Judges
Dave Heller
Director of Safety and Policy – Truckload Carrier Association
David Heller is the Director of Safety and Policy for the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and is responsible for communicating and interpreting all industry related regulations, safety, legislative and otherwise to the membership of TCA.
David serves as the Director of the Professional Truck Driver Institute and is on the Board of NATSO’s Foundation.
Prior to his tenure at TCA, David spent six years with the American Trucking Associations, in the trucking safety arena, and focused on programs such as the National Truck Driving Championships and the establishment of safe driving programs for motor carrier members.
While employed with ATA, David earned his certification from the North American Transportation Management Institute (NATMI) as a Director of Safety (CDS) and recently had his certification renewed for his continuous involvement in transportation safety related matters. David is currently an active member of the ATA Safety and Loss Prevention Management Council and involved in several committees and working groups within the council.
Bruce Busada
Diesel Driving Academy
Bruce Busada is President of Diesel Driving Academy which recently celebrated its 42nd year in business. Diesel Driving Academy has three campuses: Shreveport, Louisiana; Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Little Rock, Arkansas. His schools have trained thousands of entry-level drivers in his distinguished career.
Busada is Board Member Emeritus and founding member of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association and a founding member of the Commercial Driver Training Foundation, where he currently serves as treasurer.
Bruce is also the Louisiana State Captain and Federal Legislative Committee Member for the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities and is on the Advisory Council for United States Department of Education (Region VI).
Brad Klepper
Executive Vice President & General Counsel Drivers Legal Plan
J. Bradley Klepper is Executive Vice President & General Counsel of Drivers Legal Plan, Ltd., which is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Before joining Drivers Legal Plan, he spent almost a decade with the largest law firm in Oklahoma where his practice included extensive experience in transactional law, business defense litigation, and intellectual property.
Brad has authored articles in numerous publications and spoken on topics ranging from copyright infringement to litigation positioning. He brought his substantial and multi-faceted legal background to Drivers Legal Plan in 2008 where his legal practice has focused on transportation law, specifically the representation of CDL drivers in courts across the country. With the advent of CSA, Brad’s legal practice has grown to include representation of drivers and carriers with the FMCSA through DataQ challenges.
In addition to being an attorney, Brad is a licensed architect and has served as an administrative law judge. He currently serves as general counsel to the Oklahoma Board of Architects, Landscape Architects and Interior Designers.
American Trucking Associations
David J. Osiecki (Dave) is the Executive Vice President at the American Trucking Associations, based in Arlington, Virginia.
Prior to his promotion as Executive Vice President, Dave was the Senior Vice President for Policy & Regulatory Affairs, where he was responsible for overseeing ATA’s policy development on a host of trucking issues, including fuel/energy issues, environmental requirements, labor, safety and security rules, as well as truck size & weight limits.
Prior to that position, Dave served as the Vice President of Safety for ATA and, before that, Executive Director of the ATA Intermodal Conference.
Dave came to the ATA in 1996 with almost ten years of motor carrier safety experience with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Motor Carriers (OMC). At DOT, he held several different positions involving compliance & enforcement functions, as well as program, policy, and regulation development.
Director of Transportation Training – Houston Community College
Former President – National Association Of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools
Martin is Program Director of Transportation Training at Houston Community College and has been involved in transportation training for over 22 years. The Houston Community College has had a truck driving training program for 18 years. The HCC open enrollment seven-week course was recertified by PTDI in 2010 for five years, this is the third recertification. They have trained students for many major companies to become entry level drivers and continue to service the industry.
Martin recently served as the President of NAPFTDS and has served on the board for nine years. He is past chairman of the board of Harvest Christian Academy. He is an active member of Texas Motor Transportation Association at the state and local level, and the Gulf Coast Fleet Maintenance Council. He holds a BAAS degree from Midwestern State University and a Master’s in Public Administration from Midwestern State University.
Department Chair and faculty member of Fox Valley Technical College, Truck Driving Programs
Rob Behnke is Department Chair and faculty member of Fox Valley Technical College, Truck Driving Programs, Appleton, Wisconsin.
Rob has been a part of the trucking industry for over 25 years. During the first 10 years, he drove for both local and regional carriers. For the past 16 years Rob has been teaching and advising as a department chair at Fox Valley Technical College.
He has also been a Wisconsin certified CDL third party examiner for 11 years of his career and is a member of the Wisconsin Motor Carriers for 15 years.
Not only has Rob been a past board member and commissioner for PTDI, he has led many of Fox Valley Technical College’s program PTDI certifications since 1995. He was president of NAPFTDS in 2013-2014. He has been named program advisor of the year and has received the Leadership Award through the Wisconsin’s Technical College System.
Rob said his most rewarding moments are learning of his student’s success stories accomplished through their truck driver education. His degree is specific to adult education with an emphasis in transportation.
Rob lives near Appleton, Wisconsin with his wife of 26 years, a son and two daughters.
Rich Clemente
Transportation Specialist, FMCSA
Rich Clemente has over 26 years’ experience in safety in the transportation industry. Rich is a Transportation Specialist for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and has now been with the Agency for 10 years. Rich works in the Driver and Carrier Operations Division and in that position, is responsible for assisting in the development of Federal rulemaking initiatives, interpretations and clarifications of the Agency’s regulations and policies. Rich previously was the Director of Safety for the Truckload Carriers Association, and served as the Program Director for the Professional Truck Driver Institute. In addition, he served as the Director of Safety for the National Automobile Transporters Association in Detroit, Michigan, and began his career in transportation with the American Trucking Associations as a Safety Engineer. He currently resides in Odenton, Maryland with his wife Marcy and two children, Ben and Rachel.