Army Veterans Come to Delaware Tech to Start New Career

Tiffany Deering joined the U.S. Army in 2006. She met and married John, another soldier, while stationed in Korea for two years. Military service kept them apart, and they wanted to spend some quality time together once they finished their services in the Army. John suggested truck driving, and the rest is history.

Neither of them had a background in trucking, but they felt confident that it was the right career for them. “No matter what job you had in the military, you come out with the tools to be successful in trucking,” Tiffany said.

John, a Delaware native, was familiar with Delaware Tech, and thought he and Tiffany should check out the College’s commercial transportation program. “We were really impressed with the program from the start,” Tiffany said. “Chris Antonik and all the other instructors in the program have a lot of experience with trucking, and were so knowledgeable about everything. Once we completed the program and got into the industry, we never felt like we were treading water; we felt confident and prepared.”

Both Tiffany and John have been employed by Werner Enterprises for over a year. “When we went to our first orientation at Werner, we felt totally prepared because of our training and education at Delaware Tech,” Tiffany said. “Our trainers were surprised at how knowledgeable we were at our training. We really feel the commercial transportation program adequately prepared us for being out on the road.”

Last year, both Tiffany and John were recommended by Werner for the Mike O’Connell Memorial Trucking Top Rookie Award. John was a finalist in the competition. “We got to go to Dallas for a truck show and meet all the other finalists and the winner,” Tiffany said. “It was a really cool experience.”

Tiffany was featured in a CNBC article: “The next big thing in US trucking: Female drivers.”