Loader technology designed to boost production and efficiency does neither without proper instruction of the operator. That responsibility often falls to the dealer, who may spend hours familiarizing an organization’s individual operators or training a trainer within the organization. After the initial sessions, the dealer remains on call to handle questions as they arise.
“We really want to do a good product demo before they even buy the machine,” says John Hofmeyer, director of rental operations, construction group, Alta Equipment. “This is really about getting them acclimated to the product and to what it’s capabilities are.”
One of Alta product lines is Volvo Construction Equipment, and their new loader models have various performance-enhancing technologies. In a recent Construction Equipment Field Test, editors experienced first-hand the partnership between Alta and Volvo in customer familiarization.
Ron Anderson, Alta’s regional safety trainer for Illinois and Indiana, showed the operator-trainers from Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers the nuances of the Volvo L180H wheel loader. Hofmeyer says Anderson does the same with customers throughout the region.
Volvo CE product specialist John Waldron offers manufacturer support for dealer efforts, which he calls “operator familiarization.” Volvo offers “train the trainer” courses at its headquarters in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, to certify dealer trainers such as Anderson. Volvo offers operator familiarization throughout its dealer, Waldron says. Waldron also works directly with customers when asked, working with 11 dealers throughout Canada, New England, Michigan, and Illinois.
“Ideally, we like to have—on a major Volvo demonstration—Waldron and Anderson both there,” says Hofmeyer. “They work in tandem, so Waldron can handle a lot of the technical product questions, and Anderson can handle the actual operator, more on the application side.
“There’s a lot of instruction done at that time,” he says. “At the demo, the owner or manager will bring their best operators or most seasoned operators who usually have some influence on the purchase decision. Quite often, they’ll get as many operators together as they can and we’ll do a quick product-training session. More often than not, if it’s the construction season, that’s not going to happen. So they’ll train one and he’ll forward that on.
“Once the customer had purchased the piece of equipment, it’s primarily Anderson, a sales rep, and a product support rep that will go out and deliver that piece to the customer. At that point, hopefully, they’ve seen everything and we’re giving them some familiarization training.”
Anderson has 35 years experience as an operator, and he says he spends about 30 percent of his time training customers on the technologies on new equipment, and he expects that time commitment to increase as new-equipment sales grow.
“The technology is taking over,” Anderson says. “It’s training for me, then I train the other guys. I show them the basics, or what they need to know, and if they need to come back after a purchase of a machine or a lease of a machine, that’s what I do. I like to learn it, too. So when I can learn it and teach somebody it makes me feel good.
“Young [operators] catch it quick because that’s the technology they have. The guys who are familiar with the older technology, I can communicate with them a little better because I’ve been there. A lot of [seasoned operators] like [to operate by] feel. That transition is hard for them. But once they see what it does—like the tires don’t spin, you’re not tearing up the machine, you’re not making the boss mad—once they realize it, they love it.
Anderson acknowledges that the technology makes it easier for people to operate equipment like wheel loaders. As a seasoned operator and an IOUE member, Anderson wants heavy equipment operators to have a bright future.
“As far as yard work or renting or municipality work or building a home, I think anybody should be able to do that,” he says. “But as far as bigger machines, quarries, and roadwork: These guys have to have training and schooling.”
