AVON, Ohio – A decade after its launch in 2013, the Bendix On-Line Brake School now offers more than 100 courses, delivering expert, accessible instruction and technical education to the trucking industry.
Brake-School.com serves nearly 150,000 registered users, reaching drivers, technicians, distributors, fleet personnel, owner-operators, and others responsible for keeping North America’s fleets and truckers rolling safely.
Bendix also develops customized Brake-School.com educational plans for fleets and industry organizations.
“For more than 60 years, Bendix braking experts have defined the standard of excellence in education for the commercial vehicle industry,” said Barbara Gould, Bendix director of corporate communications. “Through Brake-School.com, we’re proud to maintain that legacy and support the individuals and teams who help keep today’s highly advanced commercial vehicles on the road and in safe operating condition.”
Free registration grants access to a wide-ranging curriculum covering the full spectrum of braking and active vehicle safety system products and topics. The team at Bendix has developed courses addressing general product features and operation, plus troubleshooting, diagnostics, and maintenance best practices, tackling the latest technologies as well as basic foundational components. The two most recent additions cover active steering and properly cutting a pushrod for a spring brake chamber.
Gould noted that one of the keys to the program’s success has been the ongoing communication between the Bendix sales team and the company’s customers.
“Brake-School.com curriculum is the byproduct of direct requests from our fleet, OE, and aftermarket customers, along with insights and trends identified by our sales and marketing team,” Gould stated. “We listen carefully and respond to the needs of our customers, developing educational programs to support them in the drive for vehicle service efficiency, technology operational awareness, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO).”
Brake-School.com currently features courses on:
• Air disc brakes
• Air dryers
• Bendix® ACom® PRO™ diagnostic tools
• Compressors
• Electronic safety systems (including side object detection, lane departure warning, tire pressure monitoring, stability, and the Bendix® Wingman® family of collision mitigation technologies)
• Foundation drum brakes
• Highway safety
• Reduced Stopping Distance (RSD)
• Slack adjusters
• Steering gears
• Trailer safety systems
• Valves
In addition to its 100 and growing focused courses, the Bendix On-Line Brake School offers a comprehensive air brake education course from the team that developed the widely respected in-person Bendix Brake School.
Providing Specialized Solutions
Whether it’s a single-vehicle operation, a fleet of several thousand, or any number in between, every trucking company has a specific set of training needs – and one size doesn’t fit all. In close cooperation with customer needs, Bendix offers customized programming to make the best use of everyone’s time and resources, enabling companies to monitor their registered employees’ participation and progress through Brake-School.com courses.
Remote education sessions can also be set up directly with fleets and technicians.
“Integrating Bendix’s content into our customers’ training programs easily and efficiently has been a constant goal since we launched this educational portal,” Gould said. “Specialized plans and tracking systems put these tools in the hands of the people who best know their fleet requirements.”
Access to the Experts When and Where the Industry Needs It
The company’s online brake school is not the only way Bendix helps to support the needs of the commercial vehicle industry.
The comprehensive portfolio of education and product information access includes B2Bendix.com, the company’s robust ecommerce platform featuring high-resolution, 360-degree views of more than 9,000 Bendix products, kits, and related service items. It delivers streamlined product searches, accelerated ordering, online warranty and core services, verification of genuine parts, software downloads, and more.
Complementing the online education via Brake-School.com, Bendix also offers in-person training via two- and three-day in-person brake schools across the United States. In-person opportunities on the 2023 calendar cover 11 states.
And live demonstrations of Bendix technology throughout the year continue to be available at Bendix’s regional demos, where drivers, technicians, and others can experience various safety technologies right from the passenger seat.
Additional Bendix post-sales support options include webinars, podcasts, blogs, and video tech talks. The Bendix® Knowledge Dock™ multimedia center at knowledge-dock.com offers access to archives of Bendix Tech Tips and the “Truck Talk with Bendix” podcast, which includes the Driver Insight series for the people behind the wheel. And the Bendix YouTube channel provides Bendix Tech Talks from industry shows, as well as OE-specific demonstrations and instructional videos on Bendix® Wingman® Fusion™ with Enhanced Feature Set.
Finally, field-tested sales and service professionals form the heart of Bendix’s education programs. Combined, the Bendix veteran field Service Engineers and the Bendix Tech Team at 1-800-AIR-BRAKE (1-800-247-2725) are an expert technical support group providing service advice, brake system troubleshooting, and product training.
“Once upon a time, Bendix experts drove across the country in station wagons to provide hands-on training using air brake boards mounted in the back,” Gould said. “While custom air brake boards are still a staple for our on-site educational programs, today we offer different approaches and always have an eye on the future. As we move ahead, one thing will not change – our commitment to delivering technical knowledge in pursuit of helping to improve roadway safety.”
