Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks are providing free 90-day eLearning for high school and secondary technical education students interested in diesel technician training, but due to the limitations created by COVID-19, cannot participate in hands-on courses.

The courses, provided to students through their local Mack or Volvo dealer, will provide an option for training typically done in a classroom. With recent mandates for self-isolation and social distancing, training for these students had been temporarily postponed.

“Training skilled, professional diesel technicians is a crucial component of uptime, especially with the demands currently being placed on the trucking industry as a result of COVID-19,” said Leanne Fitzpatrick, strategic programs manager, Volvo Trucks Academy. “It is important for Volvo Trucks to continue to provide educational opportunities for students during this difficult time.”

With stay-at-home and social distancing mandates in place during the pandemic, students do not currently have access to learning in a typical classroom setting. The Volvo Trucks Academy is providing interested students with free 90-day access to a portion of the Technical Education Support (TES) online training and resources currently available to Volvo Trucks diesel technicians. Training will cover an array of topics including engines, transmissions and other components.

The TES90 online courses will be offered through local dealerships, which have relationships with eligible schools interested in enrolling. Program availability and training content will be provided by the dealer and accessed through the Trucks Customer Portal. For more information, interested parties should contact their local Volvo Trucks dealer.

“Recognizing that it’s impossible for students to train in person at this time, the Mack Trucks Academy decided to work with Mack dealers to offer online training that is comprehensive,” said Scott Behe, Mack Trucks Academy senior manager for training support. “The online courses will help fill the gap until we can go back to a more normal situation.”

The Mack Trucks Academy will offer free 90-day access to a portion of the Technical Education Support (TES) online training and resources currently offered to diesel technicians. TES90 Access will be limited for high school students and secondary technical education students to training sessions such as engines, transmissions and vendor components, among others.

The dealer will provide access to the training content and will communicate the availability of online training to the schools, with which they already have relationships. Schools will enroll through their local dealer.

“This program will help equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed as future diesel technicians and we are proud of the efforts put forth from our team here at Volvo Trucks Academy and our dealer network to be nimble and switch gears to offer online education during these extraordinary time,” said Fitzpatrick. “And, through this online training along with our other Academy educational opportunities, we are establishing and cultivating relationships with future truck technicians, supporting them in starting their career and filling the need for trained service professionals familiar with our truck models, which directly contributes to our customers’ uptime.”