On March 7 and 8, Cleveland Brothers hosted a free paving conference for its customers. The paving conferences have become annual events for Cleveland Brothers. One conference is held in the northern part of Pennsylvania and one conference is held in the southern part of the state.
This year the locations were in Watsontown and in Harrisburg. More than 120 of Cleveland Brothers’ customers attended the conferences to brush-up on their skills and learn new techniques that could be applied on the job.
Topics, covered during the conference, included everything from basic paving principles, to compaction techniques, and preventing mat defects. The video presentations included Caterpillar’s “Paving By the Numbers,” that covered step-by-step paving techniques. The discussions between paving crews and presenters were a highlight of the conferences.
Jack Skinner, paving products manager of Cleveland Brothers with more than 20 years of experience in the paving industry, was a speaker at the conference. Tim Noon, a Caterpillar certified operator trainer and Cleveland Brothers’ employee, was available to answer questions.
Adrian Jacobs and Steve Hourscht of Caterpillar Paving Products covered some of the conferences’ topics, including a section on what is new at Caterpillar that will support and benefit its paving customers. One such example is the training for paving crews that Caterpillar is doing at its proving grounds outside of Tuscon, AZ. Crews are able to get some hands-on experience in paving, while having the support of a group of paving experts.
In addition, a small display of equipment outside of each site included a Caterpillar AP-650 paver, 224D roller, along with a Cat 252 skid steer with a broom attachment and a Mauldin 550E paver. After the conferences, the machines were started and customers were able to ask questions about the units and do a walk around with Cleveland Brothers’ employees.
Cleveland Brothers is Central Pennsylvania’s full-service distributor of Caterpillar equipment and engines.
Additionally, Cleveland Brothers is the distributor for JLG personnel lifts, Rosco road maintenance equipment, Mauldin paving equipment, Nordberg crushing and screening equipment, NPK hammers, Topcon guidance systems, and Trail King trailers.
