Technician of the Month Honorees

Government Fleet magazine's Technician of the Month program recognizes technicians who work for public-sector fleet departments across the U.S. These individuals not only work hard, day in, day out, but they contribute great ideas that improve maintenance operations. 

Listed below are the Technicians that Government Fleet has recognized as well as links to news stories about each individual.

To be eligible to nominate someone, you must be a member of Fleet Toolbox, an online service that offers a mix of social networking with other public-sector fleet management professionals, access to sample fleet documents, and benchmarking tools. Joining Fleet Toolbox to get access to the social network and documents is free, though the benchmarking tools require a paid subscription to use.

You can join Fleet Toolbox for free here.

If you are a public-sector fleet manager and would like to nominate an individual for this program, you can sign in to Fleet Toolbox here.

The current Technician of the Month honorees are listed below.

Corey Lane, City of Loveland, Colo.

Corey Lane, Mechanic II with the City of Loveland, Colo.’s fleet management department, is an ASE-certified mechanic with more than 26 years of experience. He is also ASE Master Truck, ASE Master Automotive, and EVT Master Technician certified.

Lane is the primary technician for the Loveland Fire Authority’s 42 pieces of fire apparatus. He also diagnoses complex issues with heavy equipment for the fleet department. One of Lane’s key achievements in Loveland’s fleet department is his working relationship with the City’s fire department.

Ignacio Focarino, NYPD Fleet Services Division

Focarino has 25 years of experience in the automotive industry. NYPD’s Anto said Focarino developed a number of innovations related to improving police vehicle maintenance and on-road performance.

One of Focarino's notable achievements was his development of a tool developed a tool that enabled the department to remove the ignition cylinder without disassembling the dashboard. This tool saved the department valuable vehicle downtime and more than one hour of labor per vehicle, according to NYPD's deputy director for NYPD’s fleet services division Markus Anto.

Charles Davenport, City of Roanoke, Va.

Davenport is employed as a maintenance technician IV with the City of Roanoke, Va.,’s Fleet Management Department and has more than 30 years of experience. He is ASE certified, and has spent the last seven years with the City.

Davenport works on a wide variety of heavy automotive and specialized equipment, such as diesel or gasoline engine equipment, air compressors, fire pump apparatus and aerial truck hydraulic systems. He also overhauls, services, and fabricates assemblies and accessories for City vehicles and equipment, including single and two speed rear axles, multi-speed transmissions, and hydraulic compressed air, vacuum and electric controls, systems and components.

Josh Gerkin, City of Tucson, Ariz.

Gerkin works with the City of Tucson's fleet services department as a certified automotive mechanic. He has 18 years of experience and has been with the City for 8 years. He is an ASE Master Tech and is ASE certified in a number of areas, including Compressed Natural Gas and Advanced Engine Performance.

Gerkin is responsible for repairing and rebuilding all types of vehicles and equipment for the City. Throughout his years with the City, he has found a number of ways to improve processes, saving labor hours and money.