CRST International, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has become the first motor carrier to receive certification from the Professional Truck Driver Institute for its driver finishing program.

The certification means that CRST has proven its tractor-trailer driver finishing program meets the standards PTDI developed in 1999. More than 800 representatives from carrier companies, driver training schools, and the insurance industry provided input into the driver finishing standardization process. The end result is that carriers like CRST International will be able to offer continuity in training graduates of entry-level driver training schools with PTDI-certified courses.
Currently, CRST International recruits entry-level drivers from about 25 schools, with a 50/50 mix of new hires from schools with PTDI and non-PTDI courses. The company plans to use the PTDI certification to attract more students from PTDI courses, which company officials say are better qualified.
CRST Van Expedited President and COO David Rusch hopes driver finishing programs like this one will help the industry win approval of a pilot program to train 18-year-olds as truck drivers.
Rusch would like to see more of what he calls "the right candidates" choose the trucking profession at a young age. "We have to wait three or four years after they have already made their career choice," he said, noting that the PTDI driver finishing program certification could be the answer. "We would love to see the DOT move forward with the 18-year-old driver program, and to do that effectively, this driver finishing program is important so that we can have standardization."