Penske Truck Leasing has announced training over 15,000 customer drivers through the Highway Watch program, an initiative funded by the Dept. of Homeland Security and administered by the American Trucking Assns. to promote highway safety and prevent terrorism.
The 15,000 Penske Truck Leasing customer drivers were trained by 12 certified safety employees in classroom-style settings.
“We’re doing our part as a responsible community member to ensure that America’s highways remain safe,” said Barry Kemper, vp of insurance risk management for Penske Truck Leasing. “In 2006, we started, on a wide scale, the process of training our customers’ drivers and associates, providing them with the tools to detect and properly report any potential illegal activity that may place innocent bystanders in harm’s way.”
The training focused on observational skills and how to report suspicious activity.
Meanwhile, Penske Logistics safety employees became certified to teach the program late last year. Penske Logistics drivers are being Highway Watch-trained.
Currently there are more than 600,000 Highway Watch trainees nationwide representing various sectors of surface transportation, including truckers, school bus drivers, state DOT workers, mass transit workers and emergency first responders.
“Penske has safety as one of its core values,” Dave Leonti, director of safety for Penske Truck Leasing told FleetOwner. “The reason we became involved with Highway Watch is because we feel it provides our customers the tools they need to be safe and good corporate citizens.
“We had a customer so enthusiastic with the first presentation that they asked us to do the training with all drivers at all locations,” Leonti continued. “We trained probably 300 drivers or more with that particular company. It’s received very enthusiastic support from the drivers—they feel they are part of a very large team from the training.”
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