Excellence at Work: Amarillo Truck Center Trucking is a 24/7, year-round business so with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Amarillo Truck Center parts and service department is open 24 hours 7 days a week. Trucks don’t break down on schedule and when a rig is down the driver’s not making money, so Bobby’s techs get the truck and the driver back on the road as fast as they can. “Time really is money in this business. This is a relationship-driven business where customer service is the most important thing,” says Cooper.
bobby cooper Driving in to town from the east, it seems like Amarillo is nothing but one long line of truck stops, not uncommon for cities located on an interstate. As unremarkable as Amarillo may seem to passenger traffic, our fair city is an oasis to commercial truck drivers on the long stretch between Oklahoma City and Albuquerque. This makes Amarillo a prime location for logistics companies, truck dealerships and diesel repair shops, one of which is Bobby Cooper’s Amarillo Truck Center, located off I-40 behind Loves Truck Stop. Bobby’s Dad owned some trucks, so even though he didn’t “know a camshaft from a crankshaft,” Bobby bought his first truck from his father when he was a sophomore in high school, another one when he was a junior, and then sold them both his senior year. In search of a “decent certificate” after high school, he attended AC on and off until he finished. His Dad eventually bought a glass business because he didn’t like “long haul,” but Bobby figured that trucks are made to sell. a c t x . e du
Amarillo Truck Center is a proud member of Freightliner’s Elite Support Team, a designation that indicates their customerservice experience has been fine tuned and proven to a degree of excellence highly desirable in an extremely competitive industry. Only 9 dealers out of 110 in North America have earned the coveted honor, and every year they have to pass a 136-point inspection to maintain the title. When the folks at East Campus talk about industry partnerships, the working relationship AC has forged with Amarillo Truck Center stands out as one of the best. On the surface it seems pretty straightforward since they need the diesel technicians that Amarillo College trains, but that’s only part of the story. Bobby relies on Amarillo College as a “great resource partner for technicians” because he’s found that his techs are more likely to stay in Amarillo if they have roots here. He has also donated trucks to the diesel program that students can work on.
industry, so we need to cultivate and care for the people who want to stay here in Amarillo.” said Cooper, “and they’re more likely to stay with the company if they grew up and have family within 100 miles of our shop.” Amarillo Truck Center has a work/school program for technicians still in school. They work at the I-40 location for 6-9 months and then they’re transferred to the big shop to work under 1 of 2 mentors. They learn computer diagnostics, bigger engine repairs … they’re basically apprenticed, something that lots of companies don’t do anymore. In the past he had tried to form an industry partnership with the College but it wasn’t until Lyndy Forrester got there as Dean they were able to put some programs together with Brian Jacobs, instructor automotive. “Techs can make more money if they specialize,” says Cooper, “but they all want to take engines apart just so they can say that they did it. That’s not always what we need. It helps to stay in communication with the folks who are training our techs. “Our apprentices make an hourly wage with mentors and then if they’re good, they move on to a commissioned wage, which is where they need to be to make a good salary. It’s a win-win for everyone,” says Cooper.
Bobby Cooper understands how important it is to train the right people for his business, and he also understands how hard it is to keep them. “Turnover is a problem in any A M A R I L L O CO L L E G E T EC H N I C A L E D U C A T I O N N e w s l e tt e r , J anua r y 2 0 1 4
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soft skills 101:
code of professional conduct In a series of CEO Forums recently held in Amarillo, the lack of “soft skills” in job applicants and new employees was the primary topic of conversation among Amarillo business leaders. Spoken and written communication, problem solving, positive attitude and reliability were just a few of the soft skills found missing in today’s workforce. As important as the primary skillset for which a person is hired, these “secondary” skills are just as critical for successful navigation of the workplace and for workers to advance in their careers. Rather than dwell on the reasons for this deficit, we set out to find a solution and developed the Code of Professional Conduct, which starts this semester and plainly states the precise expectations we have for the conduct and behavior of our students.
Lyndy Forrester
By agreeing to abide by the Code of Professional Conduct, students understand that they are expected to come to class on time and properly dressed, to have all of the required tools and books, and perhaps most importantly, to wear the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) when necessary. Developing a Culture of Safety in every department on the East Campus is paramount to a successful technical education and creates a positive change in student behaviors and attitudes about safety which they will extend to their professional careers. An important part of the culture change, and one of my favorites, is a required AC logo shirt for students and faculty that is color coded by department. We are hopeful that the shirts will encourage a culture of commonality and instill a sense of belonging and equality essential to a healthy learning environment, especially since we are so far from the main AC campus on Washington Street. Did we mention that the shirt must also be tucked in?
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To succeed in today’s demanding and competitive workforce, our students need the necessary technical skills to get the job done, and the secondary soft skills that make them valuable employees for years to come. Amarillo’s East Campus is making that happen.
Phillips 66:
Internship Program Offers a Real World Glimpse of Oil and Gas Industry In April of 2013, Natalie Marxsen from the Human Resource Department of Phillips 66 contacted Delane McUne about starting an I&E (Instrumentation and Electrical) internship with Amarillo College for the Phillips Transportation Division in Amarillo. With Fortune 500 corporate precision and help from Delane, an information session and application process was initiated and 2 rounds of interviews were scheduled on East Campus. After the applicants were interviewed by Phillips HR and Operations personnel, the chosen candidates were vetted with a background check. The successful candidate was Trevor Smith, a 2nd year Instrumentation and Electronics student. The eight week internship, starting in June, lasted 8 weeks with working hours equally split between the Amarillo transfer station and the refinery in Borger. Trevor job-shadowed at the terminal and the refinery. He observed operating procedures and learned how I&E technicians troubleshoot line problems, oversee the facility and perform maintenance on the pipeline and in the refinery. The panel conducting the performance evaluation after Trevor completed the 1st module of the Philips Tech Training Program included Tim Pierce the I&E Coordinator, David Osburn, the Division Manager and 2 supervisors. Amarillo College looks forward to partnering with more employers to increase the number of internships available to our students. Internships offer students invaluable opportunities to experience the day-to-day operations of the real-world job environment which just can’t be duplicated in a classroom.
Thank you Phillips 66!
FREIGHT: projected growth in Texas Major Flows by Truck to, From, and Within Texas: 2007
Major Flows by Truck to, From, and Within Texas: 2040
Major flows include domestic and international freight moving by truck on highway segments with more than twenty five FAF trucks per day and between places typically more than fifty miles apart. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Office of Freight Management and Operations, Freight Analysis Framework, version 3.1.2,2011.
CAN BUS system: Western equipment On a Wednesday morning in mid-November, Western Equipment parked a new John Deere 6170R tractor in the diesel bay to show off the CAN (Controller Area Network) bus system to our diesel tech students. Wes Campbell set up a laptop with John Deere Service Advisor software to demonstrate how, with only 4 wires (input, output, power and ground), each controller can manage a major functional area of the tractor, as well as attached implements. This system reduces the amount of wiring by 1500 feet while decreasing the amount of relays and connections. This is one case in which less is more … the less moving parts and wires, the less to shake and break. One of the most impressive features on this tractor is the GPS system that allows a farmer to find the exact location, within 3 feet, of the spot where a planting row began the last year. Now that’s cool. Clearly diesel isn’t just diesel anymore … it’s a whole new world “driven” by technology. Pictured clockwise from top left: Wes Campbell demonstrating software; John Deere 6170R Tractor; Interior of the 6170R cab; Engine compartment; AC Diesel Tech students focus on demonstration
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