SIMULATOR-BASED EQUIPMENT OPERATOR TRAINING

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Maintenance Equipment Training Simulator (CMETS) was developed in an effort to reduce vehicle accidents, extend equipment life, and enhance the overall safety of field maintenance employees. The eight full-mission simulators are housed in a 48-ft semitrailer that travels throughout the state providing training. The primary target audience consists of new-hires with little truck driving experience, although experience has shown that employees from all skill levels can be challenged in the simulator. CMETS can simulate almost any engine and transmission combination found in the fleet, with truck types including 5- and 10-yd dump trucks, and tractor-trailer combinations. The driving world consists of a 50 sq mi area with over 100 mi of roads. Road types include city streets, freeways, secondary roads, dirt and gravel roads, as well as snow-covered roads. Instructor controlled inputs include volume and behavior of autonomous traffic, day or night, clear or fog, wind gust, ice patches, and specific autonomous vehicle behavior. Simulated failures to own equipment include tire blowout, loss of oil or air pressure, and overheating. Driving parameters that are measured and recorded for each student include number of gear shifts, number of gear grinds, number of transmission failures, speed control, following too close, brake temperature, riding the clutch, turns or lane changes without signaling, collisions, and others. CMETS is fully self-contained, and includes an onboard 50 kW generator. Setup and breakdown time at any maintenance station is less than 15 min. Two instructors conduct the 1-h class, followed by a 3-h driving session.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec052.pdf
• 
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00978515
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Edson, J M
• Conference:
  • 10th AASHTO-TRB Maintenance Management Conference
  • Location: Duluth, Minnesota
  • Date: 2003-7-13 to 2003-7-17
• Publication Date: 2003-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 182-187
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Circular
  • Issue Number: E-C052
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0097-8515

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Driving simulators; Maintenance equipment; Operators (Persons); Training
• Identifier Terms: California Department of Transportation
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Education and Training; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Vehicles and Equipment; I10: Economics and Administration; I60: Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00960095
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: E-C052,, MMC03-032, MMC03-029
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 15 2003 12:00AM