The YWCA / Progressive Truck Driving School 2017 Graduating Class

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For over 5 years, Progressive Truck Driving School and the YWCA have partnered to help train YWCA program participants to get their CDL license.

The YWCA works every day to eliminate racism and empower women. Through advocacy and local programming, they create real change for women, families and communities.

In 2017, the YWCA worked with ComEd to help people obtain jobs – for some of these jobs a permit is required. Progressive Truck Driving School helped these job-seekers start new careers by training them to earn their license. In addition, Progressive Truck Driving School directs prospective students to our school to complete full training. Progressive has been successful every year helping people obtain their permit.

Progressive Truck Driving School is very proud to partner with the YWCA to help change the lives of their students for the better.

Congratulations to the 2017 graduating class!

 

5 Surprising Trucking Statistics

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Did you know?

  • The trucking industry is responsible for hauling over 10.5 billion tons of cargo every year.
  • The trucking industry collects over $650 billion dollars a year, which is  5% of America’s GDP.
  • Over 3.4 million heavy duty trucks and 3.5 million truck drivers are necessary to haul all of the US cargo.
  • The trucking industry is projected to grow 21% over the next 10 years.
  • The trucking sector generates a staggering 83.7% of the revenue in the commercial transportation industry.

Interested in joining this high-growth industry? Apply now to Progressive Truck Driving School!

 

2017 Top 20 Best Fleets to Drive For

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The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and CarriersEdge announced this year’s 20 Best Fleets to Drive For in 2017 list. The fleets are recognized for providing exemplary work environments for their drivers and other employees.

The 2017 Top 20 Best Fleets to Drive For include:

  • Bison Transport, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
  • Boyle Transportation, Billerica, Massachusetts
  • Central Oregon Trucking Company, Inc., Redmond, Oregon
  • Challenger Motor Freight Inc., Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
  • Fremont Contract Carriers, Inc., Fremont, Nebraska
  • FTC Transportation, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
  • Garner Trucking, Inc., Findlay, Ohio
  • Grand Island Express, Inc., Grand Island, Nebraska
  • Halvor Lines, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
  • Interstate Distributor Co., Tacoma, Washington
  • Kriska Holdings Ltd., Prescott, Ontario, Canada
  • Landstar System, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida
  • Maverick Transportation, LLC, North Little Rock, Arkansas
  • Motor Carrier Service, LLC, Northwood, Ohio
  • Nussbaum Transportation, Hudson, Illinois
  • ONE For Freight, Milton, Ontario, Canada
  • Prime Inc., Springfield, Missouri
  • Smokey Point Distributing, Arlington, Washington
  • TLD Logistics Services, Inc., Knoxville, Tennessee
  • TransPro Freight Systems Ltd., Milton, Ontario, Canada

Two companies, FTC Transportation, Inc., and Halvor Lines, Inc., achieved the milestone of five consecutive years on the Best Fleets list. Motor Carrier Service, LLC, Fremont Contract Carriers, Inc., Landstar System, Inc., and Grand Island Express, Inc. have continued their streaks as Best Fleets, each appearing on the list for over the fifth time.

Five companies were identified as “Fleets to Watch” – honorable mentions for demonstrating innovation in their driver programs:

  • Crete Carrier Corp., Lincoln, Nebraska
  • Hirschbach Motor Lines, Inc., Dubuque, Iowa
  • Kroon Brothers Transport, LLC, Hanover, Pennsylvania
  • Paper Transport, Inc., De Pere, Wisconsin
  • Transport Corporation of America, Inc., Eagan, Minnesota

Phase two of the contest will divide the highest scoring fleets into small and large fleet categories, from which two overall winners will be selected. These awards are sponsored by EpicVue of Salt Lake City, and Bose Ride of Framingham, Massachusetts.

The overall winners’ names will be announced during TCA’s Annual Convention, March 26-29, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

To make it into the runnings for the Best Fleets to Drive For in 2017, companies with 10 or more trucks had to receive a nomination from at least one of its owner-operators or company drivers. CarriersEdge also interviewed HR representatives and executives to determine the carriers that scored highest in various categories including health benefits, pensions plans, professional development, compensation, and other criteria.

Are you interested in driving for one of these top companies? Apply to Progressive Truck Driving School to learn how.

 

New Study Confirms That Veterans Make for Great Truck Drivers

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Independent research conducted by Omnitracs confirms that veterans make for excellent truck drivers. The data revealed a few key data points: for instance veterans had 42 percent fewer accidents than non-veteran drivers, veterans achieved 98 percent more miles driven, and veterans had 59 percent fewer voluntary terminations and 68 percent fewer involuntary terminations.

According to the study, veterans’ trucking skill and job dedication can be at least partially attributed to the skill sets that the military brings, such as discipline and understanding of policy and procedures.

“The biggest thing is that the parallels between the trucking industry and the military life are right on point in that veterans are used to being away from home. Their families are used to them being away from home, so on the family side, they have everything in place to handle it when the service member’s away or the professional driver is away from home,” said Rick Bucholtz, associate director of field and government recruiting, Werner Enterprises. “Also, being out on the road, they work under minimal supervision. They’re out there on their own. They have to be able to make decisions. They have to be able to assess and take action without being told exactly what to do”

Here at Progressive Truck Driving School, we pride ourselves on training our veterans and helping them to jump-start their career after the military. We offer veterans assistance, including tuition assistance programs through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). You can learn more here.

To apply to Progressive Truck Driving School, please complete this application.

Congratulations Cubs from Progressive Truck Driving School!

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The Cubs are World Series Champions! As a Chicago company, Progressive Truck Driving School is proud of the Cubs and all of our Chicago sports teams! Way to break the curse, Cubbies!

The custom Cubs paint job is from DB Custom Trucks, located in Antioch, Illinois.

Interested in getting your CDL license? Apply to Progressive Truck Driving School.

 

New Study Confirms Improved Trucking Safety

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After a recent analysis from the Department of Transportation, data indicates that in both the long-term and short-term, trucking-involved fatalities are declining significantly. This is welcome news for CDL students and truck drivers.

According to the American Trucking Association’s analysis of miles traveled data from the Federal Highway Administration and highway fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the truck-involved fatality rate fell for the second straight year to 1.40 per 100 million miles traveled. This is great news for anyone interested in a career in trucking, but are concerned over safety.

There’s been a significant decrease in the fatality rate, which dipped 2.78 percent from 2013 and has fallen 4.76 percent over the past two years. More importantly, it has fallen an impressive 40.6 percent over the past decade.

According to ATA President and SEO Bill Graves ,“The short-term decline is welcome news, but the important figure is the long-term trend. Short-term changes, whether they’re increases or declines, can be blips – and just like you shouldn’t track your 401k on a daily basis, they shouldn’t be the primary lens truck safety is viewed through. The long-term trend – in this case, a more than 40 percent improvement – is of paramount importance.”

Great news for our CDL students and future drivers! Complete this form to apply to Progressive Truck School!

Accuracy Is a Significant Issue With Hair Testing

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The “Drug Free Commercial Truck Driver Act of 2015” is a bill that would allow the Department of Transportation to authorize hair testing instead of urinalysis.

Critics of hair testing claim that science doesn’t support hair testing, and that it’s simply not as accurate as urinalysis for detecting controlled substances by an operator.

The bill currently is receiving support from bi-partisan co-sponsors, along with support from the American Trucking Association along with some fleets.

According to Dr. Kent Peterson, president of Charlottesville, Virginia Occupational Health Strategies and Former Exec. Vice President of American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM):

“Hair testing has a window of testing for the previous months or weeks. If you take one and a half inches closest to the scalp it will give an indication of drug use for the past 90 days,” he says. “Hair testing may be used for pre-employment screening to show long-term use but it gives no indication of current use or recent impairment.”

Some critics argues that hair testing unfairly biases some drivers. According to Peterson,

“Curly haired and persons of color are more likely to test positive [because they have more melanin in their hair which binds more strongly with markers]. It’s believed that if hair testing were to be used and brought to court, it would be thrown out on that basis alone.”

It will be interesting in the coming months to see if the bill will garner additional support and pass into law, as it seems that the science justifying the bill isn’t concrete.

Interested in earning your CDL? Apply to Progressive Truck School.

Drivers: Interested in making $2,000? Participate in this FMCSA Survey.

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The FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) is participating in a Congressionally-required study on the 2013 implemented hours-of-service changes.

By participating in the study, drivers can receive up to $2,000 in compensation. As of last month, the FMCSA needs an additional 250 drivers to participate in the 5 month study.

Drivers who decide to participate in the study will be involved for at least five months, and researchers will compare their schedules, crashes, near-crashes, crash-relevant events, operator fatigue and alertness and short-term health.

Click here to learn more about the study or to register to participate.

Interested in becoming a driver? Apply to Progressive Truck School.

Video: Shortage of Truck Drivers

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There’s a current shortage of truck drivers – skilled drivers are in extremely high-demand. Watch the video below to learn more:

Interested in joining this high-demand industry? Apply to Progressive Truck School.

Congress Rolls Back Federal Trucking Rule

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A regulation which trucking companies claimed was far too restrictive for drivers is now being eased.

According to federal rules, the restriction would have required a drivers’ 34-hour restart to include two 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. periods and would limit the use of a 34-hour restart to once per week.

The two provisions of the 2013 changes to hours-of-service regulations for truck operators will be suspended at least until Sept. 30, 2015, and FMCSA will be required to further study the rules and their impact before the rules can take effect again.

Both the House and the Senate passed a new provision to suspend the Hours of Service rule. U.S. Representative Richard Hanna, who led the suspension effort, believed the mandated 34-hour restart rule would negatively impact trucking businesses in the Southern Tier.

Representative Hanna also believed the rule would hurt small businesses who relied on the trucking services.

Interested in a career in trucking? Apply to Progressive Truck School!