MDOT Roadeo showcases equipment operators’ skills in Gulfport
GULFPORT, Miss. (WXXV)- MDOT equipment operators put their skills and preparedness to the test, demonstrating the precision and training required to keep Mississippi’s roads running smoothly.
WXXV News 25’s Asia Ellis takes us to the competition.
The 26th annual Mississippi Department of Transportation State Equipment Operators Roadeo brought together winners from six districts to compete and sharpen their skills at the Gulfport Sportsplex. MDOT Safety Officer Hunt Huston said, “Safety is critical, not only for our workforce, but also for the traveling public. Nationally, according to accident data, 85 percent of the time fatalities occur in work zones, and it’s you as a traveling motorist. So, whenever we can do your job safely, whenever the traveling motorists can look out, be aware of our presence, and lower their travel speed as they pass through, it’s going to provide safety, not just for our employees, but also for you and your loved ones.”
Competitors moved through a series of challenges featuring backhoes, skid steers, road graders, dump trucks, low boys, and tractor bush hogs, where time, accuracy, and safety all counted. Competitor Nathan Perkins said, “My dad has always done the tractor event, and for the past eight years I’ve done the tractor event with him, we see it as a father and son competition event, and we’ve went to regionals together three or four times together. My kids have come to every event; They beg me to jump on the tractor and try to compete against everybody else. This year we have one woman participating out of 30 people and nobody has seen that before in Mississippi, I don’t think.”
The winners of the competition will move on to the Southeastern Regional Roadeo in Virginia this October to go head-to-head with other state champions.
