From winning locally to providing Helene relief: How one NCDOT employee used his skills to go the extra mile

It was a rainy, late-summer day as Johnathon White took the controls of a backhoe tractor at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. With the eyes of many on him, the longtime N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) worker carefully maneuvered through the course and obstacles in front of him in 36.83 seconds, landing him a perfect score and the fastest time out of 24 competitors.

It’s been 13 years since the regional Equipment Operator Safety Training Conference was held in North Carolina. During the conference, employees from across the Southeast test their skills in a specific category as they train to follow the correct safety precautions for each piece of machinery. Each competition features an assortment of equipment, including low boys, dump trucks, motor graders, backhoe tractors and skid steers. 

It can be a lot of pressure, says White, who lives in St. Pauls and works for a maintenance yard in Fayetteville. “The backhoe event attracts the most attention,” he recalled. “I probably had at least a hundred people standing there watching.” 

From roadeo to regionals

The Equipment Operator Safety Training Conference is an annual event hosted by one of 12 states in the Southeast. Every summer, each of the 14 highway divisions in North Carolina hold a “roadeo” — a smaller competition — as employees vie for the opportunity to compete at the state-level roadeo event. Then, it’s onto the regional level with other winners from across the Southeast. The last time the conference was hosted in North Carolina was back in 2011, said NCDOT Public Relations Officer Andrew Barksdale.

Barksdale said the state roadeo is something NCDOT employees look forward to each year and is a great time to build camaraderie, but the event is also meant to be taken seriously as each employee’s skills are tested.

“It’s just a way to hone skills, practice out in a safe environment, and have competition. That’s the main reason we do it,” Barksdale said. 

White said it was good to be competing at home this year. White is one of 25 employees who work for the Division 6 Cumberland County maintenance yard in Fayetteville and has been employed there for 13 years. 

This was his second time attending the conference following his 6^th place title in the backhoe tractor competition in 2023 hosted by West Virginia. This year, White received a perfect score and the fastest time out of 24 competitors, landing him in first place. He said those observing kept score but when the official results were announced, he was shocked. 

“I was very surprised,” White said. 

Jason Dunigan, a Cumberland County maintenance engineer and White’s coworker for four years, said White has an exceptional work ethic, joking that he wishes he had “50 of him.”

“He’s one of those guys that I can give him a complaint [for a maintenance job] and he’s gonna go and not only make sure that one complaint is fixed but go the extra mile,” Dunigan said.

White said it’s the people he works alongside that make the long hours and laborious work worth it.

“One of the biggest things I enjoy about my job is the people,” White said.

The extra mile

White is also among a dozen Division 6 employees who headed to Western North Carolina on Oct. 1 to assist with Hurricane Helene relief. 

White and his crew worked 16-hour days, according to Dunigan, clearing streets of debris and trees and building permanent roads for the residents of Buncombe County. 

White said he helped with hurricane relief before in 2016 when Hurricane Matthew came through Fayetteville. But White said this is the farthest he’s been away from home and a new territory he was anxious to confront. 

“The mudslides and rock falls are going to be a new experience,” White told CityView, prior to heading out west. 

Dunigan said the crew is doing well and taking it day by day with the aftermath of the storm opening their eyes to the needs of the community. Dunigan said the role of NCDOT workers can be often misunderstood and seen as an inconvenience while working in Fayetteville, but it’s been a different experience assisting people in the aftermath of the hurricane. 

“Up here, these people are thankful that we are in the road,” Dunigan said. 

As the Division 6 crew neared their third week in Western North Carolina, these “unsung heroes,” as Barksdale calls them, were expected to remain in place until at least Nov. 2, according to Dunigan. But that date was extended to Nov. 4. “Whatever we can do to help the community get back to traveling and doing what they need to, we’re going to do it,” White said.