Private fleet professionals around the country are discovering that the National Private Truck Council provides a phenomenal return for their dues. That level of return, however, highly correlates to engagement. Our slogan “you must be present to win” pretty much says it all.

How best to optimize your winning hand? Participate in multiple NPTC activities. The kick-off event each year is January’s Private Fleet Management Institute (PFMI), an intense, five-day program designed specifically for private fleet practitioners.

The annual CTP Examination is held each year in February in more than two dozen locations around the country. It’s the only national certification program for private fleet professionals, certifying nearly 600 individuals since 1993.

February also includes the year’s first NPTC Safety Committee Meeting, one of four held annually. In addition, together with Idealease, NPTC offers more than 20 safety compliance seminars, absolutely free for members. In March, NPTC launches its annual webcast series, co-sponsored by J.J. Keller & Associates. Free to NPTC members, the series includes a half-dozen 90-minute programs focusing on issues relevant to driver management. Also in March, NPTC starts its annual Benchmarking Survey, a must-have for leading private fleet managers.

In late April or early May, our primary event is the Annual Education Management Conference and Exhibition. Great care is devoted to producing a stellar lineup of fleet professionals as speakers and panelists covering more than 25 subjects. Almost 1,000 people attend each year.

In June, the summer meeting of the NPTC Safety Committee is held at an on-site location to demonstrate safety principles. This meeting follows in the fall with the NPTC National Safety Conference just outside of Washington, D.C., an event that concentrates on the latest technology, management practices, research, and regulations impacting safety professionals. Top-rated drivers are included in the discussion to lend an on-the-road perspective.

Many members have experienced NPTC benefits first-hand. Others have experienced us virtually, through our web site and shared in our Annual Benchmarking surveys, our Standards of Fleet Excellence and our online training, the Fleet Learning Center.

Two new initiatives this year bring even more value to members. The first is a publication called America’s Private Fleets, which is an excellent means of reaffirming the value of your private fleet to upper management, or for introducing companies to the benefits of starting a private fleet of their own. The second is the Fleet Optimization Center, a program sponsored in cooperation with C.H. Robinson Worldwide to optimize your fleet through better utilization, turning deadhead miles into revenue and greater efficiencies.

Yet another new service, the NPTC National Driver All-Stars program, is in the planning stages now and will begin officially in the fall of 2009. A complimentary program to the NPTC Driver Hall of Fame recognition, the Driver All-Stars is a way for drivers to gain recognition based on meeting competitive, high-performance standards.

Another critical value for NPTC regulars is the invaluable networking culture that so many professionals have come to count on as a way to stay tuned-in to state-of-the-art information helpful to fleet management.

Whatever combination of services you choose, for the best results “you must be present to win.”