BACK TO SCHOOL APPLIES TO ROADBUILDING VETERANS, TOO 

BACK TO SCHOOL APPLIES TO ROADBUILDING VETERANS, TOO

As teachers around the nation prepare curriculum and classrooms for the upcoming school year, so too are the Volvo Road Institute instructors. Kicking off its 51st year, the industry’s first instructional course for paving professionals provides a variety of classes to help everyone from paver and compactor operators to screed operators and maintenance technicians create a higher quality road while staying mindful of the most important thing on the jobsite — safety.

Training courses combine classroom-style instruction with hands-on learning, and focus on a wide range of paving and compaction topics including operation, application, maintenance and mechanics. This year the Road Institute’s most highly attended course — Paver and Compactor Operation and Maintenance — will be offered in both English and Spanish. Courses are open to all roadbuilding professionals, and lessons are applicable regardless of equipment brand.

Instructors combine decades of roadbuilding and training experience to ensure, regardless of tenure in the industry, every course attendee takes away helpful lessons they can immediately apply on a jobsite.

“We have a wide range of experience levels in our courses,” said Wayne Tomlinson, Road Institute compaction training specialist. “Perhaps the most rewarding thing is when a student who has been operating a paver or compactor for 10 or 15 years says, ‘I’ve been doing this wrong — this makes a lot more sense.’ Our entire purpose is to equip them with tools to make their work easier — their end product better. Between the classroom theory, the peer-to-peer interaction among students, and the hands-on sessions with the equipment, everyone takes away solid lessons.”

A wide variety of courses and styles are available. Paver and compactor operator courses qualify toward the NAPA Diamond Paving Commendation requirements.

• Paver and Compactor Operation and Maintenance – Two days of classroom-style learning plus two days of hands-on application in this course provides best practices for operation and management of paving equipment.
•  Automatic Grade and Slope Systems – This course provides lessons on how to safely set up, operate and troubleshoot common control issues that can result in poor ride-ability and joint construction.
•  Large Asphalt Compactor Mechanics – This course provides students with maintenance and technical training for large asphalt compactors including system functions, troubleshooting and adjustments of hydraulic and electrical systems.
• Small Asphalt Compactor Mechanics – Students learn mechanics for asphalt compactors under seven tons.
• Soil Compactor Mechanics – This course provides students with general service instruction for soil compactors.
• Paver Hydraulic and Electrical Systems – Students become familiar with the hydraulics and electrical systems of pavers with lessons that allow for hands-on troubleshooting.
•  Paver Screed Operation and Adjustments – This course covers principles of paver operation, maintenance, mechanical adjustments, screed set-up and screed running adjustments to ensure paving quality.

Prospective students can find more information, course dates and registration information at RoadInstitute.com.

Courses are held at the Road Institute Training Centers in Chambersburg and Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and at the Road Institute West location in Phoenix, Arizona. Early registration is recommended as class sizes are limited to allow for ideal instructor-to-attendee ratios. A 25 percent discount will be given to those who register by September 30th for any classes held October through December 2016.

SOURCE: http://www.volvoce.com/united-states/en-us/about-us/news/2016/back-to-school-applies-to-roadbuilding-veterans-too/