Jones says, "There's a stronger demand than ever for Motor Schools from our clients, who want their staff and regular crews to be fully clued up on all the maintenance issues. We'd wanted to run Motor Schools for some time, but we had to wait until the current series of building modifications and expansion was completed before we had the space."
Numbers were deliberately limited to 16 places. Jones explained that their past experiences proved that this was the ideal number to allow a one or two person presentation team to give everyone sufficient individual attention. It was also a 'friendly' number that worked well in LTM's new training room.
A number of leading rental companies were represented including Star Events, ELP, DBN, Summit Steel, JustLite, PRG Birmingham and UK Rigging. Representatives from venues such as Wolverhampton Civic also attended.
Topics covered included stripping and rebuilding motors, troubleshooting, common problems, the effect of rain and other environmental elements, double braking and operational practicalities like the correct use of chain bags. Dave Ward concentrated on the more technical subjects, while John Jones discussed general motor issues, rigging and industry issues and product support.
Jones reports that it was good to get back into real training; they noticed a real change of attitude this time around compared to previous motor schools in which he has been involved, "It was clear that people really wanted to learn and they came up with plenty of interesting, well thought out and relevant questions." The next LTM at base Motor School is planned for early 2007.
(Jim Evans)
