2019 award recipient is recognized for his passion and commitment to recruiting professional truck drivers into the industry, advancing truck driver training

Las Vegas: 

The Professional Truck Driver Institute, Inc. (PTDI) has presented its highest honor, the Lee J. Crittenden Memorial Award, to Kevin Burch, President of Jet Express, Inc. based in Dayton, Ohio.

The award ceremony took place during the Truckload Carriers Associations (TCA) 81^st Annual Convention in Las Vegas. TCA managed PTDI until 2016. The award is sponsored by Cengage Learning of New York, New York.

“Kevin has been a true champion of PTDI’s mission,” said Past TCA Chairman and Past PTDI Chairman Ray Haight during the awards presentation. “His support of highly-skilled, safe and professional drivers has spanned 45 years in our industry including LTL, TL, Air Freight and consolidation.”

As President of Jet Express, Burch has overseen a company that handles 400 truckloads per day throughout the United States, primarily for the “just-in-time” automotive industry. While certainly a challenge, the emphasis Kevin places on high quality drivers and service has not been overlooked. Jet Express has been recognized with numerous customer service awards.

Outside of Jet Express, Burch has been a tireless and immensely respected voice supporting truck drivers and the industry. He is a Past Chairman of TCA and the American Trucking Associations. Burch’s advocacy extends to the Trucking Moves America Forward initiative and as a trustee of the Ohio Trucking Association.

Burch has helped rally efforts within the carrier community to recognize and support PTDI’s standards for driver training and encourages carriers to hire from PTDI schools. Recognizing a need in the industry, Burch has also provided a key voice for the development of PTDI’s new Driver Finishing certification.

“PTDI expresses its gratitude to Kevin for his passion and commitment to bring good drivers into the business and keep them,” said Haight.

The Crittenden Award is named after Lee Crittenden, a staunch supporter of PTDI until his death in April 1998. Crittenden was passionate about promoting a positive image of the nation’s professional truck drivers—he was largely responsible for the creation of America’s Road Team and initiated a scholarship program for drivers who participate in the National Truck Driving Championships. He was one of PTDI’s founders, serving on the board of directors as finance chairman during the PTDI’s infancy.

PTDI is a nonprofit organization established for developing uniform entry‐level truck driver training and motor carrier driver finishing standards. Widely known as the gold standard for truck driver training, PTDI helps organizations fully prepare their drivers for the responsibility of operating a heavy vehicle on our roadways. Headquartered in Aurora, Colorado, PTDI Certified training courses can be found throughout North America.

View photos and updates from TCA’s 81^st Annual Convention by following the hashtag #2019TCA on social media networks.