“Roadeo” Championship tests skills and safety awareness
RALEIGH – A dozen N.C. Department of Transportation employees are the agency’s best at operating heavy equipment and have earned an opportunity to compete against their peers across the Southeast.
The NCDOT employees – winners of the state agency’s 2018 “Roadeo” held at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh July 31 – will travel to Arkansas in early September to compete in the regional competition.
“Roadeos” are held every year by the NCDOT and other state transportation agencies. Competitors are judged for their skills and dexterity at maneuvering heavy equipment such as dump trucks and tractor backhoes through tight obstacle courses. The competition mirrors the situations heavy equipment operators face on the job regularly.
“It requires maximum focus and real skill,” said Robin Barfield, director of Safety & Risk Management for the N.C. Department of Transportation. “I would compare it to threading a needle while riding a rollercoaster.”
The statewide competition marked the final leg of a journey that began with “Roadeo” competitions held in each of the 14 divisions that comprise the NCDOT. The winners of each event went on to compete in Raleigh.
Below is a list of first and second place winners who will travel to the regionals Sept. 6 in Rogers, Ark.
Single Axle: First place, Kevin Paisley, Division12 (Shelby area); second place, Isaac Ethridge Division 4 (Wilson area).
Tandem Axle: First place, Logan Gibson, Division 7 (Greensboro area); second place, Brian Morrison, Division 8, (Aberdeen Area).
Lowboy: First place, Kyle Underwood, Division 6, (Fayetteville region); second place, Jordan Cape, Division 12 (Shelby area).
Backhoe: First place, Nakoma Emanuel, Division 9 (Forsyth area); second place, Cody Stegall, Division 10 (Albemarle area).
Motor Grader: First place, Daniel Evans, Division 4 (Wilson region); second place, Kevin Conner, Division 1 (Edenton area).
Tractor Mower: First place, Vincent Farmer, Division 4; (Wilson region) second place, Mark Farrell, Division 7 (Greensboro region).
“They are the best of the best,” Barfield said. “It is also quite reassuring when you drive through a work zone and see these folks navigating the constricted space between those orange cones and a construction site. They train very well for that type of work.”