Vehicle donations boost EMCC's truck and equipment training program

Courtesy / Eastern Maine Community College From left, Pike Industries equipment manager Steve Thyng and shop foreman Walter Williams greet Eastern Maine Community College faculty Mike Boyd and faculty/department chair Lowell Gardner with the donation of a 2006 International Eagle diesel truck.

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By Staff

The donation of a 2006 International Eagle diesel truck to Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor is expected to enrich students' experience with technologies related to commercial vehicles and equipment, and better prepare the students to enter the workforce.

Pike Industries, of Belmont, N.H., donated the vehicle to EMCC’s diesel, truck and heavy equipment program, according to a news release.

The program provides theoretical foundations, practical education and work experience in the engineering, testing, servicing, troubleshooting and repairing of the vehicles and equipment, according to EMCC.

Recent graduates are employed in a variety of positions, including heavy equipment service technicians, sales personnel, service managers, maintenance supervisors, service writers, warranty claims adjusters and parts persons. Among the class graduating next spring, 13 of 15 students have already secured jobs.

One of them is Levi Day, a student in the program who last summer became the first intern for Pike from the Bangor area or from EMCC. Day is continuing his work with Pike throughout the year whenever he can, and will be working for the company after graduation, according to the release.

“We are very grateful for companies like Pike Industries who continue to work with our programs and give so graciously,” Lisa Larson, EMCC’s president, said in the release. “It is because of generosity like theirs that EMCC is able to offer such a high-quality education to our students and prepare them so well to enter the workforce.”

Pike operates over 40 asphalt plants and 20 crushing facilities throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Lowell Gardner, the EMCC program's chair, said the truck is equipped with a new hydraulic system to which the students have never before had access. The vehicle also has an anti-lock braking system and air-ride suspension that they'll be able to gain experience working on.

In addition, because it’s a much newer model than a 1992 truck the EMCC shop has been using, the donated truck will allow students to get hands-on learning experience with the computer technology in vehicles on the road today. Students will learn about the systems, as well as how to take the vehicle apart and put it back together.

In August, H.O. Bouchard Inc., a trucking company in Hampden, donated a liquid tank trailer to EMCC’s commercial truck driver’s program.

The gift of the trailer allows students to gain hands-on experience driving with this kind of load in tow. There are unique challenges to driving a trailer full of liquid, and they can be tough to explain on paper, EMCC said. By allowing students to feel what they're like, within the safety of the school's driving range, the outcome is a better prepared student and commercial driver’s license candidate.

Data released last week showed that EMMC had the highest enrollment surge among Maine’s seven community colleges from 2018-2019.

The system overall saw a 6.3% jump in enrollment. EMMC saw a 10.4% increase; it was the only one of the bunch to see a double-digit rise. David Daigler, president of the Maine Community College System, attributed the overall surge to demand from employers and individuals looking to gain needed skills.