For Jonathan Hester, completing the Technician Certification Program (TCP) was about becoming a better truck maintenance technician, with an eye towards advancement.
A Penske Truck Leasing employee in Garland, Texas, Hester was promoted from a tech II to a tech I after completing a training program that’s nationally certified by the industry’s gold standard, the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence, better known as .
“It was a good experience and I’m a better mechanic because of it,” Hester said. “I always keep trying to progress.” Hester endeavors to be a district service manager and then an area maintenance manager.
In 2008, Penske was the first , and company to earn CASE certification for its Continuing Automotive Service Education program. And, the company has built on it since then.
“In order to maintain a high standard of quality in our service departments, our technicians have to be the very best in the industry,” explained Mark Oliver, Penske’s senior vice president of maintenance. “Our TCP initiative is the key to promoting and providing the structure and discipline necessary to field a terrific group of technicians.”
There are nearly 4,000 Penske truck maintenance technicians and almost 1,000 customer service technicians , which range from 16-foot box trucks for consumer do-it-yourself moves, to tractors that haul goods and services across the nation’s highways.
The U.S. technicians are trained via online, hands-on and classroom instructional methods.
Chris Schmidt has been with Penske for over five years and works in Eau Claire, Wis. Like Hester, he was able to advance from a tech II to tech I. “It was challenging and it took a lot of time, but it was definitely worth it,” he explained. “I would like to manage a shop and possibly become a district service manager.”
Oliver, from his office at the company’s headquarters in Reading, Pa., takes personal pride in each new Penske TCP certified technician.
“Nothing makes me happier than to personally sign off on every recognition certificate that we award to each and every technician as they achieve certification at the various levels of the program,” Oliver said.
“Our customers deserve a very high degree of reliability and operating performance from our trucks,” he continued. “As Roger Penske said to me 28 years ago, ‘Mark, if you take care of the customers the business will take care of itself.’ That mindset is in our DNA at Penske, and this program allows us to do a better job of taking care of our customers, plain and simple.”
By Alen Beljin
As indicated in a blog post earlier this week, the company is bullish on hiring in 2011, with company recruiters attending U.S. technical school and U.S. college employment fairs.
In an effort to hire truck rental sales representatives, logistics associates and other positions at Penske locations nationally, recruiters are also attending job fairs at several well-known colleges.
A key but perhaps overlooked component of adapting to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated 2010 emission technology requirements for commercial trucks is the effective use of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) to support Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology.
DEF is vital to the operation of 2010 trucks utilizing SCR technology. It works to greatly reduce Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx). Less NOx translates to a truck’s exhaust being cleaner and less harmful to the environment.
Manpower recently issued its quarterly Employment Outlook Survey and it reported the most optimistic hiring expectations in more than two years. According to , U.S. employers anticipate small staffing gains for Q1 2011. Their outlook for Q1 2011 is +9 percent, up from +5 percent during the same period last year and +5 percent during Q4 2010.
Reading, Pa., headquartered and Penske Logistics have an upbeat outlook on 2011 hiring citing improving business conditions within their North American operations.
Penske Truck Leasing and Penske Logistics have needs for a variety of positions ranging from experienced 
While the trucking and logistics sectors continue to spring back from the Great Freight Recession it looks like a diesel price déjà vu scenario may be developing. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration on-highway and some trucking industry experts expect the fuel prices to stay that way. 
While rising diesel prices are a sign the freight sector is improving higher fuel costs still remain an operating challenge for businesses operating truck fleets large and small.
helps fleet owners and fleet managers with programs that can help with improving such as:
As part of her duties at Penske, Gerke is entrusted with ensuring that the company’s 3,900 truck maintenance technicians and 950 customer service technicians in the United States and Canada receive the necessary training and certifications to of 210,000 vehicles. Training can be delivered in-person and online at throughout North America. In some cases, that may encompass nearly 800 training sessions on an annual basis.
and Penske Logistics are ready for the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) program – a new way to measure and address commercial motor vehicle safety. The aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of FMCSA’s enforcement and compliance program to reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes, fatalities and injuries by:
Driver Documentation and Vehicle Maintenance
Safety is Top Priority at Penske Logistics
Penske Truck Leasing will soon be placing the finishing touches on a state-of-the-art facility for , and , and in Garner, N.C. Garner is located near the state capital of Raleigh.
“The site work is progressing,” explained Chuck Looper, the vice president of facilities for “Stone base for the pavement is being placed and landscaping will begin soon. In the building, the service bay floors are in, the heating and ventilations systems are being put in. Drywall and finishes are going on in the office area. At the fuel island, the canopy is going up and the piping and the electrical work is making progress.”
He noted that the parking lot and landscaping are about 90 percent complete. At the fuel island, the piping and underground tank is complete, and the canopy is going up.
