Training on the Super Highway
More and more transportation departments are looking to the World Wide Web for answers to mechanical questions
By Stephane Babcock
F
From the rubber on the tires to the hum of the engine,
technicians must understand any number of different degrees of school bus mechanisms. Although they are con- stantly updated, trained and retrained on all the systems that motor each and every bus down the road, some- times they need a simple question answered, for which experience wins over technical knowledge. It is just this experience that could lead to an industry revolution.
STN SOCIAL Over the last two years or so, School Transportation
News has embraced all types of social media. From our Tweets to our Facebook updates to our YouTube videos, we seek new ways to communicate with our readers on the latest issues affecting the industry. During that time, an idea began brewing in our collective heads to create a place for technicians to get quick answers to common problems. Heavy Duty Bus Parts President Brandon
40 School Transportation News Magazine March 2011
Billingsley expressed interest in the concept. Te idea soon began to take shape in the form of a Web page at
www.stnonline.com that would include tech tips that readers could comment on and rate, with the top-rated suggestion winning a prize. “School bus technicians are at the front line of sup-
port for fleet operations, and, therefore, it’s important to have a common medium of communication with each other,” said Billingsley. “Since social media works at real time, the solutions to these problems can be identified and posted for others to learn and this knowledge sharing creates an added efficiency to bus shop operations.” Te site went into development with social interac-
tion available on numerous levels, and STN previewed it to select groups across the industry. One problem: they wanted in, too. Not only did the site resonate with the mechanically-inclined but also with others from every
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