Total thrills: It’s all about helping those who need it the most
Field Technician Craig Moore thrives off helping those in need. Whether you’re a Scania customer stuck at the roadside with your vehicle or a colleague in need of technical guidance, the thrill is in solving your problem.
31st October 2022
Being gifted at something comes naturally for some people. But being able to use that special ability to share that knowledge with others is priceless. That’s exactly the case with Field Technician Craig Moore.
Based at Scania Edinburgh, he is at the beck and call to anybody in need – whether it’s a customer or a Scania colleague in Scotland, across the border in England, or even further afield on some occasions.
Simply helping people is what drives this young man:
“I genuinely get satisfaction from knowing that when you arrive at a boat, an excavator, a truck or a bus – anything, that you’re the one that helped them when they required help the most,” he says.
This humble, yet inspiring approach is part of Craig’s DNA. Although it’s his wide and varying experiences that have shaped him.
Liquid metal running through his veins
From a young age, Craig had a love for anything related to heavy transport, and by the time he was a teenager he had worked out that he wanted to be either a mechanical or electrical engineer.
Why? Because the Moore family has liquid metal running through their veins.
Craig’s grandfather was an engineer for British Leyland and his father, Hugh, was Services Director for Scania Scotland – and a talented technician in his day.
With all that in mind, it was only a matter of time before Craig joined the Scania UK family. He joined back in 2012 as an apprentice at Scania Grangemouth and enjoyed developing his knowledge and skillset throughout his formative years.
As much as helping people drives Craig’s passion, his thirst to constantly learn helped carve out a niche which makes him indispensable to Scania UK.
“I like to push myself and my knowledge,” says Craig. “I want to be stripping and rebuilding engines, gearboxes, final drives – I want to be into the guts of it, elbow deep in grease.”
Delving deep Down Under
This hunger and desire saw Craig spend almost two years with Scania Australia, getting to grips with a new culture, new market and a different way of fixing things.
He was hands on straight away working on anything and everything heavy, including Scanias, Kenilworths, Cummins and Doosans. That was where his love for Power Solutions began and his expertise in this area started to develop.
“I learnt how much engineering is involved in being a technician,” he says. “A truck required for heavy haulage pulling more than 200 tonnes arrives in Australia as just a base vehicle. The salesman will spec up that vehicle for the customer, and we wouldn’t think twice about removing the gearbox, changing the gearing to give the customer the better ratios, and changing the diffs. Australia rekindled my spark and my love for all things mechanical.”
Blueprint for who I am today
On Craig’s return to Scotland, he was keen to share his knowledge and insight with his new colleagues. Seeing the potential cost savings Scania Edinburgh could make by fixing gearboxes in-house, Craig worked with his General Manager to train up several technicians to be confident in stripping and rebuilding gearboxes. Rather than outsourcing to a third-party supplier, as he explains.
“We saved so much money. But the good thing is I’ve helped and assisted other technicians in pushing themselves. Not a lot of people like doing these jobs, because it’s an expensive mess if you get it wrong.
“But I thrive on assisting somebody. I enjoy teaching others and being able to give advice on tackling a job. I love it, and still do when people ask for my help.”
His humble approach speaks volume about his character and why his peers are keen to involve him in any problems they may be encountering.
Such is Craig’s skill set – he worked for the Technical Team – dealing with issues across the country and, in some cases, the globe. While he enjoyed assisting other technicians over the phone, he missed being hands-on. Now Craig is back doing what he loves – helping customers in need of assistance as a field-based technician.
But his experience and expertise when it comes to Power Solutions is still in constant demand. Whether it is helping colleagues around the country or a customer whose boat is malfunctioning off the Italian Riviera, his phone is always on 24/7, 365 days a year.
Even Christmas Day, Craig would be eager to respond to an SOS call and be out dealing with an issue, as he would any other day.
His charisma and passion are infectious, which is why sharing his knowledge with others is so natural. As it proved with a set of engineers struggling to fix a problem with a Scania marine engine.
A job of a lifetime in San Remo
Stuck off the Mediterranean coast in Italy was a luxury yacht bought recently by a billionaire owner. The distress call came into Scania Assistance in the UK, after colleagues in France and Greece struggled to resolve the issue.
To Technical Manager, Steve Oakley, there was only one man who could answer this call – Craig.
Not knowing much about the job, Craig found himself on a flight to the Italian Riviera a few days later, with a set of tools already on route to meet him at the marina in San Remo.
He was expected to be at the location for five days thoroughly going through the yacht’s powertrain, fixing any problems, and generating a full report on the Scania engines – performance, maintenance routine and longevity.
He managed, alongside the yacht’s own engineers, to get the job done in four days – much to the delight of its owner and impatient businessman Lord Alan Sugar.
Craig said: “Lord Sugar’s right-hand man Ray Cutts asked me if I would work a bit late to get it finished. We ended up pulling a 14-hour shift on the Wednesday night. There’re photos of us sat in the marina at 11 o’clock at night eating pizza in our work gear. The boat was beautiful, but it was 61 degrees in the engine room at one point.
“It was a job of a lifetime, the pinnacle of my career. It gave me that feeling that I have really accomplished something, and I love the fact that I helped them. That alone felt good, being able to pass a wee bit of knowledge onto them. To help them when they are at sea, and I can’t get there within a day or two. I still feel a tremendous amount of pride about that job.”
Such is a Craig’s character; he relishes when the phone rings and is as enthusiastic to attend a breakdown at 3am on the M8 as jetting across the Europe to fix a luxury yacht.
In both instances someone needs his help – and all that matters to him is getting them on their way as soon as he can.
