CDOT Names Northeastern, Eastern Colorado Area Top Roadeo Place Finishers

May 24, 2013 - Northeastern Colorado/CDOT Region 4 - GREELEY, COLORADO – Mark Stoker of Burlington, CO, Transportation Maintenance Worker II for Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Patrol 19 at Burlington, claimed two top-five finishes during a snow and ice equipment training and educational roadeo for Maintenance Section 1 (northeastern/eastern Colorado) CDOT employees held May 21 at Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley.

Roadeos are designed to help CDOT maintenance professionals hone all aspects of their winter maintenance knowledge and equipment operation skills.  The event consists of a written examination covering state and federal rules and regulations; a pre-trip vehicle inspection test; and equipment operation skills tests on demanding obstacle courses.

This year for the first time, the employees of Maintenance Section 1 were joined by new co-workers from Lincoln, Cheyenne, and Kit Carson counties.  As a result of regional boundary changes being implemented by CDOT, 11 new maintenance patrols and three rest area patrols from the three counties are now a part of Section 1.  More than 100 Section 1 employees participated in this year’s roadeo.

The top five place finishers in each category were:

Front-End Loader Category

Name

Town of Residence

Patrol Affiliation

1.  Mark Stoker

Burlington

Patrol 19 at Burlington

2.  Jason Whisner

Mead

Patrol 09 at Frederick

3.  Cameron Contreraz

Fort Morgan

Patrol 53 at Brush

4.  Jon Willis

Crook

Patrol 32 at Crook

5.  Miguel Tovar

Evans

Patrol 20 at Pierce

 

Mid-Range/Single Drive Axle Snowplow Truck Category

Name

Town of Residence

Patrol Affiliation

1.  Jeff Berkheimer

Haxtun

Patrol 35 at Haxtun

2.  Shane Baxter

Sedgwick

Patrol 34 at Julesburg

3.  Chris Seymour

Hugo

Patrol 22 at Hugo

4.  Jerry Wagoner

Haxtun

Patrol 35 at Haxtun

5.  Brian Kosinski

Wray

Patrol 43 at Joes

 

Tandem Drive Axle Snowplow Truck Category

Name

Town of Residence

Patrol Affiliation

1.  Stan Garett

Crook

Patrol 32 at Crook

2.  Ted Pelton

Log Lane Village

Patrol 27 at Brush

3.  Mark Stoker

Burlington

Patrol 19 at Burlington

4.  Nolan Troudt

New Raymer

Patrol 28 at New Raymer

5.  Dale Ruch

Sterling

Patrol 30 at Sterling West

 

“CDOT began using the equipment roadeo concept nearly 30 years ago to help our employees improve their knowledge base and equipment operation skills,” explained Tim Miles, CDOT Section 1 Maintenance Superintendent.  “It’s a demanding event for our employees because of the advance study required for the written exam and the difficult nature of the equipment operations tests, but we are firm believers that this process helps our employees gain experience and be safer and more efficient.”

The knowledge and skills required for the equipment roadeo help CDOT maintenance workers better and more safely serve the traveling public each year along the 9,000 miles of Colorado state and federal highways they maintain.