Driver Training Schools To Meet in Fla.

Two organizations representing private and publicly owned truck driver training schools will hold a joint conference on March 17 in Orlando, Fla.

The meeting will bring together officials from the Commercial Vehicle Training Association and the Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools for the first time to find better ways to recruit and keep commercial drivers.

The conference is a "watershed event for the commercial driver training industry," said Jay Shelly, president of MTA Schools in Commerce City, Colo., and chairman of CVTA.

APFTDS President Don Hess, who heads a driver training program at John Wood Community College in Quincy, Ill., said the two groups share a common view on many issues and both "are interested in improving the quality of driver training."

CTVA and APFTDS previously worked together to counter what they viewed as false claims by carriers advertising "free" training when, in fact, training costs were reimbursed only if the student stays employed for minimum length of time.

The conference will feature a panel of school administrators and top trucking executives, including Tonn M. Ostergaard of Crete Carrier Corp., Roger T. Roberson of Roberson Transportation Cos., Daniel E. England of C.R. England Inc., and Donald J. Schneider of Schneider National Inc.

Other speakers include John McGowan from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Lana Batts of the Truckload Carriers Assocaition and John McQuaid of the National Private Truck Council, plus representatives from American Trucking Associations and the Professional Truck Driver Institute.

For more information on the conference, contact K. Michael O'Connell, executive director of CVTA at 703-728-8600 or Hess of APFTDS at 217-224-5362.