Secondary roads employees to undergo motor grader training

Jasper County has entered into a professional service agreement to provide motor grader training to its employees in the secondary roads department.

Jackson’s Heavy Equipment Training, LLC will be providing the training courses. County Engineer Michael Frietsch said the Nebraska-based company will work with county blade operators and educate them on the proper methods to blade and grade granular roads with their machinery.

According to a copy of the service agreement included in the Feb. 4 agenda, the service offers three levels of training: new operator, experienced operator and super elevations, hills and intersections. Jackson’s Heavy Equipment will invoice the county upon completion of the training or services performed.

Equipment training with this company is to cost $1,900 per day for up to 10 students per day. The county can send fewer than the minimum requirement of 10 students but will be charged the same rate. Each additional student will add another $175 per student, per day to the invoice.

“We’re looking at about four or five days worth of training,” Frietsch said. “And we’re going to train up to 18 people. We’ve got 18 blades so we’re going to train 18 people. We’re looking at probably under $20,000 altogether. Somewhere between $16,000 and $20,000 is what we kind of calculated for this training.”

The board of supervisors would go on to approve the allocated funds for the training not to exceed $20,000. Frietsch spoke highly of Jackson’s Heavy Equipment Training. He said the company has been featured at multiple engineers conferences and is used by other Iowa counties.

“I know they’re reputable,” Frietsch said. “I’m not concerned about their reputation. I know other counties have used them.”

By having employees take part in this training, the county engineer believes it will help establish standard operating procedures going forward. The agreement says the county will provide the equipment and materials for the hands-on portion of the training. The county will also provide a section of road suitable for training.

When county employees are undergoing this hands-on training, the area will be closed, signed and barricaded. Frietsch said the company will cover basic operations, curbs, shaping of roads and other modules. He expects when the training is done the county will have more consistency in road maintenance.

“They’ll probably do a little classroom and then they’ll go out and take them to our roads,” Frietsch said. “We’ll pick some roads that have curbs or some roads that have problems. That’s the idea. We’re going to kind of put them out there in the field a little bit with them. That’s kind of the intent.”

Frietsch acknowledged the training is pricey, and it seemed to him that there has been some hesitation on bringing in trainers.

“But I think at this time it’s probably a worthwhile investment to get outside, third-party eyes on the situation and get their opinion,” he said. “I mean at least we’ll get a good evaluation where everybody’s at and we’ll know where our gaps are at and what we have to fix — or what we do well, too.”

Training is not something Frietsch expects will take place every year, but it could be scheduled every two or three years to keep up with turnover.

“There are different ways of doing things out there and there are different ideas,” Frietsch said. “Maybe we haven’t thought of something. Or maybe there is something we’re going to get out of this that’s going to be (like), ‘Oh! That’s a new, different way of approaching it.’ And we’ll go from there.”