10/6/2015
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
Preston’s Beckstead earns second place at national Snow & Ice competition
POCATELLO - Southeastern Idaho continues to perform well in the road-clearing and equipment-operation skills that translate into safer, better routes for drivers. For the second year in a row, Matt Beckstead of the Idaho Transportation Department's Preston Maintenance shed competed in the Western Snow & Ice Conference and National Truck Roadeo in Colorado. This year he finished second among 55 national competitors in the loader event Sept. 30.
Click here for a picture of Beckstead standing in front of a snowplow, Beckstead in the cab of the tandem-axle truck at the event, and Beckstead with his award.
“We're really excited to have skilled and committed employees like Matt,” said ITD southeastern Idaho District Engineer Ed Bala. “The skills he sharpens at these events translates directly to safer winter driving for our citizens.”
Beckstead, who along with ITD's 2015 first-place winner, Trent Maupin from ITD's eastern Idaho Sugar City Maintenance shed, represented the department at the regional event Sept. 30-Oct. 2. Beckstead, the 2014 Idaho statewide winner, also finished 12th in the Motor-Grader event and 14th in the Skid-Steer (Bobcat) event.
"Matt’s consistent high performance in state and national competitions for equipment operators shows that he has the ability to transform knowledge of equipment operation into a skill at the expert level," explained Preston Maintenance Foreman Jeremy Wood. "Expert-level equipment operators are a precious asset for any organization, and we at ITD are proud to have Matt on our team."
As a team, Beckstead and Maupin finished 11th in the Tandem Axle Snow Plow event, and 19th in the single-axle version.
Beckstead’s second-place finish in the national event was surpassed only by the first-place finish achieved by Jarrett Porter (from ITD's south-central Idaho region) in the 2001 competition, and equals the finish of Mike Rearden (from ITD's northern Idaho region) in 2012, who also finished second in the loader event.
Beckstead has been with ITD since November 2012.