Everyone at the Stafford Driver Training School agrees—it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Michael Delancey, 47 of Sudbury, Vermont made a little history for himself and the upstart driver training school on a windy and wintry day in January when he drove out of the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles yard in Pittsford with only a permit, and returned about an hour later with the license he worked so hard to earn over the last four months. “This is an accomplishment that is right up there next to getting married and seeing the births of my kids,” an enthusiastic Delancey said while leaning back in a seat in the classroom where he has spent every single Saturday since early fall. Delancey knows that not everyone has what it takes to get a license to drive a tractor-trailer for a living. Having been employed for a number of years as a carpenter and builder, Mike is familiar with the meaning of the words “hard work.” He made it clear that his time spent at the Stafford Driver Training School required not only him to be dedicated to the task at hand, but also his instructors had to do the same. Both in the classroom and over-the-road, Delancey was quick to credit his teachers with giving him the confidence and knowledge to get him started on his new career as a professional truck driver. “These guys are a great team of instructors who care about the students beyond just teaching them how to drive a truck,” stated Delancey. With a small teacher-student ratio being the rule rather than the exception at the SDTS, students get the time and attention they need to become skilled confident and skilled professional drivers. Delancey is referring to Jim Patry, Lead Classroom Teacher at the North Clarendon school, veteran Fred Beauchamp, and newly-hired Tim Maxfield who provide the hands-on driving instruction. Fred and Tim in particular “combine their real-life experience on and over-the-road to help prepare you for test day and on-the-job,” according to Delancey. Mike found that Patry is always at the top of his game, delivering a structured and rigorous curriculum that “prepares students to a point beyond just learning how to drive a truck. He teaches us about safety, how to keep professional trip logs, and focuses on soft skills like sharing the road in a courteous way to make truck drivers look good to the general public.” And these lessons aren’t left at the classroom door. Beauchamp and Maxfield know what it takes to be a true professional behind the wheel of a rig and load of any size. Having nearly a half-century of experience between them and millions of miles accumulated without an accident, Delancey knows that he and his classmates are getting instruction from two of the best in the business. “Even the examiner from the DMV complimented the school and its staff for the quality of the program it delivers in terms of classroom preparation and training vehicles,” noted a beaming Delancey.
So what’s next for Mike Delancey? Not being one to rest for long, he is already putting feelers out there to land his first gig as a driver. “Ideally, I would love to be able to do day runs for awhile so I can be home a few nights a week with my wife and kids,” said Delancey. “But somewhere down the road I would like to do some long distance hauling for a national company to make some big money.” Indeed, Swift Transportation Company, Inc. which is the primary mover of freight for major box store retailers like Target has already expressed an interest in putting Delancey to work—even in a less than healthy economy. But regardless of what lies ahead for Mike Delancey in the weeks ahead, the staff at the Stafford Driver Training School know that Mike will be an eager and positive ambassador of a program that put him “on the road” to a successful career as a professional truck driver.
Recently, students from Proctor High School and Stafford Technical Center’s Vermont Teen Leadership Program, and Rutland High School’s Green Mountain Teen Institute Program linked up with the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles to heighten awareness of the dangers in speeding. The partners came together at the Rutland DMV Office, where they placed a couple of hundred “Slow Down, Stick Around” ribbons and attached information cards for DMV patrons to take. The ribbons can be used as bookmarks and are there to reinforce the message every time someone looks at the ribbon.