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FEATURES
THETRUCKER.COM OCTOBER 1-14, 2021 • 23
Shaping the future
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER WORKS TO PREPARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF TRUCK DRIVERS
JOHN WORTHEN | STAFF WRITER
Javier Diaz went down the wrong path early in life. He used
drugs, was involved in gang activity and got into trouble at
school — he fit all the cliches that could be used to describe a
textbook “bad boy.”
Then, one day, things changed. Diaz decided to browse
through his high school’s course list of electives and found
Dave Dein’s name listed as the instructor of a truck-driving
course. Diaz shrugged, but signed up for the class anyway.
After all, what did he have to lose?
“It saved me,” said Diaz, now 21. “I took that class, got my
CDL and now I am driving a truck. Trucking really has changed
my life.”
Dein, 57, says students like Diaz are the reason he became
a teacher, and why he created the truck-driving program at
Patterson High School in Patterson, California, in 2017.
He guides through the basics of trucking, industry news,
regulations and even real-world scenarios using a simulator. He
also has a real rig that students use for pre-trip checklist practice.
“We aren’t a traditional trucking school,” Dein said. “I want
my students to keep a pulse on the industry — where is it going?
We also work to reduce workplace injuries through exercises.
We do golf cart training, where we practice backing up with a
utility trailer. It’s the same concept, just on a smaller scale.”
Students can’t earn a CDL while in high school, but Dein
has partnered with a local truck driving school to provide
graduating seniors with that part of their training through the
adult education program. The schooling comes at no cost to
the students.
“Usually, when they graduate here in May, by mid-summer,
they can have their CDL,” Dein said. “We also have industry
partners so they can get jobs.”
Courtesy: Dave Dein
Dave Dein, a truck driving instructor at Patterson High School in California,
spent this past summer driving loads and loads of tomatoes for Morning
Star Farms. Instead of keeping his earnings, he donated them to an
organization that helps students find a future in trucking.
Dein said that, above all, he is training his students to be
well-educated, professional drivers.
“There is not just a need for people in our industry; we need
well-trained, younger people,” he said.
Dein said he decided early in his teaching career to make a
point of helping students like Diaz. He calls them “possibility
kids.”
“I began substitute teaching after a friend suggested it,” said
Dein, who began his professional career as a race car driver;
then became a trucker and teacher.
“I saw a consistent theme on how the teachers were labeling
kids, and it really pissed me off,” he recalled. “Their (substitute
teaching) plans always had a list at the bottom that said ‘problem
kids.’ I crossed that out with a red pen and wrote ‘possibility kids.’
When I was their age, I was probably on that ‘problem’ list, too.”
Diego Estalera, 17, is one of Dein’s current students. A
senior at Patterson High School, Estalera said he hopes to soon
follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a trucker.
But there are challenges along the way.
“Backing up is hard,” he said. “But I feel like I can train
enough to progress. My dad is happy about me wanting to
follow in his footsteps.”
Estalera said he doesn’t want to be a long-haul driver.
Rather, he sees himself in the food delivery business, working
in the Patterson area.
“I am really excited about it,” Estalera said.
Outside the classroom, Dein still drives big rigs from time
to time.
In fact, this summer he took a job with one of his former
SEE FUTURE ON PAGE 26
Melissa Bencivengo named WIT’s
September member of the month
THE TRUCKER NEWS STAFF
PLOVER, Wis. — The Women In Trucking Association
(WIT) has named Melissa Bencivengo, a professional driver for
Carbon Express, as its September 2021 Member of the Month.
Bencivengo says her love for trucking began early. At age 6,
she was introduced to trucking by her uncle, who drove a big
truck. Whenever he’d stop by the house to visit, he would take
her out to look at his truck. She was so small she had to stand
up on the seat to pull the air horn.
“Uncle Rebel” and his truck captured Bencivengo’s heart
and set her on a path to a career as a driver.
That path wasn’t always an easy one. While growing up, she
was consistently told that jobs in trucking and heavy machinery
weren’t suitable for women — but those comments only made
her more determined to pursue her dream. Today, Bencivengo’s
enthusiasm is front and center when she talks about trucking.
Her career began in 1999, driving dump trucks and operating
big equipment such as well rigs and pile drivers. Ultimately,
she earned a Class A commercial driver’s license (CDL). She
joined Carbon Express in 2019.
While she loves being a truck driver, Bencivengo, a mother
to six children, puts her family first. In addition to being a professional
trucker, she is a tree arborist and a certified nurse’s
aide in the state of New Jersey.
She is one of only a handful of women in the trucking industry
driving liquid bulk trucks, and customers often express
surprise when they see a woman getting out of a tanker.
“Control the tanker, don’t fear it,” she advises. “Driving a liquid
tanker is like driving with a dance partner, only you have
to be the dance lead and control the movement of the product
in the tank.”
Bencivengo says she loves driving for Carbon Express, and
feels she has found her “forever home” as a driver. Because the
company only operates tractors with day cabs, overnight drivers
stay in hotels rather than in the truck, she noted.
Being a female in a male-dominated industry — and in the
liquid bulk business in particular — sets Bencivengo apart, but
she says she enjoys being part of the team at Carbon Express. In
fact, she added, many of the company’s male drivers have gone
out of their way to support, encourage and provide her the information
to make her successful. 8
Courtesy: WIT
Melissa Bencivengo, a driver for bulk liquid hauler Carbon Express, has
been named Women In Trucking’s September member of the month..