The Concrete Delivery Professional (CDP) certification program offered by the NRMCA recently passed a milestone when the 1,000th ready mixed concrete mixer-truck driver became certified under the program. More than 1,000 additional drivers are currently preparing for the certification exam.
The program supplements a company’s existing driving training program and reinforces knowledge of products, environmental compliance, customer relations, safety, and vehicle maintenance and operations.
After completing CDP programs, producers have reported improved driver morale and higher retention as well as fewer accidents and returned loads. Deliveries per hour have been documented to increase by as much as 14 percent. One company documented $1 million in savings from reduced workers’ compensation payments.
Glenn Ochsenreiter, NRMCA’s vice president of marketing, notes that one growing benefit of driver certification is to maintain access to key markets. “Government agencies are increasingly requiring certification of suppliers so they can provide less direct oversight,” he said. “These agencies are strongly supporting NRMCA’s driver certification program because it is an objective and impartial confirmation that established national industry standards are maintained — something that companies cannot communicate convincingly based only on their own assessment.”
