10/28/2014
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
Southeast Idaho trio earns Top Five honors at Western Snow & Ice skills competition
POCATELLO - For the better part of two decades, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) has sent the winners of the state maintenance roadeo competition to Colorado each fall to test their equipment skills and knowledge against the region’s best at the Western Snow & Ice Conference. Over the years, a few ITD individuals have placed high in the competition. This year, a trio from southeast Idaho added their names to that exclusive list.
Matt Beckstead from ITD’s Preston Maintenance shed, Dan Daniels from the Malad shed and Pocatello’s Bruce Dial joined Brad Steiner of New Meadows (southwest Idaho) in Colorado in late September. ITD traditionally sends only the first- and second-place winners each year, but Dial and Steiner (the 2013 Idaho winners) also traveled to Loveland this year. Their trip last year was cancelled due to heavy flooding in the area. Estes Park, about 30 miles away, has traditionally hosted the event.
The Idaho representatives competed as a team in both the single- and tandem-axle truck events and as individuals in the loader and motor-grader events. The team of Beckstead and Daniels placed fifth in the tandem-axle event, while in the loader event Dial was fifth and Beckstead 10th. In 2010, Dial was seventh place in single-axle event at the regional event, and was part of the fourth-place team for tandem-axle driving.
Click here for a picture of Daniels (l) and Beckstead (r) from the Western Snow & Ice competition. Click here for a picture of Steiner (l) and Dial (r) from the Colorado event.
“I’m extremely proud of my co-workers for winning at the state level, and being such incredible competitors at the national level,” said Ed Bala, ITD’s southeast Idaho region district engineer. “It says a lot about their skill and attitude, especially given the fact they competed nationally in unfamiliar equipment.”
“This is important safety and operations training, and excellent employees like Bruce, Matt and Dan use those skills every day keeping mobility at an all-time high level here in southeast Idaho,” Bala added.
Beckstead has been with the department for two years and was competing in his first regional competition. Daniels has been with ITD for 12 years, and Dial is an 11-year employee. Beckstead and Daniels finished first and second at the ITD statewide roadeo competition this summer. Dial was the 2013 state winner.