FedEx Freight’s Sloan Wins TMCSuperTech Grand Champion Crown
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RALEIGH, N.C. — Entering the 2025 TMCSuperTech National Skills Competition for the 11th time, FedEx Freight’s Matthew Sloan prepared for the competition by resisting the temptation to cram for the skills test.
“We call it perusing — we don’t really cram really hard,” the senior technician said. “We just kind of speculate at that point. That’s about all I do, honestly. When we got [to Raleigh], we just took it easy, relaxed, got ready for the competition.”
The perusing paid off for Sloan, who captured his first TMCSuperTech grand champion title. His previous best was a fifth-place finish in 2018. The competition was held during American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council Fall Meeting.
Sloan was also the winner of three individual challenge stations — electronic engine diagnostics, electrical circuits and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
The championship finish came as a surprise to Sloan, who didn’t get the sense that he excelled in any of those individual events.
A technician competes in the lighting category. (American Trucking Associations)
“It’s overwhelming right now, to be honest,” he said. “I felt I did average on everything. I didn’t feel like I knocked anything really out of the park this year. This is kind of shocking to me to win it.”
“Being named grand champion at TMC’s National Technician Skills Competitions is a tremendous honor,” said TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell. “Matthew demonstrated the kinds of skills, technical knowledge and professionalism we have come to expect from our members. Congratulations to him, and to all our competitors who displayed extraordinary talent during this competition.”
FedEx Freight shop technician Kelby Bentley finished second overall. Bentley captured the grand champion title in 2019, a year after finishing second overall. This year he took top honors in three stations: Recommended Practices manual, coolant and Diesel Exhaust Fluid, and starting and charging. Hogan Truck Leasing’s Master Technician Carl Diehl placed third overall.
TMCSuperTech consisted of hands-on testing and a written test.(American Trucking Associations)
As in years past, TMCSuperTech consisted of hands-on testing and a written test.
Competitors who are newer to the event — such as Jessica McAllister, a master technician from Hogan Truck Leasing competing for the second time — find that experience pays off.
“It helps to know a little bit of what to study for,” she said, stressing specifically that her performance at the lift gates station felt stronger this year. “I would just love to be better than last year.”
She was. After finishing 26th last year, McAllister’s focus translated into a 12th-place finish this year.
McAllister emphasized the importance of being skilled at finding information, rather than just knowing things, as a key to success at the event.
Bonnie Greenwood in 2017 was the first woman to win the TMC FutureTech National Student Technician Competition. (American Trucking Associations)
McAllister also strives to make an impression as one of just a handful of women who have competed; the highest-ever TMCSuperTech finish for a female technician was second-place overall for FedEx’s Bonnie Greenwood in 2022.
“I’m hopeful that more women will get involved in the future,” McAllister said.
Getting involved for the first time was Jimmy Eichelberger, a supervisor with Tyson Foods. A 22-year veteran of the trucking industry, he has been working on the technician side for seven of those years. He entered TMCSuperTech after a strong performance in a state-level competition in Arkansas.
Compared to the state-level event, Eichelberger said TMCSuperTech — where he finished 78th overall — featured more in-depth and technical questions, particularly in areas such as cybersecurity where he had less experience.
Eichelberger reflected on his first TMCSuperTech as a great learning experience.
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“I hope to see myself walking across that stage up there,” he said. “If not, then I’ll take what I learned here and hopefully come back next year.”
FedEx Freight won the team competition with senior technicians Philip Barlow and John Blanchet, who won in the roll-up doors division.
Also, Tully McKinley of Forsyth Technical Community College won the TMCFutureTech National Student Technician Skills Competition. McKinley, from Kernersville, N.C., dominated the student track with top finishes in five stations including ASE written test, coolant and DEF, trailer lighting, tire and wheel, and ADAS. Fellow Forsyth student Madison Boone finished second and Bennett Fischer, from WyoTech, placed third.
