Mason Mayert December 2023 Winner
Mason came to Southland International Trucks as a 15-year-old from a local Lethbridge high school. The first few times that I interacted with him, I saw he was smart, had a calm demeanor, and leadership skills, well beyond his years! We started him part time and registered Mason in RAP (Registered Apprenticeship Program) here in Alberta. Mason was a pioneer of a Southern Alberta Dual Credit project, which the local Lethbridge College and Southland were helping pilot. The college initially rejected his application, as they thought he was too young, but he was told if he completed an entrance exam, he would be allowed in. He passed the exam and completed the course with accolades from all his teachers.
Mason’s passion and his attitude toward the truck industry have been stellar. He completed all his Navistar online Master Truck training while in high school and is now in his last year of Alberta Apprenticeship Training at 19 years old. He has helped and encouraged all our techs with their Navistar Training and EZ-Tech / Cummins diagnostic repairs. He has also completed advanced DLB training. His focus on customer care is exemplary. He has been pushed outside of his box so many times and responds with such a great attitude and skill. Mason always thinks about what he can do to help our Prestige Standards, Accelerated Service, Velocity, and Uptime programs. He has brought this kind of confidence into our Prestige Standards meetings to brainstorm and execute initiatives. He has been entrusted with training new techs with up-fitting and performing PDIs on new trucks. He has improved our truck oil servicing process by organizing tools and training all techs on best practices. Today we are launching a new tech training program and, once again, Mason will be piloting the training.
The one thing that we believe needs repeating is that what Mason has accomplished at such a young age is incredible! Our owner, George Kirkham, describes Mason as the youngest employee who works at a very high level, is a pleasure to be around, takes ownership of mistakes, is always willing to be flexible, and is just a real class act!