The California Trucking Association will host the state's inaugural SuperTech Competition on June 5 and 6 at the Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, Calif.

On the first day of the competition, about 20 to 24 technicians from Southern California will compete in hands-on tests, and the four winners will go on to compete against the winners of the Northern California competition, held last month in Stockton, Calif.

The goal of the competition is to find the top technician in California to compete in the Technology & Maintenance Council's SuperTech, held Sept. 20-23 in Raleigh, N.C. Including California, there are 19 states holding their own SuperTech competitions that feed into the national event.

Mike Siebert, maintenance director at Apex Logistics and chairman of the June event, hopes the competition will bring awareness to the opportunities for students in the transportation industry. Siebert is on the advisory committee for the San Bernardino Valley College, which has a diesel technician program.

As a maintenance director at Apex for 35 years and a TMC member for 11 years, Siebert was inspired to get the competition going in his state. Siebert said he has seen a lack of available talent in the transportation industry, and he hopes the competition will promote the industry and encourage students to get involved.

The event will be held in conjunction with California's Truck Driving Championships as well as the Southern California Transportation and Logistics Summit, which Siebert is also involved with. Siebert said about 50 to 100 students will be attending the Summit.

To participate in the SuperTech competition, technicians must be CTA members and must register to take a written test by May 18. The written tests will be mailed out shortly after.

The top performing 20-24 techs will be chosen to go to Arcadia to compete. They'll have 20 minutes to go through each station, where they'll troubleshoot problems and report how to correct the problem to the judges. Each mechanic will go through a total of six stations, and then their scores will be tallied.

The winner will receive a $500 Visa gift card, while second, third and fourth place winners will get $250, $100 and $50 gift cards, respectively. All will receive plaques and trophies.

To participate, you can fax your registration to Amanda Moody at (909) 282-0120, or call Siebert for more information at (949) 413-6632.