Truck, Trailer Donated to Salina Tech

Doug Bradley Trucking, Inc. of Salina has donated a 2013 International Prostar truck, along with a 53-foot refrigerated trailer, to Salina Area Technical College.

The truck arrived on campus Tuesday morning, with Jamie Bradley, Vice President of Bradley Trucking, behind the wheel, and students and instructors from both the Commercial Truck Driving and Diesel Technology departments on hand to watch.

“We’ve been working with Ron since the beginning of the program,” Bradley said, referring to Ron Stelter, head of the truck driving program. “My brother Jesse and I had heard the program needed another truck, and took a look at what we had in our fleet and what might work for them – and decided to pull out one of our trucks, and a 53-foot reefer trailer.”

The trailer’s refrigeration unit will be put to use by students in the Diesel Technology program, which includes a class on truck refrigeration systems, said Diesel instructor Gabe Winger.

“Donating this truck is good for us,” Bradley said. “The industry is short a lot of drivers these days, and we’ve hired quite a few drivers from the class here.”

Actual ownership of the truck and trailer will remain with Bradley Trucking, which is leasing the equipment to Salina Tech for $1 a year for an indefinite number of years.

Bradley estimated the value of the truck at $40,000 to $50,000, and the trailer at around $10,000.

Also on hand for the event was Brett Weis, President of Great Plains Trucking Division of Great Plains Manufacturing.

Great Plains has donated a truck and trailer to Salina Tech’s truck driving program since it began in 2015.

“At Great Plains, we’re committed to our community and to the education of our youth,” Weis said. “We have an interest in making sure we have good candidates for employment, in our trucking and other divisions.”

Weis added that Great Plains has long been involved in Salina Tech’s Welding and Machine Tool programs as well.

Stephani Johns-Hines, Vice President of Instruction at Salina Tech, said the college values the support of local companies.

“We rely heavily on local industries such as Bradley Trucking and Great Plains, not only for the kind of material support we’re seeing today, but also for their knowledge and experience in the industries they operate in,” she said.

Story by Mike Strand / Salina Area Technical College