Fall News Letter 2011
Awesome Tech Support
It was Saturday afternoon and certainly not during business hours when Wayne from Washington called for help. He didn’t expect a real person to answer the phone outside of normal business hours so he was quite surprised when David King took his call. In minutes his questions were answered and Wayne was able to complete his training and take his final exam. It wasn’t long before Wayne called the help line a second time. He said, “I just called to tell you that your tech support is awesome.” Sometimes Murphy’s law works overtime. You have issues that you can’t resolve without help. The timing of the problem simply stinks. You need help and no one is available. Fortunately for PASS customers our support team is often available long after the PASS office is closed. Our training is available 24/7 and you may call for assistance anytime.
An Industry First: Class C Training in Spanish
For the very first time UST Operator Training has gone bi-lingual. Our Class C course is now available in both English and Spanish. The training is offered in the same “no fail” format which dramatically increases learner retention. In the event a student selects the wrong quiz answer, the related training material for the quiz question immediately reappears on the screen. After reviewing the material the student is given an additional opportunity to answer the question. The student can’t fail. The material reappears as often as needed. In fact, it reappears until the student is confident of the correct answer. The course if offered 24/7 at the same low cost of $12.99. Others courses will soon be available in a multi-lingual platform. The truth is that is we need your input. Please contact us to let us know which language you feel is most needed. Your feedback may well determine our next language selection.
An Alternative to Tank School
Attention North Carolina operators! If your facility failed an inspection or you failed to be present for an inspection you will most likely be required to attend tank school in Raleigh. It is probably a busy schedule that contributed to your initial failure and now you are struggling to find time to schedule tank school. We have good news to share. The PASS A/B Operator Training course has been approved as an acceptable alternative to tank school. You can minimize your loss of productive time by taking our self-paced courses online. They are available 24/7 and can be stopped and restarted as often as needed to accommodate the responsibilities of your position. Minimize your lost productive time and eliminate travel expenses by exploring passtesting.com.
We Are Growing
Find your state on our map. If we aren’t currently offering training in your state it may be that our curriculum is already under development or currently being review by your state regulators. It is our goal to offer A/B and C Operator Training in every state which permits 3rd party training. If you are wondering about the status of your state, please call 1-866-735-0201 or visit our website for our interactive map.
Don’t Take Chances
We certainly don’t have all of the facts in this case but a Maryland jury recently assessed Exxon Mobil Corp. $1.5 Billion in damages for a leaking UST. A Maryland Department of the Environment investigation found that the leaking 12,000 gallon tank was refilled several times after the leak began. The plaintiffs’ complaint alleged that the independent station owners continued “business as usual” after the leak was discovered. An Exxon spokesman said in a statement, “As soon as the leak was discovered, we immediately took responsibility and, sparing no expense, began cleanup activities”. The company is appealing.
NACS Show
We just returned from the NACS Show in Chicago. In fact, we’re still tired. During the show we met a lot of owners and operators who have not decided what they were going to do about UST Operator Training. I suppose it is simply human to wait until the last possible minute to do things we simply wish we didn’t have to do. The truth is time is running out. The training deadlines have already passed in some states and will soon be here for the late comers. The final date is August 8, 2012. We are already available in more states than any other single training company. Check us out. For quality training and a competitive price you’ll find more bang for your buck right here: passtesting.com
A Lesson from a Leader
“Discipline yourself to do the things you need to do when you need to do them, and the day will come when you will be able to do the things you want to do when you want to do them.”
-Zig Ziglar
Feedback
We solicit your feedback. Your opinions are important to us. We need your input so that we can not only continue to improve our training but so that we can make our courses more user-friendly. In fact, our easy to use format just became easier to use with the launch our PASS 2.0 Dashboard. Now you can sign up in just 3 clicks as a result of your feedback.
Summer News Letter 2011
The Situation
Every time new regulations are published a certain amount of frustration and uneasiness is certain to occur. This is especially true for the petroleum dealer. The new UST operator training requirements created by the EPA Act of 2005 is no exception. The first reaction of the already struggling dealer is that the lawmaker’s dream will become his nightmare. To maintain compliance, three new classes of UST operators (A, B, and C) must be designated and trained. This new requirement creates confusion, costs money, and is especially disruptive to work schedules. There is a great chasm between a small business owner and a large corporation. The smaller company struggles to even understand the regulations without the assistance of a compliance officer. The larger company still has to juggle work schedules and spend large sums of money to accommodate new regulations. Both companies are distracted from their primary objective, to operate a successful business. The petroleum industry faces additional complications when broad based initiatives are imposed on their employees. This is particularly true of the clerk/cashier level employees in convenience stores. Many of these people are academically challenged and some live in another world. A Friday paycheck is their primary focus. The task of finding a one size fits all training program is not an easy one. Finally, many states have complicated the issue by making A/B operators responsible for training the C store employees. With the high turnover rate of C store employees and the full schedules these A/B operators already experience, consistency and meaningful training is almost too much to expect unless a convenient, low cost training curriculum is placed in their hands. Without effective training aids some dealers are going to find compliance especially challenging.
The Solution
An online training program is available that eliminates confusion, is cost effective, and eliminates scheduling conflicts. That’s right! There is a web-based solution available 24/7. It is self-paced and allows trainees to start and stop the training at their convenience. It provides cross training of employees by offering a combined A/B curriculum. This training eliminates travel expenses and time away from critical duties. Some have completed this training in about four hours at home in their pajamas. The course is driven by regulatory compliance, but it provides meaningful training for even the most experienced operators. The Class C operator training is written at a moderate level and can be completed in approximately forty minutes.
It is presented in a “no fail” format that enhances learner retention. At the conclusion of the course, a “walk through” checklist must be completed to locate site specific emergency stop buttons and to review emergency procedures. Employers will feel confident that the store personnel are ready to respond when an emergency or spill occurs. This training program is user friendly, offers free tech support and is expected to be approved in most states. Literally anyone, anywhere, can be trained anytime.
Record keeping is critical in demonstrating compliance. This training platform incorporates a secure database easily accessible both to key personnel and regulators to verify operator certification. A recent review of the program by a regulator prompted this unsolicited remark: “I think your online presentations are excellent. Clear visual aids, audio and text as well as links to other supporting reference material. The test questions were also well thought through… I think it is the best online training I have seen…” This approach to operator training makes good business sense. It saves time and money. Yet, it may do even more for some customers. Some of our users have qualified for insurance discounts as a result of this third party training that were well in excess of the total cost of the program. One metropolitan transit authority official commented: “We should have been using this program to train our people a long time ago.” Another said, “This will reduce our risk exposure and may mitigate our liability in the event of an incident.”
The Source
Practical American Safety Solutions (PASS) was established in 2003 to provide compliance training to the petroleum industry. It’s founding partners have been providing construction, maintenance, inspection services, and training to members of the petroleum community for the past 39 years. Their experience includes but is not limited to building turn key convenience stores and bio-diesel plants. Their client list reads like a who’s who in the petroleum business.
PASS UST operator training is available only through our director network. These trusted distributors are known and respected within the petroleum industry. To find the training company willing to partner with you for the long term, contact us.
