Brendan Wilkinson, a field service technician at RDL equipment, talks about his daily work fixing machinery for customers and the satisfaction of solving technical problems. He was recognized as a 2021 John Deere Technician Winner for his work keeping equipment operational.
Yeah, I suppose it's just about what I'm doing and what I'm doing it for. So you know, someone's machine is down, it's more critical that I'm there getting it up and running for their operation so I can apply my skills to keep them going. And that keeps me going, if that makes sense. I'm Brendan Wilkinson, field service tech for RDL equipment. So I work with all sorts of customers, the construction and forestry space owner operators, all the way up to big contractors. They call with a problem and I try and solve it for them. My typical day starts off early. I'm on the road by 6am, head into the workshop, open up for everybody, grab a cup of coffee and then start getting ready for the jobs of the day. Or I could head out straight to site, straight to a job. For example, this week I went out to change a bucket over on a loader and then the following day I was out doing a 2000 hour service on a grader, then shoot out, do some diagnostics on an engine and then back in the shop, cover off on the paperwork and tidy up everything.
And him that knows how to solve the little problems that the everyday service technician can't. So we do rely on him a fair bit. He knows how to read schematics and so forth, so he's our unsung hero out there.
Winning the award was a surprise. It meant a lot, really in the end. It was nice to have people actually look at what, you know, what me and so many others do and actually go, you know what, there's a pat on the back like you do a good job and that's nice. It meant a lot. I really think the most rewarding part for me is when you get a machine up and running and you can see the joy.
