, edging out Kevin Malczyk of Frito-Lay North America, who took second. FedEx Freight’s Chris Czerwinski placed third.

The first day of the competition for the heavy-duty track, Sept. 25, consisted of a series of written exams at 12 stations while the second day on Sept. 26 was more hands-on.

“After a two-year pause, having a full competition with all of our tracks and hosting 140 technicians was tremendously gratifying,” TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell said. “Congratulations not just to the winners, but to all the competitors for making it to Nationals and we look forward to seeing them all back here next year.”