A pre-NTEA convention workshop on truck equipment mounting and modification and an educational session scheduled during the convention covering some of the same material will be presented by Red Carver, an engineering consultant based in Durango, Colorado. Carver is a specialist in frame structure and materials.
The workshop will be held from 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday, February 22, and will be geared to a mixed audience of shop managers,engineers, and sales personnel, Carver says. The educational session, an overview of truck body mounting, will be held from 2:30 to 3:45 pm Wednesday, February 23. It will be geared to shop personnel who do hands-on work with truck equipment.
A familiar figure to many in the industry, Carver has presented five regional educational seminars this past year and is scheduled to do nine more next year. Carver formerly worked at the structures lab at Chrysler where he earned his master's in automotive engineering. He later worked for Midland Steel Products in Cleveland, Ohio, and spent 25 years with AO Smith, the world's largest car and truck frame manufacturer. Since 1987, Carver has served as a consultant to the truck and truck equipment industries.
The educational session will cover welding and fasteners, truck equipment body mounting, and frame modification. Carver will discuss the proper procedures for splicing frames and welding applications in the typical shop.
"This session will be geared to shop managers," Carver says.
"Besides discussing the technical aspects of truck body work, I'll also touch on the importance of workmanship. Good workmanship decreases workers' stress levels and has a positive effect in their lives. Poor workmanship results in increased stress and has a negative effect."
Carver says he will strive to address both the technically minded and nontechnically oriented attendees during his full-day seminar. He will cover the nuts-and-bolts aspects of truck body installation while also explaining nomenclature and definitions of frame design and modification. He will discuss case studies on frame failures and their causes.
"Much of my talk will be focused on the frame," Carver says. "It's such an essential part of the equipment. If you don't take care of the frame, the whole system fails."
