The Professional Truck Driver Institute has presented the 11th annual Lee J. Crittenden Memorial Award to two recipients for the first time in the award's history.


Don Hess, director, transportation and public safety, John Wood Community College, Quincy, Ill., and Ed Kynaston, a retired chief of the California Highway Patrol, living in Elk Grove, Calif., were each presented with the award at a ceremony held March 10 during the Truckload Carriers Association's annual convention this week at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Fla.

The award is given to a person who exemplifies the overall message of the Professional Truck Driver Institute, of which Lee Crittenden was a staunch supporter until his death in April 1998. This is the first time in the history of the award that this honor has dual recipients.

Don Hess was first introduced to the Professional Truck Driver Institute of America (PTDIA), the precursor to today's PTDI, in 1992. Two years later, when he opened a truck driving program at John Wood Community College in Quincy, Ill., one of his first actions was to apply for PTDI certification of JWCC's truck driver training courses.

He participated in hearings in Washington, D.C., on mandatory truck driver training and has been active in developing and revising PTDI's standards. He has promoted PTDI and its standards to numerous national trade associations, including the National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driver Schools and the Commercial Vehicle Training Association. Hess has served on the PTDI Board for several years, including four terms as vice chairman. He has also served as PTDI staff representative or educational team leader on numerous on-site visits to schools for certification or re-certification of their courses.

Within his home state of Illinois, Hess has promoted and made presentations on PTDI standards to various state agencies and groups, such as the Illinois Trucking Association, local workforce investment boards, and veteran's agencies. He presented PTDI as a solution for quality truck driver training to the Illinois College Presidents Council and personally met with several of its presidents to clarify the benefits. He was instrumental in the formation of the Illinois Commercial Driving School Consortium. He also promoted PTDI on radio and television programs many times when his school's truck driver training program was featured.

The second award recipient, Ed Kynaston, was a founder and early leader of the Professional Truck Driver Institute of America. Kynaston managed the development and implementation of the original PTDIA standards and certification process, serving the Institute as its first president for ten years through very difficult, but productive, times.

In 1985, the Federal Highway Administration had issued a broad set of recommendations that incorporated standardized minimum core curriculum guidelines and training materials called the "Model Curriculum for Training Tractor-Trailer Drivers." Because this Model Curriculum was somewhat cumbersome for commercial motor vehicle driver training schools, Kynaston, along with others in the motor carrier industry, avidly advocated for a more streamlined system to train CMV drivers. This resulted in the creation of the PTDIA in 1986.

Kynaston invited a diverse array of individuals to join the PTDIA Board in order to maintain a good balance of representatives from the trucking industry, schools, and regulators. During his career, Kynaston received several awards for his extraordinary contributions to highway safety. For example, in 1992 he became the third recipient of the Truckload Carriers Association's Clare C. Casey Safety Professional of the Year award.

PTDI currently has certified entry-level training courses at 66 schools in 28 states and Canada.