WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A partnership with Nationwide Insurance Co. has resulted in the loan of six damaged vehicles to Pennsylvania College of Technology’s collision repair labs.
The seeds of the agreement were planted a year ago, when the college’s Collision Repair Advisory Committee discussed the shortage of late-model cars for students’ hands-on instruction. Committee member Brian A. Moore, a Nationwide claims manager, immediately recognized the need and strategized with colleagues on how to meet it.
Under the partnership, Nationwide provided the department with six collision-damaged automobiles that were assessed as “total-loss vehicles.” The cars are of various makes and models, enabling students to work with vehicles from a range of manufacturers.
“These cars are making an immediate impact on the collision repair curriculum. Students gain opportunities to work on newer-model cars that were previously unavailable to them,” said Jamie R. Miller, assistant director of corporate relations. “We are proud to have a partner like Nationwide that received the needs of our department as a call to action.”
The vehicles are for educational purposes only and are not to be repaired for return to the road. While the vehicles will eventually go back to Nationwide in the same condition they were received, the department notes the wide variety of tasks that can be performed on the cars.
"The Nationwide Vehicle Loan Agreement provides an opportunity for our students to learn skills necessary for success in the collision repair industry,” instructor Loren R. Bruckhart said.
Students are able to do assessments, mechanical repairs and estimating, for example: They may take apart the brakes and reassemble them, replace the shocks or struts, remove tires and put them back on, pull refrigerant out and replace it, and remove and restore body panels.
For more about collision repair and other majors in the School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies, visit www.pct.edu/tnrt or call 570-327-4516.
For more about the college, a national leader in applied technology education, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.