The pioneer and father of driver education was Amos Neyhart. In 1933, he taught the first driving training programs at Pennsylvania State University. He was the one responsible for the legislation in the majority of states that determined the system of road instruction used today. Before teaching driving skills to beginners, he set up dual brake and clutch linkages on his car. Later on, in the 1950s the Federal Government established guidelines and suggested standards for teaching truck drivers. With these two important antecedents in mind and by necessity, the National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools (NAPFTDS) was born in 1990.
This organization is in charge for the promotion of public education for the transportation industry. Their members are concerned about working with educators and schools in order to give the highest quality, most cost-effective and most modern training available. Thanks to these efforts, the trucking industry is gaining professionalism and quality among its newest drivers.
The association promotes as its main goal the use of recommended federal standards for the truck driver training programs. Through different activities such as regional conferences across the country, publication of quarterly newsletters, establishment of school and industry partnerships, annual convention, association website, and others, the association has a stellar participation in the trucking industry.
Education has always been the most important ingredient for the development of any economic activity. For that reason, the association is committed to encourage high standards and ethical principles in the creation and administration of training programs. Also, they promote partnerships between education and industry to guarantee that those programs meet the needs of the industry and the students.
For NAPFTDS, it is important to recognize the support of the trucking companies and their allied industries. Thanks to them, every year the association is successful in achieving the main goals and accomplishments they expect. Some of the important companies that are associated are Schneider National, RUAN Transportation, USA Truck, Werner Enterprises, Roehl Transport, among many others.
In addition, a survey of the association revealed significant numbers of the member schools. For example, the average duration of a truck driving program on them takes eight weeks or 284 hours. Also, there are almost 17,000 graduates each year based on active NAPFTDS schools.
Therefore, if you are looking to start your career as a professional truck driver, remember that several associations like the NAPFTDS are committed to help you. Promoting a quality education and offering regional conferences each year, the member schools and their students can be sure that they are going to receive useful information about educational programs and the trucking industry new features.