Hino National Skills Contest champions revealed

AFTER four months of intense competition, the winners of the 10th annual Hino National Skills Contest have been revealed.

Shane Curtain from Sci-Fleet Hino in Queensland took out the sales category, Kara Green from Adtrans Hino in New South Wales was the standout performer in the parts division, and Mohammed Sharuk from Prestige Hino in Victoria won the service section of the competition.

The national finals were held recently at Hino Australia’s headquartersin Sydney, where 18 competitors – six in each category – were required to demonstrate their skills through a series of real-world roleplay scenarios based around the new Hino 500 Series Standard Cab.

The judging criteria includedparts specialistsbeing asked to identify genuine and non-genuine parts,while sales consultants were quizzed on their product knowledge.

Competitors were assessed in front of an audience of Hino VIPs including Hino Motors Limited senior general manager Toshiya Shiozawa, Hino Australia chairman and chief executive Steve Lotter, president and chief operations officer Takashi (‘Sam’) Suda, and key Hino Australia fleet customers.

Mr Lotter said having a skilled dealer network was essential for the continued success of Hino Australia.

“Hino Australia’s National Skills Contest is reflective of our investment in developing and training staff, while challenging them to continually improve and keep up to date with the latest technology, all of which were contributing factors to us winning both the global parts and service awards for the eighth consecutive time earlier this year,” he said.

Mr Curtain took out the sales category from Daniel Attard (City Hino) and Brodie Smith (FRM Hino), while Ms Green edged out fellow parts specialists Ryan Macauley (CMI Hino Adelaide) and Michael Greenhill (Prestige Hino).

Mr Sharuk took gold in the service category from Michael Xiao (CMI Hino Melbourne) and Peter May (FRM Hino).

As a reward for their stellar performances and hard work, all three category winners have received an all-expenses-paid trip to Japan.

Coinciding with the National Skills Competition was the second annual Australia versus New Zealand Technical Challenge, which is billed as one of the most comprehensive skills contests of its type in the trucking industry.

Last year’s event resulted in a tied result but this year it was Kiwi Nathan Douglas from Truckstops Wellington who edged out Martyn Alexander from Newcastle Hino.

The pair went head-to-head in a series of repair and diagnostic tasks over about half an hour.

Mr Lotter congratulated Mr Douglas on his win and thanked him “for demonstrating sowell the skills that Hino technicians bring to the customer experience on both sides ofthe Tasman”.