CONCORD – Workers from the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division 11 have something to celebrate after winning two awards from a statewide safety conference and competition.
Employees from the division – which encompasses Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Surry, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin counties – earned the overall award from NCDOT’s Equipment Operators Safety Training Conference in Concord in late June.
Nicknamed the “ROADEO,” the annual safety conference gives NCDOT employees the chance to train in a safe, controlled environment, away from public traffic and while having some friendly competition between divisions.
“It’s a great way to network and see how other divisions approach the same challenges we face,” said Justin Wyatt, who works at Yadkin County Maintenance. “You learn something new every time you visit another division.”
Wyatt, a jack-of-all-trades, bolstered the division’s points for the overall award with his win in the motor-grader category. The different categories challenged workers through obstacle courses modeling real-life scenarios crews could encounter in the field.
Other competitors from Division 11 included:
- Single Axle Dump Truck: Bradley Ballard, Yadkin County Maintenance
- Tandem Dump Truck: Zak Roupe, Ashe County Bridge
- Low-boy: Chris Welch, Watauga County Bridge
- Backhoe: Barry Stockner, Surry County Maintenance
- Tractor/mower: Bobby Edwards, Alleghany County Equipment
- Skid steer: Kelly Nichols, Wilkes County Maintenance
"Congratulations to Justin Wyatt for mastering the blade and taking top honors in the motor grader competition at the 2025 NCDOT Equipment Operators Training Conference,” Detter said. “Events like this give our employees an opportunity to practice safe operating skills and procedures. Winning the overall award showed our staff’s precision, skill and dedication to safe, efficient work to keep North Carolinians on the road.”
When someone told Wyatt a few years ago he couldn’t operate a motor grader, the Jonesville native took the challenge to heart. He competed for the first time in 2023 and won the trophy for the first time in 2024.
He will head to Lexington, Kentucky, to compete against motor-grader operators from other states at the Southeastern Regional ROADEO in September. He won second place at the regional competition last year.
"This proves that given the opportunity, you can do anything,” Wyatt said.
Division 11 staff who helped with this year’s ROADEO included Safety Engineer Justin Detter, Safety Officer Casey Church, Bridge Maintenance Supervisor Andrew Glasco and Human Resources Consultant Sadie Schneider.
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