Tire Technician is Proactive and Positive
If you’re looking for a proactive helper with a positive attitude, Calvin Jones might be your guy.
He certainly is when it comes to many of the vehicles and heavy equipment in use at Watco Greens Port in Houston. As lead tire technician, Jones works in the industrial park’s maintenance area and is responsible for the tires on about 500 vehicles in the fleet of heavy equipment, cars, trucks, excavators, front-end loaders, forklifts, and more.
“Pretty much anything with a tire on it, Calvin has something to do with it,” according to Jonas Charles, a supply clerk who also works in maintenance.
But Jones takes on much more than tires. Charles recalls a time when Jones pitched in to help him clean and organize the environmental waste area — a covered, controlled space to handle fluids associated with equipment maintenance in a safe and compliant way. The space is over 1,600 square feet and at that time contained seven heavy, rubber berms measuring 10 feet by 12 feet to catch any spills or leaks.
Even though he’s often steadily engaged — monitoring tread wear, getting quotes on replacements for department managers, getting approvals, going to the dock and warehouse, and going to vendor locations — Jones squeezed in some time to help Charles.
“We physically had to move everything out of each berm, take up each berm, clean them out, fold them up, and dispose of them. We swept the whole area, we made everything neat and prepped, and then we laid out the new 80-by-20 berm and put everything back. So by myself, it may have been possibly a two- to three-day job, but with Calvin just volunteering to help me, it ended up just being a one-day thing.”
Charles and Jones are in the same department as crane mechanics, who service giant mobile harbor cranes that load and unload massive amounts of ship cargo in a 24/7 operation. Jones has been known to help them with preventive maintenance and with any equipment malfunctions or other incidents, and “everything else that may arise on a daily basis.”
Charles said Jones is the same with the heavy equipment mechanics when they’re short a person due to illness or have a particularly challenging task. “He’s willing to jump in and help.”
Not only is Jones willing to help wherever he’s needed, he brings with him a cheerful disposition.
“He’s a big guy,” said Charles, “but the smile on his face is even bigger. Like all you see is teeth every time. No problems, no questions. Just happy to do it. Everything he does for others is out of love for his team and Watco as a company. Just happy to be a part of the team. Happy to push the company forward.”