When IVECO Australia announced it would be launching its inaugural national Master Technician competition, Justin Abood knew it was a fine opportunity to show his skills.
Having been in the transport industry for two decades, Justin was raring to put his experience to the test in the nationwide competition. The timing proved fruitful as the popular foreman went on to take top honours in IVECO’s first Master Technician competition.
“I was speaking to the area service manager from IVECO asking if they’d ever run a Master Technician competition, and it was exciting when I got told they’d run one this year,” Justin told OwnerDriver.
“I was quick to express my interest in it when IVECO started advertising the competition this year.”
While it may have been the first time IVECO ran the competition internally, the Master Technician program is nothing Justin didn’t already know about. At the young age of 35, trucking has been in his blood for 20 years after first getting into the industry at age 15.
Following in his family footsteps, Justin’s collection of intricate truck knowledge was first honed while watching his father fix his truck back in the day.
“I got an apprenticeship at age 15 and began working in the industry while in my teens,” Justin says.
“After getting that done in three years, I went off to work at a variety of truck companies. In the time since, I’ve worked on a range of European, American and Japanese truck brands.”
In just two decades, Justin has packed plenty of trucking experience into his flourishing career. After these constructive beginnings, he then went on to work for at a dealership in Fairfield, Sydney for two years before becoming a mechanic for the best part of six years. In that time, he became a fleet manager for the first time before he decided to take on new challenges in running the IVECO Sydney site.
“The first three months here I spent working on the floor, getting to learn the product,” he says.
“At the beginning of 2023, I took over as workshop foreman at the Sydney site.”
As I manage to catch Justin on the phone for a quick chat about his career and the Master Technician competition, the foreman is in the midst of organising his workshop. From discussing parts to directing traffic in the site, Justin is always on, passionately helping his fellow workers shine for IVECO.
While he has experience working with an array of truck brands, Justin’s preferred make is IVECO due to the constant opportunities it provides him to continue growing.
“I love working with IVECOs,” he says. “I really enjoy the challenge and they’re great trucks. They’ve come such a long way in the 20 years I’ve spent working in the industry to date.”
Enough about Justin’s background and onto the maiden competition that IVECO Australia has run across more than 60 dealerships in its network this year. The Master Technician tournament is open to all IVECO technicians, ranging from up-and-coming apprentices to experienced trade-qualified professionals.
The competition was held over three rounds of 25 questions conducted through IVECO’s online Web Academy, with participants negotiating 75 challenging questions in total that ranged from all aspects of servicing and maintaining the IVECO range to fault diagnosis.
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In total, 50 technicians competed in the inaugural IVECO event, with Justin taking home the top prize for his expert knowledge across the three rounds of quizzes. Black Truck Sales’ senior technician and electrician Jonothan Elias ended as runner up, while the podium was completed by Nathan Wigger, IVECO workshop foreman at Melbourne’s Prestige Truck Centre.
When word first went around that IVECO would be conducting the inaugural championship, Justin was quick to enrol, while also encouraging members of his team to do the same.
“I made sure all the boys in the yard got involved too, I encouraged them all to have a go,” he says.
“Throughout the three quizzes, there were some easy ones and some were really challenging. I loved it as it stimulated my brain and allowed me to use my knowledge.”
A lot of this knowledge came from Justin’s intriguing career to date, as well as the information he had gleaned from the past three years spent working intimately with IVECO trucks. He was also to benefit from completing the IVECO Master Technician course recently, enhancing his experience with the popular product.
On the first quiz, Justin recalls getting 100 per cent, before he got only the one question wrong on the second test. Despite these stellar results, he was still anxious heading into the final quiz that he wouldn’t take home the top prize.
“Another person got 100 per cent on the second test, so it meant we were level going into the final quiz,” he says.
“It made the third test nail-biting as either one of us could’ve won it, but I was lucky to pip the field by a couple of questions – I only got two wrong.”
Justin remembers the day he was crowned winner, with IVECO team members surprising him with a plaque delivered to his IVECO Sydney workshop. He recalls being “taken aback and excited” to see everyone’s reactions.
“I want them to look up to me and strive to be better than me and take over my job, so this was a great way of doing that,” he says.
“I like to lead by example. If I can do it, they all can. Just because someone is an apprentice, it doesn’t mean I know better than them. Even though I’m the foreman, I’m happy to clean the floor with everyone, as I’m no better than anyone else I work with.”
Other than this wonderful attitude, Justin also has a wealth of knowledge that proved handy when it came to the competition. He says his thirst to always improve himself is a welcome trait that helped him take home the title.
“It came down to experience, but as a person I also strive to be the best at all times and I love challenging myself,” he says.
“If I’m not challenged, I don’t enjoy my work. I’m always challenging myself to learn and know more.”
For his victory, Justin received a plaque and trophy, as well as a future trip and cash prize. From IVECO’s perspective, IVECO manager, customer and product support, Jason Mobberley says he’s excited at the participation rate of the inaugural tournament and is looking forward to growing the event in the years ahead.
“Interest in the National Master Technician Tournament from across the network was extremely positive, leading to a strong participation rate and three very enthusiastic winners,” Mobberley says.
“The tournament provided a fantastic means by which technicians could test their knowledge against counterparts from across the country in a friendly yet competitive environment, while further honing their skills, which ultimately is a positive for IVECO owners.
“On behalf of IVECO, I extend a warm congratulations to our winners and thank all participants.”
Justin has lofty goals after taking home the inaugural title. He has high ambitions to move up in the company, and he also wants his Sydney team to win the IVECO Dealer of the Year award in the near future.
“I also want all of the boys to get their Master Technician position, so I’m pushing them to do that,” he says.
“I want all of them performing at their peak and enjoying what they do each day. I love this competition and hope next year they run it again, maybe with a face-to-face practical element included.”
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