Hino Distributors (NZ) technical services representative Darren Task has qualified as a Spirit Master – the highest technical qualification awarded by Hino.

Task becomes only the third person in New Zealand to receive the title, and one of only six technicians trained to this level in Oceania.

A Spirit Master is the role model for Hino technicians and the title proves the quality of service capability. Its purpose is to improve the technical capability of Hino technicians.

According to Hino, it takes several years to qualify as a Spirit Master. At each stage from Junior Technician to Spirit Master, technicians complete an e-learning course supplemented by on the job training and ongoing Hino training delivered at Sime Darby’s Auckland-based National Development Centre during a compulsory one-year stand down period. Once a technician has achieved the HS-2 Professional Technician status, they are then invited to apply for the Spirit Master qualification.

In October this year, Task’s name will go up in the HQS Spirit Master Member Board at Hino’s Training Centre in Tokyo, Japan, joining David Beech Simon Wilson from New Zealand.

“The main logic behind the Spirit Master qualification is to create role models for other technicians – and to demonstrate the quality of Hino Service,” said Task.

“I plan on using everything I have learnt to ensure other New Zealand technicians enrolled in the Spirit Master course have a good chance of getting their names on the board,” he said.

“By doing so, we prove to our customers that we provide extremely high-quality service.”