Leon Goyings from Paulding, an equipment operator for the Ohio Department of Transportation District 1, placed third in the Director’s Cup Truck and Loader Roadeo held recently in Columbus.
An employee from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 1 placed third in the loader competition at the Director’s Cup Truck and Loader competition held Wednesday, June 6 in Columbus.
Winning third place in the loader competition was Leon Goyings of Paulding, an equipment specialist in the ODOT District 1 garage, with a score of 2,145 out of a possible 3,020. His score was only 190 points behind the second place winner and 230 points behind first place.
Goyings placed third in the districtwide roadeo held in May, which made him an alternate for the statewide roadeo. This is Goyings’ sixth year competing in the roadeo. A 22-year veteran of the organization, Goyings has won several times at the state and national level in the roadeo competitions.
Goyings, who says he competes in the Director’s Cup because he enjoys the competition, began his ODOT career as a highway worker. Though his current position is equipment operator based in the district garage, he remains on the list of auxiliary snowplow drivers who assist full-time highway technicians and seasonal drivers in winter operations.
“No matter where Leon is working within ODOT, he will always be a stand-out equipment operator. He has that knack and the roadeo creates the opportunity for him to display it,” said Kirk Slusher, ODOT District 1 deputy director.
“Leon has been one of our best operators in District 1 for a long time. It’s great to see him compete and do well on the statewide level. Competing against your peers from across the state at the roadeo offers our employees a great opportunity to show off their skills and abilities in truck and loader operations,” said Rod Nuveman, highway management administrator for ODOT District 1.
Also competing on behalf of ODOT District 1 was Chris Miles of the Defiance garage and Charles Cook of the Paulding garage.
The roadeo is a friendly competition that pits equipment operators against one another to test their skill in maneuvering equipment through a series of obstacles intended to mimic situations they encounter on the job. Participants are also required to find deliberately-placed mechanical bugs on equipment as part of the pre-trip inspection portion of the competition. The competition also included a test of the rules and laws pertaining to holders of a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
All highway technicians at ODOT are required to retain a CDL.
