The Tire Industry Association (TIA) announced that it trained more than 8,000 tire technicians and instructors in 2013, including all employees who were formally trained through the association's programs in automotive, commercial, farm and earthmover tire service.
The certified instructor and technician training programs are completed through classroom and hands-on instruction, while basic technician training follows the traditional workbook/video format or can be completed through TIA's Online University.
"We trained an average of 22 tire personnel per day in 2013, which is a pretty amazing statistic when you consider the fact that we have only two full-time trainers on staff,“ says Kevin Rohlwing, TIA senior vice president of Training.
"It shows that there are hundreds of certified instructors and just as many companies in the industry who are committed to safety for their employees and ultimately the motoring public. Of course, there are still thousands of untrained technicians on the job every day and that's just an accident or a lawsuit waiting to happen.“
Since the inception of TIA's training programs in 1997, a total of 85,000 instructors and technicians have been trained and/or certified. This figure does not count the thousands of employees who complete TIA training programs through their companies' intranet where TIA members have rights agreements to provide the materials in-house.
The association estimates that more than 100,000 tire industry personnel have been exposed to TIA training at one time or another. The 85,000 represents the total number of people who have formally submitted a test or exam in one of the association's tire service training or certification programs.
For more on TIA training see:
Get into commercial tire repair in 2014
