JLG Industries’ customer service team received a special recognition plaque from the Port of Baltimore for the safety and operator training the company provides the Port’s longshoremen and women.

While making the presentation, Lou LoBianco, Port of Baltimore manager breakbulk/bulk/ro-ro sales, said “[We] … commend JLG Industries for their continued support of training and safety and we appreciate that JLG Industries routes their cargo via the Port of Baltimore …” JLG ships their aerial work platforms and telehandlers destined for overseas markets through the Port, and the company annually participates in a two-day safety and operating training program for the workers who drive the equipment on and off roll-on/roll-off ships.

The program is known vernacularly as the RO/RO Rodeo and is an opportunity for heavy equipment manufacturers to teach the workers how to operate their machines. The Port of Baltimore is the leading port in the east for shipments of heavy equipment.

This year, JLG’s Dennis Hess, Mid-Atlantic regional service manager and Jim Smith, train the trainer instructor, devoted two days to teaching 150 participants about the necessity of wearing hard hats, safety harnesses and such operational procedures as how to properly position booms, starting and stopping procedures, minor ignition repairs and safe operating speeds.

Commenting on the award, Todd Weaver, JLG director of service, said, “Providing this type of service to the personnel works to the advantage of everyone. For the worker members of the International Longshoreman’s Association, it gives them the chance to learn how to operate the equipment in a safe manner, ask questions and helps them do their jobs better by loading JLG machines more efficiently. For JLG, it eliminates the questions than can arise when first using our machines and helps assure that JLG equipment arrives at its destination without problems.”

For additional information, visit www.jlg.com.