On Tuesday, December 13, 2011, Joe Hutterer, Midwest Operations Field Manager, received a call from Midwest Operations driver and lead trainer, Camron Justice who stated that his nephew’s driver’s education teacher, Don Carlson at Oconto Falls High School in Oconto Falls, WI had a problem. For the past 23 years, a semi-truck safety presentation was presented to Don’s Driver Education class, but on the previous Friday, the other company backed out and therefore, Camron called Joe Hutterer to see if TSC could help them out. Since the class was on Friday, there were only three days to prepare!

Joe immediately took the challenge and went to work utilizing his resources, contacting all previous and current members of the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Road Team that do this type of presentation.  Due to the short notice, they were unable to assist because of prior commitments. Joe was fortunate enough to receive a copy of the Road Teams slide show presentation. Camron and Joe, along with assistance from Lee Thyes, Safety and Security Manager at Klemm Tank Lines, were able to include the slideshow into their presentation, which was very helpful during the class room portion.

We began each class introducing ourselves, our trucking industry experiences, a brief description of the companies and what we haul. The classroom Road Team presentation took about 30 minutes, and we closed with a safety demonstration with the tractor and tank trailer. Each of the students had an opportunity to sit in the driver’s seat while being educated on the blind spots that exist for the truck driver while in traffic.

The students learned a lot of very useful information, and enjoyed the presentation. The teacher thanked us several times noting that it was the best presentation he had seen in 23 years!

Joe Hutterer
Midwest Operations Field Manager