The Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI) has announced the election of its new board of directors and officers for 2003.

Ray Haight, president and chief operating officer of MacKinnon Transport Inc., was elected to succeed Roger Roberson, chairman of Roberson Transportation Co., as the PTDI chairman of the board.
"I'm looking forward to working with the new board and getting my arms wrapped around PTDI and continuing the progress that was made over this past year," said Haight.
In addition to Haight, Mark Johnson, director of the National Training Committee of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, was elected PTDI vice chairman. David Money, technical director of transportation training for Liberty Mutual Insurance, was elected PTDI Secretary. David Barefoot, Sr. vice president and chief operations officer of American Trucking Assns., was elected PTDI Treasurer.
Roger Roberson becomes PTDI immediate past chairman and Robert Hirsch, the president of Truckload Carriers Assn., which manages PTDI, will continue serving as PTDI's president.
Over the year, PTDI initiated a review of its finances and standards in order to improve the quality of the program and increase the support and participation of both the truck driver training school and carrier communities.
The financial review of PTDI has yielded a more financially stable organization and more efficient program. The review of PTDI's standards has also progressed well, focusing initially on drafting language to clarify some standards to make them easier to understand. PTDI's Board is expected to consider the proposed clarifications in early January 2003.
Additionally, PTDI will consider 17 school course re-certifications during the month of December and another seven school courses during April 2003. "Our goal is to advance the PTDI program and facilitate the certification and re-certification of as many driver training school courses as we can across the United States, Canada and Mexico," stated Robert Hirsch, PTDI's president.
For any questions concerning the PTDI program, contact Rich Clemente, PTDI program director, at (703) 838-8847.
PTDI is a national, nonprofit organization established for the two-fold purpose of developing uniform consensus skill, curriculum and course standards for entry-level truck driver training and certifying entry-level truck driver training courses at public and private schools for compliance with PTDI standards.
PTDI is based in Alexandria, Va.