13 Graduate Truck Driver School at VGCC, Receive Warning About Terrorist Attacks
The 18th Truck Driver Training School at Vance-Granville Community College culminated June 27 when 13 new truck operators received the certificates of graduation and Class A. Certified Driver’s Licenses (CDL).
Graduates of the 2002 class are Brenda A. Arrington of Franklinton, the lone woman in the class, and Joe L. Bullock Jr., Allen E. Gill, William L. Perry and Earl J. Sorrell of Henderson, F. Maurice Boyd, Benito J. Dunton, Tyrone T. Evans, Mark M. Hurley, and Lennis C. Thorpe of Oxford, Michael T. Morgan of Creedmoor, Sergio B. Salinas of Norlina and Michael Kolpin of Hillsborough.
Glen R. Lee, an enforcement officer for the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, addressed the graduates and guests at a lunch honoring the graduating class. He advised the new drivers to beware of their attitudes when they get into a truck. “You can’t be mad, it’s too dangerous,” he said. “That little old lady driver has just as much right to the road as you do.”
Lee told the drivers that experts say the next terrorist threat will come via truck. “Be careful out there,” he warned. “Be observant of your surroundings and watch out for anyone following you.”
The DMV officer said there is a big difference between a professional truck driver and a “wheel holder,” and he urged them to be professionals.
“You have just gone through a very good school,” Lee said. “It is highly recognized throughout the state.”
Johnston Community College in Smithfield operates the Truck Driver Training School. Personnel from JCC take their trucks on the road and conduct the school at remote sites. The school came to Vance-Granville in 1987 and was the first “roving” school conducted by JCC.
One of the persons responsible for bringing the truck driver school to VGCC was Sherby Slaughter, president of Sherman & Boddie Trucking Co. of Oxford. He is a 1963 graduate of the Truck Driver Training School and is a member of the Truck Driver School Hall of Fame.
Slaughter has established Academic Achievement Scholarships at VGCC in honor of Harold L. Sherman and in memory of W.W. Boddie Sr., founders of his trucking company. At the graduation ceremonies, Slaughter presented the scholarships, worth $500 each, to the top student academically in the 2002 class, Joe L. Bullock Jr., and to the runner-up, Brenda A. Arrington. Allen E. Gill also received recognition for finishing third in the class.
The next Truck Driver Training School is scheduled to be conducted at Vance-Granville Community College in late spring 2003. Persons interested in attending should contact Herbert Washington, VGCC counselor, at (252) 738-3228.
In the photo above, graduates of the 2002 Truck Driver Training School at Vance-Granville Community College gather for a class picture. Kneeling, from left, are Sergio B. Salinas, Tyrone T. Evans, Mark M. Hurley, F. Maurice Boyd, William L. Perry and Brenda A. Arrington. Standing, from left, are: Michael T. Morgan, Joe L. Bullock Jr., Benito J. Dunton, Lennis C. Thorpe, Earl J. Sorrell, Allen E. Gill and Michael Kolpin.
