An integral part of each annual Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) Fall Meeting is the Professional Technician Development Committee (PTDC) Training Fair. It is a series of hands-on training sessions that have been purposely developed for technicians, shop supervisors and fleet managers by the PTDC.
The PTDC is a group within TMC that promotes and enhances the professionalism of commercial vehicle technicians. TMC (http://www.trucking.org/Technology_Council.aspx) is North America’s premier technical society for truck equipment technology and maintenance professionals.
The Training Fair sessions qualify for continuing education credit units accepted by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF). It is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of automotive technician training programs nationwide at secondary and post-secondary, public and proprietary schools (www.natef.org).
Training Focus
The PTDC Training Fair – open to all TMC Fall Meeting attendees and TMCSuperTech competitors, consists of three sessions, each of which is repeated during the one-day training, on Tuesday, Sept. 19. This is done to maximize the number of training opportunities. All three sessions are held currently.
Session 1 – So You Want to Be a PM (preventive maintenance) Technician?
When it comes to PM on today’s high-tech trucks, the new technologies require that essential processes be followed to avoid unpleasant consequences. Too often, vehicle maintenance organizations and technicians aren’t informed of these technologies prior to their PM’ing the vehicle.
This PTDC session will provide a high-level overview of these technical systems, along with cautionary advice about servicing some of them.
Session 2 – Today’s Heavy Duty Engine Fan Drive Systems
Heavy duty truck engine cooling systems have evolved into a more precise and efficient technology compared to their mechanical predecessors. The new electronic-sensing, variable-speed fan drives provide precision cooling, based on specific engine requirements.
Providing only the amount of air flow required to keep the engine operating at an optimum temperature means lower noise, improved fuel economy and more available horsepower.
This training session will reveal what may not be known about these modern fan drives’ operation and design, and will illustrate the improvements of this technology over pneumatic fan drives.
Session 3 – The Changing World of Fuel Filtration
Ever-changing emissions regulations have driven modifications to engine technology (high-pressure common rail fuel systems, exhaust aftertreatment, etc.); fuels (ultra low sulfur diesel, biofuels, etc.); and diesel engines oils (new CK-4 and FA-4 oils). This, in turn, has driven changes to filtration technology needed to protect the new engine technologies.
This PTDC session will discuss filtration technologies and highlight what is important to know about them to protect fleet equipment.
