Wednesday, December 8, 2021 was a special day for Long Haul Trucking as the company was on site at Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Park, MN to donate a 2017 Peterbilt 579 into the college’s Medium / Heavy Duty Truck Program. The internship based program lead by instructors Dale Boyenga (Boyenga) and Brent Newville along with their current class of students were excited to receive this new equipment addition into their class. “This is a unique donation. Getting a truck with this technology and capabilities will give our students new opportunities and exposure.” (Boyenga) As an employee owned company, Long Haul Trucking has a consistent focus on succession and believes that equally important to the continued growth of their company is that of the industry.

This donation marked the second consecutive year that Long Haul has donated a truck to a Minnesota based Diesel Tech program. One of the biggest reasons that Long Haul finds an advantage in making this kind of contribution stems around technology. Long Haul Shop Manager, Rob Winter (Winter), was an advocate for Hennepin Tech receiving this donation. “Hennepin Tech didn’t have any Paccar engines in their program or a lot of the other safety technology that this truck has to offer. Since two of our current techs are still involved in their class through the internship program, I saw value for them and their fellow students to get the experience in working with this newer set of equipment.” (Winter) With truck technology always evolving to make them as smart and environmentally friendly as possible, it’s not easy for programs like Hennepin Tech’s to be able to stay current with the latest innovations.

Finding a way to bring newer technology into the program has proven to be an obstacle for the group at Hennepin Tech more so than usual through the past two years as state budgets suffered a setback due to the covid-19 pandemic. “Covid really hurt our budget and hasn’t allowed us to pursue purchasing new equipment. Donations like this go a very long way in helping us get through hard times.” (Boyenga) Although hard times have held the program at Hennepin Tech back in terms of adding new equipment, it has not stopped them from producing high quality talent of Diesel Tech’s entering the field. Long Haul has been fortunate to work with multiple current and graduated students of the Hennepin Tech program and wanted to try to do as much as possible to keep the program rolling. “I’ve been satisfied with the caliber of students that graduate from this program that come to work in our shop. It’s a good school, with a good program lead by great instructors that deserves new equipment to work on and trouble shoot.” Exclaimed Long Haul Shop Manager, Rob Winter.

Long Haul Trucking is grateful to be able to donate equipment in a way that helps propel the industry forward. “It’s part of our companies’ employee ownership culture to think about the future of the industry and we are always excited to give back.” Stated Long Haul’s CEO Jason Michels. Long Haul would like to recognize the exceptional work that is done by Hennepin Tech, their faculty and Board for the roles they play in promoting programs such as the Medium / Heavy Duty Truck Program that help keep our industry moving forward.