LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For the sixth year, the Arkansas Trucking Association (ATA) plans to award scholarships of up to $7,500 to students interested in pursuing careers as medium and heavy duty truck technicians.
Scholarship applications are being accepted now through March 31 and are available at arkansastrucking.com/tech-scholarship.
“We are proud to have awarded $75,000 in scholarships to ten students since establishing the Carl Tapp Memorial Scholarship Fund, and we look forward to providing career paths for even more of these much-needed truck technicians in the years to come,” ATA President Shannon Newton said. “This scholarship serves to provide our industry with more talented technicians – technicians who are responsible for ensuring the complex equipment that carries freight on our highways arrives safely to its destination.”
ATA established the Carl Tapp Memorial Scholarship Fund in 2017 to encourage growth in the state’s technician workforce and to help assure that the safest, most knowledgeable and skilled technicians are working on the trucks and trailers on our nation’s roads, according to a news release.
Applicants must be graduating seniors from accredited high schools. Scholarships of up to $7,500 will be awarded for students attending a minimum two-semester medium- and heavy-duty truck technician program at an Arkansas institution.
In 2017, ATA’s Technician Curriculum Advisory Committee, which partners with educational institutions around the state to help shape skilled labor programs, founded the Carl Tapp Memorial Scholarship Fund to encourage young Arkansans to pursue career paths as technicians in the trucking industry. The scholarship is named for the late Carl Tapp, the Council’s first chairman, who was known for recognizing and empowering talent in the next generation of technicians.
“Carl was a dynamic leader in our industry and helped shape many careers,” said Tapp’s former colleague Kenneth Calhoun, fleet optimization manager at Altec. “Through this scholarship, we honor his legacy by recruiting and supporting the next generation of technicians as we work toward a stronger, more sustainable workforce for years to come.”
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
