International Truck and Engine Corp.-- in partnership with the National Private Truck Council (NPTC) and Idealease of North America -- is launching an online education and professional development program created specifically for fleet owners and managers
in the private trucking industry.
The program is designed to provide training to the more than 130,000 private fleets in the U.S.-- many consisting of less than 10 trucks. Private fleets represent the largest segment of the trucking industry, accounting for 82% of registered commercial vehicles and more than half of all U.S. vehicle miles traveled.
These businesses are faced with the same challenges as larger fleets, but due to limited resources, are often unable to travel or spend time in a classroom.
"The small and medium fleets can be hard to reach," said Gary Petty, NPTC president and CEO. "They are less likely to go to a traditional seminar, but are just as in need of this information, if not more so, than the much larger fleets. The NPTC recognized the need for an alternative method of education, and partnered with International and Idealease to make it happen for our members."
The NPTC program covers the most critical subject matter topics in the private trucking industry, including safety, financial management and technology application. Students will have access to the most up-to-date regulations as program administrators continually update online materials.
According to the NPTC, safety continues to be the most popular discussion among fleet owners, and will be addressed in the program’s first course, "Safety, Security & Compliance." In addition to risk-lowering techniques and tips on how to handle vehicular accidents, the course will also advise on current safety conditions.
Fleet owners will learn how to administer background checks on hazardous materials drivers and how to take precautions against a commercial truck being used as a terrorist weapon or weapon of mass destruction.
Courses in financial management will be approached from a comparative basis. With managers from private fleets of all sizes enrolled in the courses, students can gauge their own best practices and operating standards against fleets of their own size and larger. The collaborative effort and varying experiences of students will allow a forum to exchange ideas and business practices.
NPTC educational consultant Tom Moore coordinated the courses, in consultation with an advisory team of experts from the private fleet industry. The advisory team contributed subject matter content to each course and will serve as a "virtual faculty" of private fleet management practitioners accessible to students for questions and discussion.
Course titles include Safety, Security & Compliance; Workforce/Workplace Development; Equipment & Maintenance; Organizational/Operational Systems; and Fleet Finances.
Students who successfully complete and pass a course will be awarded a certificate of completion by NPTC.
The subject matter of each course is designed from basic to intermediate levels of scope and difficulty and is based on the recommended best practices, benchmarking and operational excellence standards found in the private fleet trucking industry. Each course includes a complimentary edition of a reference guide, which is a downloadable hard copy text of information. This serves as a learning aid while taking the courses and as a desk copy resource thereafter.
Cost for each course is $150 for NPTC members, $250 for nonmembers. Participants can complete the courses at their own pace.
For more information, visit www.fleetlearningcenter.org.