"The hands-on portion of this alone is huge."
Training on forklifts and heavy equipment can be logistically challenging since it requires access to machines and a suitable site.
Now, you can do it from the comfort of a classroom at the Francis Tuttle Technology Center Reno Campus.
The CareerTech center located in Oklahoma City recently acquired a Simlog Simulator from Tech-Labs. This simulator can put someone in the virtual driver’s seat of a forklift, a skid steer, and a hydraulic excavator.
It will be used in a series of Heavy Equipment training classes to be offered by Francis Tuttle. Trainer Vernon Cole is planning the classes that provide a new avenue for workforce training in the OKC metro.
“The hands-on portion of this alone is huge,” Cole said. “The problem we had before is we didn’t have the equipment. Now we have the equipment on hand; you can go from the classroom, then to the simulator, and then out to the shop floor or the field for your training.”
For excavator training, Cole said there will be an outdoor site at the Reno Campus where students will be able to see firsthand how that work is done.
“We’ll have a trench ready and show them how an excavation site needs to be set up,” he said.
This training will support several Oklahoma industries, including construction, manufacturing, and development of infrastructure. In addition, high school students attending certain Francis Tuttle Career Training Programs can use the simulator to help their job aspirations.
“We have a lot of high school students who we want to see them get their forklift certification,” Cole said. “Since we already have them, we want them to get that certification so they can put it on their resume.”
The heavy equipment simulator and classroom is located in the Diesel Technology building at the Francis Tuttle Reno Campus. Cole anticipates classes will begin this fall, as he already has some commercial interest for workforce training.