Scenes from TMC's SuperTech 2016 Competition
Techs begin an exercise involving truck chassis.
Each station had judges who timed the exercise.
Checking trailer lights...
Underhood items were sometimes challenging.
Competitors had to plug into electronic control modules to perform diagnostics of "bugged" (planted) faults.
Puzzled expressions were not unusual among competitors.
Knowledge of parts and how to find them helped in the testing.
All techs were tested on the same equipment, even though some had never before seen certain vehicles and components.
Most vehicles were new or near-new to take road grime out of the equation.
Axle alignment was among skills tested in the new-for-2016 Trailer Track.
... and air and electrical systems were also covered.
Some tests were taken on computers...
... while others involved real "iron."
Circuit testing was required to solve some problems.
Suppliers brought testing rigs to simulate real-world problems.
Using a laptop is just part of the job, and was part of SuperTech testing.