Chuck Curles (left to right), Four Star Freightliner dealer trainer; Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba; Jerry Kocan, Four Star Freightliner dealer principal; David Carroll, Four Star Freightliner training manager, Scott Coleson, Four Star Freightliner chief financial officer. (Click to enlarge.)Four Star Freightliner has completed construction on a 6,500 sq.-ft. training center for diesel technicians. The facility, located in Dothan, Ala., features a drive-through bay and two classrooms with state-of-the-art training equipment.
Daimler Trucks of North America has partnered with Four Star Freightliner to provide the latest training aids so technicians can gain hands-on experience. This will allow them to provide customers with quick and accurate diagnosis and faster repairs in order to get them out of the shop and back on the road.
“The training aids cover every aspect of the truck,” says David Carroll, Four Star Freightliner training manager.
“They range from clutch and brake simulators to dash assemblies for four different truck models. There also are tear down and running engines with aftertreatment systems on training stands,” Carroll says.
(Click to enlarge.)Freightliner and Western Star dealer technicians travel from across the country to become part of the classes offered at the training center. The trainers will take a system certified technician through the process of becoming a professional certified technician, and later the opportunity to become an expert-certified technician.
The training center represents a $300,000 investment in the Dothan, Ala. facility. Dothan was the first of seven locations that Jerry Kocan opened back in 2000. He now operates truck dealerships in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
Chuck Curles (left), Four Star Freightliner dealer trainer and David Carroll, Four Star Freightliner training manager.“We get to come reinvest where our roots started,” says Kocan. “Over the next year or so we’re going to invest more in this facility to bring it up to the standards of our other locations.”
Carroll is the Four Star Freightliner training manager while Chuck Curles serves as the dealer trainer. Carroll has been in the diesel technology industry for nearly 30 years and has worked for Four Star Freightliner for 20 years. Last year, Chuck Curles was promoted from diesel technician to dealer trainer. He has 20 years of experience in this industry.
