ALBANY, N.Y. — Plans are now underway for the National Association for Pupil Transportation’s (NAPT) 9th Annual “America's Best Technician” and “America’s Best Inspector” Competition.

This year's competition, in which school bus technicians and inspectors from around the country vie for the titles, will be hosted by Cummins and take place Sept. 25 to 28 in Rocky Mount, N.C.

The contest will include a variety of workshops for both technicians and inspectors related to components and systems on school buses.

The competition and training workshop is limited to one inspector and one technician per state. All technician participants must be currently employed in a position that requires the regular maintenance and/or repair of school buses. All inspector participants must be currently employed in a position requiring the regular inspection of school buses.

The event is co-sponsored by Hydrotex, Zonar Systems, the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence and Voith. Delco Remy is offering scholarships to technicians who wish to participate.

For additional information and to register for the "America's Best" competition, visit www.americasbesttech.org or the Facebook page. Marshall Casey can be contacted with questions at MCASEY@ed.sc.gov.

Moreover, Hydrotex and Zonar offer scholarships that enable each competition winner to attend the Annual NAPT Summit. This year's Summit will take place Oct. 20-25 in Memphis, Tenn.

For more Summit information, log on to www.napt.org/summit.