Truck Driving School
NC State Continuing and Lifelong Education organized the first truck driver training program in 1949
The College Extension Division organized the first college-conducted truck driver training school in 1949. The N.C. Motor Carriers Association had approached division leader Edward Ruggles a decade earlier, seeking a way to train qualified drivers in this new industry. Planning was interrupted by World War II, but after the war, planning began anew. The first group of 25 students enrolled in the North Carolina Truck Driver Training School in August 1949.
The 1949 brochure stated that the curriculum was developed in cooperation with NC State’s Department of Psychology and School of Engineering. The longtime program director was Russell Haynie, a former public school teacher turned safety supervisor for Virginia Trailways Bus Company. The six-week course, which was later condensed to four weeks, featured both in-class instruction and truck-driving practice, and classes were offered monthly. The school relied on equipment donations from the trucking industry and truck manufacturers; these donations were not cheap and helped make the program financially sustainable. For example, a 1968 continuing education newsletter described a $24,000 Dodge tractor that had just arrived, on loan from Chrysler Motors.
The program quickly gained a positive reputation and was viewed as rigorous. According to a 1951 trade publication of International Trucks/International Harvester, trucking firms preferred graduates of the school, and some even recommended that job applicants attend the school. The students came from all walks of life, from across the U.S. and foreign countries. Inspired by growth in the industry as well as NC State’s success, other truck driving schools sprung up around the country and used the division’s curriculum as a model for their programs.
A 1968 brochure advertised the school as having two major functions — accident prevention and preventative maintenance. The brochure said, “Students are prepared with skills, knowledge of facts, and proper attitudes to carry valuable cargoes to their destinations on time and in good condition.”
In 1968, the program included classroom instruction and a minimum of 100 hours of behind-the-wheel training, such as truck maneuvering and parking, and highway and city driving practice.
In March 1971, the school added a course for supervisors in the trucking industry, which, again, was the first of its kind in the nation. Also at this time, driver-trainer instruction was expanded, which allowed trucking companies to train their employees directly. The three training programs were merged and given a new name: the N.C. Motor Carrier Training Institute, under the direction of the division. The institute was co-sponsored and endorsed by the N.C. Motor Carriers Association, and recognized by the American Trucking Association. The courses were taught by NC State faculty as well as private industry experts.
The truck driving school was just one of several technical programs the division offered before the rise of the community college system in the late 1950s. In September 1974, the truck driving programs were transferred to Johnston Technical Institute (later Johnston Community College) because the curriculum was viewed as more appropriate for a community college. The truck driver training school has continually operated at Johnston Community College since the transfer. The program’s website says it is “the oldest truck driver training school in the world,” a proud legacy for NC State Continuing and Lifelong Education.
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