If you’ve heard me speak about our business in any forum, you’ve heard me say that we’ve got to do a better job attracting and retaining professional truck drivers. 
As you also know, without truck drivers, we don’t have a viable product. Yes, we need good support for drivers such as fleet managers, load planners, payroll administrators, safety professionals, IT people and more. All of those roles are critical to our business, but without drivers, there is no need for any of the rest of us to be here. 
With drivers as our number one priority as a company, and with today being the first day of Driver Appreciation Week, I’m excited to announce a new program that starts now.
The first of its kind in our industry, the program offers free college for Total Transportation drivers and/or up to two dependents at a time. 
Called Total Full Ride, the program offers our drivers and/or their dependents full tuition towards earning a bachelor’s or master’s degree in one of over 50 majors at Ashford University, an accredited online college. 
I encourage everyone to learn more about the program by talking with your supervisor, checking on the driver forum on the intranet, or by following us on social media. 
This is just one way we’re working to make Total Transportation a preferred carrier for professional truck drivers. There are other changes in place now too: 
• As you may know, medical benefits are now effective first of the month following 30 days of employment – went into place at the beginning of September, meaning that everyone who works here (office, shop, and drivers) can access their medical insurance 60 days sooner.
• You may have also read that we’re in the process of completely redesigning the way we continue to develop professional truck drivers. Professional driver development options will range from an extensive library of e-learning classes, new video tutorials, cutting-edge simulation-based training, periodic routing-in for updates or refresher courses and a completely revamped orientation. 
• We’ve introduced a new driver intranet with tools and tips for them to access from anywhere.

And Driver Appreciation Week plans include a gift for every driver, games and meals at each location and prizes.
I’m excited about the recent changes we’re making to help make life a little easier for our drivers, and I hope you are too. 
Thanks for doing your part as we move forward together.

John Stomps

for more information please visit:
http://www.totalms.com/totals-full-ride-scholarship-program
https://www.ashford.edu/totaltransportation