Goodyear Highway Hero Visits Truck Driver Training Class

Marlon Marum speaks to students about ample opportunities for drivers in trucking industry

Marlon Marum | Driver Sales Representative | Con-way Freight-Central

Marlon Marum, a 2005 graduate of the DCTC Continuing Education & Customized Training Truck Driver Training program, spoke to a full class of students Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at the college’s TDT Training Center in Rosemount, Minn. A five-year veteran driver at the Con-way Freight terminal in Eagan, Minn., Marum spoke for more than an hour, covering a range of topics, including his recognition in 2006 as one of Goodyear’s 24th Annual North America Highway Hero Award finalists.

During routine Con-way deliveries in downtown Minneapolis in October of 2006, Marum spotted a Metro Transit police officer engaged in a dire physical altercation with a man who appeared to be trying to take control of the officer’s handgun and Taser.

“The officer later told me that he had been observing an illegal drug transaction,” Marum said. “When he approached the subjects, one turned belligerent and then violent. The officer tried to use his Taser, but it had no effect.”

“He had the gun aimed at the officer when he pulled the trigger, but the weapon miraculously misfired.”

Marum related that he sounded his air horn and pulled his truck over to the side of the road. He then exited the vehicle, raced to the scene and put the enraged and much larger subject (Marum stands 5’5″) in a reverse bear hug. Both men fell to the ground inside a glass bus shelter.

“By this time, the man had control of the officer’s handgun,” Marum said. “He had the gun aimed at the officer when he pulled the trigger, but the weapon miraculously misfired. I don’t think it was a coincidence that I was baptized on October sixth.”

The man tried to fire the handgun again, but the officer got his thumb between the hammer and firing pin. The Taser had been knocked from the officer’s grasp during the struggle and was now several feet away. The officer hailed a passerby and requested that he retrieve the Taser, which he did. The officer again discharged the weapon into the suspect, delivering a shock to all three men. The suspect succumbed to the pulsed electric charge at this point and the officer was able to restrain him and regain his firearm.

“Today, the officer and I are good friends,” said Marum. “He credits me with saving his life. I found out later that the suspect had been arrested 70 times prior to his attack on the officer.”

Marum also spoke to the students about current conditions in the trucking industry, specifically at Con-way. He noted that after he graduated from the 16-week TDT program at DCTC he had four job offers, but chose Con-way, which has more than 30,000 professional employees at some 450 terminals across North America, the Asian Pacific, Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America and South America.

“At the Con-way terminal in Eagan, drivers can get anywhere from 50 to 60 hours a week,” said Marum, who started as a city delivery driver with the downtown Minneapolis route, but has since switched to a south suburban route. “We are very busy all the time. People need their freight—and that’s not going to change.”

TDT Instructor Doug John echoed Marum’s assessment. “Five years ago, the trucking industry was very concerned about a severe shortage of long-haul and local truck drivers by the year 2020. The present downturn has alleviated that concern temporarily, but the looming shortage itself has not gone away.”

John went on to say that this is good news for individuals seeking careers in the trucking industry. “The long view is optimistic,” he said. “Trucks are the lifeblood of commerce in the United States.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shares John’s perspective, noting that “Job opportunities should be favorable for truck drivers, especially for long-haul drivers. In addition to occupational growth, numerous job openings will occur as experienced drivers leave this large occupation to transfer to other fields of work, retire, or leave the labor force.”

Training topflight truck drivers for more than 35 years, the DCTC Truck Driver Training program is recognized nationally for adhering to the highest standards of quality. DCTC TDT produces safe, competent, and employable truck drivers in the most efficient manner possible. The college’s competency-based program provides the best possible training in the fastest possible time. Students graduate and get behind the wheel of a truck and on the job as quickly as their own abilities will allow.

For more information about DCTC TDT, contact any of the following:

• Bill Roberts
  Director of Transportation
  william.roberts@dctc.edu
  651-423-8223
• Richard Hawkins
  Director of Corporate Transportation
  richard.hawkins@dctc.edu
  651-423-8765
• Maxine Simonson
  Administrative Assistant
  maxine.simonson@dctc.edu
  651-423-8292