Fargo: Skills and Technology Training Center Address: 1305 19th Ave N, Fargo, North Dakota 58102 Phone: 701-231-6900

Grafton: North Valley Career & Technology Center Address: 1540 School Rd, Grafton, North Dakota 58237 Phone: 701-352-3705 x419

Wahpeton: Truck Driver Training Institute of North Dakota Address: 409 6th St S, Wahpeton, North Dakota 58075 Phone: 701-214-4225

Williston: Williston State College Address: 1410 University Ave, Williston, North Dakota 58801 Phone: 701-774-4200

Bessemer: Transport Tech Address: 401 E Poland Ave, Bessemer, Pennsylvania 16112 Phone: 724-667-0400

Bethlehem: Northampton Community College Address: 511 E 3rd St, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015 Phone: 570-839-2778

Bloomsburg: Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Address: 700 W Main St, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania 17815 Phone: 570-389-5176

Brookville: Transport Tech Address: 3661 Rte 28 N, Brookville, Pennsylvania 15825 Phone: 800-786-7527

Butler: Keystone Diesel The Truck Driving School Address: 647 Evans City Rd,Bldg 101, Butler, Pennsylvania 16001 Phone: 724-776-9243

Canonsburg: Western Area Career & Technology Center Address: 688 Western Ave, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania 15317 Phone: 724-746-2890 x138

Charleroi: Mon Valley Career & Technology Center Address: 1 Guttman Blvd, Charleroi, Pennsylvania 15022 Phone: 724-489-9581

Clearfield: Clearfield Votech Truck Driver Training Address: 1620 River Rd, Clearfield, Pennsylvania 16830 Phone: 814-765-3453

Erie: Tri-State Business Institute Address: 5757 W Ridge Rd, Erie, Pennsylvania 16506 Phone: 814-838-7673

Everett: Allegany College of Maryland Address: 18 N River Ln, Everett, Pennsylvania 15537 Phone: 814-623-2760 x4814

Ford City: Lenape Tech Adult and Continuing Education Address: 2215 Chaplin Ave, Ford City, Pennsylvania 16226 Phone: 724-763-7116 x316

Harrisburg: AAA School of Trucking Address: 6003 Jonestown Rd , Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17112 Phone: 717-652-2085

Harrisburg: Harrisburg Area Community College Address: 1 HACC Dr, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110 Phone: 717-780-2414

Hazelton: SAGE Address: 1451 W 23rd St, Hazelton, Pennsylvania 18202 Phone: 570-501-2050

Irwin: Truck Driver Institute Address: 7565 Rte 30, Irwin, Pennsylvania 15642 Phone: 888-292-7364

Jefferson Hills: Steel Center Area Vocational Technical School Address: 565 N Lewis Run Rd, Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania 15025 Phone: 724-603-3501

Jermyn: Trans American Technical Institute Address: 109 Trans American Rd, Jermyn, Pennsylvania 18433 Phone: 570-222-4884

Johnstown : Greater Johnstown Career & Technology Center Address: 445 Schoolhouse Rd, Johnstown , Pennsylvania 15904 Phone: 814-266-6073 x133

Kittanning: Bud Driving School Address: 123 Crytzer Rd, Kittanning, Pennsylvania 16201 Phone: 724-543-2441

Lebanon: SAGE Address: 18 E Weidman St , Lebanon, Pennsylvania 17046 Phone: 800-694-8804

Leesport: SAGE Address: 1057 County Rd , Leesport, Pennsylvania 19533 Phone: 877-440-7544

Leetsdale: Truck Technology Training Address: 17 Ferry St, Leetsdale, Pennsylvania 15056 Phone: 724-266-4131

Meadville: Transport Tech Address: 7799 Mchenry St, Meadville, Pennsylvania 16335 Phone: 800-786-7527

Mill Creek: Huntingdon County Career & Technology Center Address: PO Box E, Mill Creek, Pennsylvania 17060 Phone: 814-643-0951 x220

Milton: Professional Drivers Academy Address: 2300 Housels Run Rd, Milton, Pennsylvania 17847 Phone: 570-523-3100

Moon Township: Pittsburgh Diesel Institute Address: 925 Brodhead Rd, Moon Township, Pennsylvania 15108 Phone: 800-833-3454

Mount Joy: Lancaster County Career and Tech Center Address: 432 Old Market St , Mount Joy, Pennsylvania 17552 Phone: 717-653-3002

Nanticoke: Luzerne County Community College Address: 1333 S Prospect St, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania 18634 Phone: 570-740-0431

New Wilmington: Moore CDL Driving Academy Inc Address: 381 Wilson Mill Rd, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania 16142 Phone: 724-946-2153

Phoenixville: SAGE Address: 1580 Charlestown Rd, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania 19460 Phone: 610-933-0423

Pittsburgh: YWCA Career Development Institute Address: 305 Wood St, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222 Phone: 412-921-2299 x3

Pleasant Gap: Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology Address: 540 N Harrison Rd , Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania 16823 Phone: 814-359-2713

Port Allegheny: Potter County Education Council Address: 219 Edison Bates Dr, Port Allegheny, Pennsylvania 16743 Phone: 814-545-1333

Pottsville: Schuylkill Technology Center Address: 240 Airport Rd , Pottsville, Pennsylvania 17901 Phone: 570-544-4904

Pulaski: New Castle School of Trades Address: 4164 US 422, Pulaski, Pennsylvania 16143 Phone: 724-964-8811

Reading : AAA School of Trucking Address: 135 Juniata St , Reading , Pennsylvania 19611 Phone: 610-372-5051

Roaring Springs: Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center Address: 331 E Colosson Rd, Roaring Springs, Pennsylvania 16673 Phone: 814-946-8469

Schnecksville: Lehigh Carbon Community College Address: 4525 Education Park Dr, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania 18078 Phone: 610-799-2121

Schnecksville: SAGE Address: 4500 Education Park Dr , Schnecksville, Pennsylvania 18078 Phone: 877-440-7544

Somerset: Somerset County Votech Training School Address: 281 Technology Dr , Somerset, Pennsylvania 15501 Phone: 814-443-3651

Tannersville: Northampton Community College Address: 3 Old Mill Road, Tannersville, Pennsylvania 18372 Phone: 610-332-8662

Towanda: Lackawanna College Address: 1 Progress Plz Ste 2, Towanda, Pennsylvania 18848 Phone: 570-265-3449

Waynesburg: SAGE Address: 4 West High St, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania 15370 Phone: 724-852-2900 x238

Wellsboro: Pennsylvania College of Technology Address: 12880 Rte 6, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania 16901 Phone: 570-724-7703

West Chester: A Duie Pyle Truck Driving Academy Address: 650 Westtown Rd , West Chester, Pennsylvania 19831 Phone: 610-350-3069

West Mifflin: PIA – Pittsburg Institute of Aeronautics Address: 5 Allegheny County Airport, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania 15122 Phone: 412-346-2100

Williamsport: Pennsylvania College of Technology Address: 1 College Ave, Williamsport, Pennsylvania 17701 Phone: 570-327-4775

York: DCS School of Driving LLC Address: 250 N Zarfoss Dr, York, Pennsylvania 17404 Phone: 717-586-9648

York: York County School of Technology Address: 400 Mulberry St, York, Pennsylvania 17402 Phone: 717-846-0137

Trucking in Europe

I’d like to share my small story with you about how I got my view into trucking.

When I was old enough to understand that my uncle, who we had close contact with, was a trucker, I wanted to know more. This was around the early to mid 80′s.
I had always been interested in anything with an engine, anything from a moped puffing blue smoke to a big rig puffing black smoke.

My uncle drove all over Scandinavia, from the snowy North down to the sunnier continental Europe. Eventhough he doesen’t speak anything else but Finnish, he still managed to work things out when being out there. This was way before cellphones and internet, so all communication was done either over CB or if he used a phone along the way.
He once said, sometimes you get tired in your arms when you talk to someone and you don’t understand eachother with spoken language. So, wave and point. It worked, and still does today.

The company he drove for when I went along with him had installed phones in all rigs, which made things easier when getting orders and things of that nature.

Every chance I got, I went with him when he was scheduled on a run. By this time he was only doing domestic runs in Finland, running dairy products from a mid-western city down to the nations capital, Helsinki and any place in between, Tampere and Turku being two of them.

Sometimes my cousin came along and when uncle was loading the rig, me and my cousin played around with pallet jacks we found in the warehouse. Standing on them, riding around the warehouse. Dangerous – yes, could have been. Fun – definitely! Those times there was no one around, we had the whole hall for ourselves – big space to roam.

I listened to his stories and thought, ‘I want stories like that of my own’. Stories I can tell on when I get older. Stories like when we sometimes stopped at truckstops for coffee, he used to flirt with the waitresses. Something like, “how about you sit in my lap and we talk 2 words about the weather and 3 about romance”. Sounds a bit cheezy but, being a little boy back then, I liked the fact that he had the guts to say that. During summer we sometimes stopped to buy strawberries at stands along the way.

The vendors were often young women, so naturally my uncle put his charm face on and made up something witty when we walked over to the stand. And the strawberries were very good!

The truck I remember he had at that time was a Volvo FL12 with a one bunk sleeper. I don’t remember the amount of horsepower in it, but I could take a guess and say around 320.
We once had to take the truck to the shop when something broke down. I stood by listening when my uncle spoke to the mechanic… The mech said, “this is a good truck, isn’t it?”

To that my uncle said, -No, when you climb uphill with it, it starts asking which direction to go. Volvos have had some reputation to be lazy, that’s why they started using gear splitters.
Anyway, the mechanic then said, “Yeah, you’re right, it should be a Sisu. Which is a Finnish made truck. ” Uncle said, -No, it has to be a Scania, their V8′s have power.
So, there I got an idea which truck to look at. To this day I still prefer Scania over their main competitor, Volvo. It feels more like a truck while Volvo feels a bit more like a car.

I noticed he didn’t have blankets or pillows in the sleeper, so I once asked him why and he told me he didn’t have time to sleep, the truck has to roll. The times he stopped to rest, he just leaned over the steering wheel, took out the tachograph disc and took a nap sitting up. I guess that was not a good thing to see for a boy who’s taking his first bites of trucking. But it was reality.

I don’t think the graphs/logs were used back then for anything else than to see how much work the trucker had done so he/she could be paid accordingly.

350-400 hours a month was not unusual, and this was domestic in Finland, which is not a very large country. The union eventually made a surprise visit to the company and said that if the hours are not cut down for the drivers, they will close the business down. The hours were dropped and the company is still active today.
Today there are more rules and regulations and authorities make sure they are followed, placing us truckers under close scrutiny sometimes. That’s something all you truckers know.

There were unfortunate situations as well in his trucking. One of which I remember was that he broke his foot when he jumped out of the cab. Never jump! Not from the cab, off a flatbed, nothing.

One other was a when one of the rear, left side air ride bags blew and his trailer swerved over into oncoming traffic. The trailer hit a car there and two people in it lost their lives. There of course was an investigation into what had happened. A motorist that had been driving behind my uncle over a period of time told police that the rig had not swerved prior to this accident. So drunk driving (with breathalyzer) and sleeping behind the wheel could be ruled out. This was an unfortunate mechanical failure at the worst possible time.

What I probably liked the most when I was out there with him was the solitude while driving, especially at night when much else dies down except the rigs that keep this world turning. Add comradery among drivers to that and it’s all good. You have friends out there but still get to be alone with your thoughts and be somewhat independent in your work.
You “just” load – drive – unload, yet still, it makes a difference.

I stuck with this ever since and when the time came to “choose profession”, the choice was pretty easy. So, after finishing 9th grade I applied to an “upper secondary technical school” with the direction to road transport. This was an entry point into the business, my licence(s) was/were free and I got experience from school to do what I wanted and I got a job the same day I graduated. My uncle had a great impact on my choice of career and I have later told him that.

I’ve been driving for over 15 years now and have not felt the need to change profession. Truckers will always be needed! Without us, things stop moving.
The times I see him nowadays we can still discuss trucks and things around them. Talking about them with my cousin feels natural, he too started driving and is still active today, while uncle has retired.

Would like to finish off by saying, the times I’ve been nervous about backing a rig was when I ran Finland-Sweden. I had loaded up for my first trip from Finland and came to the harbor to take the 9 hour ferry ride over. I parked in line and there were a couple of rigs in front of me. Went into the office, reported my arrival and went back to my rig.

The ship finally came, they unloaded it and we started rolling. To my amazement the rigs in front turned around… We were going to back onboard! That’s when I got a little nervous…
The whole ship and other drivers are waiting for YOU! You have to fix it! Was a really sweaty feeling, but it worked, I got the rig in where it was supposed to.
I don’t know if that ship is still in use, it was the Finnlink company. The other big shipping companies, Viking Line and Tallink have RO-RO ships, roll on – roll off. So there’s no backing involved.

Thanks for reading and be safe out there on the road! I’m on Twitter under   Roni    twitter.com/sentenced1979 if you want to say hello.

Like Mr. Jerry Reed once said, “Chauffeur, so good”.

Baltimore: North American Trade Schools Address: 6901 Security Blvd, Ste 16, Baltimore, Maryland 21244 Phone: 800-638-5490

Bel Air : Harford Community College Address: 401 Thomas Run Rd, Bel Air , Maryland 21015 Phone: 443-412-2398

Glen Burnie: Annie Arundel Community College Address: 101 N Crain Hwy, Glen Burnie, Maryland 21061 Phone: 410-777-2935

Grantsville: Garrett College Address: 12601 National Pike, Grantsville, Maryland 21536 Phone: 301-895-4700

Hughesville: Southern MD Tri-County Community Action Committee Inc Address: 8383 Leonardtown Rd, Hughesville, Maryland 20637 Phone: 301-274-4474

Hunt Valley: Community College of Baltimore County Address: 11101 McCormick Rd, Ste 108, Hunt Valley, Maryland 21031 Phone: 443-840-5835

North East: Cecil College Address: 1 Seahawk Dr, North East, Maryland 21901 Phone: 410-287-6060

Takoma: Montgomery College Address: 7600 Takoma Ave , Takoma, Maryland 20912 Phone: 310-650-1583

Westminster: Carroll Community College Address: 1601 Washington Rd, Westminster, Maryland 21157 Phone: 410-386-8100

Wye Mills: Chesapeake College Address: PO Box 8, Wye Mills, Maryland 21679 Phone: 410-827-9200