Truckload Academy Starts To Take Shape
During the meeting at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, TCA staff outlined a draft curriculum and described ways to deliver education and training programs to trucking personnel, ranging from drivers to chief executives.
TCA President Lana Batts hopes to unveil the first course curricula at the association’s annual conference in March. She estimated it will take four years to make the academy fully operational.
“This is the start of a very long process,” said TCA Chairman Gary Baumhover, senior vice president of GroJean Transportation, Dubuque, Iowa.
“Companies are lean, they are asking more of employees, so employees have to know more,” Batts said.
The school will bring the information to them via CD-ROM, videotapes and workbooks.
To speed the process and minimize costs, Batts hopes to develop the program’s content by working with state trucking associations, the councils of American Trucking Associations and non-trucking educational providers.
“If ATA’s Safety Council has a great program for safety directors, let’s see how we can work together,” Batts said. “If the program is seminar-based, let’s see if we can incorporate some of their information in our distance-based learning program.”
The Truckload Academy is a key component of TCA’s strategic plan, adopted by the association’s board in March (3-22, p. 1). The association decided to switch its emphasis from lobbying to providing education and training programs, which its officials consider are sorely needed by the industry.
Batts has reached out to various industry groups to build support for and interest in the Truckload Academy. She met with members of the National Tank Truck Carriers in May at their annual meeting in Atlanta.
Organizers plan to offer top trucking executives courses to hone their management skills. Managers will be able to obtain trucking-specific, general business and leadership development courses. Other programs will be designed for driver recruiters, trainers and dispatchers.
