Fred Struck, Lead Service Technician, Makes a Career of Blending Expertise with Innovation

Not many people have been with CSC as long as Fred Struck, Lead Service Technician in Sacramento, California. With a total of 43 years in the laundry industry, and 38 with companies that have formed CSC, he has been at the forefront of the technology revolution and a pioneer of CSC’s digital pay developments.

Struck began his career in 1977 after applying through an employment agency for a position at Service Distributors, Inc. (SDI), a company based in San Francisco. Loaded with knowledge on mechanics and aviation from recently completed college courses, Struck found the job ad interesting. Getting the position would shape his professional life, with his progression to Lead Technician mirroring the technology that would soon develop in new and fascinating ways.

SDI was eventually acquired by the company that would become CSC, but digital advancements remained an integral part of Struck’s job. While the coin slides were mechanically simple to service and replace, Struck was an early adopter of the ESD card systems in his service area, though it was initially difficult to transition clients away from coin. The reduction in vandalism and ease of pay led to more installations, as well as simultaneously fueling Struck’s interest in how to problem-solve service issues for this new pay method. It’s something he discusses with his brother, Mike, who would also start with SDI and remain with the company after it was acquired by CSC. Even today, the Struck brothers, though in different parts of the country, share their expertise on the differences between Maytag and Speed Queen machines.

Struck continues to be an advocate for new innovation, seeing technology advancements as a refreshing change. “It’s a little bit of something more interesting,” he says. “There’s a learning curve, but you think, hey, this looks great. I’d like to see more of this.” When asked about the biggest challenges he’s experienced during his tenure with CSC, Struck says he doesn’t see any challenges, only opportunities to learn. He credits his troubleshooting and solution-based thinking abilities to the education he received in mechanics and aviation.

George Rubi, Branch Operations Manager adds, “Fred was the first to embrace new technologies, specifically our CSCPay Mobile technology. Not only that, but he has become a subject matter expert on installing and troubleshooting this technology and has trained several other team members on it.”

Struck echoes this, sharing the influence that it’s had on his career over the last few years. “CSCPay Mobile is great. It motivates me to want to go to work.” The knowledge and excitement Struck brings to his job is evidenced by his ability to update a circa 1900s Maytag washing machine with our latest CSC pay technology.

As CSC continues to develop and innovate, Struck will no doubt be eager to learn the latest technology and mentor others. Not only a valuable team member, he is also an inspiration for how to use daily challenges as opportunities to grow in knowledge and become a respected expert in the field.

Thank you, Fred, for your incredible contributions to CSC!