Proactive Training Addresses Looming Driver Shortage, New Safety Regulations, Puts Skilled and “Safety First” Truck Driving Professionals on the Highways
SALT LAKE CITY – December 07, 2010
Con-way Freight, a less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier and subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), today announced it has graduated its first class of professional driver sales representatives from an innovative company training program at its Salt Lake City service center. The three graduates successfully completed a 12-week program of classroom study and hands-on behind-the-wheel training, which culminated with passing their state exams, earning the graduates their commercial driver’s licenses — and a job as a professional truck driver.
Salt Lake City is one of the first Con-way Freight service centers to graduate a class in the program, which has been rolled out at 65 company locations nationwide. The program was launched to help the company meet needs for highly skilled and qualified professional truck drivers, and to ensure these drivers have the hands-on training and education to operate successfully under the federal government’s new Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) program, explained Bob Petrancosta, vice president of safety, Con-way Freight.
Petrancosta noted that the U.S. trucking industry is expected to experience a shortage of some 400,000 drivers over the next several years. “In addition, new federal regulations under CSA 2010, which will bring better measurement and increased transparency to driver safety qualifications, is expected to thin the ranks of qualified drivers even further,” he noted.
“Through our in-house program, we’re creating good, solid jobs and providing a high level of training and skills development. These graduates are professionals in every sense of the word. They are trained and educated to operate successfully under today’s new safety performance qualifications, and to meet the standards we require to be a Con-way driver,” Petrancosta said. “I congratulate our Salt Lake City graduates on their success and welcome them to our elite team of professional driver sales representatives.”
The objectives of Con-way Freight’s Driving Schools are multifold and ensure that graduates:
- Receive instruction in proper vehicle operation, equipment handling, claims prevention, freight loading tools, techniques and best practices; teamwork, dock safety procedures and administering paperwork
- Develop a strong working knowledge and understanding of CSA 2010 requirements, as well as other U.S. Department of Transportation and state motor carrier safety regulations
- Learn Con-way’s procedures and policies with respect to safety as the No. 1 priority, and the company’s philosophies and practices for delivering superior customer service
- Gain hands-on experience in all aspects of truck driving and freight operations to develop confidence in their ability to safely and professionally perform the required work
- Become familiar with industry terminology, operations, costs and market trends
Candidates for the schools are nominated primarily from the company’s workforce of part-time dock workers, as well as other non-driving employees who desire a career as a professional truck driver but need to earn an income while training. During the 12-week course students spend four hours each day in a classroom setting learning safety, business, regulatory and operational procedures. Emphasis is placed on effective commercial vehicle safety inspection practices, federal and state regulatory and safety compliance and defensive driving skills. In addition to 80 hours in the classroom, students spend 160 supervised hours behind the wheel with a company driver-trainer, piloting trucks in regular operating conditions through hills, on freeways and in localized urban traffic.
Candidates who are accepted into Con-way’s driving schools receive the training at no charge. Similar training from commercial for-profit truck driving schools can cost as much as $5,000.
Con-way Freight operates its Driving Schools as regional and local needs dictate. The company employs more than 15,000 professional, credentialed truck drivers nationwide. Jeff Groat is Con-way’s service center manager in Salt Lake City. For information on future driving school classes, call (801) 954-0709, send an e-mail to [email protected], or visit the Careers page on Con-way’s website at http://www.con-way.com/en/careers/driver-careers/.
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Con-way equipment images are available at www.con-way.com/en/about_con_way/newsroom.
About Con-way Freight
Con-way Freight is the industry’s leading less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation company, providing guaranteed, day-definite regional and transcontinental service with exception-free delivery, on-time service performance and faster transit times through a single, unified network of more than 300 service centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Con-way Freight offers LTL freight transportation across North America and through Global LTLTM delivery in the United States from around the world. Global solutions include international less-than-container (LCL) ocean shipments from Asia through its OceanGuaranteed® service; U.S. and Europe delivery for inbound and outbound international cargoes through an exclusive alliance with TNT; direct service to more than 30 Bahamian and Caribbean ports through TropicalDirectSM; and domestic offshore transportation to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Con-way Freight is a certified FAST highway carrier and is C-TPAT/PIP, ACE- and CSA-certified.
Con-way Freight is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), a $4.3 billion diversified freight transportation and logistics services company. For more information, visit www.con-way.com/en/freight.
