RITA Participates in 2019 Boy Scout Merit Badge College

Providence, RI - Aspiring Eagle Scouts who attend the annual Merit Badge College at Rhode Island College each year now have Truck Transportation as a course option thanks to the Rhode Island Trucking Association.

For the second year in a row, RITA's Chris Maxwell and ATA and RITA member Mike Collins of M & D Transportation have brought their combined industry knowledge to the event which offers Scouts an opportunity to meet with highly qualified professionals to learn and foster the development of lifelong interests.

The full day event which took place on Saturday, January 5 at Rhode Island College offered two 3-hour Truck Transportation courses that covered subject matter such as the history of trucking, modes of trucking, types of equipment and technology, safety, regulatory enforcement and infrastructure funding.  Attendees were able to observe live fleet activity and movement from tracking software as well as e-logs.  In addition to trucking, attendees could participate in courses such as Public Speaking, Automobile Maintenance, Journalism, Nuclear Science and Search and Rescue to mention a few of the almost 50 course offerings.

Scouting Merit Badges are accumulated as Scouts fulfill requirements in order to gain the rank of Eagle Scout.  The Merit Badge College enables Scouts to accelerate accumulation of badges while exposing them to areas that might not be available through normal troop meetings.

"As an industry that seeks to attract young men and women into its ranks, this great event allows us to perhaps inform and inspire some toward forging a career in trucking," said RITA president Chris Maxwell.  "At minimum, it teaches our youth, first hand, about the truths, realities and essentiality of our industry," he added.