Boy Scouts of America

Truck Transportation Merit Badge

Truck Transportation
Merit Badge

Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge Hub

Boy Scouts of America
Merit Badge Hub

TruckTransportation

Truck Transportation Merit Badge Overview

Trucking is a large and important industry. No matter where you live, a day is unlikely to go by when you will not see a truck. We use these vehicles to deliver almost every material item we buy. Without trucks, our economy would not work efficiently.
Truck-Transportation_merit-badge-overview

Truck Transportation Merit Badge Requirements

The requirements will be fed dynamically using the scout book integration
1. List the major truck lines serving your town.
2. Do the following:
  • (a) Describe the role of truck transportation within commerce (the movement of goods, funds, and information).
  • (b) Describe how trucks fit into a company's supply chain. This could be a manufacturer, importer, wholesaler, or retailer.
  • (c) On paper, map out how goods that are manufactured overseas are transported to a retailer in this country.
3. Describe the difference between the gasoline engine and the diesel engine that power trucks. List the advantages of each.
4. Visit a truck terminal and complete items 4a through 4e. After your visit, share what you have learned with your counselor.
  • (a) Find out what kind of maintenance program the company follows to help keep its fleet, drivers, and the roadway safe.
  • (b) Find out how dispatchers maintain communication with drivers on the road.
  • (c) Talk with a professional truck driver about safety. Learn about the truck driver's rules of the road for safe driving. List five safe-driving rules every professional truck driver must follow.
  • (d) Review the driver's log and find out what kind of information the log contains.
  • (e) Learn about important federal regulations that help ensure public safety.
5. Do the following:
  • (a) Outline the general organization of a trucking company. Describe what each department does.
  • (b) List five positions with trucking companies and describe each one.
6. Name five government agencies that work closely with the trucking industry. Describe their role.
7. List five different kinds of trucks. Tell the service each provides.
8. Assume that you are going to ship by truck 500 pounds of goods (freight class 65) from your town to another town 500 miles away. Your shipment must arrive within three days. Explain in writing:
  • (a) How to prepare the shipment
  • (b) How to compare at least three carriers for time in transit and rates
  • (c) How to choose which carrier to use
  • (d) How to insure the shipment for damages
9. Define the following terms: bill of lading, ETA, logbook, intermodal, containers, tariff, shippers, carrier, consignee, drayage, cartage.
10. Learn about opportunities in the field of truck transportation. Choose one career in which you are interested and discuss with your counselor the major responsibilities of that position and the qualifications, education, and training such a position requires.

Get the Truck Transportation Merit Badge Pamphlet

This merit badge sheds light on the magnitude and diversity of the trucking inducsty and how it affects anyone who is a consumer.

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Bray Barnes

Director, Global Security Innovative
Strategies

Bray Barnes is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver
Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Learning for Life Distinguished
Service Award. He received the Messengers of Peace Hero award from
the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he’s a life member of
the 101st Airborne Association and Vietnam Veterans Association. Barnes
serves as a senior fellow for the Global Federation of Competitiveness
Councils, a nonpartisan network of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and
national laboratory directors. He has also served as a senior executive for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, leading the first-responder program
and has two U.S. presidential appointments

David Alexander

Managing Member Calje

David Alexander is a Baden-Powell Fellow, Summit Bechtel Reserve philanthropist, and recipient of the Silver Buffalo and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the founder of Caljet, one of the largest independent motor fuels terminals in the U.S. He has served the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Teen Lifeline, and American Heart Association. A triathlete who has completed hundreds of races, Alexander has also mentored the women’s triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Glenn Adams

President, CEO & Managing Director
Stonetex Oil Corp.

Glenn Adams is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the former president of the National Eagle Scout Association and established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He has more than 40 years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy fields, including serving as a president, owner, and CEO. Adams has also received multiple service awards from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.