The northwest region of The National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools (NAPFTDS) will hold a two-day conference at Bates south campus, 2201 South 78th Street in Tacoma, February 20 and 21.
The conference for driver trainers is expected to attract trucking companies, insurance carriers, industry advisory members, Washington State Patrol personnel, members of The Washington Trucking Associations Safety Management Council, and other member schools from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
Job recruitment fair open to public
On Friday, February 20, from 9A to 5P, local and national carriers will conduct a job recruitment fair for employment opportunities. Employers will include Haney Truck Lines, Gordon Trucking, Inc., Central Refrigerated Services, Covenant Transport, Swift Transportation and Sherman Brothers Trucking. The event is free and open to the public.
New requirements in the industry
The conference, aimed toward promoting safety education within the industry, will open on Friday morning with Jerry Amato, division administrator with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Amato will address new rules and regulations pertaining to service hours, load securement, security, security training, and driver training. Through the Patriot Act, federal law now requires criminal history checks for all holders and applicants for a Commercial Drivers License hazardous material endorsement.
Fridays agenda will also include several presentations by Washington State Patrol officers, a carrier panel related to industry issues, and an instructor panel discussing educational concerns.
Saturday participants will have the opportunity to attend Learning Styles, a classroom presentation by Mike Corso, Bates manager of Teacher Preparation and Professional Development.
From 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Washington Trucking Association will conduct Highway Watch Training, a session to assist experienced drivers and safety educators in identifying and reporting incidents on the interstate – a topic of high interest in light of national homeland security activities.
We are honored to host our industry partners, said Wade Westphal, Bates Truck Driving instructor. Its an opportunity to network with law enforcement and other schools to share resources and ideas on improving training, and to have a voice in legislative issues affecting training, transportation and education in the industry.
Westphal is past president of the NAPFTDS and now serves as a national advisor to the organization.
About NAPFTDS
The NAPFTDS is a nonprofit organization of publicly funded junior and community colleges committed to providing training programs that earn and maintain public confidence.
The organization adheres to sound and ethical business practices and the use of federally recommended standards.
Member schools are directly involved in training thousands of truck drivers each year.
For more information visit www.napftds.org.
