Truckers Fund/Fastport retraining initiative

The St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund (SCF) announced a partnership with Fastport at the Mid-America Trucking Show. The SCF non-profit helps truck drivers when a medical problem leads to financial difficulty, assisting in paying for household expenses on behalf of drivers when they are sick or injured and out of work. Oftentimes, drivers that apply for assistance may be unable to return to driving because of their medical condition. While many conditions may make the applicant ineligible to continue as an over-the-road trucker, they do not make the person unable to work. The SCF’s new partnership with Fastport offers referral opportunities to apprenticeship programs to be trained in other transportation jobs.

Read more about the St. Christopher fund via this link.Read more about the St. Christopher fund via this link.

“I am so excited about this partnership!” exclaimed SCF Executive Director Donna Kennedy. “I’ve been with the SCF since its inception nearly 10 years ago and have been looking for ways to help drivers in these exact situations. Up until now, the best we could do was refer them to their local unemployment office to ask for help finding a non-driving job. The applicants have spent the majority of their lives working as truckers, they want to continue and they don’t know what else to do. Having a way for them to train and remain in the industry they love will truly be life changing.”

Late last year, the Department of Labor selected Fastport as a transportation industry intermediary partner for increasing apprenticeship opportunities. As the industry’s intermediary, Fastport works individually with companies to build and sustain DOL-approved Registered Apprenticeship programs and connect candidates with that paid on-the-job training.

Fastport President Brad Bentley commended St. Christopher’s previous work and foreshadowed how the two organizations will work in tandem. “The St. Christopher Truckers Fund has an incredible history and reputation for helping professional drivers who strive to recover after injury and get back to this great industry,” he said. “With their support and the leadership from transportation sector employers around the nation, we will be able to provide great apprenticeship opportunities to continue employing these hard-working trucking professionals.”