Report: Truck Driver Training - by Ted Cohen

This report was submitted with full copyright permission by Ted Cohen:



TheTruckersReport.com - 13 Feb 2009 - (By Ted Cohen)

When Jerry Verrill learned to drive the big rigs, it was in the days when most tractor-trailer drivers didn't go to school for their training. They did it the old-fashioned way - borrowing someone's truck.

But that was nearly 30 years ago, an era when the highways were much-less congested and the government was working to scale back some of the tough regulations under which the trucking industry was operating.

"Nowadays things are much different," says Verrill, 47, who now teaches commercial driving in western Maine at Oxford Hills Technical School, the only industry-certified driving academy in New England.

Oxford Hills not only considers a feather in its cap the top ranking its tractor-trailer program has received from a nationally prominent professional-driving organization. But the curriculum, certified by the Professional Truck Driver Institute, may soon become a model for training standards if a federal plan for training requirements goes into effect.

Training for drivers is becoming more important, industry observers say, as the roads become more crowded. Moreover, truckers are coming under increased scrutiny as safety advocates lobby for more regulation of the big rigs.

"Over the last decade, professional drivers have experienced a tremendous growth in their day-to-day responsibilities," says Alice Adams, author of Trucking Rules and Regulations, published by Thomson Delmar Learning. "As carriers have become more regulated, drivers have been given more responsibility.

Verrill, who was looking for a fulfilling way to help the next generation of professional truckers keep up with the increasing need for training, began teaching 14 years ago.

Being a safe, professional, responsible driver over the course of hundreds of thousands of miles was tough enough; learning how to teach what he knew to others - especially with the growing focus on highway safety - was even harder, though in a different way, according to Verrill.

"It took me awhile to get used to teaching but now I love it," he said. "I like making sure our students understand why it's so important - even more so nowadays - to learn the right way."

The evolving change in commercial driving - from the days when virtually no one went through the rigors of formal training to today's growing requirements for accredited programs - makes it all the more essential to make sure drivers are qualified, said Jim O'Neal, chairman of Truckload Carrier Association.

"We've got to make sure drivers are safe," O'Neal said. "The more we do to provide the proper training, the less the government will force us to do."

"There seems to be some debate win the industry whether there should be any training requirements,' said Don Osterberg, vice president at Schneider National, Inc. of Wisconsin. "Of course there needs to be standards."

Training is so important these days that "the federal government should require standards that reflect actual on-road driving requirements," said Dave Osiecki, the American Trucking Association's vice president in Virginia.

Todd Spencer, vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said he is a firm believer in the adage that "the more training, the better."
"To do the task safely and responsibly requires a high degree of skill," Spencer added. "There should be significant improvements in driver training for commercial drivers."

Bill Graves, a former two-term governor of Kansas who is now president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Association, said, "We're always in hopes that every commercial truck driver will be safe and professional. While current economic conditions may not call for as many drivers, when we begin the financial recovery there will be the same driver 'supply and demand' issues that we've been dealing with for the past six years."

When Colin Micklon of Fryeburg, Maine, was considering trucking as a full-time profession, he realized the importance of formal training in order to meet the growing demand for drivers who have closely supervised schooling. He decided to attend the Oxford Hills program in western Maine.

Micklon, who recently graduated from the course, said that Verrill covered all the bases, including the hours-of-service rules and the important regulations and laws of the road that promote safety-first and efficiency. "He accommodates us and works around our schedules, which is really, really helpful because a lot of us work full-time," Micklon said.

Besides 109 hours of classroom and lab work the school offers 46 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction. The school's program exceeds the industry's certification requirements of 104 hours and 44 hours.

In the mid-1980s, as the need for more training for commercial drivers was winning public favor, the Federal Highway Administration designed a curriculum that became the catalyst for the trucking industry to create the Professional Truck Driver Institute in 1986.

With the highly-coveted PTDI certification, "there is an extra level of quality," said Jane Courcy, a director of adult-education in western Maine
PTDI-certified courses are currently offered at only 66 schools in 28 states and Canada. Courcy said offering a certified Class "A" program gives graduates a leg up when it comes to finding jobs.

"Our students go in to the job market with extra credentials, and they are able to say, 'I have these extra credentials,' " Courcy explained.

Ted Cohen of Portland, Maine, has been a journalist 30 years. After retiring in 2004 from the state's largest newspaper, he attended "ProDrive of Maine" and achieved his PTDI-certified, Class A license. He drives the big rigs out of Maine for Land Air Express of New England. . He may be reached at tedcohen@hotmail.com.