Starting in January with the opening of a new “training academy,” Schneider National will take a “focused approach” to training drivers for its Intermodal division. The customized training, said the provider of truckload, intermodal and logistics services, will “put experienced new hires in the driver's seat and at the rail yard.”
To be located in Chicago at 3600 Kostner Ave, the Intermodal Training Academy will be strategically located within one of the busiest railroad regions in the U.S., noted Schneider.
The company said the specialized training program will provide new intermodal drivers with the “focused, hands-on training they need to be successful and safe.” Each experienced new hire in Schneider’s Intermodal division will complete a paid four-day curriculum, which includes classroom learning, a rail yard tour and in-truck training with an instructor that will include both highway and rail-yard driving environments. To help ease the job transition, Schneider Intermodal driver associates who participate in the new training program will receive $400 in training and orientation pay.
Schneider pointed out that the advantages of training drivers in their real work environment are obvious, including having the “opportunity to offer more targeted technical training and educating them on an array of business- and industry-related topics that will help them be successful as they safely perform their work.”
“Schneider’s training and on-boarding program is recognized throughout the industry for its focus on safe driving habits and driver preparedness,” said Don Aiken, vp of Intermodal for Schneider National.
“With the growth in our Intermodal division, we saw the opportunity to develop a new training curriculum focused exclusively on the safe driving habits and needs that are specifically associated with intermodal driving and rail-ramp operations,” he continued. “Our focus on preparing highly trained, safe drivers will remain; however, we will do so in a specialized manner tailoring to the type of work that a driver makes his or her career in.
“It’s critical that we make the training relevant to the local and regional work that Schneider Intermodal drivers perform,” Aiken added. “Previous training focused a great deal of time and energy on trip planning, a skill required for long-distance truck drivers but not as necessary for intermodal drivers moving freight to and from customer locations and rail yards that are in close proximity to each other.”
Schneider noted that it will continue to provide over-the-road training for its other divisions in addition to the new specialized intermodal training.
