Tenstar promotes safe and practical driver training

Swedish company, Tenstar Simulation, has a vision to change the world…more specifically transforming the way driver training is offered in various industries- from agriculture to construction to transport.

Today, the company offers training modules across 30 types of vehicles and machinery, including tractors, excavators, combine harvesters, forklifts, big trucks, buses and even fire engines and ambulances.

While simulation training cannot replace real world training, the company believes starting out on a simulator provides for a safer, greener and more efficient experience.

At the Wimmera Machinery Field Days in March 2025, Tenstar had its mobile unit with motion base on display at Longerenong College’s stand.

 Tenstar’s Australian rep, Rodney Dunn, said the simulator product is unique in the market.

“Unlike OEM training simulators that have been around for a while, what we have is a product that is able to educate a wide range of people,” he said.

“So we've come up with a range of different software to offer around 30 machine training at the moment, with a lot more to come.”

The product comes in a range of configurations, from a simple pedestal taking up minimal space to a mobile unit with a motion base that offers enhanced realism as if drivers are operating a real machine.

The most advanced setup offers a motion base seat, three 43-inch screens at the front, an optional 43-inch screen at the rear and controls that can be interchanged.

Tenstar also offers a range of hardware accessories to cater to the different training programs such as steering wheels, pedals, joysticks, and even a VR headset for a next-level driving experience.

Software-wise, the modules offer training in various environments such as driving in foggy conditions and features exercises to complete such as loading hay bales on a trailer with a tractor and bale grab.

As the product resembles an arcade game setup, it naturally attracted plenty of attention at the field days where show-goers young and old alike were itching to have a go in it.

According to Dunn, safety is a key benefit the system offers.

“If we think about why pilots use simulators, it’s so they can carry out exercises that they wouldn't be able to achieve in a real-life situation, in a safe environment,” he said.

“When I learned to drive a forklift, I was literally put in one, taken out in the middle of a field and asked to start lifting buckets, move pallets and stack them up. It wasn't very safe, and I'd hate for my children to go through that.

“I'd rather have them do something like this in a simulator where they can get that initial training and guidance safely, and when they hop into a real machine, they feel much more confident and will make for better operators.”

By having learner drivers complete initial simulator training first, engine emissions are also significantly reduced compared to conventional methods where hundreds of hours are spent by each learner driving the actual machines on roads or in fields.

Tenstar sad the simulator is currently being used by TAFEs, colleges and industry groups to teach students and employees how to utilise different pieces of machinery.

With labour shortage still being a massive global issue, Tenstar said simulators are great tools to introduce the younger generation to various industries as well as upskill existing workers to take on other tasks in the same field or in different ones.

“For example, if you've got an employee that's been with you for a number of years and have been driving a particular machine, to keep that staff energized and happy with their job, you can put them through simulated training to upskill them into other machines,” Dunn said.

“There is a serious lack of good truck drivers at the moment, so by putting new drivers in these simulation programs to get them confident, or upskilling current truck drivers to get more advanced licenses will help speed up the learning process and be a solution to the labour shortage issue.”

Tenstar also offers training in a multi machine environment, where multiple simulators in a room are connected to upskill operators in a shared environment.

“We can have a harvester and tractors running chaser bins alongside the combine harvesting grain, or in construction, it can be an excavator loading up dump trucks," Dunn said.

“The drivers will have to communicate with each other to complete a set task successfully.”

Dunn said the next step would be to introduce avatar-based systems for more interactive and in-depth training.

“For example, a foreman can be introduced into a simulated environment where he can put out traffic cones, measure things, give signals and provide guidance to people within that environment,” Dunn said.

“That way, they can be a part of it without actually having to be amongst real machines and less experienced drivers where they may put themselves in danger.”

The company is also working on a road paver program, which the company claims is a world first.

For more information on Tenstar's products, visit Tenstar Simulation's website.