Page 315 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

Left to right: Paving class at Peterson University; DeSilva’s paving crew, many of whom have attended paving classes at Peterson University
The courses are structured so students are in the classroom about a quarter of the time, then out in the lab the rest. “There are always machines in the lab to run tests on and find the bugs,” says Vanier. “The stuff Steve thinks up for tests is pretty amaz- ing. He’ll plug up a fitting or pull one of the pins out of a Deutsch connector so it won’t make con- tact but it will still look all right. Just one little pin like that can cause havoc. And it happens. They all look legit, but from vibration and corrosion, the pins actually shrink in the sockets, and then they won’t make contact. So Steve is testing to see if you’ll catch it. He’s really good.”
In January 2017, Peterson University held its first week-long course as Caterpillar’s official Paving Regional Training Center. Rich Poppoff, equip- ment superintendent for DeSilva-Gates, was there with twelve of his men. The previous season, DeSilva-Gates had purchased their first Cat paver, an AP1055F. And by year-end 2019, they had five. “The Cat paver is way more advanced than what we’ve ever run in the past. We decided to put all our mechanics through the training so that when we’re out on a jobsite, we can troubleshoot and re- pair our own equipment. And that’s exactly what we achieved by sending all of our guys to Peterson University.
“The training taught you how to troubleshoot the machine—what you’re looking at, what you’re looking for, how things are supposed to work, what’s right, and what’s wrong. There was a little bit of class time and then a lot of hands-on time where you put it into practice. They had machines for us to work on which made me even more com- fortable because you actually apply it right when you were learning it.”
SOFT SKILLS TRAINING
While technical training is a big part of the Uni- versity’s focus, the long-term goal is to provide training for every Peterson employee. Current- ly soft skills training—like sales, leadership, and communications skills—comprise about one-third of the course offerings, but that profile is growing. The endgame is to help employees grow in their careers, as well as provide our customers with the best-trained technicians, and support staff in our territory—bar none.
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