Fikes Truck Line recently teamed with the University of Arkansas Community College of Hope (UACCH) to explore the development of a transportation curriculum for the college. Jim Honea, vice president of operations at Hope, Ark.-based Fikes Truck Line, will begin teaching “Introduction to the Transportation Industry” during the 2008 spring semester.
The syllabus includes an overview of the commercial transportation industry and how it relates to the logistics sections of today’s business, including discussions on regulations, economics, characteristics, employment opportunities and development in major transportation modes.
“We initially approached UACCH about a transportation program because we were experiencing a shortage of qualified professionals, but as our conversation has evolved, this partnership has become an opportunity to interest local students in a viable career in Southwest Arkansas,” Honea says. According to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), there are more than 6,000 trucking companies located in Arkansas, most of them small, locally owned businesses.
“Transportation is a vital industry that touches ever faucet of business,” Honea says. “Since Arkansas has an established transportation economy, a transportation program in this region has huge potential. Collaborating with the local university will give Fikes and other transportation companies the opportunity to assist in defining the industry’s future.”
For more inforamtion, go to www.fikes.com; call Allen Brown at 217-439-7544; or write to him at Fikes Truck Line, 2600 E. Third St., Hope, AR 71801.
