Mack Trucks' Mack Academy has opened a new facility in Tinley Park, Ill., to better support battery-electric vehicle (BEV) training and provide dealers and customers with easier access to training in the central U.S.
The 14,865 sq.-ft., site, which also holds Volvo Trucks' EV training center, is located in a manufacturing park outside of Chicago. The Tinley Park location is newer, larger and more modern compared with the previous site based in Joliet, Ill., Mack says.
“The Tinley Park Mack Academy is located in a central location so that dealers and customers needing training can easily travel to the facility,” says Scott Behe, Mack Academy senior manager of operations. “It is in close proximity to both O’Hare and Midway airports, and the facility is about 5,500 sq.-ft., bigger than our previous location, so it fulfills our need for more space for BEV-specific training.”
BEV coursework at Tinley Park is focused on BEV safety training, operation, repair and sales. Other courses include diesel training such as engine overhaul, transmission design and function and parts sales and warranty fundamentals, Mack says.
The Tinley Park facility has two full-time trainers and offers technical training sessions up to four times a day. The site also features meeting spaces so those classes are not disrupted by technician training.
The Mack Trucks Academy has six training locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Mack also operates training facilities in Allentown, Pa.; Atlanta; Grand Prairie, Texas; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.