THE GREAT WEST TRUCK SHOW
June 17-19 2010
The Great West Truck Show has it all – major truck, trailer, engine, components and parts manufacturers; show trucks, service providers, trucking recruiting and free on-site truck parking – set in the exciting city of Las Vegas! Come be a part of history as we continue to make the Great West Truck Show the greatest show that Vegas has ever known!
The Great West Truck Show will again reserve
free truck parking for the 2010 show. Parking will be available in the Gold Lot directly across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Don't just meet us there! Beat us there!
PTDI Names New Director, Recertifies
Truck Driver Training Courses
The Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) recently announced it has named David Heller, CDS, as director of PTDI and has recertified truck driver training programs in four schools. Despite a slow-growth economy, driver training program managers say they are benefiting from PTDI certification and seeing an increase in demand for their graduates.
“Because of the economy, companies naturally have become more selective, and we are seeing more and more requests for graduates of PTDI-certified courses,” said Harry Kowalchyk, president of National Tractor Trailer School, Inc., which received five-year program recertifications for both its Buffalo and Liverpool, N.Y., locations. “The cost of PTDI certification is strictly a cost of doing business for us.”
Kowalchyk noted a change in the demographics of their students, which is occurring nationwide. “We’re leaning more toward the mature worker, those who have been displaced as a result of a company downsizing, people transitioning from the military or other industry, and retired folks reentering the workplace to supplement their income,” Kowalchyk said. “Our student population has increased probably about 15 percent in the last year.”
Scott Barker, vice president of safety, recruiting and driver services for Swift Driving Academy, which received five-year recertification for its Millington, Tenn., location, agreed. “Driver retention has improved as a result of the economy, and prospective drivers are coming into the industry from much different backgrounds. People have been forced to change careers due to unemployment or underemployment, and while the economy adversely affected trucking, there is always a need for trucks and professional truck drivers. Our academy enrollment has been down over the past couple of years because of the great improvement in driver retention, but as the economy appears to be improving, our enrollment is increasing as well. Graduates face a brighter, more profitable future today than they might have a couple of years ago.”
All this is good news for PTDI-certified programs. According to PTDI Director Heller, with the current economic situation, “the benefits for drivers of PTDI-certified courses will increase, as carriers searching for the safe driver will be more selective and conscientious in choosing who they hire.”
Heller, who also serves as the Truckload Carriers Association’s Director of Safety and Policy, said he sees PTDI “as the staple of truck driver training. PTDI is setting the bar and expects to maintain its high level of standards. It’s not about righting the ship; the ship has already been righted. It’s more about maintaining the status quo."
“To have a benchmark to strive for, such as PTDI certification and national accreditation, should be the ultimate goal for any school that wants to provide the best possible educational experience to its students and the best drivers for the employers of future graduates,” said Kowalchyk, who has offered PTDI-certified courses since 1997. “From a recruiting standpoint, we see referrals being generated by people either contacting PTDI or checking the PTDI website and looking up certified programs. In a recent class, we started someone who saw us on the PTDI website. He chose to come to a school over 250 miles away based on this certification when there are many other options he could have chosen that would have been much closer.”
Barker also acknowledged that the economy does not affect Swift’s decision to acquire PTDI certification. “Swift has a 13-year relationship with PTDI and we share the same commitment to high-quality, consistent training for entry-level drivers,” he said. “The cost, time, and effort related to PTDI certification are small in comparison to the benefits we gain in the form of our partnership with PTDI and the standards we share with them. We focus on ‘Best in Class’ training no matter what the economy is doing, and, in our opinion, PTDI is the recognized standard for quality driving academies like Swift.”
American Institute of Technology, Phoenix location, is the fourth program that received PTDI recertification in April.
PTDI is a national, nonprofit organization established for the twofold purpose of developing uniform industry skill, curriculum, and certification standards for entry-level truck driver training and motor carrier driver finishing programs, and certifying entry-level truck driver training courses at public and private schools and driver finishing programs at carriers for compliance with PTDI standards. PTDI is based in Alexandria, Virginia.
In the TruckDriver.com Spare Time Survey, we asked, What types of activities/interests/hobbies do you enjoy in your spare time?
Here's what you told us.
•Home improvement projects/Woodworking/carpentry/Working on cars/trucks/boats/motorcycles, etc - 17%
•Internet hobbies (surfing, chatting, networking, researching, blogging, genealogy research) - 15%
•Reading/Writing/Photography/Painting - 10%
•Listening to music/Playing music - 12%
•Watching television/movies/sports - 11%
•Collecting things (stamps, sports cards, antiques, etc.) - 2%
•Spending time with family/friends/Faith-based activities/Volunteer work - 18%
•Playing Sports/Exercising/Physical Fitness/Outdoor activities (hiking, biking, camping) - 10%
•Other - 2%
•I have no spare time! - 3%
We couldn't help but notice that Internet hobbies made the Top Three. Probably not that unusual in these modern times. Many of us use Internet search engines to find information on everything from research for work or hobbies to finding the address of the nearest truck stop. We wondered which search engine you use. Take the TruckDriver.com Search Me Survey and let us know which one is your favorite.
Until next time, keep on truckin' and please drive safely.
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