Trane guys

[acjourneyman]

Just trying to figure out from you guys how your office is for training.Do they regularly send guys back to classes on teardowns, Rtac's, Rthc's ect ect.I think our office is getting pretty stingy on training, anyone care to let me know what training in the last few years they have had.

[absrbrtek]

I thought your employer was number one. Everyone is trained excessively to be a top performer there if you ask the local office. Our local office only offers OJT and toughts up all their expertise. Most guys there dont get training. Its a joke but thats thier way of doing business.
Originally posted by acjourneyman
Just trying to figure out from you guys how your office is for training.Do they regularly send guys back to classes on teardowns, Rtac's, Rthc's ect ect.I think our office is getting pretty stingy on training, anyone care to let me know what training in the last few years they have had.

[kool it man]

I always got two or three classes a year in the controls and contracting dept, and all the classes I was in had service dept in them also.

xtrane guy, probably depends on the office and whether it's corporate or privatley owned. We did commercial buildings only.

[scrooloose]

I get sent to training couple times a year myself, same with everyone in my office.

[Trublshter]

You guys are both lucky. Heaven forbid our company would actually drop some coin for training. I've been at my present company long enough to now see the beenies other companys may offer.

[no8no3]

We're lucky to get books! Most our stuff is from memory.

[acjourneyman]

I never said they were # 1 ,I said they work for me because they have a good share of the chiller market which is all I am interested in working on.I also said if we lost our contracts I would move to the company that got them.I am curious if Tranes ideal of factory training now is the cell phone to tech support if you are on a new start up that you have not been trained on.I have probably overhauled 50 or so centrifugals as well as torn into the screws but have never been to a course on Trane equipment, although I have worked for them for more than 10 years.I wonder if the company owned stores have a free ride on training whereas the franchise stores get screwed or if it is a union/nonunion reason.I just wonder how they can sell us as factory trained if no one gets trained!

[chillrdude]

I have been with Trane for about 13 years now, we are a franchise office, when I hired in I was the 7th guy in the service dept. I had been doing commercial service and chillers for 12 years prior to joining Trane. In the early years I got to go to about anything I wanted, have been to LaCrosse for absorber training, been to a handful of regional training seminars across the country, went to a service council in Pueblo, did a week in Minn. on Tracer Summit.

Now we are up to 23 guys just in service not counting the 11 in our control dept. we do a lot of inhouse training, we did the NAFTA thing 5 years ago, shop paid every guy $500 for getting thru level 1, $1000 for level 2 then the thing kinda fell apart.

As far as factory training they still send a handful of guys to LaCrosse every year, last year our office spent over 30K on training.

I am now #3 in seniority and all I work on are chillers and chiller plant pumping stuff, for me there hasn't been in any classes that I have been really interested in for a long time. I am lucky that if I wanted to go they would send me, if I dont drag up this summer I might check into a Horizon absorber class this fall.

Not sure about the company stores getting a free ride, usually the company store guys that I have talked to have the same problems as us franchise guys.

Good Luck,
Dude

[drivewizard]

Interesting, I have worked for Trane for 13 years and have never been to LaCrosse! Been to numerous VFD classes, Cutler Hammer Med. Voltage starter, and a couple Tracer 100 classes. I've done 20-25 CTV o-hauls, and work on just about everything except Absorbers. ACJourn, your right it seems like we spend a lot of time on the phone anymore, I guess phone calls are cheaper than training.

I wonder if it is just about the bottom line, or some larger plan to dumb down the service crews and thus wages. Causing more reliance on a centralized knowledge base, such as Factory Engineers who have to be called for advice.

Granted the technology is changing so fast, it is hard to keep up on everything. But it would be nice to be able to get a few Factory classes, at least every couple years.

When I started 13 years ago, our guys were going every two years. Now your lucky to go to a class every 4-5 years.
The Management line is: "We can't afford it".
My theory is, if we could afford to send 5 guys a year when we only had 10 techs, why cant we afford to send 12 guys a year when we have 25 techs. Our revenue has increased proportionately to the size of our crew. The service dept is the only dept that has consistently made the co money over the years, yet we are becoming the step child. Am I wrong on my training budget theory?

[techhead]

So thay will not even train the trane guys...
looks like trane is going the way of NAFTA...
And I thought it was just me..

[acjourneyman]

Good point Drivewizard, revenues should increase proportionately with increase in guys ,thus so should training.Seems I have to agree with you, now that non Trane shops can't phone tech support I guess that is our new training ground.We should slam the startup hours on new equipment and put 20 hours in for training, that will wake em up.And don't even talk to me about Nafta, I don't know who in there right mind is going to do a correspondence course on there own time.I have a life and my job isn't it, if they want me to train after hours than I expect to get paid for it.

[Edited by acjourneyman on 06-23-2004 at 11:41 PM]

[techsonac]

Trane offers alot of free training to their dealers it just costs the time to go usually inthe evening like 5-9pm. It's up to the employer to let you know when and where. There's something going on every 3-4 months.

[Trublshter]

I've read throught the previous posts and I must ask the question. I want to get back into large tonnage chiller work as it's been obvious to me in my present position it's not gonna happen under my present employer. How may I work this into my resume? Under the objective section, maybe? It's a crying shame I used to know chillers backward and forward, especially in my military days. I'm just tired of working on very light commercial equipment.

[CrazyEddie]

Our office would only send MAYBE 2 guys to LaCrosse per year. Maybe once a year a few guys would go to Atlanta for 5-day training. Mostly what would happen, in the off-season we'd have in-house training. Someone from either Pueblo, Macon, LaCrosse, Clarksville, etc. would come to our office and hold training for 1.5 days to participants from our regional area; guys from 3-4 different offices. I personally haven't had training for about a year. All OTJ.

[h2045]

I work for an independant HVAC outfit UA etc. Been to LaCrosse twice in 10 years for teardown( Customer insisted I stay current). York Pa twice 1 for Cent teardown and 1 for Screw oper. McQuay in Staunton twice once for Recip and once for Cent teardown and Dunham Bush in Harrisonburg for the vertical screws. Seems the independant union shops are training much more than the MFR`s are their own people.
That has a way of biting back, better watch out here we come!!!!\UA all the Way

[roadking]

Our office hardly ever sends tech. to school. Mostly you have to learn on the job. I've been lucky and been to a absorber class in lacross and 2 comm 5 classes in a 10yrs. of working there. Most dont get that.

[ahnold]

Just a question for you people, i have been in the electrical field for 16 years now, i am a journeyman electrician, have been certified in AC-DC drives, and have worked with VFD's and controls for a long time,i am mostly a heavy commercail/ industrial electrician, i have run jobs up to $150 million.... the question is, i am tired of the TRADE, would like to retire doing HVAC work with refrigeration, it peeks my interest, is it worth the apprenticeship, to change now? I am not too concerned with the drop in pay for a couple years, i have a nice retirement and annuity, i could live off while re-training, i am making $27.45hr. + $4hr. in my annuity + $1hr. in my vacation fund. What are the average rates out there, for union and non-union? have given this alot of thought and would like to change into a commercial / industrial HVAC tech.... Any advice would be appreciated!!!

[harv]

Roadking.. your lucky cause they send you to see us and we are a college...so they send you to school all the time.. all that learning just can't stick to you!!!

[absrbrtek]

*

[Edited by absrbrtek on 07-05-2004 at 10:10 PM]

[acjourneyman]

Hey Ahnold, I did exactly the same thing only I took a 16.00 an hour pay cut for a few years.I was IBEW for 10 years and got sick of it, it is usually the same old boring crap.Different walls but basically the same job, now I laugh when I go on a S/U and the sparkys give me attitude cause I am touching wiring.Then they can't believe after I tell them I am one that I left the trade, little do they know we make about 12.00 an hour more, truck etc,etc,etc.