Page 37 - Arkanas Trucking Report Volume 22 Issue 5

be the most daunting challenge he
encountered in the program, and navi-
gating various obstacles that come with
operating a vehicle of that size. Even
though Voss has been preparing stu- “MY FORD F-150 SURE DOES FEEL
dents to work with the trucking indus- A LOT SMALLER NOW.”
try for years, his role as a student in the
CDL class opened his eyes to the reali-
ties professional truck drivers encounter
every day on the job.
“I didn’t appreciate how challeng- “We try to impress upon students build that safety culture,” he says. “You
ing truck-driving is until I got involved how risky driving a vehicle is,” he says. have to know what to think about when
in this class,” Voss says. “On the first or “We also want to teach them how to planning routes. Safety has to be a top of
second day, I made the comment to one drive their vehicles around trucks, and the mind function. We have to impress
of the instructors that my Ford F-150 how they can make their trucks safe. upon them that they are sharing the
sure does feel a lot smaller now. We There are parts of this class that go road with everybody else. You don’t fully
think if you drive a Suburban that you’re beyond the students’ professional lives. appreciate this until you get up inside
driving a big vehicle, and it’s true. You So I hope that at some point, someone’s the truck and learn to drive it. Students
are driving a big vehicle and that takes life will be saved by taking this class.” need to know general information about
some special care as well. But it takes a Students in this course are primar- stopping distances, and how to judge
whole different skillset to get out there ily juniors and seniors, and throughout those in a truck, how much space should
and drive a 53-foot truck around, which the semester, they hear from top profes- be between the truck and the car in
is basically a warehouse on wheels.” sionals in the field who visit the class as front of the truck, how to secure loads,
Overseen by the Arkansas State guest speakers, including Dean Newell, and how to slide axles and the weight
Police, the CDL licensing process at vice president of safety and driver train- distribution on the axles. So I hope my
UACC requires a series of tests that ing at North Little Rock-based Maverick students graduate with that safety cul-
include a written exam and a final Transportation; Scott Bennett, direc- ture philosophy and they can use it in
exam. The final is a three-part test con- tor of the Arkansas Department of their personal and professional lives.”
sisting of an air-brake test, a pre-trip Transportation; and Todd Venable, sales Earlier in his career, Voss often
inspection and a grueling skills test. for MHC Kenworth. And Voss’s expe- found himself explaining logistics and
“The skills test is where you have rience behind the wheel as a student supply chain management because
to do a straight back, an offset back of truck driving has given him more those fields were not yet commonly
and a 90-degree back,” Voss says. “The invaluable information to pass on to his known. He stumbled onto the field
backing test is really the most nerve- students. himself at the University of Arkansas.
wracking.” “Our students will in some way, The graduate of Little Rock’s Hall High
After completing the course, Voss directly or indirectly, manage truck School originally knew he didn’t want
has taken his heightened perspec- drivers,” Voss says. “They need to have to spend his life chained to a desk, and
tive on truck-driving into his own an appreciation for driving a truck and thought a career in forestry would help
classrooms in the Logistics and Supply feeling a kinship with truck drivers. To him avoid a career of office work. But
Chain Management program at UCA. just know the anatomy of that truck the U of A didn’t offer a forestry degree.
This brand new major (a minor is will allow the students to speak the So he found his way to marketing, and
also offered) graduated two students same language that a truck driver does. that’s where he discovered the field of
in the spring of 2017, and currently It’s important for them to feel that kin- logistics. Voss got his first job working
has 35 majors and 15-20 minors. One ship, and to have some appreciation for in logistics with J.B. Hunt while he was
of Voss’s courses, Safety and Motor how hard it is to drive a truck.” still in school at the U of A. He earned
Carrier Policy, emphasizes more than Trucking companies have to do his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at
one aspect of safety. Vehicle safety con- more than address safety issues, Voss Arkansas before moving on to Michigan
tinues to be a priority in the trucking says. They must build a culture of safety State University for his Ph.D. All three
industry. In the U.S. in 2015, 4,311 large from within the company. He helps of Voss’s degrees are in logistics.
trucks and buses were involved in fatal instill this mindset in his students by When Voss arrived at UCA ten
crashes, which was an eight-percent relating the principles he learned in years ago, part of his role was to increase
increase from the previous year, accord- commercial driver training. awareness and understanding of logistics
ing to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety “To be safe, you don’t just have to and supply chain management.
Administration. know the parts of the truck, you have to 

ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 5 2017 37