About 125 high school students got the chance to operate some of the coal industry’s most advanced training simulators when the Success Xpress—a mobile miner training facility built into a 53-foot truck trailer—rolled into the Knott County Area Technology Center.

Billy Campbell was one of those students. Campbell donned the Success Xpress’ virtual-reality headset and controlled a simulated continuous mining machine in a three-dimensional underground mine. After commanding the machine’s spinning metal teeth as they tore down coal from the face of the mine, Campbell said he enjoyed experiencing the computer-generated sights and sounds of virtual coal mining.

“That was pretty fun, especially once I figured out what to do and got the hang of it,” he said.

The Success Xpress is owned and operated by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), Inc., a nonprofit agency that administers workforce development programs in eastern Kentucky.

The Success Xpress can be driven to remote coal mines, colleges, schools, or any other location in eastern Kentucky where mining training is needed. This mobility allows students like those at the Hindman center to get an early look at coal mining while in high school. It also allows working miners to train on the Success Xpress for certifications in essential high-skill positions (mine electricians, METs, equipment operators, foremen, etc.) at their work sites, reducing the impact of training on their companies’ productivity.

The Success Xpress’ distance learning technology allows mining courses to be taught by highly qualified instructors at remote locations and transmitted to students in the mobile classroom. Remote-controlled cameras in the classroom allow the class to interact with the remote instructor in real time. The Success Xpress classroom also includes wireless connectivity that provides internet access at nine computer workstations.

While working with the region’s coal operators is the Success Xpress’ top priority, working with high school students who might be considering careers in coal is also a key part of the Success Xpress’ mission to help the coal industry replenish its dwindling and aging workforce, according to David Ruth, EKCEP Coal Mining Services coordinator.

“We’re pleased to partner with the Knott County Area Technology Center to provide its students access to the Success Xpress’ state-of-the-art technology,” Ruth said. “Many of these students will become key in the future of coal mining in our area, and it is incumbent upon us to bring training to them that will prepare them to become safe and productive miners.”

Since late December, the Success Xpress has also trained working miners and students in Clay, Harlan, Letcher, Martin, Perry, and Pike counties. The Success Xpress recently completed stays at Area Technology Centers in Clay and Pike counties during which hundreds of high school students spent time at the controls of the facility's continuous mining machine simulator. (Click here for comments from others on how the Success Xpress is being received in various locations in eastern Kentucky.)

Each of the Knott County Area Technology Center’s roughly 125 students got a chance to spend time at the controls of the Success Xpress’ computer mining simulator, according to Dennis Jacobs, an instructor at the center.

Jacobs, a former miner, said the technology skills many of those students already have learned will aid them in training for underground mining careers on simulators like those in the Success Xpress.

“Simulators like this were created for their generation,” Jacobs said. “We didn’t have these things back when I was mining coal, but with video games, they have skills that can help them train.”

In addition to its state-of-the-art computer classroom and three-dimensional mining simulator, the Success Xpress also features a hands-on lab area with electrical training panels exactly like those on actual mining equipment.

The Success Xpress was created with a portion of EKCEP’s share of a $3.1 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant was awarded to EKCEP and the West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board (WKWIB) in December 2005 to train new miners and upgrade the skills of experienced miners in the state’s eastern and western coalfields. The grant was awarded under the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative, as implemented by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.

Based in Hazard, EKCEP administers government employment and training programs and employer services in 23 rural mountain counties, including the entire eastern Kentucky coalfields. EKCEP also administers the JobSight network of workforce centers, which provide access to a dozen government workforce programs for job seekers and employers.

The Center for Rural Development is a participating partner, designing and coordinating the Success Xpress’ distance-learning technology.

For additional information on booking the Success Xpress for a visit to a mining operation, high school, vocational and technical school, or any other location, contact Crawford Blakeman at 606-436-5751.