MORGANTON – N.C. Department of Transportation employees from the seven counties of Division 13 recently convened for the annual Equipment Operators Safety Conference and competition.
For the more than 125 employees who gathered at the NCDOT Burke County Maintenance Yard, it was a welcome event after months of rebuilding from Hurricane Helene, plowing through snow and ice, and performing road maintenance in various traffic situations.
For two days last week, they were able to hone their safety procedures and skills operating heavy equipment safely away from traffic while also enjoying some friendly competition.
The maintenance employees competed in one of multiple events: Backhoe, skid-steer, motorgrader, single-axle truck, tandem axle truck, low-boy truck or tractor mower. Each event has its own set of skill tests from picking up golf balls with a spoon attached to the bucket of a backhoe to parallel parking a low-boy trailer.
“We cannot emphasize safety enough,” said Division 13 Maintenance Engineer Scott Killough. “It’s important that we create a safe culture in all facets of NCDOT — from how we plan operations, to how we conduct them to how we establish safe conditions for drivers.”
The following employees won their events and advance to a state competition to be held in June in Concord:
- Single-Axle Truck: Brandigan Cox, McDowell County Roadside Environmental
- Backhoe: Tanner Rose, McDowell County Maintenance
- Skid-steer: Matthew Whisnant, Burke County Maintenance
- Tractor-mower: Teresa Norton, Buncombe County Roadside Environmental
- Motor Grader: Adam Beach, Burke County Maintenance
- Lowboy Trailer: Peyton Rose, Buncombe County Maintenance
- Tandem Axle Truck: Steve Lovelace, Rutherford County Maintenance