TIA Addresses Training Needs With New 2018 CTS and ATS Training Programs

TIA is expanding its training offerings to include two new training programs aimed at informing tire industry professionals that don't necessarily need the specific, hands-on training of a service technician. The goal is to offer in-depth training that gives sales and administrative personnel a deeper understanding of the industry.

The Tire Industry Association (TIA) will release new versions of the Automotive Tire Service (ATS) and Commercial Tire Service (CTS) programs in 2018. Each program will be redesigned to provide a bridge between the technicians and management/sales personnel from an industry guideline and accepted practices perspective.

Over the past few years, the Training and Education Committee has been working to address certain training needs from industry segments that were previously unmet with TIA training.

“After much discussion, it became obvious to the Committee that there are a lot of tire industry employees who could benefit from technical training, specifically one that stops short of the step-by-step procedures for servicing tires and wheels,” said David Martin, TIA president and category director of tools and supply for American tire distributors. “These programs will be perfect for administrative, office and sales personnel that want a deeper understanding of the products they sell and service.”

Since 1997, all of the training has focused on the safety procedures for servicing passenger, light truck, medium truck, earthmover, farm and industrial tire and wheel assemblies.

Now, the new ATS program will have an emphasis on topics such as basic tire/wheel terminology and construction, vehicle fitment and tire replacement guidelines, tire service procedures including inflation, tire repair guidelines and limitations, wheel installation and torque procedures, and tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS).

In addition, the new CTS program will cover much of the same information for commercial truck tire assemblies (with the exception of TPMS) in addition to OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.177, which specifically covers the servicing of single and multi-piece tire/rim assemblies used on large vehicles.

“These programs will be new in the sense that the scope and purpose will be different than our traditional technician training resources, but the message of promoting tire safety in the shop and on the road will not change,” remarked Kevin Rohlwing, TIA Senior Vice President of Training. “We are simply rewriting, re-editing and repackaging our existing training assets to fill the need for technical training outside the shop. These industry employees may not need to know the step-by-step procedures for servicing tire and wheel assemblies, but there is an abundance of useful information related to guidelines and industry recommended practices that will help them improve tire safety.”

The new ATS and CTS training programs will only be available on TIA’s On-line University and are expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2019.