Ronnie Hoffman, Stephenson’s asphalt equipment service manager, offers his decades of LeeBoy experience with attendees of the Harrisburg, Pa., workshop.

During the lull of wintertime Stephenson Equipment likes to turn this downtime into a learning experience for its customers.

“There is always something new that can be learned, especially in the asphalt, road building and maintenance arena,” Said Stephenson Asphalt & Heavy Equipment Service Manager Ronnie Hoffman.

That “something new to be learned” was the focus of three asphalt workshop events held by Stephenson Equipment this past February through April across its locations in Harrisburg, Pa., Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and Syracuse, N.Y.

Featured at the events were the benefits of the asphalt equipment lines SEI represents: Bomag, LeeBoy, Rosco and Stepp MFG. But what Stephenson likes to do at its events is to offer-up the knowledge of its technicians and industry professionals who get hands-on with the equipment side-by-side with the attendees. This side-by-side interaction offers attendees the chance to have their questions answered in a way not normally experienced at a dealer event.

At any of the events Stephenson will have service techs and representatives there with experience totaling more than 100 years for those in attendance. Attendees get operating techniques and time saving tips, daily maintenance suggestions that help add years of life to a machine and answers to machine specific questions.

LeeBoy pavers and products are usually the main focus of these events, but at these 2016 events Stephenson had the Bomag line of rollers and mills in the mix and attendees got to demo these units and learn about some of the intelligent compaction features available on most Bomag rollers. Also included in the 2016 events were showings and demonstrations of the Stepp MFG. line of asphalt recyclers that allow you to produce ready-to-use hot mix in 10 to 20 minutes from asphalt millings or chunked blacktop, all for an average cost of under $20 a ton.

At the Syracuse, N.Y., event Stephenson had the Yanmar line of construction equipment for attendees to get in and “experience why this line deserves to be in your fleet of equipment,” said Stephenson Branch Manager Darrick Marris, who worked hard to bring the line into Stephenson's New York locations.

At the events held by Stephenson several hundred attendees gained a lot of information, had a tasty lunch together, won a few door prizes and left the event ready to use their newly gained knowledge on the job.

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