Service technicians from Beaver Truck Centre in Winnepeg, Manitoba captured first place at the 2011 Volvo Trucks North American VISTA competition. The hands-on team competition, highlighting technician excellence, helps participants hone skills while determining top dealer service personnel.
Members of the winning team — Dennis Baehnk, Chris Dunn, and Daniel Teleglow — will compete at the VISTA World final in Gothenburg, Sweden during the last week of June 2011. This is the second time this team has won the Volvo VISTA Team competition in North America; its first win was in 2007.
The other two teams to reach the final rounds represented GATR of Sauk Rapids Inc, Sauk Rapids MN; and Mobile Fleet Service, Yakima WA.
A total of 120 three person teams from Volvo dealers across North America competed in the latest VISTA team challenge, which began in October 2010. Participation in the biennial event requires participants to work through three rounds of competition involving online technical questions. Three teams of finalists traveled to Greensboro for the final round. All answers for the written questions are contained in Volvo service and parts literature, and the finalists were tested on knowledge of service bulletins and ability to look up parts and service information within the Volvo system. There was also a hands-on element to the competition, where the contestants had to troubleshoot pre-determined faults placed on two Volvo trucks and a Volvo D13 engine.
The VISTA competition began as a national event in Scandinavia in 1957 and expanded to a global event in 1977.