Super Duty is a Way of Life’: Work for Ford Intertwines with Life of Vehicle Engineering Manager

Having worked on the Super Duty program since its inception in the late 1990s, Aaron Bresky can easily chart the truck’s evolution. But if there’s something he forgets about those early days, he can look in his driveway for the answer.

Bresky, vehicle engineering manager and Super Duty chief technical officer, still has his silver metallic 1999 Super Duty XLT Supercab – with a manual transmission – after all these years. The truck has 100,000 miles and is still more than capable of taking him, his wife Susan and daughters Lauren and Ella, as well as his parents, on summer adventures, including to Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan’s northern lower peninsula. In fact, Bresky even used the truck to drive Ford President and CEO Jim Farley and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to the event stage at the reveal for the all-new 2023 Super Duty at Churchill Downs.  

“We ride three in the front and three in the back, and we just love the truck,” he said. “Even my father gets a kick out of the fact that this truck is literally unstoppable. It’s just so capable on the sand.”

The truck, which has required nothing beyond routine maintenance and was retired from daily driving several years ago to extend its lifespan, also has played a big part in Bresky’s life as a work truck. Whether it’s snowplowing or towing, it has been up to the task.

“I use it for so much,” he said. “There’s work I couldn’t do without the truck, but also the great memories of taking my whole family, not just wife and two daughters, but also my parents.”

Bresky, 50, is a graduate of Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and his master’s in automotive engineering. The St. Clair Shores, Michigan native has held numerous positions within the Super Duty program over the past two decades, with a specialty in noise, vibration and harshness (NVH). Bresky appreciates the variety the job brings.

“It’s really so many different aspects of the truck,” he said. “What I love about my job today is every different aspect of it. It could be one day working on ride optimization or another day working on fuel economy or future planning. It’s just incredible to have the opportunity to work right in the nucleus of the program. It doesn’t feel like a job per se. It’s fun to go to work, and I look forward to Monday mornings.”

While Bresky has only owned this one Super Duty, he has spent countless hours in others. The capability of the new models is beyond comparison, he said, noting his personal truck’s horsepower, torque and towing ratings are all dwarfed by current models.

“The Super Duty of today is remarkably more capable – it’s not even close,” he said. “The only similarity is they both say ‘Super Duty’ on the side.”

In addition to Super Duty’s increased capability for work and added luxury touches, Bresky touted improvements in driver-assist technology over the past decade.

“The Super Duty is now a wingman for the customer,” he said.

With the 2023 F-Series Super Duty, which goes on sale early next year, Bresky is fond of the Onboard Scales with Smart Hitch. The Onboard Scales feature provides real-time cargo weight information as payload is added to the truck’s bed and can alert customers when they’re approaching or exceeding their truck’s maximum payload rating. Smart Hitch ensures trailers are loaded properly using a combination of the truck’s onboard sensors and trailer specs.

“It’s taking a lot of the guesswork out for our customers regarding what the Super Duty has for a load and optimizing trailer loading for a safe tow,” he said. “It’s pretty incredible that we’re able to bring that capability to the new Super Duty.”

Bresky’s dedication to Super Duty should come as no surprise. At 7, he was riding along with his grandfather as he maintained an apartment complex using a 1975 F-250, his grandfather’s so-called “Sunday Go Meeting” truck because he never knew what sort of errands or jobs would arise throughout the day. Bresky said that approach left a strong impression on him, so much so he even based his Halloween costume on the truck when he was 8.

“It was amazing the amount of work he was able to do with that truck,” Bresky said of his grandfather. “They had their own car and my grandmother would complain about having to always take the truck, but he would say he never knew what would come up and he couldn’t do much about it without it.”

That sense of capability and reliability has stuck with Bresky over the years and Super Duty has always been a running theme in his home life, too, even beyond incorporating the nameplate into his personal email addresses. He went as far as lobbying to name his daughter Lariat – though he was ultimately overruled by his wife – after one of the truck’s premium trim lines.

“Super Duty is a way of life for me,” he said. “It’s not just a work assignment. I identify as someone so ingrained in Super Duty that it will definitely come up if you meet or talk to me long enough.”

Super Duty chief technical officer Aaron Bresky drove Ford President and CEO Jim Farley and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to the event stage at the reveal for the all-new 2023 Super Duty at Churchill Downs in Bresky’s 1999 Super Duty XLT Supercab (seen here).