Navistar had its inaugural Technician of the Year award to demonstrate commitment to recognizing technician talent.

This year’s recipients include:

• Rookie technician Scott Killebrew of Landmark Trucks LLC in Knoxville, Tenn.

• Veteran technician Tony Guzman of Kyrish Truck Centers in Houston, Texas.

“We are delighted to launch the Technician of the Year award to recognize the commitment of International Truck and IC Bus dealer technicians pursuing continuous improvement and delivering the highest level of customer service,” said Ana Salcido, technician recruitment manager.

“Our technicians are an integral part of our business, and they consistently support our customers and keep their trucks moving.”

Getting the Job Done

Rookie technician Killebrew is known around Landmark Trucks for coming in early and staying late to get a job done.

Upon hire, Killebrew was informed that he had 90 days to complete his mandatory dealer training, but he worked to complete it all within 45 days.

Another demonstration of his commitment, Killebrew helped out during the early and uncertain days of COVID-19 when almost all the technicians in the shop were out sick. Killebrew worked six days and close to 70 hours that week to help ease the burden on his service manager.

“We had three coworkers lose their lives to COVID-19, and Scott’s positive attitude, jokes and dedication have helped us get back on track after a very hard season,” said Bryan Davis, service manager, Landmark Trucks. “His proficiency, efficiency and productivity are up there with our veteran technicians and has often exceeded everyone in gross profit.”

Stepping up to Help the Customers

Veteran technician Guzman has worked with Kyrish for nearly 30 years. He started in 1993 as an entry-level technician and worked his way up to a lead Diamond Certified technician.

Many customers have Guzman’s personal cell number and often call him directly. Recently, one of Kyrish’s long-time customers had a foreman resign.

Guzman stepped in to help by visiting the customer’s yard every Monday for a month to direct their crew on what needed to be done to the fleet.

“Tony is not only known around Kyrish, but around the Houston area, as an extremely respected technician,” said Ray Caldwell, service manager, Kyrish Truck Centers. “Tony performs at an elite level and does the job right the first time. Because of his reputation, he has earned the trust of the entire shop and has recently been promoted to a foreman role.”

Killebrew and Guzman were chosen from a pool of 48 technicians recognized throughout 2022 in Navistar’s Technician of Influence program.

In recent news, Navistar Mexico is expanding. To meet customer needs, it's investing more than US $120 million over the next three years to expand its cabin painting area at the Navistar Escobedo Assembly Plant in Nuevo León, Mexico.