IC Bus is inviting technicians to attend 42 hours of school bus training during the week of Sept. 19 in Tulsa, Okla.
The training sessions will include instruction on bus maintenance, engines, bus electrical, Navistar parts, Ricon lifts, and Specialty Manufacturing products, “as well as other areas of concern to today’s school bus technician.” Attendees will also receive a guided tour of the plant, presentations on paint maintenance and a four-hour class on Allison Transmissions.
“We continue to have tremendous interest in IC Bus University,” said John Thompson, director of training for IC Bus. “We believe that it is ‘best-in-class’ training for the self-maintainer, and based upon the number of inquiries that I have received asking about our next session, I would expect the September session to fill quickly.”
He added that IC Bus University will likely be offered two additional times this year and to continue the training in 2012.
Attendees are asked to arrive in Tulsa by noon Central time on Sept. 19 to begin the four days of training, which concludes around 1:30 p.m. Central on Sept. 23. Attendees will be responsible for transportation to and from Tulsa, hotel rates of $99 per night (which includes breakfast), an evening meal and the class fee of $300. Lunch will be provided Monday through Friday.
Thompson explained that the IC Bus University would continue to be held at the Tulsa bus plant rather than in a new state-of-the-art facility recently opened in Woodbridge, Ill., because the training is “bus focused.”
“A critical piece of our training is getting our attendees into the plant to see where things are located and how they go together prior to being covered by sheet metal or other compnents,” he said. “This can only be done in the factory itself. So many of the technicians are ‘hands on,’ and pictures or even video can be a poor substitute for seeing it live.”
He added that IC’s other bus training equipment such as a training bus mockup is located in Tulsa and while it could be moved, it would be expensive. The Tulsa facility also allows the company to break a large group of 60 technicians into three smaller groups. IC also coordinates with a local hotel to provide four evening sessions.
Registrations can be made through local IC Bus dealers. Contact Thompson for more information.
