News
June 2010March 2010
February 2010
Utah became the 13th state (if you count Washington DC) that approves or finds acceptable our Class C course.
PTS has joined forces with Tanknology to help market our on-line training services.
January 2010
November 2009
October 2009
PTS was recently awarded a contract to provide the State of Tennessee with a three-day UST Inspector seminar.
In order to help Colorado tank operators meet the 12/31/09 training deadline, we have posted a number of new webinar dates.
July 2009
May 2009
Read about us in National Petroleum News
As of May 22, 2009, PTS has certified 27 Class A and B UST operators in the State of Colorado using our webinar and certification program.
On May 5-6, 2009, Petroleum Training Solutions conducted the nation’s first ever state-approved operator training via the Internet, with some exciting results. Instructor Ben Thomas led about 50 attendees through eight hours of course material over two days. The web-based seminars or “webinars” allowed students to watch Ben teach the class while viewing PowerPoint slides and video, answer polls, chat with other attendees, and even raise a hand to ask questions.
The webinars help prepare students to take the Colorado-approved Final Certification Exam hosted by PTS. Following the first webinar, 19 students passed the exam and became some of Colorado’s first Class A/B Operators of UST systems.
PTS technology allows instructors to show a “Green Meter” which indicates how much students save in travel costs ($11,000) and carbon emissions (37,000 pounds).
Most students sat in on the course from Colorado, but there were also attendees from Idaho, Texas and Pennsylvania. Attendees included owners of truck stops, gas stations, convenience stores, supermarkets, county and federal fueling sites.
A number of students had attended webinars in the past, but many had not. Feedback after the course showed that the convenience of not having to travel and being able to stay in the office during training was of high value.
Most students found the interactive webinar tools (chat, polls, quizzes) to be a very effective means of feeling like being in a class. Of those surveyed, 90% agreed they liked the content very much, and 84% said they liked the organization and presentation very much.
What some students liked in particular:
- “Live presence of the course instructor. Good course and good use of live video, along with slides, and access to web content.”
- “Very informative, easy, to-the-point slides. Ben is a great (focused) instructor.”
- “Very informative. I especially enjoyed the practicality of the content. I learned more in 2 days than I could have in 2 weeks.”
- “I didn't have to be away from my job site for training.”
March 2009
February 2009
Our next UST Boot Camp is May 11-15, 2010 in Saukville, WI. Until we get our online registration up and running, you can download the class brochure for registration instructions.
Wow. Our first two live webinars in February were a huge hit! Learn about our new webinars here.
PTS has teamed up with the Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Markerters Association (CWPMA) to sponsor our upcoming Colorado UST Operator webinar series starting in May, 2009.
Happy New Year one and all. In the last year a total of nine states now have operator training rules. Might we see twice that many this year? The deadline to show EPA a state has a program in place is this August.
Want to be a beta tester on Class C operator training or Class A/B? Contact Ben Thomas at 360-321-4776 or ben@PetroleumTrainingSolutions.com for more information.
Kansas Approved. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment certified Petroleum Training Solutions' UST Operator Training program for Class A and B operators. The first class in the state's history was provided on September 25 to 44 operators in Hutchinson, Kansas.
We're also starting online webinars and online certification in Colorado, the third state to approve us as UST operator trainers. Our first class in May is filling up, so we've added a June class as well. PTS provided our first UST inspector seminar in our new training center at Steve Purpora's just-completed office complex in Saukville, WI. We plan to offer periodic inspector "boot camps" at our new location. Contact register@PetroleumTrainingSolutuions.com for more information.
West Virgina adopts UST operator training rules, the first eastern state. Go WV!
PTS teams up with Green Reviews to provide Federal UST/AST operator training classes to the Veterans Administration and other agencies.
December 2008
2008 in review: Between Ben, Marcel and Steve, they have delivered over 48 seminars to the UST community: 25 to UST operators (OR, WA, KS, NY, NM, PA, NY, NJ, NV, CA, TX, IL), 9 to UST inspectors (ID, IL, WI, MI, NE, AZ, WV) and 14 to UST service providers and technicians (FL, TN, TX, ME, OR, IA). This equals presentations to over 1,325 souls.
PTS is pleased to announce our UST Inspector "boot camp" class that we've done for state inspectors in New Jersey, Kentucky and Idaho is now open to the public. The course, offered Feb. 2-6, 2009, in Milwaukee, WI, is a five-day hands-on seminar with classroom, lab and field exercises. To register, download the brochure
Welcome three new states! Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma now have operator training rules adopted and in effect. To learn more see Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma.
The Kentucky UST Program wrote a very nice article about the 5-day inspector class we did in Frankfort KY in November 2007.
Saukville, WI. Let the digging begin! PTS’ Steve Purpora of Purpora Engineering and Protanic Inc. has begun construction on a new building which will house the two companies plus a state of the art UST training center. “We will be able to train inspectors, operators and technicians with real working equipment; nothing is better than hands on” says Steve Purpora. “This will provide PTS the opportunity to have a unique facility that will allow hands-on, customized training with working leak detection equipment.” We already have our first class scheduled! Stay tuned for updates and a course catalog later this year.
April 2008
PTS has created a map of what states have planned to do to meet the training guidelines published by EPA. Stop by for updates! Check out the map
March 2008
PTS staff continue to receive recognition for innovative training. Read the complete article at
www.helenair.com/articles/2008/03/12/weekly_features/business/top/50bz_080309_deqweb.txt.
Come visit with Steve, Marcel and Ben at the 20th Annual Tanks Conference & Expo in Atlanta. Stop by our booth or attend one of our sessions.
PEI has just published RP-900, Inspection and Maintenance of UST Systems, a comprehensive daily, monthly, and annual checklist for UST operators. Get the forms for free, or buy the entire document at http://www.pei.org/Index.aspx?p=rp900
Ben Thomas and Marcel Moreau are preparing to present another series of UST service provider seminars in Oregon. The seminars are being offered free of charge to service providers in Oregon to improve understanding of reporting and technical requirements.
Highlights of 2007
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality's online Tank Helper service was awarded Montana's first IT Project Excellence Award in the Innovative and Creative Category. The award was presented on December 6, 2007. This is the second award Tank Helper has received in the last year and a half. The 2006 winner of a national Best of the Web award, Tank Helper is an innovative solution assisting storage tank owners across Montana to comply with the many rules and regulations. Thanks the the hard work of Bill Rule and his team (including Ben Thomas of PTS).
Idaho TankHelper On-Line. Idaho has become the second state in the country to use TankHelper, the interactive computer program designed by Ben Thomas of Petroleum Training Solutions. State inspectors now use TankHelper on-site during inspections to gather site information, quiz the operator's knowledge, create a compliance plan, and even print a compliance binder.
Kentucky 5-Day Inspector Course. Petroleum Training Solutions was recently awarded the contract to provide a 5-day UST inspector course in Frankfort, KY. The first three days was an intermediate course with a combination of classroom and field exercises. The last two days were for advanced inspectors and was mostly conducted in the field.
Train the Trainer. Petroleum Training Solutions is developing a "Train the Trainer" program for large organizations who have qualified individuals who want to train their own Class A and B operators. Stay tuned for details in Spring 2008 or contact us now if you're interested in this program.
January 2009