Volvo Buses
Australia
Volvo Bus Australia General Manager, Mitch Peden, explains that even through recent unpredictable times, VBA has prioritised the delivery of technical training across the country.
“This past 18 months have posed many difficulties for the industry, however we have remained committed to delivering key support to our customers and partners through continuing our specialised training – both, through in person training in COVID safe conditions, and rethinking our approach by delivering online training,” says Peden.
“It is a priority for us to equip our customers with necessary training for securing the best uptime for their fleets, and our dedicated bus team have been doing a fantastic job of delivering the services our customers and partners have come to expect from Volvo Bus.”
“Notably, Volvo Bus National Competency Manager David Woodward has delivered extensive face to face training to various local customers, with even more expected to take place now that NSW Covid restrictions have eased. Border closures & travel restrictions have meant that we have needed to rethink how we could effectively deliver the training we had planned, so we’ve implemented virtual training to interstate partners, and we’re calling on our ‘Commercial Crew’ approach to have local team members there in person.”
Following the recent launch of the new Volvo BZL Electric chassis, Volvo Bus is leading the industry in offering electromobility training, in the development of an Electromobility Micro skills Course with TAFE NSW – due to be officially released to the public in January 2022.
“Given the nature of electric vehicles, high voltage systems require extensive understanding about the way vehicles are built, operated and serviced, and the Electromobility Micro skills Course that we’ve developed hand in hand with TAFE NSW will be an important first step in developing this industry-wide knowledge,” states Peden.
“We consistently strive to enhance the quality of our products and services, and our efforts within the training space for customers and partners is key to this. We want to ensure workshop technicians, drivers, and operators have a good understanding of the differences of running an electric fleet – we’re working with technology that is new to all of us, so we have to equip ourselves with new information and new knowledge, at every step of the journey,” concludes Peden.