Meet the Mitchell 1 Team: Ken Wagner

Ken Wagner, Senior Coordinating Editor of the Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG) and ASE Master Certified (medium/heavy truck) expert, at Mitchell 1

Ken Wagner, Senior Coordinating Editor of the Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG) and ASE Master Certified (medium/heavy truck) expert, at Mitchell 1

At Mitchell 1, we like to take the time to recognize our team. We have many truck repair experts here who have at one point or another been on the front lines of the commercial truck and automotive repair industry. These professionals are not only passionate about the heavy-duty truck repair industry, but they are also excited about being able to pass on small nuggets of wisdom that can make life around the shop a little easier.

This week we met up with Ken Wagner, Senior Coordinating Editor of the Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG) and ASE Master Certified (medium/heavy truck) expert, who specializes in medium to heavy duty trucks. Let’s take a look at what Ken suggests to get the most out of your Mitchell 1 TruckSeries information.

Ken, please tell us a little about your background, and how you made it to Mitchell 1.

I retired from the Navy Seabees in 2006, which I like to call the “dirt Navy” because for the most part Seabees do not spend a lot of time on ships. Seabees are the construction element of the Navy (John Wayne and the Fighting Seabees), and I was a construction mechanic, working on everything from little centrifugal pumps to 100-ton cranes and everything in between.

I gained a lot of experience in the Seabees. I managed tool rooms and repair parts warehouses, performed preventive maintenance and repair on equipment as a mechanic, ran light and heavy duty repair shops. I retired from the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer responsible for all of the fleet maintenance operations for anywhere from 100 to 300 pieces of construction and support equipment, depending on where I was.

After the Navy, my first job was at Kern Steel in Bakersfield, California as the facilities manager. After about a year, I decided I needed a location change so I headed back to San Diego where I ended up working for a San Diego International dealership for six months. While at International, AT&T Government solutions called me about a position writing 3M maintenance cards for equipment maintenance for the Seabees, and I was like, seriously? Of course! I couldn’t turn that down.

After AT&T’s contract ran out with the Seabees, I received a call from Mitchell 1 concerning an opening in their new Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG), and the rest is history. I have pretty much been here since the birth of what is now TruckSeries. I came here in 2007, and Trailor-Tractor.net (now the TractorTrailer module in TruckSeries) started in 2006. Time flies!

What is a challenge that you face in working with medium to heavy duty truck repair information?

One challenge is bringing all the different make and model repair information into one platform for our customers. When we receive information, it comes in many different formats and layouts, and one of our priorities is converting this information into one format and navigational structure for our customers, making it easy for them to navigate TruckSeries and locate the information they need regardless of the manufacturer.

What is your favorite thing about working with trucks?

I like keeping up with all of the newer technology that is coming out in the trucking industry.

What feature in TruckSeries should our customers take more advantage of?

Customers should take advantage of the Key Word Search feature and the Component and Article Type filter boxes on the left side of the Keyword Search text box. Take a look at the engine brake search below.

Mitchell 1 TruckSeries Using Search Filters Help

 

Simply searching for “engine brake” returns a large amount of results in the search results area, in this case 548 results were returned for our engine brake search. If the customer wants to adjust the engine brakes, we would start the filtering process by selecting “Adjust” from the Article Type filter box and then the “Engine Braking System” option from the component filter box (see below).

Mitchell 1 TruckSeries truck repair information - Using Search Filters Help

Mitchell 1 TruckSeries truck repair information - Using Search Filters Help

Notice after using the filtering system for the keyword search that the results were reduce from 548 to only 3 selections. This is way more efficient than sifting through 548 results to find engine brake adjusting procedures.

Mitchell 1 TruckSeries truck repair information - Using Search Filters Help

So, yes, it can be a little tricky and there may be a little learning curve because of the customization that is available on a truck; however, if our customers are able to use the filters within the search well, they can narrow their lists and repair times drastically.

Another thing I think is really helpful is our training. We offer live trainings that are always available to our customers if they are having difficulties using the product or would like to know how to find information even more efficiently.

For more information on how to use your TruckSeries truck repair information, take a look at these resources.

Search Training Video: https://mitchell1.com/support/vehicle-select-repair/

Live Training Request: https://mitchell1.com/support/truckseries/training/

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