Trucker Buddy Announces New Leadership
ATLANTA — A popular nonprofit that has helped educate more than one million students about the life of truck drivers, as well as their experiences transporting freight, recently announced a management change at the top.
Alan Welborn has taken over as executive director for Trucker Buddy International, succeeding long-time chief Randy Schwartzenburg. The group announced the move at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show.
“We’re not looking to grow just for the sake of growing. We want to make sure, that again, it’s right for the community,” Welborn told Transport Topics on Sept. 27. “If you don’t have the right driver paired up with the right classroom, it doesn’t work. So we just have to maintain that correct correlation between a good, positive driver, and a good teacher.”
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The Trucker Buddy format matches a truck driver with a classroom to establish a healthy, educational communication channel. Faculty is encouraged to engage students in lessons about history, geography and math stemming from the updates the drivers are able to provide. Postcards, letters and other correspondence is used to communicate between the driver and the classroom.
Teachers are the program’s gatekeepers, and drivers are not allowed to engage one-on-one with students without supervision. Teachers also manage the curricula, and direct a driver’s contributions in course work. Every participant undergoes an in-depth background check.
Since its launch more than two decades ago, the Alabama-based nonprofit continues to expand domestically and it has reached an international audience. Information on how to join the program is available on the nonprofit’s website.
