Techs in training gear up for ultimate test

The always-popular 2023 HVIA National Apprentice Challenge, to be held in Brisbane during the looming Brisbane Truck Show, has an exciting new format aimed at positioning it as the peak national apprentice competition.

There’ll be no more thrilling place to be than down at the South Bank Piazza to watch Australia’s best apprentices battle it out for the 2023 HVIA National Apprentice Challenge.

This year the Challenge is adopting an exciting new format that will make it an even more exciting spectacle for the public.

For the first time, the Apprentice Challenge is invite-only, with six participating teams drawn from the best and brightest at key technical colleges throughout the country.

Invited participants enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show (May 18 to 21) for the full four days.

In a further boost to its prominence, the Challenge is being held over the first two days, when crowds are biggest, with heats staged on Thursday and Friday and, for the first time, the final taking place on Friday afternoon at Brisbane’s South Bank Piazza.

And in 2023 their skills will be tested on three Western Star trucks courtesy of new sponsor Penske Australia. And not just any trucks, but the all-new 48X from Western Star’s landmark new X-Series.

The winning team will be the first to successfully identify and repair all the faults, or the team that rectifies the most faults within the allowed timeframe.

The participants will compete in six heats held over a little more than an hour, where three teams will work against the clock to correct pre-programmed faults on their respective vehicles.

For visitors to the show the competition is a dynamic spectacle, with commentary explaining the apprentices’ moves and strategy, as their approach to addressing the challenge unfolds. Things can get tense as the teams watch their available time evaporate.

Over an action-packed 90 minutes commencing 12:30pm on Friday, the final will be held between the first, second and third-placed teams.

The winner will receive a commemorative trophy, an amazing tools package from sponsor Wurth, and an incredible invitation to attend a Supercars event from sponsor NTI.

The 2023 National Apprentice Challenge is being co-ordinated by former HVIA Director, Chris Musch, who knows first-hand how far an apprentice’s career can go.

“I started in this great industry as an apprentice when I was 15, just like our nominees,” he says.

“It has given me opportunities to work in many different sectors of the industry, both here in Australia and overseas, from the shop floor and into different levels of management.”

Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia Chief Executive Todd Hacking says the support for the 2023 National Apprentice Challenge is testimony to the emerging talent coming into the heavy vehicle industry.

“The response has again been exceptional, with participants including second-, third- and fourth-year apprentices, Australia-wide,” he says.

“These young people are at the beginning of a journey that will open doors to hugely rewarding career paths with Australian and international companies involved in the manufacture, distribution and support of trucks, trailers and their components,” he says, noting HVIA will host almost 2000 students from 50 schools for a full-day show experience, including exploring careers on offer.

It’s the unique opportunity to promote heavy vehicle industry careers to the next generation of kids that attracted Penske Australia’s support.

“One of the biggest challenges the whole industry is faced with is attraction of talent, whether that’s drivers, whether that’s operators, whether that’s painters, boilermakers or, in this case, technicians,” says Craig Lee, Penske’s General Manager of On Highway Product.

“One of the real benefits we see of supporting the Apprentice Challenge with supplying our new Western Star trucks is to give an opportunity to the up-and-coming technicians of the industry to show their worth in front of almost 2000 other school kids and in front of potential future employees and go head to head in a battle to see who can fix the faults we program into these trucks.

“What we love about it is that it is a great way to showcase our trucks, but more importantly it’s a great opportunity for these up-and-coming experts to showcase their skills.

“For the show to put this on I think is a wonderful thing. One thing it does showcase when you combine it in with the rest of the Brisbane Truck Show, is it helps show what some of those pathways are for those apprentices.

“To look at what their future could be, whether they come into the industry as a technician, they’ll see other trucks brands, they can branch off and go into management roles, go into technical development roles. This industry is so appealing for new people to join, offering such a broad range of roles.”

The apprentices taking part in the 2023 HVIA National Apprentice Challenge are:
Brayden Conaghan, Penske Australia (TAFE Qld Skills Tech)
Lachlan Tate, Brown & Hurley (TAFE Qld Skills Tech)
Sara Attard, Transport for NSW (TAFE NSW)
Ben Seyffer, Nowra Truck & Trailer Repairs (TAFE NSW)
Nathan Kaker, Penske Power Systems (Central Regional TAFE WA)
Caleb Todd, Cummins South Pacific (Central Regional TAFE WA)
Jacob Zurzolo, MTAWA (SM TAFE WA)
Blade Elzerm, Major Motors Isuzu (SM TAFE WA)
Paris Maw, CMV Truck & Bus Wodonga (Kangan TAFE VIC)
Jackson Marriott, Peninsula Diesel (Kangan TAFE VIC)
Kyle Guy, Followmont Transport (Busy at Work QLD)
Ryan Robinson, Followmont Transport (Busy at Work QLD)

Key event times:
Heat 1: Thursday, May 18, 8:00am to 9:15am
Heat 2: Thursday, May 18, 10:15am to 11:30am
Heat 3: Thursday, May 18, 12:30pm to 1:45pm
Heat 4: Thursday, May 18, 2:15pm to 3:30pm
Heat 5: Friday, May 19, 8:00am to 9:15am
Heat 6: Friday, May 19, 10:15am to 11:30am
Final: Friday, May 19, 12:30pm to 2:00pm